DEVELOPMENT: ‘Get Back to Basics, South Asia’ – Oxfam

Every 30 minutes an Afghan woman and six Indian women die in childbirth, yet annually India welcomes 150,000 "medical tourists" who fly in for cheaper treatment than they can receive at home in the 'developed' world.

POLITICS-NEPAL: A Deal’s Not Enough

Since Monday, small groups of journalists and onlookers have stood for hours at a time on the roadside outside the Nepali prime minister's house waiting for word of a deal between the government and former Maoist rebels. But keeping a sitting vigil on the street, civil society leaders say a breakthrough will mean the hard work is just beginning.

ENVIRONMENT: Global Forest Users’ Body Takes Root

One of the most grassroots of people's movements has planted an international seed.

LABOUR-NEPAL: Workers’ Friend or Foe?

Nepal's government says it is poised to give some protection to the majority of its workers who labour in the informal sector but a bill now circulating in government would remove some rights of employees in 'special economic zones'.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: Doubts Over Leaders Cloud Sustainable Peace

"We believe that a nation that has suffered many horrors - murders, rapes and other crimes - is able to progress only if those experiences are told."

NEPAL: Peace Talks Stalled, Maoists Turn to Law and Order

The rumours flew fast as young men doused and set alight piles of tyres at strategic intersections around Nepal's capital: the Maoists have taken over the city, reported one homeowner on the phone with a relative; they are asking for one person from each house to join their ranks, said the owner of a small furniture shop.

NEPAL: Aid Must Double to Even Approach MDGs

Nepal needs to double its foreign aid to 7.9 billion US dollars if it wants to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)set out by the United Nations, but more cash alone will not solve the country's development needs.

NEPAL: Peace Talks Postponed but Hopes High

Sunday's postponement of peace talks between Nepal's government and former Maoist rebels does not signal a failure of the process, say civil society leaders.

SOUTH ASIA: Meeting MDGs Requires Better Basic Services

Nine years ago Nepal's health ministry set up two health posts in remote Dhugesadh village, where the nearest hospital is a three to four day walk away. Till today, no doctors have arrived to staff them.

REFUGEES: Tibetans Survive Border Guards, Reach Nepal Capital

A group of 43 Tibetans shot at by a Chinese border patrol while trying to cross into Nepal, was to arrive in the capital late Monday, according to the United Nations.

LABOUR-NEPAL: Garment Industry Unravels Amid Uncertainty

Business and labour are fighting to gain the upper hand during Nepal's political transition, a process that has helped to sideline the unemployed workers and anxious factory owners of the troubled garment industry.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: National Commission in ‘Deep Coma’

When government and Maoist leaders sit across from one another, a week from now, they will discuss a handful of deals on various issues that are supposed to culminate in a 'pivotal' meeting. At least two of the agreements specify a role in the peace process for the local United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) - none mention Nepal's own National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

POLITICS-ASIA: Nepal Ripe for Army Coup?

Thailand's coup has hit close to home in Nepal's capital. Here, a hereditary monarch, who like his South-east Asian counterpart claims to be the incarnation of a god, sits in his palace brooding - or Internet gambling, depending on the rumours - after being forced to return power to the people in April, following three weeks of swelling street protests.

RIGHTS-NEPAL: Security Forces’ Excesses Still a Concern

As talk of the need for a second people's uprising swirls in the air, the United Nations human rights office here has released a report on excessive force used by security forces during April's uprising, warning that without reforms such acts could be repeated.

NEPAL: Peace Won’t Stop Human Trafficking – Official

An end in sight to Nepal's bloody, 10-year internal conflict is not necessarily good news for those fighting the growing problem of trafficking in girls and women.

NEPAL: Only Half of Women Know Abortion is Legal

As the 21st century began, more women were dying during childbirth in Nepal than in almost any other country and it was estimated that half of maternal deaths in hospitals were caused by unsafe abortions.

ENVIRONMENT-NEPAL: Some Flood Victims Unreachable

Emergency crews piloted five rubber boats across a swollen, racing river in west Nepal on Friday to deliver food and other essential supplies to families trapped by torrential monsoon rains and resultant floods during the past week.

NEPAL: A Nod to Indigenous People

Nepal's parliament moved again to right the wrongs of the past Monday, directing the government to ratify an international law on indigenous people.

POLITICS: Royal Tussle Over ‘New Nepal’

The committee formed to plot the next steps on the path to a 'new Nepal' handed in its blueprint Friday with most of the important decisions unrealised. The Interim Constitution Drafting Committee recommended that the role of the monarchy be decided in a referendum organised by a constituent assembly, whose shape would be determined in talks between the government and former Maoist rebels.

NEPAL: Peace Comes Piecemeal for NGO Workers

A tall lanky youth rounds a bend in a mountain path and sees a group, stripped of their packs, resting in the shade of a tree near a small waterfall. He approaches, says hello and shakes hands with those nearest and then stretches and even clambers up a small incline to clasp hands with everyone, rare behaviour in this remote hill region.

NEPAL: Undying Hunger in the Hinterland

Here on the narrow trails carved into the steep, emerald hills that plunge into the winding Karnali River hundreds of metres below, villagers have one thing on their minds: emergency rice.