Languages
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
ENVIRONMENT: World Bank Faces Tiger Trap in Burma
As the World Bank embarks on its latest foray to protect Asian forests that are home to wild tigers, one of the continent’s iconic predators, a visible trap looms in military-ruled Burma.
THAILAND: Anti-gov’t Movement Opens Rural Minds through ‘Schools’
Adult education of a novel kind is making its way through this remote town of rice farmers, who are drawn to it by a desire to learn about this kingdom’s deep political and social divisions.
POLITICS: Rural Thailand Simmers with Anti-gov’t Rage
Meal by meal, a political feast is being laid out under the night sky to nourish a wave of anti-government protests rapidly spreading across this rural heartland. The diners come dressed in their signature red shirts.RIGHTS: This Time Around, Thailand Targets Karen Refugees
Thailand’s attempt to repatriate over 3,000 ethnic Karens who fled the conflict in military-ruled Burma last year has triggered strong local and international objections, including from 27 members of the United States Congress.THAILAND: Talk of the Next Coup Raises Political Temperature
A Thai national habit of openly speculating if this South-east Asian kingdom is on the verge of its next coup d’etat is in full flight.BURMA: Ethnic Women Expose Opium Fields in Junta Strongholds
A report exposing the spreading opium fields in the north-eastern corner of the military-ruled Burma has brought to light an equally revealing story. It was produced by a team of ethnic women who risked their lives to document the heroin-filled world they inhabit.ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Future of China’s Tiger Farms in the Balance
The road to the world’s first tiger summit in Vladivostok later this year will have to be paved with answers about the future of tiger farms in China and other East Asian countries, said conservationists.LABOUR: Migrant Domestic Workers’ Rights Next on ILO’s Agenda
Po Po has been enduring long hours of hard work, poor pay and abuse within the confines of her employer’s home for the past seven years. Poverty forced her to leave her family in eastern Burma and abandon a university education to work as a domestic helper in Thailand.ASIA: As Economy Turns, Turning Off Stimulus Tap Is a Challenge
As the global financial crisis triggered alarms across Asia, Singapore responded with a government programme to aid its vulnerable workforce. The affluent city- state pumped in three billion U.S. dollars in an employment protection programme.Q&A: ‘Saving Tigers is Good for Ecosystems, Biodiversity’
The first Asian ministerial meeting to protect the tiger, one of the world’s most storied animals, is poised to test a new commitment between government leaders, the World Bank and the global conservationist movement.ASIA: World Bank Aims to Earn Stripes Through Tiger Summit
An international campaign to save the tiger, one of Asia’s iconic wild animals, is proving to be fertile ground for the World Bank to earn its stripes as an institution keen on joining the ranks of conservationists.
Q&A: ‘Commissions for Human Rights Violations Have Failed’
Sri Lanka’s nearly three decades of civil war may be over, but questions about war crimes and gross human rights violations committed during the final stages of that battle in 2009 continue to haunt the South Asian nation.ASIA: China-ASEAN Free Trade Area Sparks Cautious Optimism
The world’s largest free trade area that became a reality at the start of the year is being billed as a welcome shot in the arm for the countries comprising it, namely, China and six South-east Asian countries. It offers a route out of the global financial crisis, analysts said.THAILAND: For PM, Leading a Divided Nation Is a Sisyphean Struggle
A year after coming into office, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is finding some parallels between the challenges of governing this divided South-east Asian kingdom and one of his favourite books, the ‘Myth of Sisyphus’ by French existential novelist Albert Camus.Q&A: Ecological Crisis: Next Challenge for World Social Forum
Ten years after its founding, the World Social Forum (WSF) has come to represent a rallying point for activists and grassroots groups committed to shaping an alternative world view.BURMA: Junta Turns to Draconian Electronics Law to Silence Critics
A court ruling in military-ruled Burma has brought into sharp focus a law the junta widely uses to go after civilians it wants to silence.THAILAND: With Hmong Expulsion, Army Asserts Foreign Policy Role
The recent deportation of Hmong asylum seekers to Laos has shown that Thailand’s powerful military remains the dominant player in shaping the relationship between this South-east Asian kingdom and its immediate neighbours.BURMA: China’s Oil, Gas Pipelines Recipe for Abuse, Warn Activists
China’s growing dependence on military-ruled Burma to meet its energy demands is poised to take concrete form when, according to activists, work commences in the coming months on the construction of oil and gas pipelines.RIGHTS: Thailand Deports Hmong Asylum Seekers to Laos
In a move that places greater weight on growing regional solidarity over historical ties with a western superpower, Thailand ordered its military to forcibly return over 4,000 men, women and children from the Hmong ethnic community to Laos, the country they had fled in search of political asylum.CAMBODIA: Financial Crisis Forces More Teenage Girls into Labour
Until the global financial crisis hit, a journey out of poverty for women in rural Cambodia was assured by the vibrant garment sector that had taken root in the country’s capital. Tens of thousands of women in their twenties poured into Phnom Penh to secure jobs in the hundreds of export-oriented factories.SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Crisis Prompts More Gov’t Spending on Children
When the global financial crisis hit South-east Asia last year, a reality that had once plagued this region – a spike in child labour – emerged as an obvious concern.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
