They are part of Myanmar’s My Friend campaign, started by human rights activists this summer. The organizers want people to post selfies of themselves with friends from different religious or ethnic backgrounds, using the hashtag #myfriend of #friendshiphasnoboundaries.

Ahead of crucial election, musicians rail against government-sanctioned repression of persecuted Rohingya minority. The band Side Effect is one of Myanmar's most popular punk rock bands and among a growing number of musicians rallying to combat hate speech. The performance came as religious tensions escalate in the former military dictatorship leading up to a landmark general election on Sunday.

After a decade, in the 2000s, in which China aggressively pursued warmer relations with many Southeast Asian nations, using a combination of diplomacy, aid, and soft power to woo its neighbors, the past five years have seen a significant chill in China-Southeast Asia relations. 

Most of the focus on China’s soft power has emphasised infrastructure projects spearheaded by Beijing as a way to forge good relations with countries it deemed to be of strategic importance. But China has come to recognise the intangible benefits of a well-burnished public image abroad – goodwill and influence roads and railways alone cannot buy.

UNHCR is calling for urgent action before the end of the monsoon season unleashes a new wave of people leaving on boats from the Bay of Bengal. [...] With the next "sailing season" expected to start in the coming weeks, UNHCR is working with agencies and other partners on an information campaign warning potential travelers of the risks of getting on smugglers' boats.

There are many forms of diplomacy. There's twin-track diplomacy, gunboat diplomacy, parachute diplomacy, cricket diplomacy, ping-pong diplomacy and more. The Indian government has invented a new variant, kiss-and-telldiplomacy, by successfully embarrassing a friendly neighbour, Myanmar.

There are many forms of diplomacy. There's twin-track diplomacy, gunboat diplomacy, parachute diplomacy, cricket diplomacy, ping-pong diplomacy and more. The Indian government has invented a new variant, kiss-and-tell diplomacy, by successfully embarrassing a friendly neighbour, Myanmar. India and Myanmar both suffer depredations inflicted by militant groups operating from camps on both sides of the border. [...] The raid on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) camps was not the first time India struck across the border.

Hands clasped and eyes squeezed shut, the students stand in two lines near the back of a spacious monastery classroom. Several suppress a smile as they wait for an “electric pulse” to make its way down each line, passed from one person to the next with a quick squeeze of the hand. When it reaches a young woman at the end of one row, she races to grab a water bottle from the seat of a plastic chair nearby.