By Kornpan Winwong - Newsmekong*

BANGKOK, Aug 4 (IPS) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s plans to divert water from rivers in neighbouring Laos to help feed agricultural production faces stiff opposition from activists, who argue the ambitious projects could threaten the environment and local people’s lives.

NEW DELHI, Apr 18 (IPS) - Over 37.7 million people in India are affected by water-borne diseases due to contaminated drinking water supply and an estimated 1.5 million children die of diarrhoea each year, according to newly available statistics. 

Analysis by Kimia Sanati

TEHRAN, Feb 11 (IPS) - The unresolved issue of dividing the Caspian Sea among its five littoral states has become a sensitive one for many Iranians who allege a concession to Russia may be in the making by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, in return for supporting Iran’s nuclear policies.

By Bharat Dogra

NEW DELHI, Feb 7 (IPS) - Recent official irrigation statistics have revealed a curious situation in which, after spending 25 billion U.S. dollars on various irrigation projects during 1990-2004, the actual area under irrigation declined from 17.4 million hectares to 14.3 million hectares in the period.

By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, Jan 25 (IPS) - Even as it expands economic cooperation with its wary South-east Asian neighbours, China’s thirst for energy is compelling it to resurrect territorial claims to resources-rich spots in the region that have lain dormant for years.

By Johanna Son and Jaime Lim

BANGKOK, Jan 21 (IPS) - News reports that initial work has begun on the Nam Ngun-3 hydropower project in Laos are a stark reminder of Thailand’s increasing reliance on its neighbours to satisfy its appetite for energy.

By Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE, Dec 26 (IPS) - As Australia continues to call on Japan to abandon its whaling program, leading environmental groups are divided in their response to the government’s plan to stop Japanese whaling.

By Ramesh Jaura

NUSA DUA, Bali, Dec 13 (IPS) - 'SIDS' and 'AOSIS', the two agitating words heard repeatedly ten years ago in one of Japan's large cities Kyoto, appear to have evaporated in the tropical heat of the Indonesian island Bali.

By Ann Ninan

NEW DELHI, Dec 12 (IPS) - Precious little is expected to emerge from the ongoing United Nations climate change conference in Bali, but climatologists and scientific experts warn that time is rapidly running out for planet earth.

By Kalinga Seneviratne and Evelyn Agato

BEPPU, Japan, Dec 5 (IPS) - It could have been a Pacific Islands summit on climate change. Of the nine heads of state attending the first Asia Pacific Water Summit (APWS), underway in this Japanese town, seven are from the islands and more concerned with global warming than anything else.