Four South Koreans and three Nepalis are out of contact after an avalanche close to Annapurna base camp
An avalanche in Nepal’s Annapurna region has left at least seven people missing, including four South Koreans and three Nepalis, officials said Saturday.
The incident occurred at an altitude of around 3,230 metres close to the base camp for Annapurna, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, following heavy snowfall on Friday.
Continue reading...Staff charged with manslaughter after newborn attacked inside operating theatre
Indian police have sealed a private hospital and charged staff with manslaughter after a newborn baby was mauled to death by dogs inside an operating theatre.
The three-hour-old baby was attacked by the pack of dogs, who got into the hospital through a window, before relatives heard growling inside the room early on Monday in Farrukhabad district, 110 miles (180km) from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
Continue reading...Bills introduced by ruling Communist party will bring in heavy fines and the threat of jail to stifle debate, say critics
Jail terms of up to five years could be imposed on people in Nepal who post “offensive” comment on social media sites, including Facebook and Instagram in the latest move by the government to crack down on dissent.
The information technology bill, introduced at the end of December, imposes fines of up to 1.5m rupees (about $13,000) for anyone posting content deemed to promote hate crime or ridicule. It would apply to all social networking sites.
Continue reading...Two US service members were killed and two injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the US military said on Saturday.
In keeping with defense department rules, the military did not identify the service members.
Continue reading...Dhaka University demonstrators demand prompt action following reported rape of 21-year-old woman
Police in Bangladesh have arrested a man in connection with the alleged rape of a student at Dhaka University amid angry protests on campus.
More than 2,000 students and human rights activists – some brandishing placards asking: “Tell me, am I next?” – demonstrated this week following the alleged rape of the 21-year-old student. They demanded the death penalty for anyone found guilty of rape.
Continue reading...Judges say blackout infringes on freedom of speech and expression
India’s supreme court has ordered the government to review all restrictions in Indian-controlled Kashmir within a week, saying the indefinite suspension of people’s rights amounted to an abuse of power.
In a blow to the Hindu nationalist government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, the country’s highest court said the expression of opposition to state policy could not justify the crackdown.
Continue reading...Action to protest against slowing economy and PM’s policies disrupts many areas
A 24-hour strike has disrupted much of India as workers took to the streets in several major cities to protest against the country’s worsening economic slowdown.
At least 10 trade unions called on employees to stage protests on Wednesday against what they described as the “anti-people” policies of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.
Continue reading...Student leader beaten with iron bar during attack charged with two offences for prior incident
Police in Delhi have faced criticism for failing to arrest any members of a violent mob that stormed the campus of the Jawarharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the Indian capital, while at the same time charging a student leader beaten over the head with a metal bar with two offences.
Police have been accused of failing to intervene when about 50 masked men went on the rampage on Sunday evening, attacking students and academic staff, and vandalising buildings and property. More than 30 people were injured.
Continue reading...Students have protested in cities across India after a masked mob attacked students and teachers with weapons including sledgehammers, iron rods and bricks, injuring more than 30 people. Opposition parties and injured students blamed Sunday night’s violence on a student organisation linked to Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, which has increasingly targeted the institution
Continue reading...Opposition links violence to Narendra Modi’s BJP party and tensions over citizenship law
Students have protested in cities across India after a masked mob stormed a high-profile university in Delhi and attacked students and teachers with weapons including sledgehammers, iron rods and bricks, injuring more than 30.
Opposition parties and injured students blamed Sunday night’s violence on a student organisation linked to the prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which has increasingly targeted the institution.
Continue reading...Demonstration was organised by umbrella group of Muslim and civil society organisations
More than 100,000 protesters have taken part in a peaceful march in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, chanting slogans against Narendra Modi’s new citizenship law.
The protest, labelled the Million March, was organised by an umbrella group of Muslim and civil society organisations. More than 40% of Hyderabad’s estimated population of nearly 7 million people are Muslims.
Continue reading...Space programme seeks to bounce back after 2019 project ended with a crash landing on the lunar surface
India plans to make a fresh attempt at an unmanned mission on the moon this year, the head of the country’s space programme has said, after a 2019 bid ended in a crash landing.
Work was going “smoothly” on the Chandrayaan-3 mission to put a rover probe on the moon’s surface, Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Sivan said. “We are targeting the launch for this year but it may spillover to next year,” Sivan said. Indian sources said authorities had set November as a provisional target for launch.
