ASEAN

CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian government minister in charge of the suspended seabed search for the Malaysia Airlines jet told victims' families and friends at an anniversary church service on Wednesday that he remained hopeful that Flight 370 would be found.

(Phuketwan)

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre
Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand's junta has approved USD$1.3 billion (46.1 billion baht) in rural subsidies, akin to the populist policies of the government it ousted, to appease disgruntled and politically powerful farmers who are struggling with record low commodity prices and weak exports.

(Phuket Gazette)

KOLKATA, India — Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday called for international pressure on Myanmar to take back hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have sought shelter in her country to escape military-led violence.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's health minister says the body of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is still in the country, dismissing reports that the remains of Kim Jong Nam were about to be flown out of the country as part of diplomatic negotiations.

YANGON — Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is visiting conflict-torn northern Rakhine state for the first time and her government says a repatriation plan for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who've fled violence is underway.

(Chiang Rai Times)

BANGKOK — Amnesty International said Wednesday that Myanmar's army was not the only group that has slaughtered civilians in the country's volatile west. In a new report, it accused ethnic Rohingya insurgents of carrying out at least one brutal massacre when the long-running conflict in Rakhine state exploded last year.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Visitors are flocking to a Michigan botanical garden to get a whiff of the unpleasant-smelling "corpse flower" that's in full bloom for the first time in 18 years.