Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

05/21/2008 Tokyo announced Monday it will export 200,000 tons of rice to the Philippines, a week after a Washington-based think tank said selling surplus supplies could bring down the soaring price of rice.

05/21/2008 Jointly organised by ILO and Ministry of Labour in India, a two-day high-level consultation began today in New Delhi to discuss a national employment strategy. The country needs to achieve 3.9% employment growth per annum to meet the target of employment for all by 2012.

05/21/2008 'A Jihad for Love' -- made by a gay Muslim filmmaker -- follows 12 gay Muslim men and women of various nationalities to produce an intimate examination of homosexuality and Islam.

05/21/2008 Progress on UN Millennium Development Goals can succeed only if disaster risk reduction is made an integral part of the strategy. Disaster proofing the Millennium Development Goals outlines some risk management techniques to ensure smooth progress on MDGs.

05/21/2008 Pakistan has one of the highest school dropout rates in the world, thanks to corporal punishment. According to an Islamabad-based NGO, beatings at school are considered culturally acceptable to ensure obedience, and legislation banning this practice is hence poorly implemented.

05/21/2008 An open well doubles up a rainwater tank in a coastal Maharashtrian village in western India. The brainchild of a two-team scholar and architect, this novel dual-purpose structure uses the empty space in the well to store rainwater to be used during dry spells.

05/21/2008 UNODC and the Delhi Public School Society have come together to empower students through drug awareness. As India confronts growing drug abuse among adolescents, this programme strives to help the young gain information and insight on drug-related issues, and its links to HIV/AIDS.

05/21/2008 The University of Delhi, one of India's premier institutions of higher education, is all set to start online teaching from the next academic session. To make learning more interesting, syllabi for popular subjects will be uploaded on the website, supplemented by flash animation and video snippets.

05/20/2008 WASHINGTON, May 20 (OneWorld) - Re-electing Sri Lanka to serve a second term on the UN Human Rights Council would represent a severe blow to human rights and the United Nations itself, according to an impressive array of world leaders and human rights watchdog groups.

05/20/2008 Last week the U.S. House of Representatives voted against President Bush's Iraq War Policy. This is a "major victory" for the anti-Iraq war movement, write the heads of an arms control advocacy group.

05/19/2008 WASHINGTON, May 19 (OneWorld) - An Afghan father, unable to feed his family, sold his 11-year old daughter for $2,000 to buy food for the rest of his family, IRIN News reported Sunday.

05/19/2008 Amidst increasing criticism of the military junta for obstructing aid assistance to cyclone victims, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs arrived in Myanmar to speed up relief activities. With no clean water available, health experts warn of an outbreak of infectious diseases.

05/19/2008 It has now been more than two years since India launched its most ambitious programme to provide 100 days of guaranteed employment to its rural population. If there have been allegations of corruption and lack of political will in implementation, there are some visible positive outcomes too, say experts.

05/19/2008 OneWorld South Asia as part of its Ek Duniya Web Services initiative is organising a training programme on Local Language Web Hosting and Communication from June 23-26, 2008 in New Delhi. The aim is to empower grassroots level organisations to build their own websites and generate effective content on development issues.

05/19/2008 OneWorld South Asia as part of its Ek Duniya Web Services initiative is organising a training programme on Local Language Web Hosting and Communication from June 23-26, 2008 in New Delhi. The aim is to empower grassroots level organisations to build their own websites and generate effective content on development issues.

05/19/2008 The ruling Pakistan People's Party is siding with President Musharraf by backtracking on its promise to reinstate the deposed judiciary, alleges Nawaz Sharif's party. The coalition partner, after withdrawing from the government, has now decided to join nation-wide protests in favour of the sacked judges.

05/19/2008 Mutabar Tojiboyeva has been named this year's recipient of the Martin Ennals Award, an annual commendation given by 13 prominent human rights groups. There is concern that the Uzbek activist could die in prison, where she has been held since protesting the Andijan massacre of 2005.

05/18/2008 China is taking new heat for blocking a potential UN action that could bring relief to Burmese citizens suffering from the effects of Cyclone Nargis.

05/17/2008 WASHINGTON, May 16 (OneWorld) - Antiwar veterans of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan took their case to Capitol Hill Thursday, baring their souls with stories of killings of innocent civilians, torture, and wrongful detentions.

05/16/2008 Both humanitarian aid and political aid is needed in Myanmar (formerly Burma) now, says a board member of a U.S. group active on Burmese issues.
From: U.S. Campaign for Burma