By Nena Palagi

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan, Philippines (IDN) — It is a feat unimaginable by any modern standard. Six young people from this remote island of Palawan, in the Philippines, have taken on the goliaths of land ownership, and won. They got over 40,000 hectares of land legally declared as protected habitat with the direct endorsement from the Indigenous custodians. (P19) INDONESIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN…

By Pattama Vilailert

BANGKOK(IDN) — Thailand’s famous tourist industry has been synonymous with its traditional massage parlours and treatment centres. But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns are having a serious impact on the industry and may force foreign takeovers. The continuous lockdowns have impacted savagely on the spa and massage business. (P18) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TAGALOG | THAI…

Viewpoint by Bhikkhu Bodhist

Tackling global hunger requires that we identify its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This necessitates not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes, writes Bhikkhu Bodhi.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Buddha teaches that to effectively solve any problem we have to remove its underlying causes. While the Buddha himself applies this principle to the ending of existential suffering, the same method can be used to deal with many of the challenges we face in the social and economic dimensions of our lives. (P16) CHINESE | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF
…

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — One of the five winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards—known as Asia’s Nobel Prizes—is Dr Muhammad Amjad Saquib the founder of Pakistan’s biggest community development network Akhuwat that is based on Islamic principles of sharing and brotherhood. (P15) INDONESIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE…

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN)— Since its creation 76 years ago, the United Nations has been preoccupied with one of its primary mandates, namely, maintaining international peace and security.

But over the years, that mandate has been extended to include peacekeeping, peace-building, nuclear disarmament, preventive diplomacy, and more recently, a culture of peace. (P14) GERMAN | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF …

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is convinced that sport promotes values such as diversity, tolerance and respect and contributes to the empowerment of women and young people, individuals and communities, as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives. With this in view, the UN Department of Global Communication’s office at the country level has initiated SDG Zone at Tokyo, titled “Teaming Up through Sport to Advance the SDGs”. (P13) ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE…

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — In the Asia-Pacific region which is home to about 60 percent of the global population, some 1.6 billion people primarily rely on open fires or simple stoves fueled by kerosene, coal, or biomass such as wood, dung and agricultural residues for their daily cooking needs, that impacts on climatic change and health hazards. (P11) GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | THAI
…

By Nisar Keshvani

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Imagine. The most remote of mountains. Two thousand metres above sea level. On the Silk Road, and 240 km away from China. In secondary cities with populations going up to 150,000. Therein, majestically stands a fully-residential university, delivering a world-class education for the next generation of Central Asian learners—regardless of their financial position. 

On June 19, the University of Central Asia (UCA) made history. Its inaugural cohort of 57 students will graduate in Computer Science; Communications and Media; Economics and Earth and Environmental Science. (P10) CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TURKISH
…