India
British
Asians 'outsourcing murder' - 28 September
A BBC investigation has uncovered the deadly practice of
British Asians travelling to India to hire contract killers.
Family and business associates, who are lured to the
sub-continent, are often the targets. In a country where murder is
cheaper and less fraught with risk, the perpetrators of these
crimes are rarely brought to justice. Campaigners in both India
and the UK believe this to have claimed the lives of hundreds of
victims over several years. These armchair murder plots are
hatched in the living rooms of Britain and executed mainly in the
rural Indian state of Punjab. - BBC
News website
Malaysia
Hands
off our food : Malaysia stakes copyright claim to recipes for
chili crabs, coconut rice - 18 September
Malaysia is starting a food fight with other
countries to win bragging rights for producing some of Southeast
Asia's most beloved recipes, including chili crabs and coconut
cream rice, a news report said Thursday. "We cannot
continue to let other countries hijack our food", The
Star newspaper quoted Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen as saying
while launching a campaign to promote the country's cuisine. -
AP on Google website
Malaysia
upholds woman's caning - 28 September
An Islamic court in Malaysia has upheld a sentence of six
strokes of the cane handed to a Muslim woman who was caught
drinking beer in public. The court appeals panel in Pahang state
ruled the sentence on 32-year-old Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was
just. No date was set for the caning, but if it goes ahead,
Shukarno will be the first Malaysian woman to be caned. The case
has caused controversy in Malaysia, where Muslims are subject to
Islamic law in personal matters. - BBC
News website
Myanmar
Suu
Kyi detention appeal rejected - 2 October
A Burmese court has rejected an appeal by pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi against her extended detention, officials say.
- BBC News website
Vietnam
Vietnam
baby fraud trial begins - 22 September
Sixteen people have gone on trial in Vietnam accused of
committing fraud over the foreign adoption of more than 250
babies, a court official says. Those charged are alleged to have
solicited the babies from poor families or single mothers. - BBC
News website