Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

29.04.2005 TOKYO, Apr 29 (IPS) - It can be seen as an International Labour Day bonus for those trying to seek their fortunes in Japan. Beginning May 1, Tokyo will be less fussy with unskilled foreign workers and start opening its labour market doors to them to ward off a looming demographic crisis.

29.04.2005 A five-member task force, constituted by the Indian government in March 2005 to save the fast-dwindling tiger in the wake of disappearance of the big cat from a north Indian sanctuary, has laid out its plan of action to save the tiger from extinction. Rahul Kumar writes this report from New Delhi.

29.04.2005 You might not think that your skills are likely to be in great demand when it comes to changing the world. Think again.

29.04.2005 It looks increasingly as though the folly of the Iraq war will condemn Tony Blair to an early retirement. Meanwhile his comrade-in-arms sits comfortably in the White House. On the anniversary of the publication of the Abu Ghraib photographs, Amnesty expresses frustration that only the lowest ranks of the US military have been charged for the torture crimes.

29.04.2005 Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) is organising an e- governance summit titled Conflux 2005 from October 3-5, 2005, at the India International Centre, New Delhi.

29.04.2005 VOICE and Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) will hold the Media and Governance seminar on the occassion of World Press Freedom Day 2005.

29.04.2005 The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has brought out its first publication in Hindi - Human Rights and Poverty Eradication: A Talisman for the Commonwealth. Read the full document in Hindi.

29.04.2005 The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative is organising a conference - Effective Implementation: Preparing to Implement the new India Right to Information Law - from May 23 - 25 2005 in New Delhi.

29.04.2005 The Chhattisgarh government, in collaboration with a private firm, launched a project in 2001 to increase access on the part of 250,000 girls in all 1605 state high schools to information technology (IT) education. Young volunteers, having been empowered with IT education, then lead a broader state initiative to bring locally relevant information and IT to all citizens. In the process, girls emerge as technology resource persons and community leaders.

29.04.2005 A female Iraqi member of parliament, who had no security detail and was forced to rely on her own sons for protection, was shot and killed at her home in Baghdad Wednesday. Threats against Iraqi women leaders and women working for the United States have been escalating over the past year, says the Feminist Majority Foundation.

28.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 28 (OneWorld) - Rights watchdogs seized on Thursday's anniversary of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal to complain of a lack of accountability for the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, and to warn that problems which came to light there merely were ''the tip of the iceberg.''

28.04.2005 Emergence of the e-governance in India can be traced back to 1970s when National Informatics Centre (NIC), a pioneering institution set up by the Government of India, started networking government departments to exploit their knowledge repository for ensuring good governance.

28.04.2005 Under proposals for UN reform, Japan and Germany are strong candidates for permanent seats on the Security Council. Aid promises may be one way to win valuable votes from African countries. Oxfam is unimpressed that poverty is becoming a political football.

28.04.2005 Who would have believed the US government to be capable of redirecting the Iraq reconstruction budget from US to Iraqi companies? The U-turn of the year is apparently the result of poor performance and continuing security problems.

28.04.2005 The last Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon on Wednesday, ending nearly three decades of military and political domination. Top intelligence officials are resigning and two UN teams are going to Lebanon to assess the withdrawal, and to investigate who assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February.

28.04.2005 Meet Salim, a 35-year-old Iraqi who is part of the well-oiled criminal machine supplying an overseas black market with fuel meant for domestic consumption and creating a huge problem for Iraq’s oil industry.

28.04.2005 KATHMANDU, April 27 (IPS) - In the wee hours of Wednesday several jeep-loads of heavily armed policemen arrived at the residence of former Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. He was packed into one of the vehicles and driven away - arrested on charges of corruption.

27.04.2005 The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference will be held in New York next week, at a highly sensitive time. This briefing provides a full background to the treaty and the current concerns surrounding Iran and North Korea.

27.04.2005 More useful data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act - the value of infrastructure projects in Palestine funded by European and UK taxpayers which end up as rubble thanks to the Israeli military.

27.04.2005 Nepal has seen an increase in violence since the seizure of power by King Gyanendra, with 500 homes burnt, hostages taken and nearly 50 dead as the result of clashes with Maoist insurgents. The rebels have also imposed a blockade on Kathmandu and are calling for a nationwide strike against the royal coup.