Here's a story I never thought I'd see coming out of Cambodia: the country is seeing a cold snap. Yep, according to their director of meteorology, Cambodia is experiencing the coldest weather in twenty-seven years with temps down to the mid-40s.

Krang Karath, a Phnong chief in the northeast province of Mondolkiri, which had some of the most extreme cold last week,... more

Continued from here ...

Nepal, on the other hand, started out the year very badly.

Before he was ousted in a democratic revolution, King Gyanendra had put the very existence of the independent press under threat. Several hundred journalists were arrested, beaten up, censored or threatened by rampant... more

Continued from here ...

In the Americas, the present situation is hit and miss. For Central America, Costa Rica and Panama are looking pretty good, but Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras see political control of media forcing self-censorship.

In Guatemala and Honduras, these problems... more

Reporters Without Borders has released their annual reports on press freedom in countries around the world, a clear indicator of what life is actually like in places from which we often only see glossy, sanitized and premasticated versions. This information gives a clue as to how accurate a picture we're getting of what's going on. Many countries and all regions have been looked at, but I'll concentrate here on those I know readers have adopted from ...

Starting,... more

Continued from here ...

And another UN article, this one from the UN PR machine, for sure, talks about improvements in lives of "untouchable" women".

Ms. Sada belongs to the musahar caste – the name literally means ‘rat eaters’ – who are among the most disadvantaged groups in Nepal. They are considered ‘untouchables’, which in the heavily... more

A bit in the news has me thinking about Nepal today, so I thought I'd hop around my desk and put together all the notes I've been collecting on that country for a while for families with connections, or hopeful connections, to Nepal. Today's new from Nepal is not good. The UN is "deeply concerned" about increasing violence in the southern plains, Nepal's breadbasket. So far, seven people have died... more

Continued from here ...

Cambodia has already been plopped into the US Presidential race. An opinion piece in the LA Times is titled "Bill Richardson, Iraq withdrawl (sic), and the Cambodia factor" and is well worth a read. Who says people get smarter as they get older? ... more

Continued from here ...

Landmines are always a factor in Cambodia. Here's a story about children injured, and here's another that reports seven deminers killed.

"Cambodia's Landmine... more

Because I caved to a pressing need to rant, last week's Cam news update didn't happen. My chickens have come home to roost ... minus the H5M1 virus, hopefully ... and I'm up to my beak in items of interest, and I'll feel totally derelict if I don't share immediately.

Surprisingly for the region, Cambodia is on the leading edge of technology ... at least when it comes to passports. The country is going to be... more

Thanks to some hot tips from parents of Guatemalan-born kids ... thank you! keep 'em comin' ... starting the month out with news from there seems like a good idea. First, have you heard about the this year's Oscar tie to Guatemala? And I'm not talking Berger, but prize rather than pres.

"Recycled Life" has already won in the "Best Documentary Short" category of a number of film festivals, and has now been nominated for an Academy Award.

The film tells... more