The Guardian
If we care about plastic waste, why won’t we stop drinking bottled water?
For all the innovation and choice that define the food and drink industries, if you want to make money, you could do a lot worse than bung some water in a bottle and flog it. A litre of tap water, the stuff we have ingeniously ...
Simon Usborne
The Thai children putting a brave face on the horror of sexual abuse
When photographer Marieke van der Velden was asked by the Dutch charity Down to Zero to do an awareness-raising project on Thai children who had been victims of commercial sexual exploitation, she was uncertain how to proceed. For obvious reasons, her subjects’ faces could not be shown. In Thailand, Van der ...
Vietnam summit: US president blames disagreement over sanctions for no deal
Donald Trump has said that a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke down over the issue of sanctions, after the talks in Vietnam ended early with no deal. “It was about the sanctions basically,” Trump said at a press conference in Hanoi. “They ...
Brexit could put 1.7 million people around globe into extreme poverty
It’s a long way from Whitehall and Brussels, but a study has found that the developing country that will be hardest hit by Brexit is the south-east Asian nation of Cambodia. With the deadline to reach a Brexit agreement looming in March, much attention has been given to ...
Trade of coastal sand is damaging wildlife of poorer nations, study finds
The secretive trade of coastal sand to wealthy countries such as China is seriously damaging the wildlife of poorer nations whose resources are being plundered, according to a new study. Sand and gravel are the most extracted groups of materials worldwide after water, with sand used in ...
Climate change will make hundreds of millions more people nutrient deficient
Rising levels of carbon dioxide could make crops less nutritious and damage the health of hundreds of millions of people, research has revealed, with those living in some of the world’s poorest regions likely to be hardest hit. Previous research has shown that many food crops become ...
Myanmar and UN announce deal for return of Rohingya
Myanmar’s government has announced an agreement with two UN agencies for the return of refugees who fled violence in Rakhine state, but Rohingya have expressed concerns that it does not do enough to guarantee their safety. Keep reading ...
Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river
A Chinese-backed plan to build Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river, according to a confidential assessment seen by the Guardian which says that the proposed site at Sambor is the “worst possible place” for hydropower. Keep reading ...
Myanmar army killing civilians in escalating conflict in Kachin, warns UN
The UN’s human rights expert for Myanmar has raised alarm over a lethal escalation in hostilities in the country’s Kachin state, warning that civilians had been killed and displaced in recent government bombing. Keep reading ...
Peter Beaumont
Crocodile lizard is one of 115 new species found in Greater Mekong
A snail-eating turtle found in a food market and a bat with a horseshoe-shaped face are among 115 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region. A report from the conservation charity WWF reveals that three new mammals, 11 amphibians, two fish, 11 reptiles and 88 ...
The Guardian Reporter