On air highlights

A new practical workbook aims to inform and empower people across the Pacific about how to defend human rights in their communities.

There's been prime ministerial intervention in Samoa's preparation for the Rugby Seven's World Cup in Moscow next month.

The Japanese parliament has approved a bill to ratify the Hague Convention on international child abduction.

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister says he'll shut down the country's Finance Department if that's what's required to get to the bottom of allegations of massive unauthorised payments to a prominent law firm.

The debut feature film by long-time friends Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland premieres on May 30 in New Zealand 

Have you ever wondered where the Australian accent came from? 

Defeated French Polynesian President, Oscar Temaru has achieved his major goal of having the territory re-listed for decolonisation by the United Nations General Assembly.

The Second Asia-Pacific Water Summit has wrapped up, with a declaration by leaders and representatives of more than 50 countries to do more on water security.

For the first time in almost 50 years, a president of Myanmar has visited the White House.

A new poll says security issues with Pakistan, China and the US - coupled with food and energy shortages - pose major concerns for Indians at home. 

Womens' rights have again been challenged in Afghanistan, after parliament blocked debate on a bill eliminating violence against women.

Nacula island in Fiji's Yasawa group reclaims its foreshore replanting 2700 mangrove seedlings.

Many people are finding the big wins in the virtual gaming world doesn't translate in the real world.

French Polynesia has been re-listed by the United Nations as a colony to be decolonised.

People have been coming from around the world to the tiny New South Wales town of Wee Waa, where the French band Daft Punk are officially launching their new album.

With violence against women in India in the spotlight, so too is the portrayal of women in Bollywood and how much it may perpetuate a culture of misogyny.

Recently freed from a prison in Nanjing, China, Australian Carl Mather says China's justice system is governed more by political connections than rule of law.

China is reportedly planning a major summit of Pacific leaders in Guangzhou in November.

Malaysia's Prime Minister has unveiled a cabinet which observers say is packed with conservatives, with few MPs from the Chinese and Indian communities.

As Cyclone Mahasen bears down on India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, many Rohingya's living in temporary camps after violence last year are refusing to evacuate, saying they don't trust the authorities.

The work of Australia's main intelligence agency, ASIO, could be scaled back after recommendations its powers be watered down.

Aid organisations working in the Pacific have expressed disappointment with Australia's aid commitment in its budget.

Bangkok-based photographer and author Nic Dunlop will launch his new book in London later today.

The world's second richest man, Bill Gates, is calling on inventors to create a sexier condom.

Australia has announced plans to save $1.9 billion in the federal budget by delaying planned spending to foreign aid.

An estimated 150 Rohingya Muslim refugees may have perished at sea, trying to escape a cyclone.

Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan is putting the finishing touches to his sixth budget speech which he'll deliver this evening.

Stories from West Papua have often focused on the conflict between the Indonesian military and independence fighters.

There's a National Day of Mourning today for the plight of women in Papua New Guinea.

Philippine voters on Monday chose their representatives for the nation's Congress and local government.

The Australian Government's is again targetting foreign aid spending as it hunts for savings in this year's budget.

To the politics of Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has started talks to form a new government.

Australia's foreign aid program has been confirmed as a casualty of this year's budget.

The Mother and Baby packs project gives greater survival rate to mothers and their newborn babies in PNG's Highlands.

Each year, dozens of school leavers - mostly from Australia and Britain - find themselves in remote corners of the Pacific.

The death toll from the collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh has passed 1,000 and is still climbing making it one of the world's deadliest industrial disasters.

Malaysia's opposition is planning several political gatherings across the country this month, over last Sunday's disputed national elections.

Before you reach for that daily bottle or can of sugary soft drink, you may like to think about what it's doing to your health.

The newly launched Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka hosts a special piece of history that symbolised the democracy movement in Australia in the 1800s.

Lawyers in Haiti are attempting to sue the United Nations for introducing a chlorea epidemic that killed 8,000 people.

Some speakers at a mass rally near Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur may be charged with sedition.

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.

West Papua could become a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group as early as next month.

To Malaysia now where Opposition parties appear headed for a showdown with police tonight, over a planned rally to protest the results of Sunday's national elections.

India's first ever 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.

Papua New Guinea has moved a step closer to having its own high-speed internet broadband network.

Australia's Reserve Bank has cut official interest rates to their lowest level in more than five decades, lowering the RBA's official cash rate target by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent.

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

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, or the MET as its more commonly known, has announced it's returning two 10th Century Khmer Sculptures to Cambodia.

There were predictions of an upset win by the opposition, but in the end it wasn't to be.

Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, says it is not up to Australia to pass judgement on the fairness of the Malaysian election.

Malaysia's ruling BN coalition has challenged the Opposition to provide proof of election fraud, or accept Sunday's results with good grace.

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill wants Australia to help him boost PNG's profile in Asia.

Police in Solomon Islands have threatened to stage a 14-day "sit-in" protest if the government fails to appoint a new police commissioner within the next three months.

Despite governmental attempts to control tobacco use, massive public health challenges remain in Asia.

Ben Quilty is Australia's official war artist in Afghanistan, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial and attached to the Australian Defence Force.

The Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has defended his department's handling of the case of an Australian man accused of terror offences in Saudi Arabia.

The Election Commission has failed to allay some Malaysian NGOs' fears about the integrity of the polling process.

Delegates are gathering for the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur, where the man who will succeed the disgraced Mohammed Bin Hammam as president will be chosen.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui is internationally renowned for its ancient statues - the mo'ai -  which are carved from compressed volcanic ash.  But its also known as the island where humans stripped away the trees with devastating effect.

Can smoking and alcohol stains be fully removed from your teeth? Do mouthwashes that contain alcohol cause cancer? Is tap water better than bottled water for teeth?

Exactly ten years after US President George W Bush declared the mission to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "accomplished", there are fears senior members of the dicator's Ba'ath Party are dragging the country into civil war.

With four days to go before Malaysia's national elections, regional media watchdog has voiced concern that voters are being denied fair and credible information.

Chid Liberty is one of Liberia's most respected social entrepreneurs who has overcome obstacles to set up Africa's first Fair Trade certified business.

When Malaysians go to the polls on Sunday it will be the first time in the country's history where the winner isn't known in advance.

The owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh has faced angry crowds calling for the death penalty as he made his first court appearance.

Indigenous artwork has long been a celebrated part of the Paris art scene, but a new project launched today in Canberra is set to showcase it on a scale never seen before.

Malaysia's ruling Barisan National coalition says it offers voters stability, security and strong economic management.

The digital copy of the final report of the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been unofficially released to the news media and through the internet on social media.

Australia's uranium industry is high risk, low return: that's the assessment of a report designed to expose the uranium industry's promise of great economic reward.

The United States says it's confident the Assad regime in Syria has used chemical weapons.