Aboriginal Australia's 'mind-blowing' struggle for a first treaty Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Aboriginal elder Gary Murray says the process carries a risk of "symbolic genocide" Australia is the only Commonwealth country never to make a treaty with its indigenous peoples. Why has it proven so difficult? Kathy Marks looks at the vast challenges in Victoria alone - a state that is working towards a national first. Every school holiday, the train would pick up Daria Atkinson and her four siblings, all aged under 10, and transport them - along with thousands of other Aboriginal children from the countryside - to Melbourne, where they would spend up to two months living with a white family. "We had to call the adults mum and dad," recalls Ms Atkinson, now 56. "We were told how to sit at the table, how to eat properly. We weren't allowed to get dirty. We had to forget we were Aboriginal. But at least we got to go home - the Stolen Generations didn't."..

India and Pakistan reach Sikh temple deal India and Pakistan have agreed to construct a new border entry point and road to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit a shrine in Pakistan. Sikhism was born in Punjab, a region that was divided between the two countries during partition in 1947. The Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is one of Sikhism's holiest shrines. The religion's founder, Guru Nanak, spent the last 18 years of his life there. The decision coincides with the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak's birth. Since the division of India and Pakistan into two separate nations, Indians have had limited access to the shrine, often struggling to get visas to visit, says BBC Punjabi's Dalip Kumar. BBC religion: What is Sikhism? Sikh soldier statue 'striking tribute' Delhi said it would fully fund construction on the Indian side, and Pakistan said it would do the same. Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry called the decision a "victory for the ..

Low-cost 'four-hour' bamboo house wins top prize Image caption The CUBO housing units can be manufactured in a week, and built in just four hours A 23-year-old designer has won a top £50,000 prize after creating a low-cost bamboo housing unit to address the Philippines' slum crisis. Earl Patrick Forlales' design takes just four hours to construct, and at £50/sq metre it's highly affordable. He told the BBC World Service: "It's a functional home on its own, but it's more than just a house. "It's designed to turn community waste into energy and other valuable resources." Mr Forlales, who comes from Manila and studied material science engineering, will use the prize money from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Cities for our Future competition to start work on his "CUBO" housing units next year. Manila has a population of 12 million people, four million of whom live in impoverished slums. Some 2.5 million more workers are expected t..

John Allen Chau 'tribal death': Family forgives killers Image copyright Instagram/John Chau Image caption On 21 October, @johnachau posted that he was travelling to the region The family of a US man reportedly killed by arrows fired by members of an endangered tribe in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands has said they forgive those who killed him. In a statement, they said John Allen Chau "loved God, life, helping those in need, and had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people". Seven people who helped him reach North Sentinel island have been arrested. The Indian authorities say it may take "some days" to recover Mr Chau's body. Outsiders are banned from even approaching the island to protect the people who live there and their way of life. His family released a statement on Instagram, saying he had gone to the island of "his own free will". Image Copyright johnachau johnachau Report "We also ask for the release of those friends he had in the Andaman Islands...

Carlos Ghosn: Nissan board to decide chairman's fate Image copyright Getty Images Nissan's board will meet on Thursday to decide whether to remove Carlos Ghosn as chairman after he was arrested on allegations of financial misconduct. The board is expected to dismiss Mr Ghosn from his post. He has been accused by Nissan of under-reporting his salary and using company assets for personal use. But some see it as part of the firm's attempt to rebalance power in its alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi, which Mr Ghosn also chairs. A towering industry figure, the arrest of the Brazilian-born businessman this week has sent shockwaves through the sector. The 64-year-old is credited with turning around both Nissan and Renault, and was the architect of the tie-up between the three firms where Renault is seen as a dominant partner. Is Carlos Ghosn's arrest a ‘hatchet job’? The corporate scandals that rocked Japan Carlos Ghosn: The driven 'cost killer' What are ..

India Kashmir: Fax machine fuels political crisis Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Omar Abdullah (left) and Mehbooba Mufti (right) have staked a claim to form the government together A dramatic day involving a broken fax machine and frenetic tweets, ended with the dissolution of the assembly in India's Jammu and Kashmir state. An alliance of three rival political parties unsuccessfully tried to fax the governor's office to stake a claim to form the government on Wednesday. This prompted former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to tweet at him instead. Within an hour, the governor dissolved the assembly on the basis that the parties had "opposing ideologies". Local media quoted him as saying that it would be impossible to form "a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies". Jammu and Kashmir has been under direct rule since June, when India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out of an alliance with M..

South Korean pastor Lee Jae-rock jailed for raping followers Image copyright JUNG YEON-JE Image caption Lee stood with his eyes closed as the judgement was read out A South Korean pastor has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping eight female followers of his mega-church. Lee Jae-rock, 75, has about 130,000 followers at the Mamin Central Church in Seoul. He denied all the charges. His victims had spoken of his "divine power" and said they felt compelled to do what he asked because "he was God". Most South Korean Christians belong to mainstream churches which can accumulate huge wealth and influence. But there are a small amount of fringe groups that engage in behaviour more associated with cults including coercion, brainwashing and fraud. Lee's church is regarded as a splinter cult by some mainstream Christian organisations. 'I lost my entire family to a cult'Lee set up the Mamin Central Church in 1982 with only 12 followers. It has now grown to what is known as..

Australia dust storm: Health warning as skies change colour Image copyright MATT WHITLUM Image caption The outback town of Broken Hill was hit by the dust storm on Wednesday A giant dust storm has blanketed communities across south-east Australia, turning skies orange and raising concerns about air quality. Authorities issued a public health alert for Sydney on Thursday as the 500km-wide (310 miles) dust band began to reach the city. Many regions elsewhere in New South Wales (NSW) have had poor visibility. Authorities said the storm has been driven by strong winds picking up dry soil. The problem has been exacerbated by a drought that has affected the entire state of NSW since August, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. Image copyright MATT WHITLUM Image caption The dust storm has already affected many regions of New South Wales Health officials have urged locals to stay indoors, particularly children, older people and those with respiratory problems. One resident in..

Why an Indian village is losing sleep over the humble nightie Image copyright Priya Kuriyan A committee of village elders in southern India has banned women from wearing nighties during the day. As the name suggests, nighties, sometimes also called maxis here, are loose, shapeless garments which were originally meant to be sleep wear. But over the years, they have become a favourite daytime dress for millions of women, especially housewives, across Indian cities, towns and even villages. Four months ago, a nine-member council in the village of Tokalapalli in Andhra Pradesh state, surprisingly headed by a woman, ordered that girls and women must not wear nighties from 7am to 7pm and those who did would have to pay a fine of 2,000 rupees ($28; £22). Those who snitched on anyone breaching the ban were promised a cash reward of 1,000 rupees. The order is being strictly followed by the villagers and, so far, there have been no reports of anyone being penalised. Village elder Balle Vishnu ..