Life

Putting people at the heart of the story.

Life • STORY OF THE DAY • Jan 22, 2021 • 9 min read
In Partnership with 1

Covid-19 In Laos, children kept from learning by world’s most expensive internet

By Christine Redmond • Jan 22, 2021
Broadband internet became indispensable during the pandemic, facilitating ways to study, work, and socialise online. But rural Laos lags badly behind with its patchy connectivity and expensive broadband internet, jeopardising education and harming development

Life • STORY OF THE DAY • Jan 19, 2021 • 2 min read

Refugees ‘Arson’ destroys four UNICEF schools in Rohingya camps

By Agence France-Presse • Jan 19, 2021
Unicef has said four of its schools in a Rohingya camp in Bangladesh's southeast were burnt down in an arson attack, coming just less than a week after hundreds of refugee homes were burnt down

Life • Jan 18, 2021 • 8 min read
History

The Vietnam school dealing with the effects of Agent Orange 59 years on

The US first dropped Agent Orange on January 18, 1962, and with it thrust upon Vietnam a legacy of health complications passed down through generations. Still today, one school near Hanoi works to mend the lasting trauma inflicted by the deadly herbicide
By Ashley Lampard • Jan 18, 2021

Life • Jan 18, 2021 • 4 min read
Natural disasters

Indonesian medics overwhelmed by quake casualties

Medics in Indonesia battled exhaustion and the risk of Covid-19 as they raced on January 18 to treat scores of people injured by a devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Sulawesi island that killed 84 and left thousands homeless
By Andi Hajramurni and Dessy Sagita/AFP • Jan 18, 2021

Life • Jan 14, 2021 • 4 min read
Aviation

Despite crashes, analysts say Indonesian aviation safety has improved

Despite Indonesia experiencing several high-profile plane crashes in recent years, most recently Sriwijaya Air on January 9, analysts interviewed say the country's aviation safety standards have improved
By Martin Abbugao and Dessy Sagita/AFP • Jan 14, 2021

Life • Jan 13, 2021 • 7 min read
Food culture

New and old meet as social media breathes life into Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown

Kuala Lumpur's Petaling Street has a long and rich culinary history as the historic centre of the capital's Chinese community. But having fallen into disrepair, today it is undergoing a revival, spurred on by the social media boom among Malaysia’s urban middle class
By Huei Ting Cheong • Jan 13, 2021

Life • Jan 13, 2021 • 4 min read
Aviation

Indonesia divers search for crashed plane’s second black box

As Indonesian investigators continue seek to explain why a plane with 62 people aboard slammed into the sea minutes after takeoff, they said on January 13 they were hopeful of retrieving a crashed passenger jet's second black box
By Agence France-Presse • Jan 13, 2021

Life • Jan 12, 2021 • 8 min read
Human rights

‘On a huge scale in Cambodia’: Director talks slave labour in Thai fisheries

While many of the industry's worst excesses have been cleaned up in recent years, bondage labour persists aboard Southeast Asia's fishing vessels. Following the reemergence of his film Buoyancy, director Rodd Rathjen talks about the conditions he witnessed in Thailand's infamous fisheries
By Stew Post • Jan 12, 2021