Burma's President Opens US Visit with VOA Town Hall Meeting

Tens of thousands scramble to leave low-lying refugee camps in Burma's Rakhine state as Cyclone Mahasen approaches.

The U.S. and Burma Ambassadors to Thailand, and Thai Permanent Secretary, on Friday afternoon (April 26) launched a trilateral project on preventing and controlling drug resistant malaria along the Burma-Thai border. While Thailand has for decades worked separately with both the U.S. and Burma on fighting malaria, this first joint cooperation is an outcome from the MOU signed by President Obama during his November visit. Men Kimeng, Washington.

A Cambodian scientist is working together with advanced researchers in the United States to study drug-resistant malaria in three major provinces of Cambodia. Dr. Lim Pharath, a research fellow at the US National Institutes of Health, is presently working in Pursat, Preah Vihear, and Ratanakiri provinces to conduct surveillance for the spread or emergence of multidrug-resistant malaria parasites in these areas. VOA's Men Kimseng talked to Dr. Lim Pharath in Washington.

The death tool from last week's collapse of a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh now stands at more than 500 and is expected to go higher. The disaster brings attention to the overall problems in garment factories in developing countries. VOA's Deborah Block give us a look at the economics of the industry.

Following hearings at the International Court of Justice in April over disputed land near Preah Vihear temple, Cambodia is confident it will see a ruling in its favor, a leading analyst says. Cambodia asked the court to clarify a 1962 decision that awarded ownership of the ancient temple to Cambodia but did not deal with nearby adjacent land. Chheang Vannarith, executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, told VOA Khmer’s Soeung Sophat in a recent interview that as Cambodia ramps up for a national election, the disputed border land is not as likely to be a decisive issue, as it was five years ago.

China continues to accuse Japan of provoking disputes over contested islands in the East China Sea. As VOA State Department Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the Obama administration opposes any unilateral change to Japanese administration of the islands.

Analysts say pressure must be brought on garment factories to improve safety

Violence reached several villages north of Rangoon this week, when two people died in rioting that destroyed more than 100 homes, shops, mosques.

Conservationists said the pace of deforestation is accelerating, and countries risk losing a third of their remaining trees by 2030.