IRIN - Asia
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PHILIPPINES: Aid agencies hike emergency appeal for Mindanao (Feb 3)
MANILA 03 February 2012 (IRIN) - The UN and its partners have revised upwards their emergency appeal for storm-affected Mindanao to US$39 million from the original $28.4 million.


HEALTH: Experts pledge to eradicate "neglected" diseases (Feb 3)
LONDON 03 February 2012 (IRIN) - Ten little-known but debilitating diseases will be high on the agenda of the world's pharmaceutical chiefs, health ministers and donor governments after they pledged their support for a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to wipe out guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, leprosy, bilharzia and intestinal worms, among other "neglected" diseases.


CAMBODIA: The impact of truth-seeking on mental health (Feb 3)
PHNOM PENH 03 February 2012 (IRIN) - On 3 February, judges in the Extraordinary Chamber of the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC) – more commonly known as the Khmer Rouge trials – sentenced Kaing Guek Eav (“Duch”), the former chairman of the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng security prison, to life in prison.


HIV/AIDS: Global Fund shake-up signals new direction (Feb 2)
NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG 02 February 2012 (IRIN) - The appointment of a new general manager, Gabriel Jaramillo, at the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis could be a "turning point" for the troubled organization, which has suffered from a funding crisis and allegations of corruption.


NEPAL: Fears of violence during expected Kathmandu squatter eviction (Feb 2)
KATHMANDU 02 February 2012 (IRIN) - A Nepalese government development plan for Kathmandu could lead to violence as the authorities seek to evict thousands of landless squatters, activists say.


THAILAND: Authorities boost flood-control measures (Feb 1)
BANGKOK 01 February 2012 (IRIN) - The Thai government is pressing ahead with efforts to mitigate the risk of flooding during the upcoming rainy season, but greater coordination is still needed, flood experts say.


MYANMAR: Health concerns for Kachin IDPs (Jan 31)
KACHIN STATE 31 January 2012 (IRIN) - Aid workers in Myanmar's northern Kachin State have expressed concern over the health of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) along the border with China.


PHILIPPINES: Geo-hazard maps go public (Jan 31)
MANILA 31 January 2012 (IRIN) - The Philippine government has made geo-hazard maps, which outline areas prone to natural disasters, publicly available in a bid to reduce vulnerability at community level.


INDONESIA: Rights groups urge release of Papuan activists (Jan 30)
JAKARTA 30 January 2012 (IRIN) - Human rights groups have urged Indonesian authorities to drop treason charges against five activists in the easternmost province of Papua.


PAKISTAN: Disabled by the 2005 quake and still out of school (Jan 30)
PESHAWAR 30 January 2012 (IRIN) - Jawad Khan, 15, spends most of his day at home in his village in the remote Battagram District of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province (KP), sometimes glancing at a magazine, or occasionally helping his mother shell peas or cut up potatoes.