Tag: Southeast Asia
Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi's U.S. visit marked with delicate diplomatic dance
Aung San Suu Kyi has emerged from the shadows of protest in Myanmar and taking a seat in the country's government. That's enabled her to travel the world, finally, and to the United States this week. But her visit comes shortly before the visit of the president who implemented reforms that freed her, which has forced the U.S., and her, into difficult balancing act....
Sri Lankan scientists create renewable batteries powered by plantain trees
About a quarter of all people worldwide live without electricity. For them, evenings and nights are spent by candlelight or kerosene lamp. But a group of scientists in Sri Lanka say they have found a creative way to bring simple electric lighting to rural households....
The French connection: New book provides sweeping history of Vietnam War
The Vietnam War ranks among the most contentious events in American history. But few experts agree on the specifics of when and how it started. In a new book on the war, historian Frederik Logevall takes a look at the decades preceding American involvement to better understand the making of America's Vietnam....
Cambodian TV show reunites families separated by Khmer Rouge
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia and began a four-year experiment in social reordering. To destroy traditional authority, the regime split families apart. Two million Cambodians perished, but some missing loved ones were never found. Now, a Cambodian reality show is reconnecting family members....
U.S. launches program to clean up Vietnam-era Agent Orange contamination
The United States used millions of gallons of Agent Orange herbicide across Vietnam during the war there, in an effort to destroy the foliage that was giving its enemies cover. But, in the process, it contaminated the soil with dioxin and other chemicals that have persisted and continue to cause birth defects and health problems to this day....
Recent violence in Myanmar displaces thousands of Muslim minorities
Dozens of people have been killed in a month of violent clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Burmese Buddhists. Thousands more have fled their homes, seeking refuge in nearby towns and neighboring countries....
Singapore trying to encourage spontaneity to change economy in buttoned up country
Singapore is known for being a country of limits. People know one way to act -- and that's conservatively. But in recent years, as competition has intensified, the city-state's government has tried to transform its economy. But it's run into a problem: most of its people don't know how to be creative....
In Vietnam, people clamor to learn English
Some 37 years after the United States pulled the last of its forces from Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War, the people of Vietnam are clamoring for closer ties to American culture. To do that, though, they need to know English. So in Vietnam, English is king....
VIDEO: U.S. takes tentative steps to ease sanctions on Myanmar
In the wake of successful election in Myanmar over the weekend, the United States is taking action to relax some of the sanctions it has imposed on the country, also known as Burma, for more than two decades....
Activists say Myanmar elections are cause for west to revise sanctions
Officials and advocates say that Europe and the United States should use the seemingly successful Myanmar elections as a reason to justify a broad rollback of the sanctions that have been levied against the southeast Asian nation for decades....
