MALAYSIA: ‘Cowgate’ Turns Opposition Fodder

With the 83-million-dollar ‘cowgate’ scam refusing to die down, a shadow hangs over Prime Minister Najib Razak’s plans to call elections ahead of April 2013, when they are due.

CHINA: Radio Keeps Tibetans Tuned In

No road leads to Motuo County. There is no post office or newspaper. But, for the 10,000 residents of one of the planet’s remotest corners, a local radio station serves as the vital link to the outside world.

PAKISTAN: Political Scandals Rock the Polio Eradication Boat

A knock on her front door throws Beenish, a 28-year-old housewife from Lahore, into a fix: should she allow the female volunteer vaccinators to administer the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to her two-year-old son, or not?

Thailand Charges Iranian Suspects Over Blast

Two Iranians have been arrested and charged with plotting a bomb attack in Bangkok, according to Thailand's foreign minister.

Bangladesh Braves Climate Change With Community Radio

"Welcome to Krishi (farming) Radio. You are listening to FM 98.8 megahertz and I am your hostess Shahnaz Parvin," the local community radio crackles over the mobile phones and transistors of residents in coastal Barguna district.

INDIA: No Help for Kashmir’s Female Drug Addicts

Drug abuse, known to be widespread among youth in India’s northern Kashmir state, is now showing a new trend whereby teenage girls and women are increasingly turning into substance abusers and addicts.

Tibetan Protests Begin to Spread

An escalating number of unprecedented self-immolations and violent protests that have gripped Tibetan regions of Western China over recent weeks show no sign of abating, as the country reels from the worst Tibet crisis since the 2008 riots.

Papua New Guinea’s New Dawn With Community Radio

It was the decade-long civil war in the autonomous Bougainville region that inspired the founding of New Dawn FM, a community radio station recognised for contributing to the rebirth of civil society and development.

Finding a Joint Front Against Polio

The world’s two worst polio-affected countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have exhausted themselves in failed attempts to wipe out the crippling ailment.

Migrant Workers in Singapore Demand Justice

When a group of about 100 mostly Bangladeshi migrant workers went on strike at a construction site over unpaid wages this month, it created ripples in this affluent and orderly island republic.

MALDIVES: Paradise on a Knife’s Edge

The short, one-minute video is grainy but the poor picture quality makes the scene no less chilling. Shot from a balcony, it shows the recently ousted Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed walking out of a building, pleading with military officers to stop rioting police.

Burma in the Throes of Change – Part II

As 'positive' news flows out of Burma - release of political prisoners, ceasefire talks in ethnic areas, increased freedom, formation of labour unions – people inside the country and exiles have been in heated discussion. What does 'reform' entail and are the changes going to be fully implemented?

INDIA: Community Radio Saves Lives and Livelihoods

Fisher Wanka Masani, 25, has been inseparable from his two- dollar transistor ever since a community radio (CR) station started up in this coastal town. The square black box blares popular songs while Masani waits for his brothers to land the daily catch.

Indonesian Commission Seeks Rehabilitation, Not Detention

Amid increasing reports of physical abuses resulting in deaths in youth detention and correctional centres across the country, an Indonesian state commission has embarked on a national campaign to scrap detention and imprisonment of children altogether.

PODCAST: INDIA – Community Radio Saves Lives and Livelihoods

Manipadma Jena speaks to listeners and staff of Radio Namaskar on the role of this community radio station in India’s Bay of Bengal.

One Country, Two Systems, Big Problem

A recent series of public spats between Hong Kong locals and mainland Chinese have highlighted escalating tensions between Beijing and the former colony - and heralded in one of the most conspicuous anti-mainland campaigns seen in Hong Kong since the handover.

PHILIPPINES: LGBT Radio Switches to Podcasting

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues have generally been ignored in the Philippines, or worse, negatively portrayed to spice up mainstream media programmes.

800,000 Kashmiris Haunted by Horror

Maheen was nine years old when she witnessed the death of her elder brother. At the age of 10 she saw the dead body of her neighbour, killed in the crossfire between Kashmiri rebels and Indian security forces, his guts spilled out on the road.

Burma in the Throes of Change – Part 1

Moves by the Burmese government to settle ethnic conflicts in the country, notably with the Karen in the mountainous eastern part of the country, have caught most observers by surprise.

Philippines Seeking U.S. Help Against China’s Bullying

The government of Philippines President Benigno Aquino may be wading into choppy diplomatic waters by turning to the United States to counter China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

INDIA-PAKISTAN: Food Heals Historic Hostility

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then the path to peace between India and Pakistan may lie in the commonalities in their cultures and cuisines.