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  What was to be the first ASEAN film festival, hosted in Rangoon in December, has been postponed. Local media said the postponement was because films had not yet arrived from member countries. No rescheduled date was given. (Xinhua)- United Nations special enjoy Ibrahim Gambari is to meet with representatives of various ethnic groups in Burma. (Al Jazeera)
 North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il continues his tour of the region, visiting Laos, where he meets his Laotian counterpart, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and holds talks on cultural exchanges and regional cooperation. (Xinhua) Thailand's Royal Barge Procession takes place on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok amidst concerns for the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is steadily recovering in Siriraj Hospital after suffering a blood clot in his brain on October 13. Presided over by the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, the barge ceremony marks the official start of celebrations for the king's 80th birthday on December 5. (Reuters) (AFP via Google News)- South Thailand insurgency: Five people are killed in shootings, among them two imams who were fatally shot in an ambush on the pickup truck they were riding in, in Narathiwat. Two other people are wounded. Elsewhere, three people, including a village chief and assistant chief, are fatally shot in an ambush in Pattani. (Nation)
 Forty-two people have died in flooding in the central coastal provinces of Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Nai, Phu Yen and Binh Dinh, with at least 70,000 homes flooded. (Xinhua)- U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez meets with Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng at the beginning of a three-day trade mission to Vietnam. (AP via Google News)
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- Members of the National League for Democracy, not including detained party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, went to the Burmese capitalNaypyidaw to meet with United Nations special enjoy Ibrahim Gambari. (DPA via Bangkok Post)
- Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein will make his first official trip since being appointed premier, visiting Laos and Vietnam. A government spokesman also says the premier will represent Burma at the 13th ASEAN summit in Singapore. (Xinhua) (AFP via CNA)
  International Court of Justice hearing, day two: Singapore argues that there is no evidence of title that Johor ever held Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh. (CNA) (Bernama) Business groups say they plan to conduct an independent investigation the cause of last month's explosion at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati City. (AP via Houston Chronicle)- King Bhumibol Adulyadej is released from Siriraj Hospital, after being admitted on October 13 after suffering a blood clot in his brain. Using a walker, the 79-year-old monarch, wearing a pink blazer, stopped and stood without aid to take photographs of well-wishers. Meanwhile, the king's sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana, 84, remains in Siriraj after she was admitted on June 15 after doctors discovered she had abdominal cancer. (TNA via MCOT) (Reuters) (Bangkok Post) (AP via IHT)
- Campaigning begins for the Thai general election on December 23, the first poll after last year's coup. The main political parties are the Democrat Party and the People's Power Party, which has been formed by supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. (BBC) (AFP via Google News) (AP via IHT)
- South Thailand insurgency:
- Four Royal Thai Army soldiers are killed and six people are wounded in two bomb attacks. In Pattani, three members of an Army bomb squad are killed while checking on a device placed on a bridge. In Yala, a roadside bomb killed an Army captain and wounded five others, including two soldiers and a man and his young son.(Reuters)
- Around 60 schools in Narathiwat are closed following the shooting deaths of two teacher the day before. (TNA via MCOT)
- At least 82 people have died in flooding in the central Vietnam coastal provinces, the government says. Meanwhile, Typhoon Peipah is heading for the Vietnam coast after leaving five people dead in the Philippines.(Reuters)
- An outbreak of H5N1 is reported among a flock of ducks in northern Vietnam. (Reuters)
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- Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets with the Burmese junta's official liaison, labor minister Aung Kyi at a government-run guesthouse in Rangoon. It is the second time they have met. Suu Kyi later meets with three senior members of her National League for Democracy, the first time in three years she has been permitted to do so. A party spokesman says Suu Kyi is "very optimistic" about the dialogue with the junta and reported her as "fit, well and energetic." (AFP via Google News) (BBC) (CNN)
- Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, making his first trip abroad since his official appointment as premier, meets in Vientiane with his Laotian counterpart, Bouasone Bouphavanh. Thein Sein travels on to Vietnam, where he meets Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Thein Sein had planned to also visit Cambodia, but that leg of the trip was cancelled, a Burmese government spokesman said. (Vientiane Times) (Xinhua) (AP via The Age)
