Author: Ruwaid Waddaah

Uncle Mu’s international commentary is to analyze the so-called “laser incident” between China and the Philippines surrounding the disputes over islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Similar to the American attention to the balloon incident, in the past few days, Philippine officials and the media have been paying attention to another unexpected incident. This is the confrontation between the coast guards of the two countries near the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, resulting in a laser incident. The Philippines has accused the Chinese coast guard ship of irradiating the crew of the Philippine coast guard…

Myanmar’s journalists are rebuilding independent media with one foot in the country, and one foot out, writes Laure Siegel. As Myanmar’s bloody coup ticks over into its third year, local journalists continue to struggle to sustain and build independent media voices in support of democracy both inside the country and in the growing refugee diaspora. It’s an evolving ecosystem depending on an underground network, including citizen journalists, philanthropic support, experimentation in distribution and voices — and raw courage in the face of a violent oppression by the Tatmadaw military junta. The military broke the old system. “I didn’t want to…

“They view themselves as the only ones capable of keeping the country together – something that goes back to the military’s foundation as an anti-colonial fighting force.” More than two years after Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup, the country is in a state of generalized armed conflict and economic dysfunction. What began as a loosely coordinated protest movement against the military takeover has since hardened into a broad front of resistance groups that seeks not just to reverse the coup, but to remove the military entirely from its position of centrality in Myanmar’s political, economic – even social –…

MANILA – A lawmaker on Thursday said the renegotiation of the bilateral labor agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait should be done in the Philippines for purposes of transparency and disclosure, while allowing for diplomacy and negotiation space. Quezon City Rep. Ralph Tulfo, a member of the House Committee on Labor and Employment, said aside from the renegotiation, the government, particularly the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should use new means of conducting frequent welfare checks on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait and in other countries where there…

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday flew to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum (WEF), vowing to entice investments and highlight the country’s willingness to participate in regional and global expansion plans as nations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The World Economic Forum is hosting a Country Strategy Dialogue for us where we are given the opportunity to promote the Philippines as leader and driver of growth and a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region,” said Marcos in his pre- departure at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City at around 9:00 a.m. Marcos is the…

November was summit season for Asia, with the G-20 Summit held in Jakarta on November 15-16 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit held in Bangkok on November 18-19. These events took on added importance amid a string of global crises demanding a multilateral response, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to food and energy price pressures and signs of an impending global recession. The G-20 Summit in particular was in the spotlight as the setting for the first in-person meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as some of Xi’s first interactions with other world leaders, both…