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India

India passes free education bill - 5 August
The Indian parliament has approved a landmark education bill which seeks to guarantee free and compulsory education for children aged between six and 14. The bill, passed by the lower house of parliament, will set up new state-run neighbourhood schools. It will also force private ones to reserve at least a quarter of their places for poor children. Currently about 70 million children receive no schooling, and more than a third of the population is illiterate. The bill was passed by the upper house last month. It now needs presidential assent - a mere formality, correspondents say - to become law. - BBC News website

India 'regrets' US body's censure - 14 August
A US body's decision to put India on a list of states which failed to protect religious minoritie is "regrettable", India's foreign ministry says. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence. It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively. Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba. - BBC News website

Japan

Juries return to Japanese justice in Katsuyoshi Fujii trial - 3 August
A petty squabble between two elderly neighbours that escalated into a brutal, deadly stabbing attack became the centrepiece of the most radical shake-up of Japanese justice since the Second World War. The excitement did not centre on the complexity of the Katsuyoshi Fujii case - an acrimonious though relatively straightforward murder - but the groundbreaking presence of six members of the public on the judge's bench : the country's first jury trial since the general public was ejected from the justice system by the country's military government in 1943. - Times Online website

Myanmar

The choices facing Burma's military - 31 July
Burma's Senior General Than Shwe faces a dilemma. He desperately wants to keep his most influential opponent away from the Burmese public, yet he fears the uproar that will ensue if he keeps her locked up. - BBC News website
Keyphrase :
Aung San Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi co-accused 'in hospital' - 4 August
The American man on trial in Burma for making an uninvited visit to detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is said to have been taken to hospital. John Yettaw - who is thought to suffer from epilepsy - was admitted to the main hospital in Rangoon after having seizures, hospital sources said. Mr Yettaw is on trial with Ms Suu Kyi, who has told the court the case was a test of the country's legal system. - BBC News website

Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi 'guilty' - 11 August
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to an additional 18 months house arrest by a court in Rangoon. Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was convicted of violating state security laws by allowing a US national into her lakeside home after he swam there. She was jailed for three years with hard labour, but this was commuted to house arrest, an official said. The trial has brought international condemnation, with critics accusing Burma's military government of trying to keep Ms Suu Kyi out of the 2010 elections. American John Yettaw was jailed for seven years, four with hard labour. Mr Yettaw is believed to have epilepsy, diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder and has been treated at a Rangoon hospital. - BBC News website

Anger greets Suu Kyi conviction - 11 August
World leaders have reacted with anger and disappointment to the conviction of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating security laws. The UN called for her immediate release after she was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest - where she has spent 14 of the past 20 years. The US, the European Union, Britain and France were among those who condemned the verdict. But trading partners China and India have made no public comment. - BBC News website

SA condemns Myanmar decision - 11 August
The South African Government has condemned today's verdict against Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, saying the opportunity for nation building has been lost. - BuaNews Online website

11 August 2009
South African government regrets decision of Myanmar authorities to convict Aung San Suu Kyi of subversion
SA Government Information website

China urges world to respect Myanmar’s sovereignty - 12 August
China  said on Wednesday the world should respect  Myanmar ’s judicial sovereignty after the junta sent Aung San Suu Kyi back into detention, triggering Western outrage but only a measured response from its neighbours. - Eye Witness News website

Asian regrets at Suu Kyi verdict - 12 August
A key group of Burma's South East Asian neighbours has issued a rare statement condemning the conviction of Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. - BBC News website

UN 'concern' at Suu Kyi sentence - 13 August
The UN Security Council has expressed serious concern at the imposition of a new period of house arrest on Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A statement from the council, which came after two days of debate, also called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. - BBC News website

South Korea

S Korea deports Falun Gong pair - 12 August
South Korea has sent two members of the Falun Gong spiritual group back to China after they had their applications for political asylum turned down. A further 31 Chinese nationals also face the risk of deportation following a court ruling that they cannot prove that they face persecution back home. Falun Gong, which combines meditation with Buddhist-inspired philosophy, is banned in China. - BBC News website

Thailand

Thailand rejects Bout extradition - 11 August
A Thai court has rejected a US request for the extradition of Viktor Bout, an alleged Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death". The United States wants to put Mr Bout on trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian Farc rebels. - BBC News website

InfoUpdate : an Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society