KEUDE PANGA, Indonesia – Baby banana palms and papaya trees nudge through the sandy earth at this coastal village in Aceh flattened by last year’s tsunami. Nature springs back to life quickly in the Indonesian tropics, but people here are only gradually clawing back their decimated lives. "It will take a generation, maybe longer," says…
Read moreIndonesian women key to new Aceh: reconstruction boss
JAKARTA, Dec 5 – Women will be the key to a new Aceh that is open and progressive, the head of the agency tasked with overseeing the rebuilding in the tsunami-hit Indonesian province said Monday as he defended the speed of reconstruction there. Some 16,500 houses out of a 120,000 targetted for Aceh’s 570,000 displaced…
Read moreIndonesia on cusp of AIDS epidemic: UNAIDS chief
JAKARTA, Nov 28, 2005 – Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, is on the brink of an AIDS epidemic and must act quickly to fight its spread, UNAIDS chief Peter Piot said Monday as he began a four-day visit here. Piot, who will spend World AIDS day here on Thursday, said that Indonesia needed…
Read moreRenegade deminer alerts world to legacy of Cambodia’s mines
SIEM REAP, Cambodia – Cambodia’s ubiquitous rice paddies and lush green jungles provided a stage for three decades of war, genocide and civil conflict until peace finally took hold in 1998 and tourism began to sprout. But the legacy of those years of bloodshed stubbornly lurks under the surface of the picturesque scenery in the…
Read moreAmid emerald rice fields, Cambodia’s first winery startles but pleases
PHUM BOT SALA, Cambodia – The fresh grape juice ferments in plastic water containers, bottles are labelled in a loungeroom and cheese has never passed the lips of the producer. But Cambodia’s first home-grown wine is proving a hit, startling foreign tourists and winning over domestic tipplers in the tropical country. Despite being a former…
Read moreCracks in Cambodia’s courts prised further open ahead of KR trial
PHNOM PENH – Two recent high-profile Cambodian court rulings condemned by activists heighten fears the judiciary is ill-equipped to deliver a trial of ex-Khmer Rouge leaders free of political influence.The UN-backed tribunal, which has been delayed for years due to negotiations over its set up, was given a green light to proceed with staffing in…
Read moreBounceback for Cambodia’s textiles but sparkling labour image not enough
PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s crucial garment sector has bounced back after the end of a global quota system saw orders dip due to competition from China, but experts warn the industry’s socially responsible image will not ensure its long-term survival. The 1.9-billion-dollar sector, which provides the destitute kingdom with more than 80 percent of its…
Read moreBest lightly fried, Cambodians can’t get enough crickets
PHUM THUN MONG, Cambodia – By day, the expanse of emerald rice fields look like ordinary, peaceful paddies. But when dusk falls, sheets of plastic unfurl from bamboo frames, electric blue neon tubes flicker on, and hordes of Cambodian crickets are lured to untimely, watery deaths. The humble chirping cricket became a part of Cambodians…
Read moreCambodia’s great asset swap angers many, leaves government on the fringe
PHNOM PENH – As bulldozers slam down huge trees outside, Tann Sinthou brandishes a meticulously highlighted copy of Cambodia’s land law, hoping it will save her home, the latest public asset to go under the hammer in a slew of government land swaps. "This land is state land," the defiant 54-year-old cries from her veranda…
Read moreCambodia’s first soya milk factory eyes nourishing nation’s children
PHNOM PENH – Taking a break from her job of sifting through sacks of soya beans, Cambodian Chea Bunna sighs as she remembers foraging for frogs and crabs in rice paddies to fill her family’s stomach. Now she supports them by working in the kingdom’s first long-life soya milk factory. The 59-year-old with cataract-clouded eyes…
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