INFORMATION-ASIA: Clash of Cultures in Cyberspace

The paradox of the Information Age is that authoritarian governments and some of the pioneers of Internet both find themselves advocating restrictions on the use of the information superhighway. The reason: too much freedom.

ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH PACIFIC: French Test the Tempers in Region

From Perth to Pago-Pago, there is a nuclear fall-out all over the South Pacific just two weeks after the French announced they would resume nuclear tests in the region.

BANGLADESH: A FLOOD OF EXCUSES TO BUILD EMBANKMENTS NOW KNOWN TO DO MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD

THE FIRST SQUALLS OF THE LONG-AWAITED MONSOONS ARRIVED IN A SUDDEN WALL OF RAIN LAST WEEK. HUGE DROPS PUMMELED THE BANANA FRONDS, THE BAMBOO GROVES SAGGED IN THE STEAMING DOWNPOUR.

ASIA: Tigers Turn Charitable

Overseas development assistance from traditional donors in Europe, North America and Japan may be declining, but this is being partly compensated by new aid inflows from some of Asia's newly-industrialised tiger economies.

DEVELOPMENT-ASIA: Tigers Turn Charitable

Overseas development assistance from traditional donors in Europe, North America and Japan may be declining, but this is being partly compensated by new aid inflows from some of Asia's newly-industrialised tiger economies.

CULTURE-SINGAPORE: No Sex Please, We’re Singaporean

The Singaporean editions of popular glamour magazines are tame by comparison to their western counterparts: no daring semi-nude covers here, the articles are tittilating but safe, the advice and agony columns are wholesome.

INDIA: Temple erotica sure to prove major tourist attraction

Today India is going through a sexual revolution as traditional taboos are broken by the advent of satellite television, girlie magazines and sexually-explicit musicals.

An Inter Press Service Feature

In an official visit to India this month, Nepal's deputy prime minister who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist (UML) went on a well-publicised pilgrimage to a famous Hindu shrine.

EAST ASIA: Searching for the Asian Soul

The magazine covers and newspaper headlines were unanimous in 1994: 'Asia Ascendant', 'Asia Unleashed', 'The Rise and Rise of Asia'.

NEPAL-POLITICS: COMMUNIST ALLIANCE RUNS INTO DIFFICULTIES

NEPAL'S COMMUNIST ALLIANCE, WHICH EMERGED AS THE LARGEST PARTY IN LAST WEEK'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, IS RUNNING INTO DIFFICULTIES AS IT TRIES TO COBBLE TOGETHER A GOVERNMENT WITHOUT SUFFICIENT MAJORITY.

NEPAL: Uncertainty in a Marxist Monarchy (1) An Inter Press Service Analysis

A portrait of Lenin gazing sternly down from the wall behind him, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal, Madhav Nepal, does not look like a man whose party has just emerged victorious in elections.

NEPAL: Climbing Disaster Highlights Lack of Rescue Measures (1)

The worst disaster in Nepal's mountaineering history that took the lives of 11 climbers last week has raised questions about safety and rescue procedures in the country.

NEPAL: Could Become World’s First Communist Monarchy (1) An Inter Press Service Analysis

In the next week or so, Nepal's king Birendra could be swearing in a communist prime minister.

MUSIC-PHILIPPINES: Joey Ayala’s Music for the New Mind

For Joey Ayala, the most famous and successful of a new breed of Filipino ethno-musicians, the 'hegalong' is not just a musical instrument: it is an icon for a "new state of being".