Category Archives: South and Central Asia

US deports 119 immigrants of varying nationalities to Panama

Posted on by

People from Afghanistan, Iran, China and other countries flown out as Trump’s deportation effort intensifies

The US has sent undocumented immigrants from several Asian countries whose governments have refused to accept them to Panama, in a move signalling an intensification of the Trump administration’s deportation effort.

A military plane carrying 119 immigrants from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Pakistan flew from California to Panama City on Wednesday in what was expected to be the first of three migrants flights to the country.

Continue reading...

Goa man found guilty of rape and murder of Irish backpacker eight years ago

Posted on by

Family of Danielle McLaughlin say justice has finally been achieved after Vikat Bhagat convicted in India

The family of a young Irish woman raped and murdered in India eight years ago have said justice has finally been achieved after a man was convicted in Goa.

Danielle McLaughlin, from Buncrana in County Donegal, was found dead in a field in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March 2017.

Continue reading...

Police in India stop Ed Sheeran busking on street before concert

Posted on by

Local channels show police officer walking up to star as he sings Shape of You and unplugging microphone

Ed Sheeran has been stopped by police from busking in India after he was told he lacked permissions.

The songwriter was seen singing the hit single Shape of You on a pavement in the southern city of Bengaluru before his concert on Sunday night.

Continue reading...

Azerbaijan escalates rare standoff with Russia over downing of passenger plane

Posted on by

Baku reportedly preparing to appeal to ‘an international court’ unless Moscow takes responsibility for crash

Azerbaijan is escalating its rare standoff with the Kremlin as the fallout from the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger jet continues, highlighting Russia’s diminishing influence across the former Soviet Union.

Thirty-eight people were killed when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed on 25 December near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after rerouting across the Caspian Sea from southern Russia.

Continue reading...

Bangladeshi protesters destroy ex-PM’s family home symbolising independence

Posted on by

Property from which Sheikh Hasina’s father declared break from Pakistan attacked due to link with authoritarianism

Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh have taken out their anger at exiled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina by destroying a family home that came to symbolise the country’s independence – and now, they say, the authoritarianism they believe she stood for.

The attack was sparked by a speech that Hasina planned to give to supporters from exile in neighbouring India, where she fled last year during a deadly student-led uprising against her 15-year rule. Critics had accused her of suppressing dissent.

Continue reading...

India crowd crushes: dozens feared dead at Kumbh Mela religious festival – latest updates

Posted on by

Pilgrims are desperately searching for missing loved ones after deadly crushes in Prayagraj where world’s largest religious gathering is taking place

Wednesday is when the sadhus (holy people), all 13 sects of them, take their holy baths in the Ganges.

The holy bathing time is at 4am and that is around the time that the crowd crushes are thought to have started. It appears three separate crushes took place, as people surged forward, into groups of people who were sitting or lying on the ground on the banks of the river.

Continue reading...

Stories woven in cloth in Pakistan’s first textile museum

Posted on by

Nasreen and Hasan Askari open Karachi museum with her 1,000-piece centuries-old collection from trade crossroads

As a young medical student in 1970s Pakistan, Nasreen Askari had an encounter that would shape her for ever.

After asking the mother of a sick boy routine questions about his family history, the woman looked outraged. Marching Askari outside, she took off her colourful shawl and laid it on her lap. “Most of the answers to your pointless questions are here,” she said, pointing to intricate embroidery that symbolised everything, from the woman’s community, to her marriage status and her number of children.

Continue reading...

Nepal increases permit fee for Mount Everest climbers by 36%

Posted on by

Cost of scaling world’s tallest peak rises for first time in nearly a decade to $15,000

Nepal will increase the permit fees for climbing Mount Everest by 36%, making the world’s tallest peak more expensive for mountaineers for the first time in nearly a decade, officials have said.

Income from permit fees and other spending by foreign climbers is a key source of revenue and employment for the poor country, which is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains.

Continue reading...

Two Americans freed from Afghanistan in prisoner swap for Taliban figure

Posted on by

Ryan Corbett and William McKenty swapped for Khan Mohammed, who was held in California for drug trafficking

A prisoner swap between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban has freed two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure imprisoned for life in California on drug-trafficking and terrorism charges.

The Taliban praised the swap as a step toward the “normalization” of ties between the US and Afghanistan, but that probably remains a tall order as most countries in the world still do not recognize their rule and another two Americans are believed held.

Continue reading...

Myanmar airstrike on detention camp kills dozens, armed opposition group says

Posted on by

Those killed in attack on camp for relatives of junta soldiers in Rakhine state were women and children, Arakan Army says

A Myanmar junta airstrike has killed 28 people, including children, and wounded 25 at a temporary detention area in western Rakhine state, an ethnic minority armed group has said.

The Arakan Army (AA) is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swaths of territory in the past year, all but cutting off the state capital Sittwe.

Continue reading...

Indian court finds police volunteer guilty of rape and murder of trainee doctor

Posted on by

Case was fast-tracked after crime in Kolkata sparked protests across India amid concern for women’s safety

A police volunteer has been found guilty of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor who was on duty in Kolkata, a crime that sparked protests across India amid concern about violence against women and girls.

