SRI LANKA: Solar Lights Dispel Post-War Gloom

The one thing that a quarter century of civil war has taught the local population in the north of the island is how to make the best use of local resources - starting with plain sunshine.

PAKISTAN: Gun City Profits From Killings

'Gun city' lies just a 40-minute drive from Peshawar, capital of the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The city, Darra Adamkhel, lives off a thriving trade in making and selling guns.

SOUTH KOREA: Opposition Resists U.S. Trade Pact

South Korea's opposition party has said it will resist any bid to force a sweeping free-trade agreement with the U.S. through parliament, following ratification of the deal by the U.S. congress.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Lifer’s Case Tells Migrant Workers’ Plight

A Nepalese worker serving life for a murder he denies committing has become the rallying point for activists lobbying for the rights of migrant labour.

CAMBODIA: Resignation Raises Doubts Over Khmer Rouge Tribunal

The United Nations must address a "crisis of confidence" at the beleaguered Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal in Cambodia following the resignation of a controversial judge, critics say.

PAKISTAN: Newborns at Increased Risk

A newborn baby dies every four minutes in Pakistan. It was not always so. With a sound population policy set out in the 1950s, Pakistan was second only to Sri Lanka in infant and neonatal survival rates during the 1960s and 1970s (compared to Bangladesh, India, Iran and Nepal).

INDIA: Unauthorised Clinical Trials on Bhopal Victims

Ajay Shrivastav from Bhopal, the central Indian city that witnessed one of the worst industrial disasters of the world in 1984 from a deadly gas leak, is an angry man seeking justice.

Line Blurs Between Pro-India and Separatist Politics

As the blistering summer heat gives way to the first undertones of winter’s chill, the political landscape in the highly contested north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir also appears to be changing colour.

INDIA: Kashmiri on Death Row Galvanises Opposition to Death Penalty

"Is Afzal Guru really the person that so many Indians supposedly want dead? Or are they taking out their frustrations on an easy target?" asked Human Rights Watch, referring to the death sentence handed down to the Kashmiri man who was convicted of conspiracy in the 2001 suicide attack on the Indian Parliament.

INDIA: Microcredit Fights to Regain Credibility

As microcredit institutions - once touted as the vital ‘last mile' in extending credit to poor rural women -fight a government backlash that has encouraged honest borrowers to turn defaulters, hopes for revival hinge on a new bill awaiting passage in India's parliament.

PAKISTAN: Divided Over the Death Penalty

"I think Mumtaz Qadri carried out his action in a highly emotional state and should not be given the death penalty," Mufti Muhammad Naeem, founder of Binoria University International, a religious seminary in Karachi tells IPS. Qadri has been sentenced to death on two counts for assassinating Punjab governor Salman Taseer in January this year.

SRI LANKA: Struggling Beside the Shining New Road

The sun’s rays bouncing off the A9 highway give it a shining glow. Once known as Sri Lanka’s ‘highway of death’, the road has come a long way from those macabre associations.

Burma Exposes Fault Lines in China’s Dam-building Juggernaut

When Burma’s new president, Thein Sein, took the unusual step of opposing the construction of one of China's largest investment projects in the country – a mega dam – he did more than acknowledge the concerns of local communities and environmental activists.

PAKISTAN: Flood Fatigue Closes Eyes to New Disaster

Men and women wading through waist-deep water with infants straddling their sides; a convoy of donkey carts laden with entire families’ possessions moving towards dry land; people being rescued by uniformed men in rubber boats; ailing elderly carried on rope cots; bird’s-eye views of vast tracts of land submerged under water.

Iranians Bristle as Banking Scandal Widens

A banking scandal, identified by Iranian authorities as the "largest embezzlement in the country's banking history", has further shaken confidence in the government whose legitimacy was already under question after the contested results of the 2009 presidential election.

Afghan Women’s Rights ‘Under Threat’

Women's rights in Afghanistan are once again under threat after 10 years of progress, two leading British aid agencies have said.

Thai Rice Stirs the Global Pot

Thailand is preparing to stir the pot in the international rice market with its fragrant jasmine rice nurtured by a new policy. But while the new policy pays farmers a great deal more, there are fears that the high prices could make Thai rice uncompetitive.

PAKISTAN: Guns Aimed Increasingly at Women

Guns available in new abundance in the troubled north of Pakistan are increasingly being used on women in ‘honour’ killings and domestic disputes, according to local reports.

TAIWAN: Wrong Execution May Not End the Death Penalty

A Taiwan military tribunal has confirmed that the late Air Force private Chiang Kuo-ching had been wrongfully executed in August 1997 for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. But campaigners against the death penalty doubt that this will restore the moratorium on capital punishment the Taiwan government broke in April last year.

JAPAN: New Radiation Limits Demanded for Children

The threat of radioactive contamination faced particularly by children after the Mar. 11 nuclear disaster in Japan has touched the heart of the Japanese public, and become a major political and social issue.

ENVIRONMENT: Youth Share Best Practices at Tunza

Participants at the ‘Tunza International Children and Youth Conference’ underway in this Indonesian city shared best practices and ideas with fellow delegates on Wednesday, hoping they would get replicated.