Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Indian magician’s body found after tragic Houdini-style stunt

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Chanchal Lahiri’s still-chained body found 1km downstream on bank of river in Kolkata

Indian police have recovered the body of a magician who drowned when a Houdini-like stunt in a river went wrong.

Chanchal Lahiri, 42, known by his stage name of Mandrake, went missing on Sunday after a ferry took him towards the broadest part of the Hooghly river in Kolkata at around noon. There, he was lowered by crane into the muddy waters with chains and ropes. Lahiri was inside a small, padlocked cage. His arms and legs were apparently tied and he was blindfolded.

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UN report condemns its conduct in Myanmar as systemic failure

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Exclusive: ‘Serious errors’ found in agencies’ approach to Rohingya crisis in Rakhine

A damning report by the UN on its own conduct in Myanmar has condemned the organisation’s “obviously dysfunctional performance” over the past decade and concluded there was a systemic failure.

The report, seen by the Guardian before publication, was commissioned by the secretary general, António Guterres, after accusations that the UN system ignored warning signs of escalating violence before an alleged genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

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India heatwave: rain brings respite for some but death toll rises

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Soaring temperatures hit most of country with mercury topping 50C in some parts

Weekend showers provided a much-needed but partial respite to parts of India sweltering in a brutal heatwave.

In Bihar, however, one of the poorest areas of the country, 49 people died on Saturday in just 24 hours.

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Myanmar: UN threatens to withdraw aid over ‘policy of apartheid’ against Rohingya

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Exclusive: Body says it will withhold support ‘beyond life-saving assistance’ in internally displaced persons camps deemed “closed” by the Myanmar government

The United Nations in Myanmar has warned it will withdraw support in Rakhine state to avoid complicity in a government “policy of apartheid” for Rohingya Muslims.

A letter seen by the Guardian, sent from UN resident coordinator, Knut Ostby, to the Myanmar government, relayed a decision by the UN and its humanitarian partners to withhold support “beyond life-saving assistance” in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps deemed “closed” by the government, unless fundamental changes occur.

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Progress on ending child labour stalls in countries supplying goods to west

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China, India and Bangladesh among otherwise thriving countries failing to make headway on issue affecting 152 million minors

Progress towards ending child labour has stalled in the countries most likely to be supplying goods to the west, a study has found.

Despite high economic growth and big improvements in education and development, countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia have made little progress in tackling child labour.

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Patients sleep under the stars in long queue for medical visas | Stefanie Glinski

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Sick and elderly Afghans queue outdoors for several nights for their chance to get into Pakistan for medical care

Surrounded by barbed wire and without shelter from rain or dust, outside Pakistan’s embassy, hundreds of sick Afghans pass days and nights waiting for their visa appointment.

Abdul Ajan is first in the queue for when the embassy opens the next morning, squeezed into a space that smells of urine and is littered with rubbish and stale bread.

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Indian villages lie empty as drought forces thousands to flee

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Sick and elderly left to fend for themselves with no end in sight to water crisis

Hundreds of Indian villages have been evacuated as a historic drought forces families to abandon their homes in search of water.

The country has seen extremely high temperatures in recent weeks. On Monday the capital, Delhi, saw its highest ever June temperature of 48C. In Rajasthan, the city of Churu recently experienced highs of 50.8C, making it the hottest place on the planet.

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‘No one can live without love’: athlete Dutee Chand, India’s LGBT trailblazer

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Country’s first athlete to reveal she is in a same-sex relationship on freedom, happiness and the backlash to coming out

Dutee Chand, India’s fastest sprinter and the nation’s first athlete to reveal she is in a same-sex relationship, doesn’t describe herself as gay. When the word is used during an interview with the Guardian, she breaks in. “I didn’t tell reporters I was that ... I simply said I am in a relationship with a woman,” she says.

Chand comes from a village in India where homosexuality is never talked about. Unlike urban India where there is growing acceptance among the young of notions of personal freedom, rural India remains largely entrenched in tradition, and tradition says marriage is between a man and a woman.

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Aung San Suu Kyi finds common ground with Orbán over Islam

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On a rare trip to Europe, Myanmar leader and Hungary PM discuss issue of ‘growing Muslim populations’

From her failure to speak out against ethnic cleansing to imprisoning journalists, the reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi in the west has taken a battering in recent months.

But the leader of Myanmar has found a new ally in far-right, staunchly anti-immigrant Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.

