Sand can seem like the most abundant and inexhaustible thing on Earth. But a global building boom is gobbling up sand — and destroying vital ecosystems around the world — for concrete and landfill.
Bangkok-based OmiseGO envisions a world where cash is digital and free-flowing, stored on blockchains, accessible by smartphones and effortlessly zapped across borders. It's a human right, they say. And they're starting with Asia's farmers, merchants, migrants and factory hands, who are now quite likely to own smartphones but may not have bank accounts.
The United States is considering a stepped-up military presence in Africa to pursue ISIS jihadists looking for new havens after the fall of their "caliphate," American officials say.
The Nobel laureate shares power with the military and the ethnic majority in Myanmar doesn't recognize the Rohingya people as having legitimate status.
A photo of the crime scene shows a bloodstained Aristotle Garcia lying in the street. He has a .38 caliber pistol in his right hand, a wad of cash in the other. Her brother wasn't right-handed, though, which means the gun is in the wrong hand.
Workers migrated to Myanmar's young palm oil plantations. They were promised reliable jobs in a growing industry. Instead, they found themselves caught in debt bondage, living in harsh conditions, lured by traffickers and too poor to leave.
The Catholic Church urges ‘natural family planning’ and says it has 98 percent effectiveness. A medical expert says it is closer to 80 percent — and that is in societies where a woman is able to say no to a partner's demands for sex.
Abortion is illegal in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, but many women still seek access. Illegal abortions are a leading cause of maternal death there.
Under pressure by the US government and American evangelicals, the Thai government has stepped up raids to rescue sex trafficking victims. The trouble is, many of the "rescued" sex workers may not have been trafficked in the first place.
There's a whole culture in the Philippines that's evolved around people working on a New York time zone. They don't just live on US time, they live in US weather, and US culture.
Thousands of men from Myanmar and other southeast Asian countries are being used as slaves to catch fish that may end up on American dinner tables. The Associated Press uncovered the story and followed the distribution trail to the United States.
Cambodian director Rithy Panh will be in Los Angeles for the Oscars on Sunday. His film, "The Missing Picture," is the first film from Cambodia ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. It's Rithy Panh's own personal memories of spending four years of his childhood living in a labor camp under the Khmer Rouge, watching as almost every member of his family died.
Reporter Phillip Martin has been investigating human trafficking in various parts of the world and in Vietnam he found a glimmer of hope, as a young woman who was kidnapped and sold to a brothel in China, returns to her family.
Some Republicans are so incensed about President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration that they're calling it illegal. It's easy to find similar disagreement over the use of presidential powers in other political systems around the world.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi is showing “Vietnam: 25 Years of Documenting a Changing Country,” a photo exhibition of National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow’s lifelong work in that country. In his introduction to the exhibition, Andrew Lam writes that the photographs capture a country that has many versions of itself.
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Health
The debate over 'natural family planning': Does it work?
PRI's The World
March 09, 2015
Updated
The Catholic Church urges ‘natural family planning’ and says it has 98 percent effectiveness. A medical expert says it is closer to 80 percent — and that is in societies where a woman is able to say no to a partner's demands for sex.
CROPMyanmar.jpg
Health
Providing safe illegal abortions in Myanmar is a ‘karmic balance,’ says one doctor
PRI's The World
September 08, 2016
Abortion is illegal in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, but many women still seek access. Illegal abortions are a leading cause of maternal death there.
MintShadow.jpg
Conflict & Justice
Groups 'rescue' Thai sex workers, whether they want it or not
PRI's The World
October 17, 2013
Under pressure by the US government and American evangelicals, the Thai government has stepped up raids to rescue sex trafficking victims. The trouble is, many of the "rescued" sex workers may not have been trafficked in the first place.
call_center300s_482746226.jpg
Business, Economics and Jobs
Living on Call Center Time in the Philippines
PRI's The World
August 12, 2013
There's a whole culture in the Philippines that's evolved around people working on a New York time zone. They don't just live on US time, they live in US weather, and US culture.
NK2.png
Culture
What's behind the restaurants North Korea runs around the world? Kitsch — and perhaps recordings.
GlobalPost
May 06, 2016
Even Americans are welcome in these North Korean outposts. But Pyongyang may be recording it all.
apfish2.jpg
Economics
The seafood you eat may have been caught by slaves
PRI's The World
March 25, 2015
Thousands of men from Myanmar and other southeast Asian countries are being used as slaves to catch fish that may end up on American dinner tables. The Associated Press uncovered the story and followed the distribution trail to the United States.
Image_MQ_food.jpg.jpg
Arts, Culture & Media
'The Missing Picture' is the first Cambodian film to make it to Oscar night
PRI's The World
February 27, 2014
Cambodian director Rithy Panh will be in Los Angeles for the Oscars on Sunday. His film, "The Missing Picture," is the first film from Cambodia ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. It's Rithy Panh's own personal memories of spending four years of his childhood living in a labor camp under the Khmer Rouge, watching as almost every member of his family died.
coming-home620.jpg
Conflict & Justice
Duped, Sold into Prostitution, then Rescued: A Vietnamese Girl and the Man Who Saved Her
PRI's The World
May 20, 2013
Reporter Phillip Martin has been investigating human trafficking in various parts of the world and in Vietnam he found a glimmer of hope, as a young woman who was kidnapped and sold to a brothel in China, returns to her family.
RTR4F3J0.jpg
Global Politics
Executive actions can be contentious all over the world
PRI's The World
November 21, 2014
Some Republicans are so incensed about President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration that they're calling it illegal. It's easy to find similar disagreement over the use of presidential powers in other political systems around the world.
a_lam_karnow_vietnam_500x279.jpg
Culture
Photographer Catherine Karnow captures a changing Vietnam
New America Media
April 24, 2015
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi is showing “Vietnam: 25 Years of Documenting a Changing Country,” a photo exhibition of National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow’s lifelong work in that country. In his introduction to the exhibition, Andrew Lam writes that the photographs capture a country that has many versions of itself.