Asia

1 April 2021, Quezon City. The zero waste and chemical safety advocacy group EcoWaste Coalition told a global audience about the importance of embracing one’s natural skin color to avoid being exposed to mercury, a toxic chemical, in some skin…

By Neena Bhandari Twelve-year-old Babloo’s (Name changed) parents, who worked as daily wage agricultural labourers in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, were finding it difficult to feed their family of six. They had recently lost their eldest son to…

Narendra Modi has been in “Muslim” in Bangladesh, saying he staged organized protest for the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, and even went to jail. Media has started praising this as usual. Narendra Modi is now the hero of…

How far China’s hardening stance vis-a-vis the prospect of long-term US military presence along Xinjiang’s border is going to impact the Afghan peace process remains to be seen. M.K. Bhadrakumar The “hidden agenda” of the war on terror in Afghanistan…

POEM           When I sit here, like this, here With you by my side Friend– wise, kind, strong The storm inside my heart Calms down.   It is as if I enter the eye of the…

POEM           by Erlie A. Lopez Between two words is a space where a thought tarries.   Between two lips is a silence where a hurt lingers.   Between two minds is a gap where each…

POEM         by Rem Tanauan I’m about to hail a jeepney when I suddenly remember I’m not wearing a mask. I cannot travel with face fully exposed to the public. I did not intend it, I just…

Last March 22, 2021, a toxics watchdog group from the Philippines announced that it has found more spray paints in the market that are contaminated with dangerously high concentrations of lead, a forbidden chemical in the manufacture of paints. In…

The military’s brutal attack on peaceful protesters has understandably sparked calls for armed insurgency. But such a move could set the movement back. By Maria J. Stephan Since Feb. 1, when the Tatmadaw military leadership launched a coup against the…

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of the Joe Biden administration visited Japan and South Korea last week. On his way home, Blinken stopped in Alaska to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. White House security…