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‘It’s humiliating for us’: village disowns Dutee Chand, India’s first openly gay athlete

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Country’s fastest sprinter praised for courage, but family and locals say they cannot accept a gay relationship

Supporters of India’s first openly gay athlete fear for her safety after her decision to come out prompted a backlash in her home village.

Local reaction was hostile in Chaka Gopalpur, a village of weavers in Odisha, after Dutee Chand, the country’s fastest sprinter, told reporters on 19 May that her gay partner was her soulmate.

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People smuggling at top of Peter Dutton’s agenda during Sri Lanka visit

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Home affairs minister to hold high-level meetings and says Australia will help country rebuild after Easter terrorist attacks

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, will hold high-level meetings in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with people smuggling at the top of the agenda.

Dutton is due to meet Sri Lanka’s president Maith­ripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministerial counterpart in Colombo on Tuesday.

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Climbers missing in Himalayas unlikely to be found, officials say

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Group of eight including four Britons were attempting to summit Nanda Devi mountain

Eight climbers missing after avalanches in the Himalayas have not been found during initial helicopter searches, and hopes that they will be discovered are slim.

Two Indian air force helicopters have been searching the region around the Nanda Devi mountain, India’s second highest peak, which the group were attempting to summit on a previously unclimbed route.

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Three British climbers among group of eight missing in Himalayas

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Indian search team sent to find climbers, including Americans and Australian, on Nanda Devi amid signs of avalanche

At least three people from the UK, as well as two from the US and an Australian woman, are reported to be among a group of eight climbers who have gone missing in the Himalayas after a heavy avalanche.

It is believed the climbers, including an Indian guide, failed to return to base camp after their attempt to reach the summit of Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest mountain at 7,434 metres, on a previously unclimbed route.

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‘Walking over bodies’: mountaineers describe carnage on Everest

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Death toll grows on world’s highest summit as climbers face challenging conditions

An experienced mountaineer has described the “death, carnage and chaos” at the top of Mount Everest as climbers pushed past bodies to reach the world’s highest summit.

The death toll on the mountain grew to 11 in the past day after an American doctor was killed while descending from the peak. It emerged also that an Australian climber was discovered unconscious but had survived after being transported downhill on the back of a yak.

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‘Senseless’: attacks on schools soar in Afghanistan – report

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Unicef research shows more than 1,000 schools were closed by the end of last year due to ongoing conflict

Attacks on schools in Afghanistan tripled between 2017 and 2018, surging from 68 to 192, according to the UN children’s agency, Unicef, the first increase since 2015.

According to figures collected by the agency, the ongoing conflict had left more than 1,000 schools closed by the end of last year, with half a million children unable to get an education.

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Sexism, slander, hatred: Sri Lanka’s culture of online abuse

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From politicians to members of the LGBTQI community, social media in Sri Lanka is a hotbed of harassment and hostility

The threats began after Jegatheeswaram Jeyachandrika decided to contest local government elections.

Clutching a file of printouts, Meena, as she is known, points to a Facebook post in which she is pictured, circled in red, among a group of people.

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Why I won’t be joining the queue at the top of Everest

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A startling picture of overcrowding near the summit shows the peril of turning the mountain into a form of adventure tourism

Mountaineering is a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering. Where it is cerebral is in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.

Considering risks requires being honest with yourself. At what climbers call the objective level, that involves assessing dangers you may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, even whether there will be overcrowding on your route.

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Afghan security forces kill six civilians during insurgent raid

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The deaths come as UN reveals pro-government forces killed more civilians than insurgents in first three months of 2019

Afghan security forces have killed at least six civilians, including a woman and two children, in a night raid on insurgents, government officials said.

Soldiers mistook the group, who were in a car, them for Taliban trying to escape the area, a spokesman for the provincial governor told the Associated Press. Attahullah Khogyani said 10 militants were also killed in the attack in eastern Nangarhar province.

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British climber latest to die on Everest amid overcrowding

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Several climbers have died after enduring long waits to reach summit

A British climber has been named as the latest fatality on Everest, in a season marred by poor weather and overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain.

The death of Robin Fisher, who reportedly collapsed while returning from the summit, was announced by Mira Acharya, the director at the Nepalese Department of Tourism, which details fatalities on the mountain.

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At least four more die on Everest amid overcrowding concerns

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Latest deaths, including an Irish climber, come as others report ‘insane’ delays at the peak

Four more deaths have been reported on Everest as concerns grow about the risks posed by the severe overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain this year.

Kevin Hynes, 56, from Ireland, died in his tent at 7,000 metres early on Friday, having turned back before reaching the summit. The father of two was part of a group from the UK-based 360 Expeditions.

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