Malaysia’s opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim has been charged with sodomy.

A statement from Malaysian police said prosecutors had decided to charge Anwar with “carnal intercourse against the course of nature”.

The move will potentially derail Datuk Seri Anwar’s plans to return to parliament and to oust the government through MP defections.

The former deputy prime minister has consistently denied allegations he had sex with a male aide, saying the accusation was aimed at derailing his political comeback.

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Fast food chain Mcdonald’s is profiting off the fat of China’s booming economy.

And like China’s GDP, the burger company’s sales growth rate is also recording double-digit figures.

But on the flip side, obesity is also on the rise.

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There’s been another twist in East Timor’s increasingly bitter internal politics, with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri demanding the resignation of the current prime minister, Xanana Gusmao.

Dr Alkatiri’s demand comes after rebel leader Alfredo Reinado blamed Mr Gusmao for orchestratrating deadly unrest in 2006 in which at least 20 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed.

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Human rights groups believe the number of child soldiers in Pakistan is rising.

Rights activists meeting in Islamabad say poverty, a culture of weapons and a reliance on religious schools has led to an increase in child militants in the country.

And experts addressing the conference warn the problem is particularly bad in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

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Fiji’s deposed prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, says his attempt to return to Suva this Friday has been blocked by the interim military government.

The former prime minister fled to the Lau Islands after being ousted in a coup last December.

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India’s prison systems have a notorious reputation, where overcrowding and violence is commonplace.

Human rights groups claim a lack of transparency has also contributed to the abuse of detainees in India’s jails and detention centres.

Now, in an attempt at reform, prison authorities in southern India are introducing inmates to poetry, literature and music… a move reminiscent of changes implemented at New Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail – the country’s largest.

And it seems the jailhouse-reform programme in India’s south is proving equally beneficial.

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The Burrup Peninsula in the rugged north-west of Western Australia is home to some of the oldest rock carvings in the world, dating back tens of thousands of years.

But the area is also enormously rich in other resources, and energy giant Woodside Petroleum wants to strip away some of the rock artworks to build a plant as part of its Pluto gas project.

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