Briton Tom Ballard and Italian Daniele Nardi disappeared on Nanga Parbat
A search for the missing British climber Tom Ballard and his Italian climbing partner, Daniele Nardi, who disappeared on the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat, has been called off.
The decision involved Pakistani and Spanish climbers from nearby K2, a Pakistani mountaineering official told the Associated Press.
Continue reading...Thousands of homes swept away as rains follow devastating drought, with UN ‘shocked’ by lack of crisis funding support
Afghanistan has been hit with the worst flooding in seven years, with 20 dead, thousands of homes swept away and many families, already displaced by drought, forced to leave their homes for the second time.
The latest climate shock, which affected eight provinces including Kandahar, came as the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan criticised the European Commission for its “wholly insufficient” response to hunger and suffering in a country already in the grip of what analysts describe as the world’s deadliest conflict.
Continue reading...Analysis of air pollution data finds that 64% of cities globally exceed WHO guidelines
Twenty-two of the world’s 30 worst cities for air pollution are in India, according to a new report, with Delhi again ranked the world’s most polluted capital.
The Greenpeace and AirVisual analysis of air pollution readings from 3,000 cities around the world found that 64% exceed the World Health Organization’s annual exposure guideline for PM2.5 fine particulate matter – tiny airborne particles, about a 40th of the width of a human hair, that are linked to a wide range of health problems.
Continue reading...India and Pakistan’s differing narratives are not unusual in the social media age, say experts
India struck Pakistan. Pakistan hit back, capturing an Indian pilot. Those are the established facts. Virtually everything else about the clashes between south Asia’s two arch-enemies last week is bitterly contested.
Did India hit a militant training camp in Pakistan? Did it cross the ceasefire line between the two countries in disputed Kashmir? How many people did the strikes kill? Was a Pakistani jet shot down while bombing Indian territory the next day?
Continue reading...US embassy looks into reports incident violated military sale agreements with Islamabad
The US has said it is trying to find out whether Pakistan used US-built F-16 jets to down an Indian warplane, potentially in violation of trade agreements, as the standoff between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours showed signs of easing.
Pakistan and India both carried out aerial bombing missions last week, and on Wednesday an Indian pilot was shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir in an incident that sparked fears of a full-blown war.
Continue reading...Khadija Shah gave birth to daughter Malaika, now 6, while serving a life sentence for smuggling heroin
A six-year-old girl who has spent her entire life inside a Pakistani prison after her British mother was convicted of drug trafficking has been released and returned to the UK.
Khadija Shah, 32, gave birth to her daughter Malaika while serving a life sentence inside the notorious Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, in the Punjab province.
Continue reading...British mountaineer and his climbing partner are missing on Nanga Parbat in Pakistan
The search for a British climber who went missing on the world’s ninth-highest mountain in Pakistan is facing further delays due to bad weather.
Tom Ballard, who is originally from Derbyshire but lives in Scotland, was reported missing on Nanga Parbat mountain in the western Himalayas earlier this week with his Italian climbing partner Daniele Nardi after losing contact last Sunday as they went above 6,300 metres. They had been climbing the 8,126 metre (26,660ft) peak, also known as Killer Mountain.
Continue reading...At least six civilians and two Pakistani troops killed as clashes along frontier continue
Indian and Pakistani soldiers have targeted each other’s posts and villages along the volatile frontier in disputed Kashmir, killing at least six civilians and two Pakistani troops, officials said.
Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday, carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a 14 February suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down a fighter jet on Wednesday and detaining its pilot, who was returned to India on Friday in what Islamabad described as a peace gesture.
Continue reading...The Indian pilot who survived being shot down in Kashmir on Wednesday is returned by Pakistan in a 'peace gesture' it is hoped will de-escalate military tensions between the two nuclear states. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was involved in the worst military crisis in decades between the countries over the disputed territory of Kashmir
Continue reading...Over 100 workers claim to have been sacked after protesting about low wages at factory that makes ‘girl power’ T-shirts
Charity “girl power” T-shirts sold in the UK are made at a Bangladeshi factory where more than 100 impoverished workers claim to have been sacked after striking in protest at low wages, it can be revealed.
The £28 garments are sold online by F=, which claims to be “all about inspiring and empowering girls”, with £10 from each T-shirt donated to Worldreader, a charity that supplies digital books to poverty-stricken children in Africa. Television presenter Holly Willoughby recently reposted a 2017 picture of her and Spice Girl Emma Bunton wearing the T-shirts.
