Marcos-Duterte Feud at Center of Philippine Midterm Elections
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte won't be on the ballot in Monday's midterm elections, but the outcome could determine whether she keeps her job in a high-stakes contest centered around a feud between the country's two most powerful families.
Following weeks of rallies across the country, more than 18,000 national and local positions will be contested on May 12. All eyes are on the Senate, where the 12 winners — or half of the 24-member chamber — will help decide the political fate of Duterte, who faces a July impeachment trial for an alleged death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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Associated Press
6 hours ago
- Associated Press
Myanmar arrests 16 suspects, including 6-year-old girl, over alleged links to assassination
BANGKOK (AP) — Security forces in military-ruled Myanmar have arrested a six-year-old girl along with 15 other people suspected of involvement in the assassination of a retired high-ranking army officer, state-run media reported on Friday. Former Brig. Gen. Cho Tun Aung, 68, was shot outside his home in Mayangon township, in Yangon, the country's biggest city, on May 22. A militant group calling itself the Golden Valley Warriors claimed responsibility for the attack. The killing of Cho Tun Aung, who was a former ambassador to Cambodia, was the latest attack against figures linked to the ruling military since Myanmar was plunged into civil war after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The 16 suspects -- 13 males and three females -- were arrested in four different regions between May 23-29, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said. The newspaper said Cho Tun Aung was shot dead while walking with his grandchild. Those arrested include Lin Latt Shwe, the six-year-old daughter of the alleged assassin, Myo Ko Ko, who was reported to have at least three other aliases. The newspaper report said the child and her parents were arrested in the central city of Bagan. Others detained include the owner of a private hospital which is alleged to have provided treatment to the gunman, who according to the newspaper report said he suffered a gunshot wound during the attack. The Golden Valley Warriors said in a statement posted on Facebook soon after the killing that Cho Tun Aung had been teaching internal security and counterterrorism at Myanmar's National Defense College and that as such he was complicit in what the group said was atrocities committed during the civil war. The targets of assassinations are often high-ranking active or retired military officers, but senior civil servants and local officials have also been attacked, in addition to business associates of the ruling generals and those believed to be informers or collaborators with the army. The ruling military has been accused of human rights violation on a far greater scale, including the bombings of villages causing multiple civilian deaths.
Bloomberg
14 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Thailand Vows to Defend Border Amid Tensions With Cambodia
Thailand's armed forces are ready to defend the border in the face of a deadly clash with Cambodia that erupted last week, a top official said, adding that the country wants to maintain peace with its neighbor. 'At this stage, neither side wants war,' Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who also serves as defense minister, said after a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday. The two countries have sought to defuse tensions following an exchange of gunfire between rival troops on May 28 in the disputed Chong Bok border region, which resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Six-year-old girl among Myanmar group arrested for killing retired general
(Reuters) -Myanmar's military has arrested a six-year-old child as part of a group it labelled "terrorists" for the daytime killing of a retired military officer and diplomat last month, a junta-run newspaper reported on Friday. Cho Htun Aung, 68, a retired brigadier general who also served as an ambassador, was shot dead in Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon on May 22, in one of the highest profile assassinations in a country in the throes of a widening civil war. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, overthrowing an elected government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering widespread protests. The junta's violent crackdown on dissent sparked an unprecedented nationwide uprising. A collection of established ethnic armies and new armed groups have wrested away swathes of territory from the well-armed military, and guerrilla-style fighting has erupted even in urban areas like Yangon. "A total of 16 offenders - 13 males and three females - were arrested," the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. In an accompanying graphic, the newspaper carried the image of the six-year-old child, identified as the daughter of the alleged assassin. Her face was blurred in an online version of the newspaper seen by Reuters, but visible in other social media posts made by junta authorities. A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment. Golden Valley Warriors, an anti-junta insurgent group, said they killed the retired general because of his continued support for military operations, including attacks on civilians, according to a May 22 statement. The junta claims the group is backed by the National Unity Government - a shadow government comprising of remnants of Suu Kyu's ousted administration that is battling the military - and paid an assassin some 200,000 Myanmar Kyat ($95.52) for a killing, the state newspaper reported. NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt denied the shadow government had made any such payments. "It is not true that we are paying people to kill other people," he told Reuters. Since the coup, Myanmar's junta has arrested over 29,000 people, including more than 6,000 women and 600 children, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, an activist group. Fatalities among civilians and pro-democracy activists verified by AAPP during this period amount to more than 6,700, including 1,646 women and 825 children. Myanmar's junta has said it does not target civilians and its operations are in response to attacks by "terrorists" for maintaining peace and stability in the country. ($1 = 2,093.7000 kyat)
