News
Vietnam jails fifth climate activist on tax charges
One of Vietnam’s best-known climate activists has been sentenced to three years in prison over tax evasion. Hoang Thi Minh Hong is the fifth Vietnamese activist to be jailed over the charge. Campaigners say it is part of a state-authorised move to silence criticism of the country’s ...
Jonathan Head
China welcomes Cambodian and Zambian leaders as it forges deeper ties with Global South
BEIJING (AP) — China and Zambia upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on Friday, the latest move by America’s chief global rival to forge deeper ties with the Global South. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zambian counterpart announced the agreement shortly after Xi ...
KEN MORITSUGU
Vietnam Joins ASEAN Neighbors in Denouncing Chinese Map
Vietnam has joined three other Southeast Asian governments in denouncing a new map published by China’s government, which depicted the country’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. The so-called “new standard” map, which was published by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on August 28, has ...
Sebastian Strangio
New Thai government must show more responsibility with the Mekong
Around this time of year when the rainy season begins, people living on the banks of the Mekong River along the Thai-Lao border always feel a little less stressed because rising water levels mean more fish and food to support their survival. Until the mid-1990s, these ...
Titipol Phakdeewanich
Rights group: Bangladesh failing to protect Rohingya against rising violence in camps
Bangladesh is not doing enough to protect Rohingya from increasing violence by armed groups and criminal gangs operating in the refugee camps near the country’s border with Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Some of these stateless refugees who fled from persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine ...
Ahammad Foyez and Abdur Rahman for BenarNews
Cambodia’s democratic journey: Upholding sovereignty and fostering progress
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s struggle for independence and its subsequent tumultuous experiences have profoundly shaped the country’s approach to peace, stability, sovereignty and democracy in the Cambodian way on the basis of these experiences, histories, identities and practices. From the legacy of the colonisation to the ...
License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
KOH KONG, Cambodia — “I think there’s a 30% chance we’ll have trouble with the police,” said Ly Chandaravuth, an environmental activist with the outlawed group Mother Nature Cambodia. This was in August 2022, when Mother Nature Cambodia was planning a trip to Koh Kong Krao, ...
Gerald Flynn
Airstrikes Kill Dozens in Central Myanmar
Dozens of people in coup-hit Myanmar’s central region were killed in airstrikes Tuesday, according to local media reports and a witness contacted by AFP. The country has been in chaos and its economy in tatters since the military seized power in February 2021. The death toll from ...
Agence France-Presse
‘Tip of the spear’: Battling the Golden Triangle’s drug lords
In the far north of Thailand, a deadly conflict is playing out between drug syndicates and Thai security forces working to stop a flood of narcotics from the region known as the Golden Triangle. Drug shipment sizes are staggering and the body count rising in this low-intensity battle ...
Kevin Doyle
Vietnam, Laos, Thailand strengthen transport connectivity
The 23rd preparatory conference of the nine provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand that share the use of Road 8 and Road 12 was recently held in the central Lao province of Bolykhamsay to review their cooperation. A representative of Bolykhamsay province reported the implementation of ...