Asia

Opposition declares massive rally in Istanbul the beginning of a pro-democracy movement by Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams Turkey’s opposition leader declared a new beginning for the country and demanded reforms to the country’s current government at a…

Sexual orientation, religion, family pressure, freedom of choice, and discrimination. These are just some of the  issues we discussed with Wajahat Abbas Kazmi, a filmmaker and young Pakistani Amnesty International activist in Italy. You moved to Italy at the age…

Rice is a major food commodity and staple food for many, and adding fish to flooded rice paddies has been a farming tradition practiced in a number of Asian countries for many centuries—even for more than 1000 years in some…

By Lisa Torio June 8, 2017 for Waging Nonviolence Since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “anti-conspiracy” bill entered the upper house of parliament in early April, thousands of people across the country have taken to the streets in protest. Demonstrations…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday 26th of May inaugurated the country’s longest river bridge in eastern Assam over the Lohit River, a major tributary of the mighty Brahmaputra. PM Modi, who arrived in the morning hours from New…

China’s Belt and Road Initiative revives history for modern trade, development and renewable energy across Asia Stretching thousands of kilometres, across mountains and deserts, the Silk Road holds a special place in history. Traversed by Marco Polo and named after…

Beijing is hosting a high-level international cooperation forum, dubbed “One Belt, One Road,” which brings together dozens of heads of state and government, along with financial organizations and hundreds of business representatives and entrepreneurs. “Spanning thousands of miles and years,…

China has pledged as much as $124 billion to a project which is meant to revive the ancient Silk Road intercontinental trade route. The Belt and Road initiative could be the world’s most expensive multi-modal transportation project. It is expected…

Viewpoint by LI Hong LI Hong is Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. BANGKOK (IDN) – The Silk Road, which is a route linking several…

Another cycle of conferences started this week in Vienna to culminate in a conference to review the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2020.  States Parties and civil-society organisations have exchanged views in the general debate and in a number of…