News
NLD urged to make environment a focus
After five years in which the government had concentrated on economic reforms, it was now time to protect the neglected environment, activists say. Speaking at a 25 November conference on environmental laws organised by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, participants said the incoming government ...
NLD pledges support for ceasefire process
Myanmar’s new government to be formed by the National League for Democracy will support the nationwide ceasefire process, senior party officials on 26 November assured five ethnic armed groups that signed the pact last month with President U Thein Sein. Leaders of the five groups met the officials ...
Relatives of landslide victims urged to reject compensation
A Kachin civil society group is urging relatives of those killed in a landslide near a Hpakant jade mine on 21 November to reject an offer of K600,000 compensation for each victim, and has reiterated threats to press charges against those involved in the mining ...
November trade deficit narrows to $3.8b
Vietnam’s trade deficit narrowed to US$3.8 billion in the first 11 months of this year, from the $4.1 billion recorded for the first 10 months. According to the General Statistics Office, the reduction was thanks to an $18.8 billion trade surplus achieved by foreign direct investment ...
Fewer Vietnam traffic accidents in 2015
Vietnam has seen a sharp decrease in the number and the severity of traffic accidents in recent years. Compared to 2011, the number of traffic accidents in 2015 has gone down by 51 per cent, the number of fatalities and injured down by 24 per ...
Civil servants among biggest drinkers in Vietnam: survey
Civil servants and young people are the biggest drinkers in Vietnam, according to a recent survey by the Institute of Sociology in Hanoi. The institute on 25 November released the results of the survey, conducted in Hanoi and Lao Cai Province in the north, Da Nang City ...
EU passes resolution supporting Rainsy
Cambodia National Rescue Party officials on 26 November fanned out across the country to call for calm amongst grassroots members, as the European Parliament passed a resolution demanding the government revoke a two-year prison term levelled against opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who remains abroad. Splitting into three ...
Defying ban, disabled groups play on
On the corner of one of Phnom Penh’s busiest roads this week, motorcyclists pulled over one by one holding out crumpled banknotes to a group of blind performers who were belting out a score of traditional Cambodian songs. The group, like many others across Phnom Penh, ...
Mekong yields first giant catfish of year
One of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world was netted by local fishermen near Phnom Penh earlier this month. A two-metre Mekong giant catfish, weighing an estimated 90 to 114 kilos, one of only a handful left of a species that faces extinction, ...
Cambodia shows narrow but strong FDI growth
Foreign direct investment flows continued to see strong growth across the 10-member ASEAN bloc in 2014, with most countries in the Lower Mekong region reporting higher levels of inflows given their rising infrastructure needs and manufacturing activities, according to a new report jointly produced by ...
