PHILIPPINES Thousands of protesters marked yesterday’s anniversary of the 1972 declaration of martial law by late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos with an outcry against what they say are the current president’s authoritarian tendencies and his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.
VIETNAM’s main malaria treatment is failing at an alarming rate because of a highly drug-resistant superbug that has spread into the southern part of the country from western Cambodia, scientists said yesterday.
THAILAND Authorities have detained a Buddhist monk who has posted online videos that harshly denounce Islam. The military government has the power to detain people if they are considered a threat to public order or national security.
KOREA Seoul yesterday decided to resume humanitarian aid to North Korea to help children and pregnant women, but didn’t determine when to provide the USD8 million worth of assistance amid tensions created by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.
BANGLADESH Massive, makeshift refugee camps are sprawling over farms and open land in southern Bangladesh as more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims flee violent attacks in their predominantly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar.
BRITAIN-FRANCE-ITALY The leaders of Britain, France and Italy are setting an ambitious goal for tech companies to tackle online posts that promote terrorism: Take them down within an hour or two. British Prime Minister Theresa May said internet companies are making progress but need to go “further and faster” to keep violent extremist material from spreading online.
SPAIN Thousands gathered yesterday at the gates of Catalonia’s judicial body in Barcelona to demand the release of a dozen officials arrested in connection with a vote on independence.
MEXICO The wiggling fingers of a young girl trapped in the rubble of her collapsed school in Mexico City prodded rescuers to work furiously in a delicate effort trying to free her from unstable debris, after a powerful earthquake struck the city and killed at least 245 people.
