Category Archives: South and Central Asia

MPs think they may have been targets of ‘disinformation’ over Bangladesh inquiry

Posted on by

Group received emails about Ahsan Mansur, the central bank official investigating money laundering allegations

British MPs believe they may have been targeted by a “disinformation” campaign aimed at discrediting the man leading efforts to trace funds allegedly laundered from Bangladesh into the UK.

MPs raised the alarm after receiving emails about Ahsan Mansur, who was installed as the central bank governor of Bangladesh last year, after a student-led revolution swept away the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina.

Continue reading...

X sues Modi’s government over content removal in new India censorship fight

Posted on by

Elon Musk’s company is arguing against the government’s expanded powers to allow easier removal of online content

India’s IT ministry has unlawfully expanded censorship powers to allow the easier removal of online content and empowered “countless” government officials to execute such orders, Elon Musk’s X has alleged in a new lawsuit against New Delhi.

The lawsuit and the allegations mark an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between X and the government of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, over how New Delhi orders content to be taken down. It also comes as Musk is getting closer to launching his other key ventures, Starlink and Tesla, in India.

Continue reading...

British couple held by Taliban due in court on unknown charges, family say

Posted on by

Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife, Barbie, 75, expected to appear in Kabul on Thursday after detention last month

A British couple in their 70s imprisoned by the Taliban are due in court in Kabul on Thursday but have not been informed of the charges, their family has said.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.

Continue reading...

Life of British man, 79, imprisoned by Taliban is in serious danger, say family

Posted on by

Peter Reynolds, who runs a business in Afghanistan, was held along with his wife last month and needs heart pills, says his daughter

The life of a 79-year-old British man imprisoned along with his wife by the Taliban is in serious danger, his family have warned.

Peter Reynolds and his wife, Barbie, 75, who run a training business in Afghanistan, were detained last month when they travelled to their home in Bamiyan province.

Continue reading...

Pakistan accuses India of sponsoring militant terror group after train hijacking

Posted on by

A spokesperson offered no evidence for the claim after 26 people were killed on a train that was hijacked in Balochistan province on Tuesday

Pakistan’s military has accused neighbouring India of sponsoring militant groups in the south-west of the country as survivors recounted their ordeal from an unprecedented attack that killed 26 passengers on a hijacked train.

The scope of the attack in Balochistan province underscores the struggles that Pakistan faces to rein in militant groups.

Continue reading...

US journalist sues Indian government after losing his overseas citizenship

Posted on by

Raphael Satter had his OCI card taken away after publishing a story critical of an Indian businessman

A US journalist has taken the Indian government to court after his Indian overseas citizenship was unilaterally cancelled, after the publication of a story critical of a prominent Indian businessman.

Raphael Satter, who covers cybersecurity for the Reuters news agency in the US, received a letter from India’s ministry of home affairs in early December 2023, accusing him of producing work that “maliciously” tarnished India’s reputation and informing him that his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card had been cancelled.

Continue reading...

Pakistan operation to free hostages after train hijacking ends with dozens killed

Posted on by

Security services claim to have rescued about 190 people being held by Baloch Liberation Army in remote area

An operation to rescue hundreds of people taken hostage when a train was hijacked by a separatist militant group in remote south-west Pakistan has ended with dozens killed in the onslaught, a spokesperson for the army has said.

Pakistan’s security services claimed late on Wednesday to have rescued about 190 people who were being held captive after militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) blew up a railway line and launched an attack on the Jaffar Express train.

Continue reading...

Militants say 214 people taken hostage as train hijacked in Pakistan

Posted on by

Baloch Liberation Army claims to have killed 30 military personnel after blowing up tracks in Balochistan region

A separatist militant group in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province says it has taken 214 hostages including military personnel after hijacking a train, as the country’s security situation continues to decline sharply.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) blew up the tracks and fired on the Jaffar Express train as it travelled through a tunnel in a remote and mountainous area, bringing the train to a halt.

Continue reading...

Myanmar junta’s promise of elections denounced as ‘sham’ by experts

Posted on by

There are fears military will deploy further violence in run-up to any poll, which is unlikely to be viewed as credible

The Myanmar military’s promise to hold elections in December 2025 or January 2026 has been condemned as a “sham” that risks bringing even greater violence.

Myanmar’s military junta announced on Saturday, in comments reported in state media, that it would hold a long-promised election, specifying a timeframe for the first time since seizing power in a 2021 coup.

Continue reading...

Two men arrested in India over alleged rape of Israeli and local woman

Posted on by

The two women were said to have been stargazing with three male travellers when the incident took place

Two men have been arrested in India in connection with the alleged rape of an Israeli and a local woman.

The Israeli woman and her homestay operator were said to be stargazing with three male travellers in Koppal town in southern Karnataka state on Thursday night.

