On March 12, 2009, Muslim women's rights activist and peace advocate Laila Paaitae Daoh, was fatally shot in broad daylight in the Yala province of southern Thailand. Her death is part of an ongoing conflict in the region that has claimed some 3000 lives over the past several years. Most recent reports on Thailand focus on the political upheaval in Bangkok following Thaksin's removal from power in 2006, but the southern provinces, home to much of the country's Muslim population, have received scant attention. SUNAI PHASUK, researcher with Human Rights Watch, will be joining us from Bangkok to discuss Laila's life and the situation in southern Thailand.

Over the last decade global military spendng has increased by 45 percent and the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea account for more than 65 percent of it. Asia-Pacific Freeze, a campaign coordinated by the Institute for Policy Studies, has called for a freeze and reduction of military spending by the six countries, all of which are apart of the Six Party Talks for peace in the region. Only a few days after the end of Key Resolve, the US and South Korea military exercise, we speak with JOHN Feffer of Foreign Policy in Focus about the Asia-Pacific Freeze campaign and US involvement in the region.

Later this week, Queens College will host "From Ghazal to Zuihitsu: A Conference on Translating Asian Languages and Cultures." The event will kick off Thursday and feature panels on translators of East and South Asian languages, translation in performance and workshops on different poetic traditions. Award-winning performer and translator NILOUFAR TALEBI will join us in the studio to discuss thetranslationproject.org, an organization she founded in 2003 to bring contemporary Iranian literature to worldwide audiences through book and multimedia projects.