Connect Asia

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday embarks on her first visit to Papua New Guinea since taking office.

The Australian Opposition's Foreign Affairs spokeswoman says the Indian Ocean and the Asia Pacific region in general will be the focus of foreign affairs if there is a change of government in September.

More claims have emerged of cruelty in Australia's live export trade, this time centring on the treatment of goats and cattle in Malaysia.

While North Korean missile launches, nuclear tests, and threats of war have dominated headlines, many Japanese families are concerned their fight to have relatives who were kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s returned, has been forgotten.

In Indonesia, a man who's accused of being a notorious people smuggler has been told he'll face 27 charges and possibly decades in jail if he's extradited to Australia.

The legendary manager of the world's best known soccer club has announced he's retiring, after almost 27 years at the helm of Manchester UnitedSir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history.

India's first legislation on the right to food is being held up in parliament, with the opposition refusing to debate the bill until the government sacks two ministers for alleged corruption.

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard will shortly head for Papua New Guinea.

In Indonesian Papua, the Baptist Church in Jayapura says Melanesian children are still being removed from their families and sent to Islamic schools in Jakarta.

While Malaysian Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim continues to allege widespread fraud in the weekend's election, investors have accepted the re-election of Najib Razak's ruling coalition positively.

Tributes have been flowing for the retiring Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who has confirmed that he's stepping down at the end of this season, after more than 26 years in the post.

It's well documented that the planet is losing plant and animal species.

A seven-hour shoot-out has ended with Indonesian police killing three suspected terrorists and arresting two others, south-east of the capital, Jakarta.

Just days before national elections in Pakistan, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has been injured at an election rally.

With more than a third of Pakistan's population under the age of 40, Imran Khan has been reaching out to younger voters with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party or PTI.

Malaysia's Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says he will soon present evidence of electoral fraud in Sunday's bitterly contested polls.

In Malaysia, the three-party Pakatan Rakyat alliance will not back down from its claims that the ruling Barisan Nasional cheated its way back to office.

An increasing number of Vietnamese refugees are seeking asylum in Australia by boat.

The Australian Government has decided to release asylum seeker families into the community, on bridging visas, cutting costs and acknowledging that keeping them in detention takes a toll on their mental health.