Disasters and emergency response

Vietnam’s flood death toll rose to at least 23 and authorities said the incoming storm Nangka would dump more heavy rain on the country in the coming days. The floods also left at least 14 people missing in Vietnam’s central provinces, the government said in a ...

Elderly residents and small children clung to inflatable tyres as soldiers and police used rope lines to bring them to safety beyond rising floodwater in Cambodia’s western province of Battambang, which is expected to worsen on Sunday. Hundreds of families in three Cambodian provinces – Pursat, ...

The stay-at-home order because of COVID-19 is causing hardships for the most vulnerable in Yangon. Only one person is allowed to go out at a time and some streets don’t allow strangers to enter, causing hardships for street pedlars and gig economy workers. Most shops in ...

Myanmar’s second wave of coronavirus may have been triggered by “returnees” from neighboring Bangladesh, who brought the illness back with them when they illegally entered Rakhine state, which is now a COVID-19 hotspot, according to a senior government health official. But other experts say the evidence ...

It is time for the annual floods in the Mekong Delta, but the flooding season these days is more a cherished memory than a practical phenomenon. One day in mid-September Cao Van Bi, 50, was rowing a boat with his wife across a paddy field that ...

A surge in fake news around Southeast Asia, particularly bogus COVID-19 information, has prompted leaders to explore a regional crackdown after a suggestion from a Vietnamese security official. Police agencies in the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries – which represent a total population ...

On September 30, Myanmar announced a record 946 COVID-19 cases in a single day. Less noticed was that it also performed a record number of lab tests – 6,262, to be exact. As cases have increased, particularly in Yangon, numbers like this have quickly become the ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is assisting the government of Thailand in designing, issuing and monitoring innovative capital market initiatives as part of the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in a manner aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ADB’s ...

The Mekong Delta region should take proactive measures to protect fruit orchards in the 2020 – 21 dry season as severe saltwater intrusion in rivers is forecast in the coming months, experts have said. The measures should include zoning areas for each type of fruit, securing irrigation water and providing extra care ...

Storm Noul hit southern Laos on Friday after passing through Vietnam, bringing heavy rain and flooding to many areas. In Xekong province, the main road in Ta-oy district was flooded on Friday, causing problems for traffic. A local official said “Livestock was moved to higher ground ...