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With no windows, the gloomy, gray building looming four stories above the rice fields in a remote village in Indonesian Borneo resembles nothing more than a prison. Hundreds of similar concrete structures, riddled with small holes for ventilation, tower over village shops and homes all along Borneo’s northwestern coast. But these buildings are not for people. Specifically, the swiftlet, which builds its nests inside. Zulkibli, 56, a government worker who built his giant birdhouse in the village of Perapakan in 2010, supplements his income by harvesting the swiftlets’ nests and selling them for export to China.

Locations: Indonesian Borneo, Perapakan, China

The isles of Manhattan and Pulau Rhun could hardly be farther apart, not just in geography, but also in culture, economy and global prominence. Rhun, in the Banda Sea in Indonesia, has no cars or roads and only about 20 motorbikes. Most people get around by walking along its paved footpaths or up steep stairways, often toting plastic jugs of water from the numerous village wells or sometimes lugging a freshly caught tuna. But in the 17th century, in what might now seem one of the most lopsided trades in history, the Netherlands believed it got the better part of a bargain with the British when it swapped Manhattan, then known as New Amsterdam, for this tiny speck of land.

Organizations: Manhattan Locations: Manhattan, Pulau Rhun, Banda, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Amsterdam

☆ Arms Dealer Linked to Myanmar Junta Acquitted in Thai Money Laundering Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Richard C. Paddock | Muktita Suhartono | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A wealthy Myanmar arms broker with close ties to the leader of Myanmar’s brutal military regime was acquitted on Tuesday by a Bangkok court on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, raising fears that he will be free to resume his activities aiding the junta. U Tun Min Latt, who was placed under sanctions by the United States last year for supplying the Myanmar regime with weapons, had spent 16 months in a Thai jail awaiting trial. The Thai authorities had accused Mr. Tun Min Latt and three associates of engaging in a scheme to launder drug money by using it to buy electricity in Thailand and sending it across the border to Myanmar. But the Thai criminal court found that the record of bank transactions presented by prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges. With the ruling, about two dozen family members and supporters of the accused burst into applause in the courtroom.

Persons: Latt, Min Aung, Tun Min Latt Organizations: United Locations: Myanmar, Bangkok, United States, Thailand

☆ Addicts Went in for Treatment. Instead They Were Enslaved.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Richard C. Paddock | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Most of the victims were forced to work at the factory or on the plantation, often alongside paid workers. Many were tortured, whipped, burned and sexually assaulted. Six prisoners died, including at least three who were tortured to death, according to Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights. Former captives also cleaned Mr. Perangin-angin’s mansion, washed his vehicles and fed his 200 cows. Some police officers and soldiers even helped guard or torture the men, victims and the authorities said.

Persons: Perangin, didn’t, ”, Ardi, angin Organizations: National, Human Rights, New York Times Locations: Regency

☆ Cyclone Aid Stalled in Myanmar: ‘I Just Hope We Get Help Before We Die.’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Richard C. Paddock | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four days after Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Myanmar, killing hundreds and devastating communities in its path, aid groups seeking to deliver humanitarian assistance remained stymied by the junta on Thursday as survivors faced growing threats of hunger and illness. Aid groups fear that the death toll, estimated by some at more than 450, will only rise as victims of the cyclone face food shortages, disease, a lack of clean water and the loss of their homes. Survivors also face the threat of unexploded land mines that may have moved during the flooding. An estimated 5.4 million people in Myanmar were affected by the storm. Without swift aid, humanitarian experts fear that the number of deaths could climb, as was the case after Cyclone Nargis, the catastrophic 2008 cyclone that struck Myanmar farther to the east and killed more than 135,000.

☆ High-Ranking Election Official Is Killed in Myanmar
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Richard C. Paddock | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A top election official for Myanmar’s military junta has been assassinated by bicycle-riding gunmen from a rebel group, which accused him of being complicit in “oppressing and terrorizing” the public. It is the latest in a series of high-profile killings targeting a military that has escalated attacks on civilians. The official, Sai Kyaw Thu, a retired lieutenant colonel who served as deputy director general of the Union Election Commission, was fatally shot Saturday afternoon after driving his wife, a doctor, to her job at a hospital in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. A resistance group calling itself “For the Yangon” claimed responsibility for the killing. The car ran over the bicycle and continued down the road and out of camera range.

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