LATEST ARTICLES

On the brink

On the brink

Once a formidable statement of colonial justice, the faded red former High Court building in downtown Yangon has seen better days. Greenery sprouts from the domed clock tower and weeds have taken root along the cream-coloured lintels. A guard waves interested tourists away. Ripe for preservation and conservation, the huge edifice is sadly dilapidated, like …read more

Hong Kong’s mainly young protesters demand a bigger say in the future

Hong Kong's mainly young protesters demand a bigger say in the future

Hot, tired and emotional, Kit Wong couldn’t control his tears. Awake all night, watching television footage of Hong Kong’s riot police launching tear gas and pepper spray against young democracy protesters sheltering behind flimsy umbrellas, the 26-year-old travel agent was appalled.

China wears down protesters

China wears down protesters

Weary protesters tried to force a showdown with the Hong Kong government last night, warning they would occupy various government buildings if their demands were not met. Yet the government refused to negotiate and police refrained from forcing thousands of protesters to vacate the three key protest sites they have occupied since Sunday.

Sun rises: Beijing aims to wait out protesters

Sun rises: Beijing aims to wait out protesters

Protests in Hong Kong continued to grow yesterday while the authorities adopted a less confrontational strategy towards the demonstrating crowds who have brought parts of the city to a standstill since the weekend.

Anniversary threat to Hong Kong protesters

Anniversary threat to Hong Kong protesters

Crowds at the main protest site in Hong Kong built quickly yesterday, with many thousands of pro-democracy protesters determined to crash or crash through today’s significant date – the 65th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

Hong Kong braces for more protests

Hong Kong braces for more protests

Hong Kong was braced for more thousands-strong protests last night, following a weekend of chaos with police repeatedly launching tear-gas attacks to push back crowds of passionate pro-democracy demonstrators.

Mosquito-borne and dangerous

Mosquito-borne and dangerous

The commercial roll-out of the world’s first dengue vaccine is in sight, but tropical disease experts are already questioning the breakthrough vaccine’s drawbacks. Often known as “breakbone fever”, with symptoms of excruciating joint pain, high fevers, and, in severe cases, internal bleeding – dengue is carried by mosquitos.

Street fighter

Street fighter

Scott Neeson frowns as he reads the message on his computer screen. Another child has been beaten and raped. “Oh, it’s Siem Reap again,” he says grimly, referring to the town in Cambodia’s north, near the wildly popular Angkor Wat temples. He reads on, noting that the child has been airlifted to a hospital in …read more

Asia grapples with dengue, malaria threats

Asia grapples with dengue, malaria threats

The current outbreak of dengue fever in central Tokyo underscores recent World Health Organisation warnings that climate change is increasingly extending the range of potentially fatal tropical diseases like malaria and dengue. Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, a World Health Organisation entomologist based in the Philippines, told the Nikkei Asian Review that global warming is continuing to …read more

Final Justice

Final Justice

Here in Bill Smith’s office there’s a very fat text, maybe 10 centimetres thick, bound in pale pink paper. It’s one of thousands of so-called “confessions”, extracted by torture at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison run by the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. The text sits in a bookcase stacked with fat folders bulging with …read more