Category: VOA

Taiwan was hit by a series of strong earthquakes over several hours between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, nearly three weeks after at least 17 people were killed by a powerful magnitude 7.4 quake. The first quake was a magnitude 5.5 detected Monday evening in the eastern county of Hualien, the epicenter of the April 3 quake, followed by a series of smaller tremors. The strongest quake hit several hours later, which Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s seismology center measured as magnitude 6.3, coming several minutes after a magnitude 6.0 quake.…

BANGKOK —  Myanmar’s Vice President Henry Van Thio, who served in the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and then continued in the position after the military ousted her to seize power in 2021, is stepping down for unspecified health reasons, state media said Monday. State television MRTV announced Monday night that 65-year-old Van Thio had been allowed to retire from his post for health reasons in accordance with the constitution but did not provide any details of his health or say who, if anyone, will replace him. Van…

State media in China say heavy rainfall in the southern part of the country has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate, destroying homes and causing multiple fatalities. China’s Xinhua News Agency says at least four people have died and 10 are missing, adding that the storms hitting the area, once dubbed the factory of the world,” could lead to flooding that hasn’t been seen in a century. As of Monday, Guangdong province’s capital, Guangzhou, received more monthly rainfall in April — about 24 inches — than since record-keeping…

MAE SOT, Thailand —  ASEAN has been viewed by the international community as the ideal political bloc to negotiate a resolution to the conflict that has beset Myanmar since its military, led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, ousted an elected government in early 2021 and sparked a civil war. But the five-point consensus on ending the Myanmar crisis put forward by ASEAN — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — has been discredited by analysts and anti-regime forces who argue the 10-nation bloc has quietly backed the junta and ignored…

Jakarta —  Indonesia’s top court on Monday rejected appeals lodged by two losing presidential candidates who are demanding a revote, alleging widespread irregularities and fraud at the February polls. The 5-to-3 majority decision by the eight-judge panel of the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments, saying the legal teams of the losing candidates had failed to prove allegations that Prabowo Subianto’s victory was the result of widespread fraud. The Court “rejects the petitioner’s appeal entirely,” Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo said Monday, after a panel of eight judges took a marathon…

Seoul, South Korea —  North Korea fired “several” ballistic missiles on Monday toward the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military said. A Japanese government alert and its coast guard also said North Korea had fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile. The projectile appeared to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone area, the NHK broadcaster said. Japan’s NTV broadcaster said the projectile was a short-range ballistic missile, citing a Japanese government official. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North launched what it suspected to…