The oceans increasingly face a growing threat from plastics. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world produces approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, and most of this plastic ends up in the world’s oceans.Oceana, an international organisation focused on ocean conservation, estimates that 18.2 trillion pounds of virgin plastics have been produced to date.“Most plastic items never fully disappear; they just get smaller and

Nearly a million people in the Philippines were evacuated from their homes Saturday as the most powerful typhoon of the year so far barrelled towards the country, with authorities warning of "destructive" winds and flooding.Typhoon Goni is expected to slam into Catanduanes Island Sunday morning with wind speeds of up to 205 kilometres per hour (127 miles per hour) before crossing the main island of Luzon, the state weather forecaster said.

ASEAN’s reputation as a hub for fake medicine is nothing to sneeze at.Increasing amounts of falsified medicines are being produced in the region, in part as a result of legitimate, and illegitimate, pharmaceutical producers based in India and China having transferred or outsourced some manufacturing processes to Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia to avoid tougher regulations and enforcement – and to benefit from lower production costs – according to a 2019 report by the United Nations Of

Ministries and child protection non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Cambodia have established a joint-committee for the implementation of the Action Plan to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Children 2017-2021.The Action Plan highlights an array of situations of violence against children in the kingdom including physical and sexual violence, child neglect, child marriage, trafficking and labour, and online child sexual exploitation, among others.While Cambodia has certainly been im

Back in May, a Thai woman reported at a local police station that her 14-year-old granddaughter had been raped over the course of more than a year. The attacks, said to have been perpetuated by five teachers and two male alumni occurred several times at the girl’s school in north-eastern Thailand.

Social media has become an essential facet in many societies.

Hundreds of travel-starved diners ate lunch and watched seat-back films aboard two parked Singapore Airlines jets turned into pop-up restaurants on Saturday.With the aviation industry in deep crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, airlines have turned to alternative ways to raise cash, from offering "flights to nowhere" to tours of aircraft.Singapore's flag carrier, which has cut thousands of jobs and grounded nearly all its planes this year, offered passengers the chance to d

Indonesia’s National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) had received 1,192 reports of violence, including physical, psychological or sexual abuse towards children in the first half of 2019.Unfortunately, as the current coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay home, some children living with violent parents or guardians have found themselves increasingly at risk of abuse.In July, I Gusti Bintang Ayu Puspayoga, Indonesia’s Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister said that at

More than 100 people have died and 20 others are missing in central Vietnam following weeks of severe flooding and landslides, authorities said Wednesday, as the country braced for yet another storm this weekend.About 178,000 homes have been submerged by floodwaters, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, with rescuers mounting a desperate bid to get food and drinking water to those cut off.Roads, infrastructure and crops in the central region have

Every year in October, pink ribbons are distributed as part of a public awareness campaign aimed at reminding women across the globe to head for a breast examination in order to combat breast cancer. 2020’s Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns have mainly shifted to social media and online as most nations are currently practicing social isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.