News
Johanna Powell: Laos river death inquest to 'take three months'
An inquest into the death of a Cardiff woman on holiday in south-east Asia should be completed within three months, a pre-inquest review has heard. BBC Wales picture editor Johanna Powell, 37, died in Laos on 11 April. Keep reading ...
France repatriates 150 smuggled rare tortoises seized on route to Laos
Some 150 rare tortoises are to be returned to Madagascar by French customs, who seized them in December while they were being smuggled to Laos. The reptiles needed several months of intensive care after being transported hidden in cases of sea cucumbers. Keep reading ...
ASEAN puts last touches to economic community
With most of the high-priority measures in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) blueprint already adopted, policymakers and businesses need to work closely on the remaining challenges to achieve benefits of full economic integration beyond 2015, a new report recommends. The report from Ernst & Young, titled ...
Vietnamese students win top prize with Mekong video
In their efforts to save the Mekong River, a team of young Vietnamese students from Can Tho University have won the first prize in the 2015 ASEAN Youth Video Contest. Seven youths represented Vietnam at the ASEAN Youth camp in last May in Singapore, in the ...
After delta deluge, an escape to higher ground
Residents of the Irrawaddy Delta continue to reel from widespread, severe flooding that the region has suffered since mid-July, with thousands forced to abandon their inundated homes in search of higher ground. Keep reading ...
Myanmar's central bank talks up stability amid economic challenges
The Central Bank of Myanmar pledged 18 August to assist private banks that may run into financial difficulties, looking to address recent speculation that some financial institutions were heading for a crash due in part to the recent depreciation of the kyat. Central Bank officials held a ...
Myanmar's parliament extends martial law along Chinese border
Myanmar’s parliament voted on 18 August to again extend martial law for three months in a restive area along the country’s border with China, where there have been clashes between the military and an armed ethnic group since February. Cross-border incidents in the fighting have strained ties ...
Vietnam shares budget problems with Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar
Budget decisions and oversight were among the subjects discussed by representatives from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar together with foreign experts at a joint workshop that opened in the central coastal city of Da Nang on 17 August. Keep reading ...
Cambodia's garment exports up 9% in first half of 2015
The garment industry, Cambodia’s largest foreign currency earner, has seen a 9% rise in exports in the first six months of 2015, according to the Chinese State’s News Agency-Xinhua. Keep reading ...
ASEAN joins forces to combat human trafficking
The crime of trafficking in persons affects virtually every country in every region in the world, but the Southeast Asian region in particular is hosting a robust flow of trans-regional trafficking in persons for forced labor and sexual exploitation involving thousands of men, women and ...
