Fifteen Set to Appeal Sentences For Bien Hoa Protests in Vietnam

Fifteen Vietnamese protesters handed jail terms for their role in mass protests in Bien Hoa city in June will go before a judge on Thursday to appeal their sentences, sources said.

North Korean Supreme Guard Command Officer Purged for Listening to RFA

An officer of North Korea’s elite Supreme Guard Command (also known as Unit 963) was reportedly purged last month for having listened to an RFA broadcast.

Myanmar Gears up For First Round of Rohingya Repatriations Amid Doubts About Their Safety

Myanmar is gearing up to take back more than 2,260 Rohingya Muslim and Hindu refugees who fled to Bangladesh during a military crackdown in Rakhine state as its first group of returnees in mid-November under a bilateral repatriation deal made nearly a year ago, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

Myanmar Keeps Media Away From Rakhine Conflict Zone

On August 25, 2017, following a series of deadly attacks on police stations and guard posts in the country’s western Rakhine state by an obscure militant group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Myanmar security forces launched what they called “clearance operations” in the Rakhine townships of Buthedaung and Maungdaw.

UN: 486 Million Still Hungry in Asia, Progress Stalled

Despite rapid economic growth, the Asia-Pacific region has nearly a half billion people who go hungry as progress stalls in improving food security and basic living conditions, a United Nations report said Friday.

Vietnamese Blogger, Rights Activist Vy to be Tried on Flag Affront Charges

A well-known Vietnamese blogger and human rights advocate is set to face trial for "affronting the national flag or national emblem,” a rights group and her lawyer said on Friday, three months after she was briefly detained and had her computer, books and other items confiscated.

Human Rights Watch: Sexual Violence in North Korea ‘Accepted as Part of Ordinary Life’

Sexual violence is so rampant in North Korea that it has become an accepted part of ordinary life, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) based on interviews with women from the North who have taken asylum in South Korea.

Malaria Cases in Myanmar See Huge Drop, Thanks to Efforts by Community Health Workers

Instances of malaria in remote and rural locations in Myanmar have fallen dramatically during a six-year period as a result of trained community health care workers providing a wider package of services along with screenings for the disease transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical regions, a study has found.

Wary Rohingya Refugees Set Out Terms For Repatriation to Myanmar From Bangladesh

A group of Rohingya Muslim refugees living in Bangladesh have called for recognition as an ethnic group and restoration of their Myanmar citizenship as key conditions for accepting repatriation to Rakhine state presented to officials from the two countries who visited the camp on Wednesday.

Exclusive Report: Bureaucratic Chaos Rife in Hours Before Laos Dam Burst

On the night of July 23, water poured over a saddle dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy (PNPC) hydropower project in Champassak, Laos, sweeping away homes and causing severe flooding in up to 12 villages downstream in Champassak and neighboring Attapeu province.

Vietnam, Cambodia seek to strengthen defense ties

Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich hosted a reception in Hanoi on October 30 for General Vong Pisen, General Commander of the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces who is on an official visit to Vietnam from October 29-31.

Myanmar Labor Groups Urge EU Not to Drop Crucial Trade Preferences

They say the withdrawal of tariff-free access to the bloc will lead to factory closures and job losses.

Myanmar Doubles Down on Denial as UN Official Sees ‘Ongoing Genocide’ Of Rohingya

Myanmar has rejected statements by senior U.N. rights officials that Rohingya are enduring “ongoing genocide” a year after a brutal military campaign drove more than 700,000 members of the Muslim ethnic minority into Bangladesh.

An Update on The Montagnards of Vietnam’s Central Highlands

A symposium on Vietnam has turned a spotlight on the country’s oppressed Montagnard minority, whose plight has drawn little attention in recent years.

Myanmar Courts Free Detained Eleven Media Journalists on Bail

Three journalists from Eleven Media who were detained on incitement charges were each freed on 10 million Kyats bail Friday at Tamwe Township Court.

High Demand Creates Black Market for Cosmetic Surgery in North Korea

South Korea is often called the plastic surgery capital of the world. Business Insider recently published an article that suggested as many as half of South Korea’s female population between 19 and 29 have undergone the knife for cosmetic reasons, and the procedures have attracted large numbers of women from around Asia.

Letter: Jailed Vietnamese Activist Nguyen Van Hoa Suffers Abuse in Prison

A friend of jailed Vietnamese activist blogger Nguyen Van Hoa released a summary of a letter Hoa had last month sent to his family from prison describing physical abuse and ploys to coerce him into testifying against other activists in cases with which he had no connection.

Vietnam Wants to Go Hollywood

Call it Vollywood? Vietnam’s movie scene is growing quickly, with an explosion of theaters across the country, more filmmakers entering the market, and more global attention from the 2017 blockbuster “Kong,” which was set and filmed here.

Jailed Vietnamese Activist in Failing Health, Unable to Walk

Jailed Vietnamese democracy activist Nguyen Trung Ton, a member of the online Brotherhood for Democracy advocacy group, is in failing health in prison and unable to walk owing to an untreated injury suffered in a beating two years ago, according to his wife.

Yangon Government Wants Published Apology From Jailed Eleven Media Journalists

Government officials in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon said Tuesday that they will drop a court case against three jailed journalists accused of committing offenses against the state if the trio issues a written apology in state-owned newspapers.

LATEST NEWS

5,000 Indians in Cambodia, forced into cyber scams; MHA takes note

The source said those trapped in Cambodia were forced to scam people back in India and, in some cases, extort money by pretending to be law enforcement officials and saying that they had found some suspicious materials in their parcels.