New report says Hanoi created over 133ha of new land in 2023 with dredging tools it had not used before.

The winners of IDFA’s 36th edition competition programs were announced at the Awards Ceremony taking place at ITA (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam) on Thursday November 16. 1489 by Shoghakat Vardanyan won the IDFA Award for Best Film.

Reber Dosky, who makes documentaries about Kurdistan and was our guest at De Facto Live #6, has been jailed for three days in Turkey. Dosky was there for a new project and got arrested because of suspected ‘terrorist activities’. (article in Dutch)

The Indian authorities have charged the renowned novelist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy over public comments she made 13 years ago about the restive Kashmir region, the latest step in an intensifying crackdown on free speech by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Turkey says it has carried out a number of air strikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, hours after a suicide blast hit the interior ministry.

Armenian separatist forces in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered and agreed to a ceasefire on Wednesday, 24 hours after Baku began an offensive to restore full control of its territory.

The change was requested by the Catalan pro-independence parties on whose support the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is relying to form a new government after July’s general election resulted in a hung parliament.

Nine months into Azerbaijan’s effective blockade of a road linking its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, a Russian truck has arrived in the enclave carrying humanitarian aid.

‘Chasing Dreams’, an eight-part series aired on state TV, features testimony from dozens of soldiers

Latest in long history of nautical intimidations by Beijing, which lays unrecognized claim to almost all of the South China Sea.

UK asks bloc to clarify position after Buenos Aires declares ‘triumph’ over use of term in declaration.

North Korea is reported to have detained a serving US army soldier who crossed the heavily-fortified border from South Korea without permission. The man was on an organised tour of the UN-run zone dividing the two countries.

Israel has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the Moroccan government and a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office say. Rabat said on Monday that Israel is considering opening a consulate in Dakhla.

Warner Bros says map is ‘child-like’ after Vietnam accused film-makers of depicting China’s nine-dash line in South China Sea.

The 2020 Miss Vietnam Do Thi Ha and 2022 Miss Grand Vietnam Doan Thien An visited the Spratly Islands to entertain the naval troops stationed there.

A Taiwanese taekwondo athlete who waved a Chinese flag after winning a bronze at the Asia-Pacific Masters Games (APMG) in South Korea was not officially registered with Taiwan’s team, the Sports Administration stated in a reaction to the incident.

Self-styled preacher Amritpal Singh, whose calls for Sikh independence riled India’s authorities, has been arrested in Punjab state. The 30-year-old had been on the run for more than a month after evading arrest in Punjab on 18 March.

Fugitive rape-accused Nithyananda is in the news after his disciple Vijayapriya Nithyananda, along with five other women, represented his ‘country’ Kailasa at a UN conference.

The International Court of Justice has ordered Azerbaijan to “ensure unimpeded movement” on the highway connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been virtually closed for more than two months.

Fighting resumed on Tuesday in the disputed town of Las Anod in the self-declared republic of Somaliland. It was sparked when Dhulbahante clan elders reportedly issued a declaration stating that they no longer considered themselves part of Somaliland.