Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

22.08.2008 Seizures of leopard skins in India show that demand for big cat skins continues to fuel poaching, says a leading environmental action group.

20.08.2008 British mining company Vedanta is under intense pressure over its plans to mine the Dongria Kondh tribe’s land in India, as a Scottish investment group sells its shares and Amnesty International joins the campaign in support of the tribe.

19.08.2008 Thousands of people gathered in Srinigar in an attempt to force the Kashmir issue back on the international agenda.

19.08.2008 In a rare piece of good news for Indonesian forests, a regional governor has announced an interim ban on deforestation in Riau, one of the areas currently worst affected by rapid deforestation.

18.08.2008 Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf announced in a televised address to the nation today that he had decided to resign to avoid impeachment, while former Maoist rebel leader, Prachanda, is sworn in as Nepal's Prime Minister.

15.08.2008 Thirteen Iraqi Kurds said today they were continuing a hunger strike that began last Saturday as a protest against their detention and threatened deportation from Britain.

11.08.2008 Sri Lanka has tightened visa requirements for international NGOs on the grounds that they are waging a misinformation campaign over the war with Tamil rebels.

11.08.2008 The UN refugee agency is mounting an emergency airlift of relief supplies to bolster its stockpiles of aid in the Caucasus region amid continuing concerns over the plight of civilians caught up in the South Ossetia conflict.

08.08.2008 Three companies have been named "worst for abusing tribal peoples’ rights" in a statement marking the UN Day for Indigenous Peoples on 9 August.
+ Supreme Court gives go-ahead to mine – tribe vows resistance

07.08.2008 Sri Lanka is the worst human rights violator in South Asia, followed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal and India, according to a new index released today.

07.08.2008 Human rights advocates in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories are calling for a stop to the violence in Ni'lin village in the West Bank, after two Palestinian boys were killed within a week by Israeli forces.

06.08.2008 The Israeli national trade union centre Histadrut and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions have reached a landmark agreement to protect the rights of Palestinian workers employed by Israeli employers.

06.08.2008 Global achievement of the health related Millenium Development Goals depends largely on India’s success and on China further accelerating progress, according to a new report by the UN Children's Agency.

01.08.2008 Three months after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, some survivors have still received little aid, according to a development charity.