The last few times her superior at a school in Mataram, on the Indonesian island of Lombok, called her on the telephone, the conversation turned uncomfortable after it veered to include the vulgar detail of his sexual exploits and an invitation to sexual encounters in hotels. While she wanted to report him for sexual harassment, the fear of being fired stopped her as she didn’t have proof. The next time his unwelcomed call came, she was ready and recorded their conversation.

Originating in the Tibetan highlands and running through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the Mekong and its tributaries provide water, food and income for 60 million people. The longest river in Southeast Asia is home to the world’s largest inland fishery. It is estimated that 25 percent of the global freshwater catch is harvested from this river. Damming of the Mekong started in China in the early 1990s.

In efforts to restore its petroleum sector after years of conflict-driven disruption, the government of South Sudan has extended the Exploration Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) and Transitional Agreement Extension for three blocks in September this year.

Millions of people in Europe, North America and Australia will die from superbug infections unless countries prioritise fighting the growing threat posed by bacteria immune to most known drugs, experts predicted Wednesday. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned of "disastrous consequences" for public healthcare and spending unless basic hospital hygiene is boosted and unnecessary antibiotic use slashed.

Martha Kande's family lived with her greying, shrivelled corpse at their home in Indonesia for seven months, as they prepared an elaborate funeral that is central to the Toraja people's centuries-old death rituals."We keep the body in a coffin at home," Meyske Latuihamallo, the 81-year-old woman's granddaughter, told AFP.

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Vietnam is collaborating to transform the country’s bourgeoning textile and apparel industry more sustainable. The project was launched this month and will be carried out from 2018 to 2020.

Tourism is a powerful tool for development. It represents 10 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provides 10 percent of jobs globally. The sector is also interlinked with every other sector in the economy.

Indonesian authorities are conducting a review of the operations of Lion Air, the transport ministry said, as the search for the main wreckage and cockpit voice recorder of the crashed Boeing jet continues into a seventh day.The “special audit” will cover the standard operating procedures of the airline, the flight crew qualifications and coordination with industry stakeholders, the ministry said in a statement.

Malnutrition is a global plague. However, it is a more acute problem specifically in the Asian region.

The world’s biodiversity is at extreme risk, undergoing an exceptional decline in the past few decades and its fragility is threatening the well-being and survival of mankind. In the last 44 year between 1970 to 2014, the average population size of wildlife has declined 60 percent, while availability of suitable habitats for mammals have declined 22 percent from 1970 to 2010.