 Anak Krakatao is spitting flames and rocks, but poses little danger, an official at Indonesia's Centre for Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation says. Meanwhile, the alert level on Mount Kelut is lowered due to a decline in activity. (Reuters)- International Court of Justice hearing, day four: Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar concludes Singapore's oral argument, through laying out the key facts to show how Singapore is the rightful owner of Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh. (CNA)(Bernama)
- Seven districts in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province are declared a disaster area because of flooding. One person has died and 30,000 people are displaced. Heavy rains also closed the airport on Ko Samui on Thursday, but the airport had reopened. (TNA via MCOT)
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 Activist groups say the Mekong River Commission is not "doing their job", and warn against six planned hydropower dams on the Mekong in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. The Thailand-based environmental group TERRA says if the dams are built, tens of thousands of people would be displaced and 1,300 aquatic species, including rare Irrawaddy Dolphins and Mekong giant catfish would be endangered. (AFP via Google News) (AP via Google News) (DPA via Bangkok Post)
- Two prominent activists are arrested by the Burmese junta. They are National League for Democracy supporter Su Su Nway, who has evaded authorities since leading the early stages of the anti-government protests, and the Buddhist monk, U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance. Meanwhile, United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro meets with the junta's cabinet members in Naypyitaw. His five-day visit ends on Thursday. (AP via IHT)
- A gemstone auction is set for Wednesday in Rangoon by the Burmese junta, with Human Rights Watch calling for sanctions on the sale. (AFP via Google News) (Bernama) (Human Rights Watch)
 A man is killed by an arrow in gang fighting near Dili. (Reuters)- Malaysia opens its oral arguments in the International Court of Justice, disputing Singapore's claim on Pedra Branca, saying Singapore simply operates Horsburgh Lighthouse on the island, with Malaysia's consent, and accuses Singapore of trying to expand its maritime borders. (CNA) (Reuters) (Bernama)
- An explosion hits the south wing of the House of Representatives in Quezon City, killing two people, including Congressman Wahab Akbar, and wounding 10. (BBC) (AFP via CNA) (CNN)
- The Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are to resume talks on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur. (Bernama)
- Chalerm Promlert, a former deputy speaker of the Senate of Thailand, is sentenced to 36 years in prison after being convicted of sexually abusing four teenage girls. (TNA via MCOT)
- Soldiers, militiamen and local residents hunt crocodiles that escaped during floods from the state-owned Khanh Viet Farm in Khanh Hoa Province. (AP via Google News)
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- Arrests of activists in connection to the anti-government protests continue, as United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro continues his visit in Burma. Witnesses say three activists are arrested for handing out anti-government pamphlets at a fruit market in Rangoon. Pinheiro urges the Burmese junta to allow him to meet with people other than government officials, and says he's "disturbed" by the arrest of labor activitist Su Su Nway. (VOA) (AP via Guardian) (Reuters) (AFP via Google News)
- The junta-sponsored gemstone sale is under way in Rangoon, with officials expecting to sell jade, gems and pearls, worth nearly US$300 million during the 13-day auction. (AFP via Google News)
- Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan, facing arrest by the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, is in a Phnom Penh hospital. Prime Minister Hun Sen said Khieu, 76, was being treated for high blood pressure. (AFP via Google News)
- Malaysia will phase out its least valuable coin, the 1 sen denomination, according to a report in The Star. Officials say the coin costs four time more to produce than its face value. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (Star) (AFX via Forbes)
- International Court of Justice: Malaysia continues presenting its case in the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, or what it calls Pulau Batu Puteh, saying the island is indeed owned by the Johor Sultanate, and refuted Singapore's claim that the island was a "no man's land" that did not belong to anyone until Great Britain claimed it. (CNA) (Bernama)
- Batasang Pambansa bombing: Officials say slain congressman Wahab Akbar was a former member of Abu Sayyaf, and there had been threats on his life for switching sides. Police confirm the explosion, which killed the congressman, his driver and a congressional staffer, and wounded 11 people, was caused by a bomb, detonated by cellphone. (AP via IHT) (Al Jazeera) (CSM)
- Talks between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front resume at an undisclosed location in Malaysia. (AP via IHT)
