INDIA: Kashmir Pays for Environmental Neglect

Years of poor policies and neglect are taking a toll on Kashmir’s unmatched ecological assets, that also happen to be international tourist attractions.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Backs Off From Attacking Civilians

A series of Taliban attacks selectively targeting Pakistani security forces is being seen as an attempt to shore up the flagging popularity of the fundamentalist Islamic scholars.

‘Participatory Map Vital for Indonesia’s Environment Plans’

Indonesia's ambitious forest conservation and emission reduction plans depend crucially on how soon it can develop a 'participatory map' in which all stakeholders figure.

Trekking Trails Lead Nepal Women to Empowerment

Dawa Gyalmo Sherpa’s three sons went to look for blue-collar jobs in Malaysia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, saying Mulkharka, their tiny village in Kathmandu valley, had no livelihood prospects.

ENVIRONMENT: Indonesians Await Forest Tenure Reform

Barbecue fires along the winding trail through the Sesaot forest reserve act as guides for delegates walking to an international forestry conference at a nearby beach resort.

E-Waste Hits China

Despite new government regulations, China, for decades the dumping ground for the world’s electronic waste, still struggles to treat and process millions of tonnes of e-waste, prompting health and environmental concerns.

Bangladesh Offers Lessons in Microcredit Management

Phulo Rani Pal checks for loose dust around her open backyard kitchen. It’s time to prepare the sweets she supplies to vendors and it will not do for her products to be contaminated.

Sri Lankan Jails “Hell” for Women

Monthly ‘visiting hours’ at the female ward of Sri Lanka’s notorious Welikada Prison are as traumatic for the inmates as they are for their family and friends. A tiny room, measuring 10 feet by seven feet, is divided in half by a mesh counter. On one side, mothers, fathers, children and relatives jostle for standing room. On the other the inmates, in white prison clothes, shout to be heard over the din.

Execution Videos Strike Terror in Pakistan

A video showing a group of 16 Pakistani policemen, hands tied behind their backs, being executed by Taliban gunmen in the Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is only the latest in a series showing brutal acts designed to strike terror in the areas bordering Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN: ‘U.S. Military Aid Came With Spies Attached’

Defence analysts in Pakistan believe that foregoing 800 million US dollars worth of aid may be a fair bargain for ridding this country of over a hundred ‘military trainers’ who were suspected of being spies.

‘Forgotten Australians’ Demand More Than Apologies

Laurie Humphreys was on the first ship after World War II that brought 150 British boys and girls, aged five to 14 years, to Australia in 1947. At 13, he was promised oranges and sunshine and an adventurous holiday, but reality was different.

Cambodia Stock Exchange to Push Transparency

Besides attracting international investors, Cambodia’s new stock exchange is expected to nudge this Southeast Asian country towards greater transparency.

PAKISTAN: Troubled Karachi Finds a Happy Enclave

The long boardwalk, balmy sea air and ebb and flow of water under the bridge, but most of all the festive carnival-like atmosphere of people enjoying the Karachi sunset, are images that stand in deep contrast to the violence this metropolis recently witnessed.

INDIA: Temple Treasures Open Up Problems of Plenty

The discovery that treasures lying in the vaults of an ancient temple in Thiruvananthapuram may be worth more than 25 billion dollars is raising questions regarding the vast wealth owned by religious shrines in this impoverished country.

Outrage as Terror Revisits India’s Financial Capital

Hastimal Sen mistook the deafening sounds of explosions that shook his office in Mumbai’s crowded Zaveri Bazaar Wednesday evening as cars backfiring.

AUSTRALIA: Renewable Energy Wins, Controversially

Australia has taken a major step in reducing its future greenhouse gas output with the announcement of a plan that will initially place a tax on every tonne of carbon pollution produced by hundreds of the country’s major emitters.

PAKISTAN: Soldiers Pay a Price in War on Terrorism

Army soldier Zaheer Abbas and his squad were hunting down militants in the outskirts of Darra Adamkhel, a town in northwest Pakistan famous for its weapons workshops, when they suddenly found themselves under a surprise volley of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

OP-ED: Afghan Women Fight Back Against Harassment

My mother entered the house and pushed the door closed with anger. After getting a cup of green tea, she sat in front of the television as her children watched her with concern and confusion.

Deadly Blasts Rock Mumbai

At least 17 people have been killed and scores wounded after three blasts struck India's financial capital of Mumbai, police have said.

ASIA: Activists Press for Gender Equality in Forest Tenure Reforms

A 1993 forest act gave back Nepal its green hills, many believe. Activists say the law was also a catalyst for positive change in an area not readily linked with it – women’s rights in rural Nepal.

Q&A: Cook Islands Aims for 100 Percent Green Energy by 2020

"One hundred percent renewable energy by 2020... It is ambitious but it is not impossible," Henry Puna, prime minister of the Cook Islands, told IPS in a recent interview.