Slash and burn farming is generating huge amounts of pollution
southeast asia
Eight Months On, E.U. Lawmakers Talk Tough Over Disappeared Laos Activist
The video is admittedly grainy, but what it shows is undeniable — well, at least to everyone except the Laotian government. Prominent Laotian civil-society leader Sombath Somphone was last seen on Dec. 15, 2012, driving in his …
Must-Reads from Around the World
Colombia’s president slams “enemies” for “poisoning” peace negotiations with the FARC rebels, foreign companies are looking to Cambodia to limit their overreliance on Chinese factories and Argentinians have celebrated the news of …
Away from the U.S. Conventions, a New World Order Takes Shape
Though you wouldn’t guess it in an election year, the rest of the world increasingly does not need American leadership to guide the way.
The Odd Couple: Singapore and Malaysia Team Up on Development Zone
A $28 billion port, tourism and industrial complex called Iskandar Malaysia is rising at the tip of southern Malaysia. It promises to knit together erstwhile rivals and, in so doing, reshape the regional economy
“We're a counterbalance to China. That's what we heard from the leaders in these countries.”
Justice Deferred: Why Indonesia Doesn’t Want to Host the ‘Bali Bomber’ Trial
You’d think Indonesia would jump at the chance to try Umar Patek, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali Bombings. But the head of the country’s anti-terror agency, Ansyaad Mbai, says a high-profile terror trial is too much of a security risk. Patek, one of the leaders of the al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah …
Burma’s Suu Kyi Announces High Stakes Political Tour
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Pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi confirmed Monday that she’s planning a visit to Burma’s provinces this summer. “I hope to be able to travel out of Rangoon in the month of June, as soon as I have got rid of all the work that has piled up,” she said in a video …
Osama is Dead, But ‘Bin Ladenism’ Endures in Southeast Asia
Just over a week after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, pundits seem keen to tout the end of “Bin Ladenism,” too. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks “lived long enough to see so many young Arabs repudiate his ideology,” observed the Times‘ Thomas Friedman. Although he and others are right to celebrate the ‘Arab Spring,’ it seems …