- Bad weather has forced a a team of Thai mountaineers to abandon their attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (IANS)
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- Ahead of the 13th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from Sunday until November 22, Singapore warns the public about security measures and road closures, and says it will strictly enforce its laws on public protests, which require that public gatherings by more than five people have a police permit. (CNA) (AFP via Google News)
- Japanese archaeologists find female skeletons buried with metal swords in ruins being excavated in Pnum Snay, Banteay Meanchey Province, evidence they say leads them to believe the women were warriors, sometime in the 5th century AD. (AFP via Google News)
- As the Mekong River Commission meets, Cambodian delegates say they are opposed to hydropower dams that the Laotian government wants to build on Mekong, citing fears that the dams would destroy the river's fisheries. "We sent an official letter to Laos months ago to voice our concern and ask for an explanation, but so far we have received no answer," says Sin Niny, vice chairman of the Cambodian National Mekong Committee. (DPA via Bangkok Post)
- Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) hearing: Malaysia continues its oral arguments for a third day in the International Court of Justice, saying "Singapore is the administrator of Horsburgh Lighthouse and nothing more", and that Johor holds sovereignty over the island and its outcrops. (CNA) (Bernama)
- A agreement is reached between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on demarcation for a proposed Islamic homeland. (BBC)
- Batasang Pambansa bombing: Three suspects are killed and three arrested in a raid on what police say is an Islamic militant hideout near the House of Representatives of the Philippines. (ABC)
- Singapore's Board of Film Censors ban the Microsoft video game of Xbox, Mass Effect, because it contains a sex scene involving a woman and a female space alien. (AP via Google News)
- Ahead of the Thai general election, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and other party members swear before the Emerald Buddha that they will run clean campaigns and not engage in vote buying. (AFP via CNA)
- Two police officers in Hoa Binh Province are imprisoned for helping a female death row inmate get pregnant so she could avoid the death penalty. (AP via Google News)
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- 13th ASEAN Summit and Third East Asia Summit:
- After his five-day visit to Burma, United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says the Burmese junta has recognized that 14 people were killed in its crackdown on the anti-government protests. Pinheiro says he will make his own estimate of the casualties, based on his independent findings, as he drafts a formal report for the UN. (AP via Google News) AFP via CNA)
- A New South Wales deputy coroner recommends that the Australian government seek war crimes charges against former Indonesian military officers, including Yunus Yosfiah, for the killing of five Australian journalists in the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor. Indonesia maintains the case is closed, and that Australia has no jurisdiction. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
- Demonstrating ahead of next month's UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Greenpeace's flagship, Rainbow Warrior, continues a two-day-old blockade of an Indonesian palm oil tanker in Sumatra. (AFP via Google News)
- Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) hearing: Malaysia concludes its first round of oral arguments before the International Court of Justice, saying Singapore has failed to prove sovereignty over the South China Sea island and that the city-state is merely an administrator of the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the island. (Bernama)
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong Mizan Zainal Abidin expresses regret over claims by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections that he and the Palace approved and supported the group's rally, which was broken up by riot police. (Bernama)
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- 13th ASEAN Summit and Third East Asia Summit:
- Delegates begin arriving for what is expected to be the largest ASEAN Summit yet, numbering more than 1,000 from 43 countries. The meeting convenes under stringent security measures in Singapore, with outdoor demonstrations banned, and activist groups required to obtain permits to hold indoor assemblies. (VOA)
- For ASEAN's 40th anniversary, ASEAN members and six dialogue partners are expected to sign the ASEAN Charter. Other agreements expected to be signed are the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint and the ASEAN Declaration on Environment Sustainability.(IHT) (Xinhua)
- ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong again dismisses a United States Senate resolution calling on ASEAN to take action against the Burmese junta, saying Burma is part of the ASEAN "family". "Our approach is not to take such a confrontational, drastic action, especially when it doesn't yield good results," he says. Burma's new prime minister, Thein Sein, is expected to arrive for the meeting on Monday.(Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen issue condemnations of sanctions against the Burmese junta. (Reuters)
