Sand mining for reclamation of coastal areas is both, a geopolitical and conservation issue for the Southeast Asian region, with many of the more developed countries in the bloc playing culprits. Leading the regional pack for reclaiming land from its coasts is Singapore, with Malaysia close behind. In Singapore, the total land area has literally grown more than 25 percent since the nation first came into being.

Soon after November rolled in, reports surfaced of a bet between Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen and Cambodian National Rescue Movement (CNRM) leader Sam Rainsy on the fate of former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha, who is on bail awaiting trial on treason charges.

Cambodia will not allow foreign military bases on its soil, strongman premier Hun Sen said Monday, swatting away United States (US) concerns about a possible Chinese naval site near hotly contested seas.China has lavished billions of dollars in soft loans, infrastructure and investment on the poor Southeast Asian kingdom, providing Prime Minister Hun Sen with a fast-growing economy that he wields as justification for his 33-year authoritarian rule.In exchange Cambodia has been a staunch China

Two top leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime were found guilty of genocide on Friday, in a landmark ruling almost 40 years after the fall of a brutal regime that presided over the deaths of a quarter of the population.The Khmer Rouge's former head of state Khieu Samphan, 87, and "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea, 92, are the two most senior living members of the ultra-Maoist group that seized control of Cambodia from 1975-1979.The reign of terror led by "Brother Number

With globalisation in full force, more and more Southeast Asian countries are beginning to realise the importance of economic cooperation for the sake of economic growth.

On 9 November, Cambodia celebrated its Independence Day. But while most Cambodians were celebrating their freedom from the control of the French Protectorate of Cambodia, thousands of other unfortunate Cambodians are still working in brick kilns throughout the country. “Freedom” for these people is just an empty promise.A recent Blood Bricks research project has led to a photo exhibition exposing debt-bonded labour in the brick making industry.

A man walks gingerly over a small field in rural Cambodia, pushing a lawnmower-like contraption that deploys ground-penetrating radar to unearth clues of mass graves.The pilot project is twinning technology and fieldwork to locate remains of victims of the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-Maoist regime whose quest to build an agrarian utopia from 1975 to 1979 left an estimated two million Cambodians dead.Hacked to death, starved, overworked or ravaged by illness, their bodies were dumped in hastily dug

In a world with warmer atmospheric temperature, the already observed changes to the climate are expected to further worsen, resulting in increasingly more frequent and intense weather events. For vulnerable Southeast Asians living in disaster-prone conditions, climate-related events will not only continue to dominate the risk landscape, but also threaten to undo their hard-earned economic development.

Sitting in a building made from used tyres, plastic bottles and old sneakers, Cambodian student Roeun Bunthon jots down notes during an English lesson at the "Rubbish School" where tuition is paid for with trash instead of cash.In return, needy kids like Bunthon, a former street beggar, can take computer, mathematics and language classes - and learn the value of reducing waste in a notoriously polluted country where recycling is nearly non-existent."I've stopped begging...

Political science recognises a phenomenon known as family dictatorship in which – as its name suggests - political power passes within the dictator’s family. Although reminiscent of medieval times where kings, sultans and pharaohs based their authority on divine right, family dictatorship is not naturally required by law. In some cases, a special law might be enacted to formally nominate one particular family member of the present leader as successor.