The Foreign Desk’s editor-in-chief, Lisa Daftari, launched the MyTreedom campaign on Facebook this week to give Christians celebrating Christmas in regions where they face intense persecution a platform to showcase their proud Christmas decor.
As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague prepares to hear the territorial dispute among nations framing the South China Sea – and the Chinese government vows to ignore any verdict – experts suggest a ruling against China could significantly hamper China’s construction of illegal artificial islands and military facilities there.
Contents: China blocks Miss World Canada from attending Miss World pageant; ASEAN leaders harshly criticize China over South China Sea actions; Occupied Crimea declares state of emergency after electricity is cut
“We will not give in to fear, or start turning on each other, or treating some people differently because of religion or race or background,” Obama said during a press conference in Malaysia. “That wouldn’t just be a betrayal of our values, it would also feed ISIL’s propaganda.”
President Obama is using his visit to a refugee center in Malaysia to highlight the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar and remind the world that he’s committed to bringing more refugees to America.
(Reuters) China has shown “great restraint” in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday ahead of two regional summits where the disputed waterway is likely to be a hot topic.
After announcing that the U.S. presence in the South China Sea would become “routine” as a challenge to Chinese territorial claims this month, the Pentagon announced Thursday it had flown two strategic bombers in the region, which were contacted by Chinese authorities but flew through without incident.
The European Union made its strongest call yet for China and other Asian nations to resolve their dispute over the South China Sea, a position Brussels insists is neutral but that the United States is likely to welcome after pressing the bloc to speak up.
After 70 years, three U.S. airmen are finally coming home from Malaysia for a proper burial and resting spot.
After stating last week that, despite Chinese objections, American naval ships will “fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter personally made good on that promise by joining the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea today.
An American defense official said this week that the U.S. Navy is planning to navigate through disputed waters in the South China Sea “about twice a quarter or a little more than that,” activity likely to irritate China, which claims complete control over the sea, even further.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch has published a report blasting the Malaysian government for clamping down on free speech in order to silence critics.
The Chinese government is warning the United States and its allies to stop “adding fuel to the flames” in the longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, following a joint announcement by America and Australia that the nations fully intend to exercise their right to navigate the body of water, which China claims entirely for itself.
The Philippine Navy denied reports that wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found in the island nation.
Chinese state media is working hard to portray President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States as a success, but even in a column intending to herald bilateral talks as a step in the right direction, Xinhua asserts that it is the United States which is prompting states to be “aggressive” in the South China Sea.
A rally of thousands of ethnic Malays froze the city of Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, with police resorting to water cannons to subdue the group. The Malay majority organized to show support for Prime Minister Najib Razak as he faces a corruption probe but had clear ethnic undertones as many chanted anti-Chinese slogans.
Malaysian authorities on Monday announced the arrest of three suspects—two Malaysians and a Pakistani national—in connection with the August 17 terrorist bombing of the Erewan shrine in Bangkok, in which 20 people were killed.
American Airlines’s decision to drop their Philadelphia to Tel Aviv, Israel, flight was not “strictly financial” as the airline claimed last week.
China is attempting to strongarm the countries forming the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to discuss its aggressive expansion of control in the South China Sea, issuing statements arguing that the venue is “improper” for such a topic. The Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, all who object to China’s expansion, strongly disagree.
The summer is known as the “cutting season.” This means that infants as young as two or three months old are being taken out of the UK to be genitally mutilated in their countries of origin, such as Malaysia, whose customs, like those of Iran, have become increasingly Arabized.
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed into eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard. A memorial service took place in Kuala Lumpur, the final destination of the tragic flight, this week, observing the one-year anniversary.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal after they reported that a Malaysian probe found documents proving money from a state investment fund found its way into his personal bank accounts.
Japan is considering joining the United States on surveillance flights in the South China Sea, having already participated in one this week with the Philippines. The disputed waters, which China has claimed almost entirely as its own, have seen significant construction on its reefs by the communist power in the past year, angering its neighbors.
Chinese state media outlet the People’s Daily released a report this week claiming that artificial island construction and the usurpation of international waters in the South China Sea would improve “marine meteorological monitoring, warning, forecasting, prediction and scientific research,” and benefit all neighboring countries with claims in the region.
Tindarama Aman Sirom Simbuna, the head tribal priest, or Bobolian, of Sabah, Malaysia, is demanding that European and Canadian tourists accused of causing a major earthquake by stripping at the summit of a sacred mountain offer ten buffalo to aggrieved spirits to pay for their transgression.
A Canadian man claiming to be one of a group of international tourists being sought for arrest in Malaysia after stripping on top of “sacred” Mount Kinabalu has responded to accusations by Malaysian politicians on Facebook that he and his peers triggered a deadly earthquake with their insolence. Responding to death threats from Malaysian believers, Emil Kaminski wrote on Facebook, “f*ck your culture.”
After announcing that the company was “technically bankrupt,” the new CEO of Malaysia Airlines has announced a major overhaul that will see the company cut 6,000 jobs and launch a publicity campaign aimed at getting customers to trust the airline once more following two of history’s greatest aviation disasters.
As Malaysia moves closer to becoming a strict Islamic country, young Muslims escape their suffocating reality with the help of “pulp fiction” from pop-up bookstores in Kuala Lumpur.
Contents: Indonesia and Malaysia back down and accept stranded Rohingya migrants; Iran backs down and allows inspection of aid ship to Yemen;
The European Union on Monday approved a multi-phase military operation to defeat human smugglers who are trafficking migrants from Libya to Europe. Smugglers have been charging migrants thousands of dollars each to make the trip, and there’s no guarantee of reaching Europe or even of surviving.
Nearly 800 migrants from Burma and Bangladesh were rescued by local fishermen when their boat sank off the eastern coast of Indonesia. The migrants were brought to shore, given food and water, and placed in a warehouse.
Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have turned away boats laden with thousands of migrants headed for their shores. Officials from the two countries met the boats, handed over fuel and supplies and sent them on their way. As Europe wrangles over the
Rohingya ‘death camps’ and ‘slave camps’ found in southern Thailand; Yemen war sharply intensifies, as ‘truce’ is offered.
Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, a Malaysian Islamic scholar, first claimed that marital rape does not exist, but took it a step further when he insisted a man can enjoy sex with his wife even on a camel.
Malaysian police arrested twelve men with links to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) who plotted to attack government buildings and people in Kuala Lumpur. The twelve men bring the total number of people arrested in Malaysia connected to ISIS to 104.
Residents in Taman Medan, Malaysia protested outside of a church due to the cross on top of the building. They claim the cross is “challenging Islam.”
The State Assembly of Kelantan, Malaysia, is considering a hudud (crimes against God) bill that will allow the state to execute anyone accused of apostasy, which is the abandonment of Islam.
A religious group in Malaysia has issued an official complaint against a young girl whose photo holding a dog at an adoption drive is now making the rounds on social media.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan seek ‘Sunni unity’ versus Iran; Turkey’s Erdogan shuts out Al-Sisi and Egypt from discussions; After a year, experts still guessing about Malaysia Airlines 370
The Malaysian state of Terengganu has proposed punishing residents who do not attend Friday Muslim prayers by forcing them to ride throughout their towns in a hearse.
