Connect Asia

In the lead up to the elections the Barisan Nasional government announced bonuses for the 40,000 employees of national oil firm Petronas; a second round of the equivalent of $160 in cash to the underprivileged and government MPs were given an extra half a million dollars each to plough into their constituencies.

East Timor's Government says it's ready to back up its allegations that Australia used espionage during negotiations over the multi-billion dollar Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.

After weeks of intense campaigning and a record turnout of voters - 80 per cent in fact - it all came down to polling day: Sunday.

Australia's Foreign Minister, Bob Carr has welcomed the outcome of the election in Malaysia, saying that Canberra was prepared to work with either the opposition or Barisan.

To get some deeper analysis of the Malaysian election results and dissect the performances of the two sets of parties, Connect Asia spoke to Associate Professor Bridget Welsh from the Singapore Management University.

East Timor's Government says it's ready to back up its allegations that Australia used espionage during negotiations over the multi-billion dollar Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.

There's a volcano that spews mud in Indonesia and it remains in the news despite the fact that the eruption occurred seven years ago.

Indian cinema is celebrating its centenary.

A group of Indonesian students are in Katherine in Australia's Northern Territory, as part of a pastoral industry program led by the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association.

One of the features of the keenly fought campaign in Malaysia was the drive to get Malaysian's living abroad to return back to vote.

The independent Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has had a long interest in Malaysia and was recently expelled by the Malaysian authorities, accused of interfering in the country's domestic affairs.

The Malaysian election has been watched closely by overseas Malaysians.

Just hours after Indonesian police say they foiled a planned terrorist attack on Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta on Friday, hundreds of angry Muslims gathered in protest outside of the embassy.

More than two years after the meltdowns at Fukushima, the plant's operator is dealing with a new crisis - millions of litres of contaminated water inside the complex.

Newly released Australian Departmental advice has failed to back Government claims of widespread rorting of the 457 foreign worker visa system.

Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan says his party is peaking just at the right time and he's confident it will win enough seats for him to become Pakistan's next Prime Minister.

The new man in charge of the Asian Football Confederation has called for programme of complete reform and for AFC decision makers to be accountable.

Malaysia has had just one government since independence 57 years ago and is warning of potential civil unrest if voters throw it out.

To the Malaysian elections and with just two days to go until polling begins, both parties are frantic in their last minute campaigning.