News
Tigers, jaguars under threat from tropical hydropower projects: Study
The flooding of land for hydroelectric dams has affected more than one-fifth of the world’s tigers (Panthera tigris) and one in two hundred jaguars (Panthera onca), according to the findings of a new study published Dec. 9 in the journal Communications Biology. Seen by some as a low-carbon solution ...
Carolyn Cowan
Where does the Greater Mekong’s illegal timber go?
After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods ...
Sheryl Lee Tian Tong
Thai construction tycoon jailed for poaching protected animals
Thailand’s supreme court has sentenced construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta to two and a half years in prison without probation on charges related to the poaching of protected animals, a prosecutor told Reuters news agency. Premchai, president of Thai construction company Italian-Thai Development, was found guilty on ...
AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
6 countries vow water cooperation
Lancang-Mekong River countries have vowed strengthened cooperation on water resources management as they forge ahead to cope with common challenges in the basin, including drought caused by climate change. Heads of water resources authorities of the six countries made the remarks as they gathered online on ...
Hou Liqiang
Construction of fifth Lao-Thai Mekong bridge 23% complete
Work on the fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River, linking Pakxan district in Borikhamxay province to Bueng Kan province in northeastern Thailand, is now 23 per cent complete. The bridge is expected to be fully complete in 2024 and will serve to boost trade ...
Mekong Commission failure: dam the river and damn the region
Evidence of the climate crisis is everywhere. The Mekong River has recorded historically low dry-season flows for the third year in a row, alongside an increase in the frequency of extreme flood events. Its delta is continuing to sink and shrink, while its riverbanks erode, ...
LAN MERCADO
Why has Da Nang taken the lead in digital transformation?
The central city of Da Nang topped the Digital Transformation Index (DTI) rankings in 2020 for localities nationwide in all three key pillars of digital government, digital economy and digital society, according to the DTI 2020 Report released several days ago by the Ministry of ...
Ho Giap - Nguyen Hien
Major clothing brands contribute to deforestation in Cambodia, report finds
A drone camera soars over a timber yard where thousands of tons of logs are strewn across the ground. In one clip, a bulldozer scoops up a heap of wood while black smoke billows out of its exhaust pipe. In another, workers load wood onto ...
Elizabeth Claire Alberts
Illegal gold mines operate unchecked in Myanmar’s Kachin state since coup
Illegal gold mine operations have run unchecked in the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin state since the military seized power 10 months ago, raising concerns for villagers who spent years protesting a massive Chinese-backed dam project in the early 2000s. Local sources along the Irrawaddy River in ...
Reported by Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Facebook removes accounts targeting critics of Vietnam’s government
Facebook’s parent company removed a network of accounts on the platform that coordinated attacks against Vietnamese activists who criticized the government, but Hanoi said the removed accounts belonged to “anti-state” elements. In its Adversarial Threat Report published Wednesday, Meta said users of the accounts abused Facebook ...
Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.