Vaccines, not spy planes: US misfires in Southeast AsiaC
For months, by Zoom calls and then by jet, Indonesian ministers and officials scoured the world for access to a vaccine for the coronavirus that Southeast Asia’s biggest country is…
Truth, trust and Covid recovery in Asia and the Pacific
With health systems at a breaking point, hospitals at capacity and desperate family members searching for oxygen for loved ones, the devastating second wave of Covid-19 that has swept across…
Asian and Pacific countries
Most countries in the Asia-Pacific region are on track to reach universal birth registration by 2030: an incredible achievement and a significant milestone in realizing human rights and equality. However,…
A new transport agenda to carry Asia and the Pacific towards sustainable development
Transport ministers from across Asia and the Pacific are meeting this week to consider a potentially transformational agenda for how people and goods are moved around the region and across…
Policy rate: ‘boldest’ hike in Asia
Dr Reza Baqir, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), during his interview to Bloomberg on 17 December stated that the apex bank would “pause” interest rate hikes to preserve economic…
Climate threat over South Asia
HOW badly are Saarc countries already affected by climate change, and what is the hope the damage could be contained before it becomes an unmitigated disaster? With these paramount questions,…
South Asian higher education and region’s socio-economic development
The immense power of knowledge to change societies’ fortune has motivated many countries to build “knowledge-based economies.” The South Asian (SA) policymakers now increasingly realise that building such economic systems…
Ghost kitchens’ boom in Asia as pandemic sparks huge demand
In an industrial unit on the outskirts of Taipei chefs are plating meals that will never be served in a restaurant: welcome to the world of “ghost kitchens”. Even before…
Bleak future feared for Asia’s disaster-prone poor after UN climate report
At-risk communities in disaster-prone Asia are warning that they have “no hope” of coping with more climate catastrophes and some even fear “extinction” if the world does not act quicker,…
Protect the community’: Asian-Americans organise against hate
As the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged America, Esther Lim grew more worried by the day for her parents’ welfare and her own — not just for their health, but their safety…
