Myanmar Turns ASEAN’s Democracy Beacon

Long Southeast Asia’s black sheep, Myanmar is enjoying an image change following its landmark Apr. 1 by-elections. Tongues are now wagging about the region’s new beacon of hope for democratic change.

White House Expresses Growing Concern Over Bahrain

The White House Wednesday said it was "deeply concerned" about growing polarisation between the ruling monarchy and the majority Shi'a community in Bahrain and the welfare of a jailed human rights activist who has been on a hunger strike since early February.

Immigrants in Chile File Complaint against Mass Expulsions

The Committee of Peruvian Refugees in Chile has filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that this country carries out mass expulsions of immigrants.

Rising Inequality Could be Asia’s Undoing

While developing Asian countries have experienced robust growth – lifting living standards and reducing poverty – increasing wealth is fuelling income disparities and inequality, posing a major threat to the region’s stability, warns the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s flagship report released Wednesday.

U.S., Latin America Growing More Distant, Warns Think Tank

Relations between the United States and Latin America have "grown more distant" in importance part due to the latter's persistent disagreement with U.S. policies on immigration, drugs, and Cuba, according to a new report released here Wednesday on the eve of this year's Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

Annan: Iran Can Be Part of Syria “Solution”

Kofi Annan, the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on Syria, has welcomed Iranian support for his efforts to secure peace in the country, telling Tehran that it can be "part of the solution".

Protests Over Property Rise Across China

Zhang Haxia and her husband received a knock on the door in the middle of one night last December. They were dragged from their home in south-west China and forced into a van. When they returned nothing was left.

Argentine Court Forges Ahead in Franco-Era Human Rights Crimes Case

Based on the principle of universal justice, human rights crimes committed during Spain's 1936-1939 civil war and the 1939-1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco are being tried in Argentina, and more and more plaintiffs are joining the lawsuit.

Eastern Europe, a Cold War Relic, Still Alive at U.N.

A politically intense battle between Lithuania and Serbia for the post of president of the next General Assembly sessions has shifted the focus on an anomaly of the Cold War era: the existence of the long-defunct Eastern Europe.

India’s Job Guarantee Scheme Under Strain

Standing on a patch of arid, degraded land, 100 km from southern Bangalore city, Ramapal, member of the ‘gram panchayat’ (local village administration), points to a roughly-dug canal feeding a narrow belt of green cultivation.

India’s IIT Elite Could Shape New ‘Asian Capitalism’

The rapid currents moving the centre of economic influence towards an emerging global order headquartered in Asia were evident at the PanIIT’s 2012 annual conference of alumni of the highly prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), which took place in Singapore over the Easter weekend.

Pakistani Jazz Touches New Chords

The silencing of music in the name of Islam led Pappu to give up the cello and set up a tea stall. But Pappu and other musicians survived the Islamist regime for former dictator Zia ul-Haq and the recent ways of the Taliban to return to the most surprising group of musicians to have emerged over years – on a dusty little street in the Pakistani city Lahore.

Brazil, U.S. Deepen Ties Ahead of Obama’s Latin America Week

Kicking off what some here have called President Barack Obama's "Latin America Week", the president and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, touted a deepening of bilateral ties in her first visit to the White House as president of South America's superpower.

Institutionalised Homophobia Encourages Hate Crimes

Agnes Torres, a transsexual psychologist and gay rights activist, left her home in the central Mexican state of Puebla on her way to a party. The next day, her body was found in a gully, naked from the waist down. Her throat had been slit.

OP-ED: Indonesian Youth in the Post-1998 Era of Democratisation

May 1998 was a terrible and magical moment in the history of Indonesia's youth movement.

Radioactive Mushrooms Cloud Compensation Plans

The discovery of radioactive contamination in ‘shiitake’ mushrooms grown in Manazuru town, Kanagawa prefecture, some 300 km away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has raised public clamour for compensation.

Israel-Iran Matters Get Worse in Verse

A lyrical attack by Germany’s acclaimed novelist and essayist Günter Grass in which he labelled Israel’s alleged atomic arsenal and looming pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear installations a threat to world peace has triggered fury and controversy amongst Israelis.

“A New Dawn Rises over Malawi”

It would be too simplistic to think that Malawi’s problems have ended with the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. But it is an opportunity for newly appointed President Joyce Banda, who is also leader of the opposition People’s Party, to step up and offer a new and more responsive style of leadership.

U.S. Withdrawal a Blessing and a Curse for Afghans

Though the United States’ announcement to pull its troops from Afghanistan by 2014 was celebrated by most Afghans as the imminent end of a protracted and controversial foreign occupation, there are lingering questions about the outcome of such a withdrawal.

Will Climate Refugees Get Promised Aid?

With extreme weather pounding countries across a wide arc in the Asia-Pacific region, questions hover over entitlements for millions of people displaced by climate change, pledged under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and other sources.

Libya Faces a Health Check

At a crowded corner of the Tripoli Medical Centre, people gather every morning to submit paperwork for medical treatment abroad, or worriedly scan new lists of approved names plastering the walls.