Beijing / AFP China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, Beijing’s defence ministry said Thursday, after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area. The drills will be carried out in the “relevant sea and air of the South China Sea”, defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told ...

  Cilacap / AFP Indonesia on Thursday rejected appeals from the UN and EU to halt the execution of 14 drug convicts including foreigners, as speculation mounted they could face the firing squad in a matter of hours. The group, including foreigners from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe as well as Indonesians, have been placed in isolation on a prison island ...

  Dhaka / AFP A Bangladesh court on Thursday upheld the death sentence for six militants convicted over a suicide bombing in 2005 of a lawyer’s office that killed eight people, a top prosecutor said. Bangladesh’s judiciary is under pressure to fast track cases involving militants as the government faces mounting criticism to crackdown on extremists over a series of recent ...