Yangon / AFP Four people are confirmed dead and dozens more are feared to have drowned after an overloaded ferry sank on Myanmar’s Chindwin River, local authorities said Sunday. A total of 154 people have been rescued so far since the boat capsized early Saturday morning as it travelled from Homalin to the city of Monywa, northwest of Mandalay. …

  Bangkok / AFP Thai police on Sunday charged a woman with royal defamation after a mob demanded action over a Facebook post allegedly smearing the “heir and regent”, as the country mourns King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thailand has one of the world’s harshest lese majeste laws, with jail terms of up to 15 years for each count of defaming or …

  Manila / AFP Typhoon Sarika lashed the main Philippine island of Luzon on Sunday, flattening homes and toppling trees and power pylons as more than 12,000 people fled to safer ground, officials said. Minor landslides and flooding were also reported a day after the cyclone brushed past the remote eastern island of Catanduanes and left one person drowned and three …