People and government
Myanmar's Anti-Corruption Fight Gathers Steam
Myanmar’s anti-corruption commission has in recent weeks sued a senior bureaucrat and begun investigating a disgraced minister, indicating a crackdown on corruption promised by the government is finally happening. Often criticized as weak and unambitious, the commission’s stepped-up efforts suggest the Southeast Asian country is ...
U.S. raises concerns about Vietnam's proposed cybersecurity law
The United States has raised concerns with Vietnam about its proposed cybersecurity law, the U.S. Embassy said on Thursday, amid activists’ fears the new legislation will cause economic harm and crackdown on online dissent in the communist-ruled country. Keep reading ...
Myanmar Military Targets Other Ethnic Groups After Driving Rohingya Out
Myanmar’s military, fresh off a bloody campaign that drove most of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority into neighboring Bangladesh, has launched a new offensive against the armed forces of an ethnic group along the northern border with China using helicopter gunships, jet fighters and heavy ...
Revised sex education curriculum planned for secondary schools
The government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), together with civil society organisations, are discussing the inclusion of comprehensive sexuality education in the curriculum at lower and upper secondary schools. Keep reading ...
A Fragile New ‘Normal’ Descends on South China Sea Claimants
The United States and China have apparently reached a tacit agreement to disagree and maintain a leaky status quo in the South China Sea. Not coincidentally, relations on this issue between Asean claimants and between Asean and China are more or less at the same place. Keep ...
Three new border gates on the way
Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to open three new border checkpoints to facilitate trade and the movement of people across the border, according to Thailand’s ambassador to Cambodia. Keep reading ...
Record drug haul in Malaysia
Customs officials in Malaysia have seized a record amount of crystal methamphetamine, worth 18 million dollars. It was concealed in a shipment from Myanmar. [] The UN Office on Drugs and Crime recently warned that the production of methamphetamine has reached an alarming level in the ...
Meth spreading across region as supply spikes
The Golden Triangle’s methamphetamine problem is spreading beyond the Mekong region, with high volumes of the drug being seized in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Figures revealed yesterday show that from 2008 to last year, meth tablet seizures in the region increased from 50 ...
Secure access to land critical to achieve an end to hunger
Addressing fairly the challenges of land tenure for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific is a critical step that policy makers must take if the region is to meet the 2030 deadline for zero hunger and eradication of poverty, the Food ...
70th joint patrol on Mekong River completed
The 70th joint patrol on the Mekong River with law enforcers from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand was completed on Friday. Ten vessels and more than 160 law enforcers participated in the mission which started on Tuesday.During the joint patrol, the personnel held a seminar on ...
