PAKISTAN: New Wage Hike a Mere Palliative, Say Labour Advocates

Imran Ali, 23, has no reason to complain. His monthly take home pay of 8,600 Pakistan rupees (about 102 U.S. dollars) as a government employee allows him to augment his family’s meagre income.

BURMA: Donors View Civil Society in New Light after Nargis

Local civil society organisations and community groups who rushed to help victims after the powerful Cyclone Nargis tore through military-ruled Burma two years ago are reaping rewards for their risky and tireless labour.

PAKISTAN: Lack of Access to Contraception, Abortion Persist

Perween Riaz, 36, waited till after she gave birth to her sixth child before she finally got herself sterilised.

BURMA: Two Years after Nargis, Life Is Far from Normal

Kyaw Moe is just in his 30s, but he is already on his second shot at life – just like the rest of the residents of Thakan Ngu, a tiny Burmese village in this township of Bogalay.

BURMA: Pressure Mounts on Energy Giant Chevron to Disclose Revenue

When shareholders of the multinational company Chevron gather for their annual meeting in the U.S. city of Houston in late May, they will come face to face with Naing Htoo, whose community has suffered due to the exploits of the energy giant in military-ruled Burma.

SRI LANKA: Farming, Fisheries Offer Hope to Former Battleground

Well before the northern Sri Lankan region of the Jaffna Peninsula was devastated by over two and a half decades of a bloody sectarian war, fisheries and agriculture had been the mainstays of its economy.

MALAYSIA: Tougher Days Ahead for Ruling Coalition, Opposition

A closely contested by-election over the weekend, which saw victory for the ruling coalition, shows that the political terrain in multi-ethnic Malaysia remains divided and raises searching questions for the opposing sides.

BALKANS: Freedom Fighters or Freeloaders?

When one of Croatia’s best kept secrets, the list of independence fighters enjoying lifelong benefits, appeared on the Internet earlier this month it sparked off a huge scandal in this nation that became a sovereign state after the bloody 1991-95 war with Serbia.

SRI LANKA: Former Battle Zone Getting Used to Peace

In the yard of the Javiz Arulanandam's church here lies the top portion of a statue of Jesus Christ. Only the head remains of the statue, which would have been at least 20 feet tall.

MEDIA-ASIA: Parents Try to Keep Up with Net-savvy Youngsters

Many parents are scratching their heads as they watch youngsters in the Asia- Pacific region create often-private online worlds, feeling lost over how to be a part of it and oversee their Internet lives.

PAKISTAN: Prosthetics Give Needy A New Lease on Life

Thirty-something Shazia could not contain her joy as she watched an artificial leg being strapped on her right leg, just below her knee.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: How the War Gave Tamil Women More Space

Whenever Sri Lankan rights activist Shereen Xavier attends a meeting related to her work in this war-battered northern capital, she makes sure to be dressed in a sari, a traditional gown worn by South Asian women.

SUDAN: Election Results Expected Soon

Poor access to telephone networks and lack of roads in some areas of South Sudan is delaying the submission of voting results to the election commission.

CHINA: In Latest Quake, Poorly Built Schools Haunt Gov’t – Again

Collapsed buildings, homes turned to rubble, students killed or trapped in the wreckage of schools and dormitories – last week’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake in western China’s remote Qinghai province offered chilling reminders of the Sichuan earthquake that killed almost 90,000 people in 2008.

PHILIPPINES: Revival of Filthy River Flows from Changed Habits

While more developed countries consider waterfronts prime property, most Filipinos have regarded rivers and creeks as their "backyard" and sewage system.

POLITICS-HUNGARY: Rightward Swing Has Fascist Overtones

In the autumn of 2006 Hungary was rocked by a series of anti-government protests triggered by the release of a tape in which then prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány confessed to his Social-Democratic Party (MSZP) having lied to win elections that year. Now it is payback time.

PHILIPPINES: Women’s College Corrects Gender Miseducation

Flip open a typical textbook used in many Philippine schools and you will likely find images of women illustrating verbs such as ‘cook’ or ‘clean’, but hardly appearing anywhere much in economics and history textbooks.

DR CONGO: Uneasy Calm After Fighting in Northwest

Fighting between "Enyélé" insurgents and regular armed forces in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo at the beginning of April left 18 people dead, including nine rebels, and triggered mass displacements from the region's principal city, Mbandaka.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Conflict Complicates Aid to Disabled

The rising number of civilian casualties in the military operations against the Taliban in Pakistan’s northern provinces has become an early difficulty for a new government project for the disabled.

ENVIRONMENT: A Different Kind of Green

The colour green has long been associated with Islam, but if some recent Muslim visitors here could have their way, it’s a link that could intensify some more in the future.

CHINA: Thirty Years On, Debate Emerges Over One-child Policy

Adept at navigating through politically sensitive anniversaries, the Chinese government has one more socially volatile date marked in its calendar: this year’s 30th anniversary of its one-child policy.