Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

31.08.2009 The Indian cabinet has cleared a proposal for constitutional amendment to provide 50 per cent quota to women in local government, up from 33 per cent.

28.08.2009 Almost half of India is reeling under a drought as a result of insufficient monsoon rainfall, says Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

27.08.2009 Long-term development in East Timor – which celebrates the tenth anniversary of its vote for independence on Sunday – will be “seriously hindered” if justice for past crimes remains undelivered, an international development agency has warned.

26.08.2009 More than 200,000 civilians in central Mindanao are still vulnerable to abuses despite the recent ceasefire between the Philippine army and the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front, says a new report.

24.08.2009 Kwame Kwei-Armah’s four-part series retracing Queen Elizabeth’s 1954 royal trip, On Tour With The Queen, is odd but quietly engaging.

24.08.2009 Protests by the Penan tribe in Malaysian Borneo have escalated, with 12 villages coming together to mount new road blockades against the logging and plantation companies that are destroying their rainforest.

24.08.2009 On a visit to China last week, Tony Blair said that encouraging people to reduce flying and driving is not an appropriate response to climate change. This is not good enough for a prospective president of the European Union.

24.08.2009 Afghans are complaining that last week’s elections were marred by serious fraud, in contrast to the international community’s assessment that voting was fair.

23.08.2009 Jeffery Sachs, supposed UN champion of the poor, has no time for the Copenhagen process as a means to fight climate change. InfoChange

23.08.2009 World leaders have gone soft on human rights. Hillary Clinton is put on the spot by a questioner. Aid Watch

23.08.2009 Indian environmentalists borrow the photo-opportunity tactics of western campaign groups in a drive for renewable energy legislation. InfoChange

23.08.2009 The Nile Delta is one of the world's regions most vulnerable to rising sea levels. The population is already troubled with flooding and salt intrusion. Guardian

20.08.2009 A ‘sixth war’ between the army and the Al Houthi rebels is underway in north Yemen.

19.08.2009 Too few ordinary Afghans are benefiting from international aid efforts in their country, with a third of the population at risk of hunger, an international aid agency warned today, on the eve of elections.
+ Afghan children tell their leaders what they want

18.08.2009 Without major reforms of the way water is used in Asian agriculture, many countries face the risky prospect of importing more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050, says a new report.

18.08.2009 Floods caused by heavy rains unnecessarily threaten more than 260,000 displaced Tamil civilians whom the Sri Lankan government has unlawfully detained in camps in the north, according to an international rights group.

17.08.2009 Lebanon is in the front line in the fight against the impact of climate change in the Middle East. IRIN News

17.08.2009 This story encapsulates the energy-technology-climate debate across the developing world. The Indian government has great plans for renewable energy but is confused about paying for it. Guardian

17.08.2009 News from India of a variety of rice which will survive periods without rain. BBC

16.08.2009 The Burmese military regime's renewed scorched earth campaign in Central Shan state has driven an estimated 10,000 villagers from their homes, according to Shan rights groups.