The outcry over the killing of the 31-year-old physician in August led to the trial being fast-tracked through the legal system.

Continue reading...

Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan sentenced to 14 years in prison in corruption case

Posted on by

Former leader and wife found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land in deal with property tycoon

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, another setback for the beleaguered leader who has already spent over 18 months in jail and is facing more than 100 cases.

Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were found guilty of illegally obtaining lucrative plots of land, worth billions of rupees, through a corrupt deal with a Pakistani property tycoon. Khan was given a 14-year sentence while his wife was given seven years, and Khan was fined 1m Pakistan rupees (£2,900).

Continue reading...

Knife removed from Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan’s spine after intruder attack

Posted on by

Actor repeatedly stabbed during 2am attack at Mumbai flat he shares with Kareena Kapoor and their two children

Saif Ali Khan, one of Bollywood’s most popular actors, is recovering in hospital after a knife became lodged in his spine during an attack by an intruder in his Mumbai home.

Medical officials said Khan sustained six stab wounds in the attack, which took place during a 2am altercation with an intruder who had entered the family home he shares with his wife, the Bollywood superstar Kareena Kapoor, and their two children.

Continue reading...

Pakistan PM orders inquiry after national airline ad accused of evoking 9/11 imagery

Posted on by

Online advertisement by PIA is called ‘stupidity’ by finance minister, who said PM Shehbaz Sharif had ordered an investigation

Pakistan’s prime minister has ordered an investigation after the country’s national airline released an advert that drew accusations that it evoked imagery of the 9/11 attacks.

The advert was released by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) last week to celebrate the resumption of flights to Paris, which had been suspended for four years over safety concerns about its pilots.

Continue reading...

Afghans evacuated by US in chaos of withdrawal are languishing in foreign camps, documents reveal

Posted on by

Exclusive: records show evacuees with pending applications to enter US ‘forced to remain in limbo’ in at least 36 countries, some in ‘untenable conditions’

Afghan citizens who fled the country with American assistance after the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan remain stranded in third countries, new documents shared exclusively with the Guardian suggest, some at prison-like facilities and many with no clarity about their prospects for resettlement.

US officials won’t say exactly how many Afghans remain at such sites, where they were taken after the withdrawal that involved hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives during the Taliban’s lightning takeover in 2021. Some advocates estimate that “hundreds” remain stranded in temporary facilities in up to three dozen countries.

Continue reading...

Bangladesh files criminal case against UK minister Tulip Siddiq

Posted on by

MP accused of misusing her position to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt Sheikh Hasina

Authorities in Bangladesh have filed a criminal case against the UK Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, accusing her of misusing her position as an MP to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Siddiq has faced mounting calls to resign over her links to Hasina, who was toppled in August after mass protests across Bangladesh and is facing charges of corruption and crimes against humanity.

Continue reading...

Biden insists US is ‘winning’ on world stage – what would losing look like?

Posted on by

The president defended his record on Ukraine, Gaza and Afghanistan but foreign policy successes have been few

On paper, few US presidents could boast the foreign policy bona fides of Joe Biden, a veteran statesman with nearly a half-century of experience before he even stepped into office.

But as his term comes to an end, critics have said that the president will leave a legacy of cautious and underpowered diplomacy, as even allies have conceded that the administration is still grasping for a cornerstone foreign policy success.

Continue reading...

India’s Maha Kumbh Mela festival gets under way for first time in 144 years

Posted on by

The grand version of the 12-yearly Hindu pilgrimage is expected to draw more than 400 million devotees

The world’s largest religious gathering kicked off on Monday as millions of Hindu devotees gathered on the banks of Ganges in India to mark the beginning of the Maha Kumbh Mela.

The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage takes place every 12 years and is widely seen as the “festival of festivals” in the Hindu religious calendar in India, attended by a vibrant mix of sadhus or holy men, ascetics, pilgrims and tourists. This year’s celebration is particularly significant as the Maha or grand Kumbh Mela only takes places every 144 years, marking the 12th Kumbh Mela and a special celestial alignment of the sun, moon and Jupiter.

Continue reading...

Lisa Nandy rejects calls for England to boycott Afghanistan cricket match

Posted on by

Culture secretary says it should go ahead despite pressure for it to be cancelled over Taliban’s treatment of women

England should be allowed to play next month’s cricket match against Afghanistan, the culture and sport secretary has said, despite calls for a boycott over the Taliban government’s treatment of women.

Lisa Nandy backed a decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to allow the game to go ahead, saying on Friday that cancelling it would “deny sports fans the opportunity that they love”.

Continue reading...

Investigators receive black box data from plane that crashed in Kazakhstan

Posted on by

Authorities now have access to cockpit dialogue from Azerbaijan Airlines plane that went down on Christmas Day

Brazil’s air force has extracted the data from two black box recorders belonging to a crashed Azerbaijan Airlines plane that Baku claims was downed by Russia on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

The Brazilian-made Embraer 190 crash-landed in Kazakhstan after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in southern Russia. Azerbaijan believes the plane was shot down by Russian air defences, which Moscow says were operational in the area at the time.

Continue reading...