- Southeast Asian commerce ministers say they will step up plans to integrate their economies in order to better compete with China and India. (CNA) (Reuters)
- The Department of Labor and Employment of Philippines has lifted the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Nigeria, Lebanon and Afghanistan. However, a travel ban will still remain in force in Iraq. (ABS-CBN) (AFP via CNA) (Philippine Star)
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- 13th ASEAN Summit and Third East Asia Summit:
- Khmer Rouge Tribunal: Judgement is suspended on a pleading for bail by chief Khang Khek Ieu, a.k.a Duch, so the former S-21 prison chief remains jailed. Prosecutors say freeing Duch would create public disorder, and that the 65-year-old former math teacher poses a flight risk. (Xinhua) (AFP via CNA)
- Batasang Pambansa bombing: Police say explosives linked to the bombing have been seized, and a suspect, Muslim politican Hajaron Jamiri, has been arrested. (AFP via CNA)
- The evacuation of 200,000 people is ordered by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ahead of Tropical Storm Mitag, which is expected to increase to typhoon strength. The storm comes just days after Tropical storm Hagibis left 10 people dead and 30,000 homeless in the Philippines. Vietnam asked neighboring countries to allow its countries fisherman to seek refuge in disputed territories of the Spratly Islands.(AFP via CNA) (Reuters)
- South Thailand insurgency: Four people are fatally shot in an ambush by gunmen in Pattani. (AP via IHT)
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- Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong says ASEAN leaders will take a stronger position with the Burmese junta in the coming months, due to pressure from the international community. "We can't just say ASEAN will leave the Myanmar issue purely to Myanmar because our partners are now not letting us off the hook. They have postponed many of our ASEAN meetings with them," Ong said at a launch of Brick by Brick, a new book by Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. (CNS)
- The Cambodian government signs an agreement with two Indonesian companies, the Rajawalki Group and PT Ancora International to create a new Cambodian flag carrier, its first since Royal Air Cambodge ceased operations in 2001. (Business Week)
- Five ancient Javanese statues, dating back to the 7th to 9th centuries, are returned to a Surakarta museum. Police say the statues were stolen, and have arrested three members of the museum staff. (BBC)
- The Indonesian government is awaiting confirmation from Australian authorities on the status of 16 people thought to be from East Nusa Tenggara, rescued from a sinking boat in Australian waters. (AFP via Google News)
- Three Hindu activists seeking to stage a rally in Kuala Lumpur are charged with sedition. The activists planned to air the grievances of ethnic Indians and call for reparations from the United Kingdom for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured laborers under the British Empire. (BBC)
- Two suspects arrested in the bombing of a shopping mall on Thursday in Kidapawan City in Mindanao, police say. One person was killed and 11 injured in the blast. (Pacific News) (Xinhua)
- 2007 Pacific typhoon season:
- An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease closes schools in Lampang and Chon Buri. (Xinhua)
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- United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari will visit Cambodia on Thursday for talks on that country's ties to the Burmese junta. Gambari's two-day visit will immediately be followed by a visit by Myanma Prime Minister Thein Sein. Gambari has also visited Vietnam and will travel to Laos. (AP via IHT)
- The United Nations issues a report critical of the Philippines government for its failure to halt the "Davao Death Squad", a group of soldiers who have carried out extra-judicial executions of more than 500 gang members, criminals, street children and left-wing activists since 1998 in Davao. (Reuters)
- Seventeen people are reported dead in the wake of Typhoon Mitag. Typhoon Hagibis weakens to a tropical depression. In its wake, a Philippine Air Force jet is messing, as is a fishing boat with 27 crew.(AFP via Google News)
- Vietnam has arrested six democracy activists, among them three members of the U.S.-based Viet Tan. (AP via IHT)
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[edit] Recently concluded
[edit] Ongoing
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Holidays
and observances |
[edit] October
- 1 - Children's Day, Singapore
- 11 - Pchum Ben (Ancestor's Day), Cambodia
- 11-19 - Vegetarian Festival, Phuket, Thailand
- 12 - Founding of Quezon City, Philippines
- 23 - Chulalongkorn Day, Thailand
- 26 - End of Buddhist Lent, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
- 29 - Coronation Day, Cambodia
- 31 - King Father's Day, Cambodia
[edit] November
[edit] December
- 2 - National Day, Laos
- 5 - King's Birthday, National Day, Father's Day, Thailand
- 10 - Constitution Day, Thailand
- 11 - Pampanga Day, Philippines
- 16 - First day of Misa del Gallo, Philippines
- 22 - Mother's Day (in honor of Dewi Sartika), Indonesia
- 25 - Christmas, Philippines
- 30 - Rizal Day, Philippines
- 31 - New Year's Eve
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