Continue reading...

British activist Jagtar Singh Johal acquitted in India terror trial

Posted on by

Human rights campaigner still faces threat of death penalty if found guilty of further charges

Jagtar Singh Johal, the British human rights activist accused of terrorism has been acquitted on all charges in a case in Punjab, after a court rejected the allegations against him made by Indian authorities.

Johal has been held in detention for seven years awaiting judgment, but must remain in prison since he is facing eight essentially duplicate cases brought by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) based on the same alleged confession.

Continue reading...

Indian cinema chain sued by film-goer over lengthy pre-film ads

Posted on by

Court orders compensation to be paid to 30-year-old from Bangalore, saying ‘in the new era, time is considered as money, each one’s time is very precious’

For some, the adverts that precede the start of a film are the bane of a trip to the cinema; for others, they are a useful buffer as you stand in the popcorn queue.

But for one man in India, the lengthy marathon of cinema advertising was so infuriating that he took the matter to the courts – and won.

Continue reading...

Family of elderly British couple held by Taliban call for Foreign Office support

Posted on by

Daughter of Peter and Barbie Reynolds says government must do ‘everything in their power’ to secure their release

The family of a British couple arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan have called on the government to do “everything in their power” to secure their release.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, 79 and 75, who run education and training programmes in Afghanistan, were detained by the Taliban on 1 February while returning to their home in the central province of Bamiyan.

Continue reading...

Musk’s ‘Doge’ claim about USAid funds for India sets off political firestorm

Posted on by

Apparently baseless claim that $21m was given to help voter turnout seized on by Trump and Modi government

Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” has been accused of setting off a political firestorm in India after it claimed that the US government had been sending millions of dollars to support the Indian elections.

In a list published on Musk’s social media platform X last week, Doge, a special group that Donald Trump created, claimed that a $21m grant distributed by USAid – the US agency for international development – to help “voter turnout in India” had been cancelled, as part of the president’s sweeping cuts to foreign aid.

Continue reading...

British couple in their 70s arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan

Posted on by

Peter and Barbie Reynolds were detained in Bamiyan provice for ‘teaching mothers parenting with children’

The Taliban have arrested a British couple in their 70s for “teaching mothers parenting with children”.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife, Barbie, 75, were detained when returning to their home in Bamiyan province on 1 February.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands could be held in illegal scam compounds in Myanmar, Thai police general says

Posted on by

Head of anti-trafficking agency says dozens of Chinese criminal gangs were running the centres

Tens of thousands of people could be living inside illegal scam compounds in Myanmar that have proliferated near Thailand’s border, according to the head of Thailand’s anti-trafficking agency, who warned it could take months before all foreign nationals are repatriated.

Thailand has launched a major crackdown on scam compounds over recent weeks, cutting off cross-border electricity and fuel supplies.

Continue reading...

British tourist dies after rescue from mountain trail in Himalayas

Posted on by

Man was trekking with another Briton in Dhauladhar range on trail from Dharamkot to Triund in northern India

A British tourist has died after seriously injuring himself while trekking in the Himalayas.

The man, who had gone on a short hike to the foot of the Dhauladhar mountain range in northern India with another British tourist, fell during his descent on Sunday evening and was taken down the mountain on a stretcher.

Continue reading...

Off air: one by one, the Taliban are removing women’s voices from Afghan radio

Posted on by

As one of the last female-run stations in the country is silenced, a former broadcaster gives an inside view of the crackdown on women working in the media

When the Taliban began marching towards cities across Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Alia*, a 22-year-old Afghan journalist, found herself doing some of the most important work of her short life and career.

In the weeks leading up to the Taliban takeover in August, Alia’s voice on the radio became familiar to many in northern Afghanistan. She reported on the withdrawal of foreign troops, the siege of government offices and on the detention of former officials in her province.

Above all, Alia reported on the situation for women and their fears and concerns – emotions she was experiencing herself. As the Taliban gradually began imposing restrictions on them, Alia was documenting history repeating itself.

Continue reading...

Kabul evacuation whistleblower wins case against UK government

Posted on by

Civil servant Josie Stewart found to have been unlawfully dismissed in 2022 after she told BBC about failures

A civil servant who blew the whistle about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Boris Johnson’s involvement in a decision to evacuate a pet charity from Kabul has won her case for unfair dismissal against the government in a legal first.

An employment panel of three judges unanimously found the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) unfairly dismissed Josie Stewart in 2021 after she leaked information in the public interest.

Continue reading...

At least 18 people die in crowd crush at Delhi railway station

Posted on by

Rush broke out as travellers scrambled to board trains in India’s capital to go to world’s largest religious gathering

At least 18 people have died in a crush at a railway station in India’s capital when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world’s largest religious gathering, officials have said.

The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters – including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another crush at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

Continue reading...