Continue reading...Imran Khan says pilot to be freed as ‘peace gesture’ amid rising tensions between nuclear neighbours
Pakistan says it will release a captured Indian pilot as a “peace gesture” between the neighbours amid the gravest military crisis in the subcontinent in two decades.
Imran Khan, the country’s prime minister, told a joint sitting of parliament that the Indian wing commander, Abhinandan Varthaman, who was shot down over the heavily guarded ceasefire line in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday, would be released on Friday.
Continue reading...Delhi angered by ‘vulgar display’ of wing commander in bloodied uniform by Islamabad
India has called for the safe and immediate return of a fighter pilot seized by Pakistan after being shot down during tit-for-tat incursions over Kashmir that have edged the pair closer to war than at any point in the past 20 years.
Its pilot, a wing commander identified as Abhi Nandan, appeared in a bloodied uniform as he gave his name and rank in a video released by the Pakistani armed forces. Asked by his interrogator to say more, he replied: “I am sorry, sir, that’s all I’m supposed to tell you.”
Continue reading...The US has usually been the decisive voice of calm, but its influence has waned under Trump
During previous bouts of militarised aggression between India and Pakistan, US presidents used personal diplomacy to convince both sides to pull back from the brink.
Such was the case in 1999 during the Kargil war and then again in 2002. Similarly in December 2008 Condoleezza Rice, then US secretary of state, travelled to India to persuade the government to pull back from a planned severe response after the Mumbai attacks, putting the onus on Pakistan to cooperate transparently.
Continue reading...Indian news agency reports Pakistani jet may have been shot down on day of skirmishes
Pakistan has conducted airstrikes over the ceasefire line in disputed Kashmir and claims to have shot down two Indian jets that responded by entering Pakistani airspace, capturing both of the pilots.
India confirmed that one of its pilots is missing in action and said it shot down one of the Pakistani jets as it escaped over the heavily militarised border separating the two nuclear powers.
Continue reading...About half of the 20m tonnes of rubbish produced by Pakistan each year is burned or thrown into rivers, causing pollution, disease and flooding. A recycling hub in Islamabad is trying to tackle the problem
Photographs by Hazel Thompson/Tearfund
Continue reading...Exclusive: Inquiry follows claims it ignored warning signs before alleged Rohingya genocide
The UN has launched an inquiry into its conduct in Myanmar over the past decade, where it has been accused of ignoring warning signs of escalating violence prior to an alleged genocide of the Rohingya minority.
UN sources have confirmed to the Guardian that the initially hesitant UN secretary general, António Guterres, decided to proceed with the investigation after a “build-up in pressure” within the organisation.
Continue reading...Neither Narendra Modi nor Imran Khan can afford a full-scale India-Pakistan conflict
India’s limited airstrikes across the “line of control” in Kashmir, and Pakistan’s warning that it is preparing for “all eventualities”, appear to be more political posturing than a prelude to all-out war. At least, that is what the international community hopes as the nuclear-armed neighbours square off once again.
Rationally speaking, neither country’s prime minister can afford another full-scale conflict – Pakistan’s Imran Khan because he is still getting started after winning power for the first time last July, India’s Narendra Modi because he is seeking a second chance in national polls this spring.
Continue reading...India’s first attack across ceasefire line since 1971 did not result in casualties or damage, Pakistan says
India has carried out aerial bombing over the disputed border in Kashmir for the first time since it went to war with Pakistan in 1971, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The country’s foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, said in a briefing that Delhi had received credible intelligence that the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which killed 40 Indian security personnel in a suicide bombing this month, was training fighters for similar attacks at the site.
Continue reading...A controversial new gemstone law fails to address the hazards of an industry in which scores of workers die each year
At one of the jade mining pits that scar the mountains of northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, a miner recalls how five of his friends died during a landslide two years ago. “I was so scared,” he says. While working in areas where there have been previous landslides, he says he has discovered dead bodies and buried them.
Testimonies heard by the Guardian reveal a deadly environment where lethal landslides and equipment failures strike regularly, in an industry with a history of human rights abuses, corruption and environmental destruction. “At first it was so scary for me,” says another worker. “But it’s becoming natural … We started accepting that we could die in any situation.”
Continue reading...Hundreds more are sick, with many of them critical, says Assam health minister
Eighty-five people have died on tea estates in Assam, north-east India, after drinking poisonous hooch.
Assam’s health minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, confirmed on WhatsApp that 85 people had died but the final death toll may be higher as that figure relates only to hospital deaths and not any victims that may have died elsewhere.
Continue reading...