Bhutan

A steep hike in visa fees is pushing current and prospective international students to consider other universities outside of Australia.

Bhutan is known for being one of the happiest countries in the world, but mental health professionals say its people are suffering in silence due to cultural traditions and societal expectations of positivity.

Bhutan's king has announced ambitious plans to develop a "mindfulness city" in a bid to boost the country's economy and reverse an exodus of young and qualified people seeking opportunities abroad — mainly in Australia. 

Soaring temperature, floods and landslides are claiming lives and forcing evacuations across south and south-east Asia. 

Long called the happiest nation of Earth, Bhutan cut itself off from foreigners until the 1970s. Now, people are leaving the hermit kingdom – mainly to Australia.

After centuries of isolation, Bhutan opened its doors to tourism in the 1970s. But when the ABC was granted rare entry into the country, it found a nation losing a high proportion of people — mainly to Australia.

Known as the forbidden kingdom, Bhutan is famous for its national pursuit of happiness and for being carbon negative but it also sits between two feuding giants.

The tiny nation of Bhutan is finding itself in the middle of an ongoing border dispute between China and India.

Known as the forbidden kingdom, Bhutan is famous for its national pursuit of happiness and for being carbon negative. But it is also caught between two feuding giants.

Bhutan, South Asia's only carbon negative country, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The death of a young woman detained by morality police in Iran has sparked protests across the globe. But there are other countries that impose strict rules on the way both men and women can dress in public, and it's not always about religion.

When Barb Roberts first visited Bhutan she vowed to return, not as a tourist but as a volunteer. She's since enhanced learning opportunities and provided books for students but says her work is far from done.

Adam Branford thought he'd seen adventure in Australia. Then he travelled 3,000 kilometres across the Indian subcontinent in a tuk-tuk.

For the first time a film from Bhutan has received an Academy Award nomination.

UNICEF's Bhutan representative says the world can learn from Bhutan, a country with very few doctors and nurses to administer the vaccines, but with a committed king and leadership.

Bhutan has surged past Israel, the US and Bahrain to have the world's highest proportion of adults who have received one dose. But it wasn't just a lucky star that got them there.

The United States reports almost 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 in one day, the country's highest daily total since May.

The bird that builds a saliva nest used in a soup considered a delicacy in parts of Asia is believed to have been photographed in Australia for the first time.

Riziki Saidi spent nearly a decade raising five children in an African refugee camp before coming to Australia. Here's why he chose to work on Nauru.

Australian Story cameraman Marc Smith reflects on a chaotic and emotional assignment filming the return to Bhutan of twin girls, who were separated in a complex operation at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.

From conjoined twins to healthy toddlers, Bhutanese twins Nima and Dawa are starting life afresh as individuals in their Himalayan homeland. It's all thanks to an army of Australians who worked towards making their separation a success.

Formerly conjoined twins Nima and Dawa play with their older sister, Ugyen Choden, back home in Bhutan.

Behind the scenes of the Australian effort to separate Bhutanese conjoined twins Nima and Dawa.

China has laid claim to numerous areas of land ranging from tiny islands right through to whole provinces. Some of these disputes were solved amicably while others resulted in all-out war.

Formerly conjoined twins Nima and Dawa are still so close they are sharing a plane seat on their flight home to Bhutan four months after they were separated at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.