News
Hundreds of environmental and customary land activists were killed, why is being a 'very dangerous' activist?
The killing of a prominent indigenous expert and a British journalist in Brazil is yet another safety issue for environmental and land activists around the world. Bruno Pereira, former head of Brazil’s indigenous organization Funai, and British journalist Dom Phillips were previously declared missing while reporting ...
Southeast Asia’s abortion laws reset at the borders
Abortion is a global health issue, impacting individuals and families regardless of ethnicity, income, social status or nationality. Yet there is no worldwide legal standard for the practice of terminating a pregnancy. Lawmakers and governments hold sway over access to abortion, or its abolition. In the ...
BRIAN P. D. HANNON
Vietnam falls far short of its committment to freedom of expression, report says
Vietnam has a long way to go before it can realize its goal of joining the UN Human Rights council, according to the Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN). The pressure group points to Vietnam’s treatment of journalists, who the government says are protected from all ...
By RFA Vietnamese
Vietnam orders media to promote its ocean strategy
The Vietnamese government has launched a national campaign to promote its maritime policies as the ruling party pledges to explore “all available legal tools” to defend its interests amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. A government order stipulates that by 2025, all domestic media outlets ...
RFA Staff
Mekong dams must release less water in dry season to preserve habitats, experts say
Abnormally high-water levels in the Mekong River at the end of May indicate that dams on the river must release less water during the dry season to protect the ecosystem, experts said at an online panel Monday. Rain levels during the dry season this year have ...
Eugene Whong for RFA
New hope for Mekong ‘megafish’
Weighing in at 661 pounds, a giant stingray hooked by a fisherman in Cambodia’s Mekong River earlier this month has taken the title of world’s largest freshwater fish. Nicknamed “Boramy,” or “full moon” in the Khmer language, the female ray — which was released — raises ...
Vanessa Bauza
$1.9 billion allocated to building Mekong Delta expressway
The National Assembly on Thursday agreed to spend nearly VNĐ45 trillion (US$1.9 billion) building more than 188 kilometres of highway in the Mekong Delta. On the last day of their third sitting in Hà Nội, legislators passed a resolution to carry out Phase I of the ...
Mekong Delta eyes rapid development of renewable energy
The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta will need to optimise its natural conditions to develop renewable energy and attract investment in the sector to mitigate the impacts of climate change, experts have said. The region has much potential for renewables like wind, solar and biomass, they said. It has a ...
Xuan Hiep and Viet Dung
Plastic river: Following the waste that’s choking the Chao Phraya
The Chao Phraya River is born from mountain streams in northern Thailand, flowing hundreds of kilometres south to the sea. By the time the river travels through Bangkok and empties into the Gulf of Thailand, it is carrying huge quantities of plastic waste – an ...
Wanpen Pajai
Villagers protest Yuam River diversion project
Residents from 46 villages in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai petitioned the chairman of the National Environment Board (NEB) and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to scrap the planned diversion of Yuam River. The petition was filed at Mae Hong Son’s complaint centre in Sop ...
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