Continue reading...Raghubir Nagar has been given a colourful makeover by the Delhi Street Art group, drawing art lovers and selfie-snappers to a rundown area that they would never normally visit
Continue reading...Curbs on internet services remain five months after India revoked semi-autonomous status
Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir are to restore text messaging services in the disputed region, almost five months after India’s government downgraded its semi-autonomy and imposed a strict security and communications lockdown.
A local government spokesman, Rohit Kansal, said the decision was made after a review of the situation.
Continue reading...Amazon have arrived in force in rapidly expanding Hyderabad, with designs on the currently almost non-existent Indian e-commence market
The futuristic lobby of the new Amazon building in Hyderabad feels as though it should have a permanent orchestra blasting out Also Sprach Zarathustra. The scale is intended to awe. A large slogan on a wall suggests the company is “Delivering smiles”. The only sound that rises above the hush is a synthesised beep, coming from a giant screen playing a video of the campus at various stages of its construction.
Built on nine acres in this Indian city’s financial district, it is Amazon’s single largest building globally and the only Amazon-owned campus outside the US. It can house over 15,000 employees, but its size is its main architectural feature: it resembles the same cube of glass steel and chrome seen in corporate offices across Hyderabad, though a flash of magenta reflected in one of the top floor windows, from a billowing sari across the road, is a nice Indian touch.
Continue reading...Menus in sign language and jobs for the hearing impaired are challenging discrimination against those with disabilities
It’s not just the bright yellow walls that make the Abey Khao cafe in Islamabad’s Mughal Market stand out. The menu is in sign language, as is the English alphabet painted on the walls, along with the signs for “yes”, “no”, and “thank you”. Customers are encouraged to place their orders using sign language.
The Abey Khao - which means “Hey Eat” – cafe is the believed to the only fast food cafe in Pakistan set up and run by deaf people.
Continue reading...This year world leaders struggled to manage the fallout from the erratic tenant in the White House – as China flexed its imperial muscles. We look back at the events that created the most turbulence
Click here for 2019’s reasons to be cheerful
A year of high anxiety was rendered more alarming by intensifying clashes of interest between world powers. As international cooperation declined, and nationalist agendas gathered strength, China, the US, Russia and Europe, and their respective allies, emulators and proxies, engaged in often dangerous competition.
The Chinese communist regime’s increasingly assertive behaviour at home and abroad, reflecting the authoritarian outlook of its paramount leader-for-life, Xi Jinping, produced head-on collisions with western countries, notably over Hong Kong, trade, technology and the repression of the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Continue reading...From Bangladesh to Britain, blanket exposure to promotional material for unhealthy foods is encouraging children to eat badly, new research claims
Nepalese schoolgirl Prasiddhika Shrestha is holding up a video camera at her aunt’s house, filming her cousins as they devour crisps, corn puffs, soda and dalmoth, a traditional lentil-based snack.
“What is it that you like eating most?” she asks them. “Lay’s chips and Coke,” says Diwani, who drinks between one and two litres of soft drink every day. Rihana includes a pack of Kurkure corn puffs in her daily diet.
Continue reading...The Garbage Cafe in Ambikapur, India, is helping to tackle the country’s plastic waste problem – and their novel idea is catching on
On bad days, when his employer made some excuse for not paying him his paltry daily wage, Ram Yadav’s main meal used to be dry chapatis, with salt and raw onion for flavour. Sometimes he just went hungry. For a ragpicker like him, one of the thousands of Indians who make a living bringing in plastic waste for recycling, eating in a cafe or restaurant was the stuff of fairytales.
But last week, Yadav was sitting at a table at the Garbage Cafe in Ambikapur, in the state of Chhattisgarh, over a piping hot meal of dal, aloo gobi, poppadoms and rice. He earned the food in exchange for bringing in 1kg of plastic waste. “The hot meal I get here lasts me all day. And it feels good to sit at a table like everyone else,” he said.
Continue reading...The Bangladeshi government is making life hard for young people trying to document levels of hardship in the world’s largest refugee settlement
For Azimul Hassan, 19, life before he entered the world’s largest refugee settlement was always busy.
He would wake early to visit his private tutor before school, then work late every evening to finish his homework. On Fridays, he would play football with friends – he was a striker.
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