While rats, reptiles and insects are often eaten by families in Myanmar's rural areas, people in some urban areas are now being reduced to getting nutrition however they can.
This Week's News Spotlight:
Myanmar’s second Covid-19 lockdown drives hunger in slums | Brunei’s Prince Azim passed away from multiple organ failure | Chinese and American entertainment platforms in Indonesia | Cambodia’s floods put spotlight on climate change | Indonesia’s remote regions feel the impact of Covid-19 even with no cases
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Myanmar’s second Covid-19 lockdown drives hunger in slums - CNA
Myanmar has more than 40,000 cases of Covid-19 and 1,000 deaths, one of Southeast Asia’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks.
Myanmar’s second Covid-19 lockdown has forced hundreds of thousands of people out of their jobs. Some have even resorted to hunting for food in open drains, eating rats and snakes for sustenance.
Even before the pandemic, a third of Myanmar’s population was considered “highly vulnerable” to falling into poverty. The financial strain of Covid-19 has worsened the situation. Despite offering low-income households support in the form of one-off food packages and cash grants, some citizens say it “falls far short”.
Brunei’s Prince Azim passed away from multiple organ failure - Straits Times
Prince Azim was known for his involvement with charity work.
Brunei’s Prince ‘Abdul’ Azim passed away on Oct 24. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, his brother, Prince ‘Abdul Mateen, revealed that Prince Azim succumbed to multiple organ failure after struggling with an autoimmune disease that he was diagnosed with earlier in the year.
Prince Azim had been fourth in line to succeed the throne. BOrn in 1982, he studied at International School Brunei, Raffles Institution in Singapore, and Oxford Brookes University in England. Many of his celebrity friends have paid tribute to him, describing him as a generous, welcoming person.
Chinese and American entertainment platforms in Indonesia - KrASIA
Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, and an important market for both American and Chinese streaming giants.
With the pandemic boosting streaming minutes for video on mobile across Southeast Asia, Indonesia’s video-on-demand market is a fragmented one. Revenue for subscription video on demand platforms is projected to hit USD 140 million in 2020.
Netflix entered the market in 2016, followed by Amazon Prime Video. Apple TV+, HBO Go, and Disney+ Hotstar also all offer streaming services in the country. Chinese tech giant Tencent also acquired Malaysia-based iflix in June, with plans to merge the platform with its own WeTV. China’s iQiyi has also teamed up with Indonesian media conglomerates in hopes of capturing Indonesia’s internet users.
Cambodia’s floods put spotlight on climate change - Nikkei Asia
Recent floods have caused at least 40 deaths and impacted more than 130,000 families.
In recent weeks, tropical storms across Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam have resulted in floods and landslides, resulting in casualties, damage to property and crops, and forced evacuations of tens of thousands.
The flash floods in Cambodia, caused by these heavy downpours, are in line with projections that climate change worsens intensifies extreme weather events, experts say. It has spotlighted the destruction of wetlands and lakes around Phnom Penh, which act as natural flood barriers.
Indonesia’s remote regions feel the impact of Covid-19 even with no cases - Jakarta Post
Indonesia has 271 million people, with 0.13 specialist doctors per 1,000 people.
Although some of Indonesia’s most remote regions do not have any Covid-19 cases, the pandemic has “exposed Indonesia’s uneven distribution of health care”. Hospitals are located hours or even days away, and boat services to and from these remote areas are “few and far between”. Furthermore, remote regions account for only 5% of total specialist doctors.
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