Coral Triangle Fights to Save Reefs from Extinction

The planet's richest region of coral and marine life, which feeds 130 million people, is in trouble.

Taliban Thwarts Global Polio Eradication

By ordering a ban on polio immunisation, in its strongholds along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Taliban is holding up an ambitious global programme to rid the world of  the crippling childhood disease, say World Health Organisation (WHO) doctors.

Truckers Celebrate NATO Resumption

“I’m happy that I will be resuming work soon,” says Zarbistan Khan, who owns and drives a tanker that takes oil from the southern port city Karachi to Afghanistan. But the joy comes under the shadow of a Taliban threat to attack supply convoys.

Growing ‘Entertainment’ Industry Traps Nepali Girls

Almost unnoticed, Nepal’s burgeoning adult entertainment industry has been drawing young girls away from being trafficked across the border to the fleshpots of India’s big cities.

To Aid Afghans, Not Just Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s international donors will gather on Sunday in Tokyo for a conference at which they are expected to pledge economic aid, and ensure their assistance level will be maintained after withdrawal of ISAF-NATO troops, in 2014. But Afghan people and civil society groups working in the country say much of the aid is being directed the wrong way.

Anxiety as Donors Chart Aid for Afghanistan Beyond 2014

A key United Nations official on Friday urged the international community to match security funding for Afghanistan with economic and development funding after 2014, when most international – particularly U.S. – forces will leave the country.

New U.S.-Pakistani Supply Accord Seen as Tenuous

As NATO supply convoys began crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months Thursday, analysts here warned that the reopening of the key route does not necessarily signal a new dawn in the fraught relations between Washington and Islamabad.

Aquaculture Boosts Papua New Guinea’s Food Security

The vast Sirinumu Reservoir in Central Province which supplies water and electricity to Papua New Guinea (PNG)’s capital, is home to a co-operative of 60 fish farmers who are successfully employing aquaculture to improve local incomes and food security.  

Sri Lanka Emerges as Launchpad for Human Smuggling

If you hold a Pakistani or Afghan passport, be prepared for an unusually lengthy immigration process on entering neighbouring Sri Lanka. Immigration authorities in the island tell IPS they have set up special procedures to check passengers from these two countries.

Activists to Appeal U.S. Court’s Bhopal Verdict

After a controversial ruling Friday in favour of Union Carbide, NGOs and activists associated with the 1984 Bhopal, India industrial disaster are appealing the decision in the U.S. second circuit court of appeals.

China Battles Desertification

As scientists increasingly label desertification as one of the most burning challenges facing the world today, a small village in China’s semi-arid Northeastern region of Inner Mongolia is fighting back.

Fishermen Caught on a Political Hook

“The number will never come to zero and in a few months you will see as many captive fishermen, maybe even more to fill the prison barracks,” says Mohammad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), following the release of more than 300 Indian fishermen from Pakistani jails.

New World Bank Chief Backs Defunding Bangladesh Bridge Project

On Monday, his first day in office, new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he sees the institution's recent decision to pull out of a massive bridge project in Bangladesh as "appropriate".

Green Bricks Pave Future for Female Workers

At first glance the smart young women in white overcoats, black rubber boots and protective face masks seem out of place in impoverished Bangladesh’s dirtiest industry – brick making. 

Back to Kashmir in Hope and Fear

After spending more than 15 years in Pakistan Administered Kashmir, Rafiq Mir (name changed) is keen to come back to his home in the part of Kashmir administered by India.

Going It Alone After the Rio Circus

The works starts now, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said at the conclusion of the summit on sustainable development in Rio last week. This was about the only UN statement that civil society groups seem to agree with. It is on the precise task at hand that they differ.

Corporations See Green in Biodiversity

The gentle hills on the edge of this remote town are lush with tropical fruit trees that yield fine wines  for the Broadchem Corporation and also give the agro company a green label.   

Poverty Rises With Wealth in Indonesia

If in the words of Gandhi ''poverty is the worst form of violence,'' then the Indonesian government is accountable to some 120 million citizens who live on less than two dollars a day.

MONGOLIA: Can New Electoral Law Help Women Enter Parliament?

If all goes as envisioned on Jun. 28, Mongolia's parliament will no longer be a male bastion.

Micro Hydels Power Indonesia’s Green Energy Plans

The nighttime glitter of Indonesia’s cities and urban centres contrasts sharply with darkness of the hinterland where some 90 million people live without the benefit of electricity.

Some Nurses Take Flight, Others Take to the Streets

Nurses in India are up in arms against the deterioration of the nursing profession in the country, including unfair wages and the policies of private hospital managements.