Economy and industry
U.S. court asked to force Facebook to release Myanmar officials' data for genocide case
Lawyers bringing a case before the World Court accusing Myanmar of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority have asked a U.S. district court to order Facebook to release posts and communications of the country’s military and police. The International Court of Justice based in the Hague ...
Anthony Deutsch
China ITS : can be sued for choking Mekong
China is blighting millions of Southeast Asians by choking the Mekong River. It can be sued before the United Nations. Reparations and sanctions can be extracted under international pacts. Beijing communist rulers’ global excesses amidst COVID-19 pandemic will isolate China. Eleven dams on China’s side of the Mekong have dried up farms downstream in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. ...
Mekong River Commission provides updates on Luang Prabang and Sanakham consultation plans
The prior consultation process of the 1460MW Luang Prabang hydropower on the Mekong mainstream will now be concluded on 30 June 2020, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has announced, with prior consultation to start on the 684MW Sanakham project once this is complete. During the Special ...
Laos-China railway almost 90% complete
Construction of the Laos-China railway was 89.43 per cent complete as of the end of May with Lao authorities calling for the project developer to progress work according to plan. General Manager Xiao Qianwen of the Laos-China Railway Co, Ltd. (LCRC), a joint venture based in ...
Vietnam-EU Trade: EVFTA Ratified by Vietnam’s National Assembly
Highlights: Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 8 ratified the EVFTA and the EVIPA agreements between Vietnam and the EU. Analysts hope the trade deal will give a much-needed boost to Vietnam’s economy as it looks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement is expected to take effect sometime ...
Dezan Shira & Associates
Thai Activists Raise Alarm Over New Proposed Lao Mekong Dam
Thai activists and organizations have raised alarm bells following last month’s announcement that the Mekong River Commission will begin its prior consultation process on the Sanakham hydropower plant, a new Mekong River dam project in northern Laos. The plant would be the sixth dam in Laos, costing more than $2 billion, and would follow Laos’ Xayaburi Dam, farther upstream, which began operation in November. The MRC prior consultation ...
Steve Sandford
Water Becomes a Weapon in China’s Geopolitical Chess
Many centuries ago, the great Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed: “The nature of water is such that it avoids heights and hastens to the lowlands. When a dam is broken, the water cascades with irresistible force. Now the shape of an army resembles water. Take ...
Mayank Singh
Desperate times for independent media as COVID-19 savages a fragile industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for news media organisations, ranging from lost advertising revenue as businesses close or suspend services, to trying to arrange interviews or gather information while complying with social distancing and travel restrictions. The pandemic has only exacerbated the financial pressures ...
NAW BETTY HAN
Thai NGOs Urge Government Not to Buy Power from Sanakham Dam in Laos
A dam prepared for building and construction by Laos on the Mekong river will have unfavorable effects not just on Lao towns however likewise in close-by Thailand, a union of Thai ecological groups states, including that the government in Bangkok ought to cancel strategies to ...
Miriam Jackson
Sanakam dam anger grows
A conservation group has called for the scrapping of the Sanakam dam which is being built in Laos on the Mekong River two kilometres from Nan province. The group urged Laos and neighbouring countries to embrace more ecological friendly renewable energy projects such as solar cells ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN