Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

05/14/2008 This month marks the 60th anniversary of Israel's existence, but the organization Jewish Voice for Peace says it will not celebrate the establishment of a Jewish state until Palestinians are granted their fundamental human rights.

05/14/2008 Asian governments -- seen to have greater leverage with Myanmar authorities -- are being asked to increase the pressure on the military junta to effectively address the humanitarian crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis.

05/14/2008 A photoessay including award-winning photographs depicts the lives of girls in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Nepal who marry as children.

05/14/2008 Lack of jobs and unpaid debts have led to a spate of suicides among traditional goldsmiths in southern India. The mechanised jewellery making industry has ruined practitioners of this traditional craft, leading to hundreds of thousands living in penury.

05/14/2008 Global production of photovoltaic or solar cells -- which convert the sun's light directly to electricity -- increased 51 percent in 2007, reports an environmental research institute.

05/14/2008 The global food price rise is leading to further malnourishment among Indian children, UNICEF warns, as families reduce the number of meals in a day. India already has the worst indicators of child malnutrition in South Asia, along with 40% of the world’s underweight newborns.

05/14/2008 Recent military operations by US and NATO forces have displaced thousands of families in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, forcing them to live without shelter, food and medical assistance. UN agencies and other international aid groups have been asked to provide humanitarian relief to the unfortunate victims.

05/14/2008 With a view to reach out to the ‘unbanked’ people and to improve overall financial services, major Indian banks are likely to introduce M-banking in a huge way. The only concern delaying the project is the security aspect.

05/14/2008 A documentary film titled My Daughter the Terrorist chronicles the lives of two female Tamil Tigers, taking a close look at war and its tragic consequences. The film has been acclaimed globally but the Sri Lankan government is upset saying it glorifies the act.

05/13/2008 The Uzbek government continues to persecute people believed to have ties to the 2005 Andijan massacre, when state security forces killed hundreds in an attempt to quell anti-government protests, says a new report from a human rights monitor.

05/13/2008 Across Bangladesh, poor rural women are building up their country's fragile democracy by methodically and discreetly eliminating the small inequities of their daily lives.
From: Ms. Magazine

05/13/2008 Allaying the fears of adverse environmental impact, Tata Power says its proposed 1,000 MW thermal power unit in eastern India will use the latest technology to keep the air, water and noise pollution well below the statutory limits. The company also intends to offer fair price to landowners.

05/13/2008 David Dickson, Director, SciDev.Net, presents the critique of a recent report on the future of modern agriculture. Even as we fight the current needs of a hungry world in an environmentally sustainable way, the contributions of science and technology deserve recognition and not merely blame, he asserts.

05/13/2008 It rains on an average 200-250 days in a year in India's north eastern state of Assam. Home to more than a hundred species of mosquitoes, a fifth of all malarial deaths in the country are reported from here. This season, however authorities claim they are prepared.

05/13/2008 Indian zoos will soon be globally connected thanks to an agreement with the US-based International Species Information System. The world's largest online database on zoo animals has historic data for several thousands of species, enables better collection and sharing of information and makes animal exchange easier.

05/13/2008 Indian zoos will soon be globally connected thanks to an agreement with the US-based International Species Information System. The world's largest online database on zoo animals has historic data for several thousands of species, enables better collection and sharing of information and makes animal exchange easier.

05/13/2008 The British government has been actively supporting plans by a British company to build an open-cast mine in Bangladesh that would destroy the homes of more than 40,000 people and threaten the water supplies of a further 100,000.

05/13/2008 Sri Lanka’s dismal human rights record has obstructed the country’s bid for a place in the UN Human Rights Council. In a letter to the UN, more than twenty national and international NGOs have criticised the country’s failure to meet the Council’s membership standards.

05/13/2008 FALLUJAH, May 12 (IPS) - Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah.

05/12/2008 More than 27,000 people in the Irrawaddy delta region of Burma -- one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis -- have received food aid and other crucial supplies, a UN food agency announced yesterday.