Full Coverage: South West Asia

09.11.2009 Journalists from Azerbaijan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia will be presented with International Press Freedom Awards this month.

06.11.2009 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown jhas been asked to undertake an investigation into the death of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi, the New York Times reporter killed during a British military operation that rescued reporter Stephen Farrell from Taliban captors.

02.11.2009 In the aftermath of the bombing of a UN guest house in Kabul, Sarah Bailey examines the rising violence against aid workers worldwide.

22.10.2009 Iraq remains the top country of origin of asylum applicants (13,200 claims) in industrialised countries for the fourth consecutive year, according to the UN refugee agency. Afghans (12,000) and Somalis (11,000) are the next largest groups as security conditions continue to deteriorate in large parts of their home countries.

15.10.2009 Afghanistan’s next government must urgently devote greater resources to building up to 6,000 new schools, training upwards of 5,000 new midwives and professionalising the police, say aid agencies.

10.10.2009 There will be a celebration at 5.30pm at Grosvenor Square, opposite the US Embassy, to celebrate the Iraqi government's the release of 36 people seized from a camp for Iranian dissidents in Iraq. In London, hunger-strikers ended their 72-day sympathy fast to mark the group's return to Camp Ashraf.

03.10.2009 The execution in Iran on Monday of Afghan national Abbas Hosseini for a murder he is accused of committing when he was only 17 must be stopped, says Amnesty International.

02.10.2009 Four actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated - Afghanistan, Bosnia, Guinea and Uganda - in September and none improved, according to the International Crisis Group.

08.09.2009 The Afghan government is urged to free two writers accused of blasphemy, following the pardon of a man convicted of distributing a translated article about the role of women in Islam without the accompanying Arabic script.

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.

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

14.08.2009 A revised controversial Shia family law - which allows men to withhold food and basic provisions from wives who refuse sexual demands - has been published in Afghanistan.
+ Law Curbing Women’s Rights Takes Effect

03.08.2009 Conflicts in Afghanistan, China, Chechnya and Nigeria deteriorated in July 2009 and the situation in Guinea-Bissau improved, according to the International Crisis Group.

19.07.2009 Harry Rud finds ten reasons to feel guilty about his two years as an aid worker in Afghanistan. Harry Rud

14.07.2009 The arrest of another six journalists cements Iran's position as the world's worst jailer of journalists, says an international media freedom organisation.

26.05.2009 A new report, Still in the Fields, exposes the continued use of state-sponsored forced child labour in cotton production in Uzbekistan and highlights major role played by leading brands in ending the abuse.

25.05.2009 The continued use of state-sponsored forced child labour in cotton production in Uzbekistan and the major role played by leading brands in ending the abuse is outlined in a new report out tomorrow.

02.05.2009 The Tricycle has not only put itself on the theatrical map with The Great Game: it has also put Afghanistan more firmly on the British map.

04.04.2009 The planned troop surge in Afghanistan could see more Afghans suffering in the conflict unless international military forces prioritise the safety of civilians in all their operations, say leading aid agencies.
+ Only the aid agencies seem convinced of the efficacy of international aid

28.03.2009 The Great Game: Afghanistan Film Festival is a programme of features, shorts and documentaries - including nine premieres and many Q&A sessions – that gives a celluloid glimpse into the joys, sorrows and adventures of everyday life in Afghanistan.