In June, an incident at a hydropower dam on the Dabein river, a Chinese-Burmese joint venture put an end to a 17-year ceasefire in Kachin state. Six months and tens of thousands of refugees later, the new Burmese government is making progress towards reform, but has left the Kachin behind. During her visit to Burma […]
Indonesian policeman who shot to fame in April by lip-synching and grooving to an Indian Bollywood hit in a YouTube video has been sacked and forced to hand in his badge. Read more: MCOT
A leading Japanese food manufacturer says radioactive cesium has been detected in its baby formula – the latest food scare to grip the country since the nuclear disaster at a power plant northeast of Tokyo nine months ago. The Meiji Company said Tuesday it has launched an immediate recall of 400,000 cans of powdered milk […]
Indonesia on Sunday released a 14-year-old Australian boy convicted of drug possession on the resort island of Bali after two months in detention. A high school student from a coastal area north of Sydney, the teen has been the focus of intense negotiations involving Canberra’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and other Australian officials lobbying for […]
One of the main ethnic rebel groups in Burma has reportedly agreed to a preliminary ceasefire with the government. Burmese exile websites said Friday that the Shan State Army is negotiating with the government on an agreement to stop the violence, begin political negotiations, and cooperate on fighting illegal drugs.
Valeska Paris, an Australian women and former Scientologist, has claimed that the Church of Scientology imprisoned her for twelve years aboard the Scientology-owned cruise ship, Freewinds. Paris claims she was first sent to the ship aged eighteen for two weeks as a teenager but ended up spending twelve years there. Paris also claims that her […]
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Burma Wednesday for a historic visit. Clinton’s trip is the first in half a century for a top U.S. diplomat and is in response to political and economic reforms by the military-dominated government. The secretary’s visit is the first visit by America’s top diplomat since Burma’s military […]
30 November 2011 – The rising manufacture, trafficking and use of methamphetamines in East Asia and Southeast Asia pose a growing threat to public health and security in the region, as transnational organized criminal groups become increasingly involved, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said today. In a report UNODC notes that […]
