Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Indian government ordered killings in Pakistan, intelligence officials claim

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Allegations of up to 20 assassinations since 2020 follow Canada’s accusation of Delhi role in murders of dissidents

The Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, according to Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives who spoke to the Guardian.

Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed new light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019. The agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (Raw), is directly controlled by the office of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who is running for a third term in office in elections later this month.

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Having the right glasses could boost earning power by a third, Bangladesh study shows

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Researchers find that in low and middle-income countries owning spectacles can help people over 35 increase their income

Owning a pair of reading glasses might help people increase their earnings by a third, according to new research.

The study, conducted in Bangladesh, is the first to examine the impact of having a decent pair of spectacles, and researchers found monthly median earnings among one group of people increased from $35.30 to $47.10 within eight months, a rise of 33.4%.

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Pakistani judges say intelligence agency threatened them over Imran Khan

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High court members allege ISI put cameras in their bedrooms and tortured a relative to make them hear an appeal against ex-PM

Claims by senior Pakistani judges that the intelligence agencies put pressure on them in cases involving the former prime minister Imran Khan have reached the country’s supreme court, following the publication of an unprecedented letter that has created a storm in Pakistan.

The letter from the six high court judges alleged the abduction of family members, torture, installation of cameras in their bedrooms and threats from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).

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‘I wanted to end my life’: ‘Bookseller of Kabul’ rebuilds destroyed business

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Shah Muhammad Rais was devastated when Taliban destroyed his shop, but now he is sending books to Afghanistan via the internet

Shah Muhammad Rais first opened his bookshop in the Afghan capital in 1974. By 2003, when his story was made famous by the bestselling book The Bookseller of Kabul, the business had collected about 100,000 books, in different languages, about literature, history and politics. The collection included works of fiction and nonfiction, with everything from richly illustrated children’s tales to dense academic tomes.

After the Taliban stormed Kabul in 2021, Rais fled to the UK, telling the Guardian last year that he feared the group would destroy his cherished business. His fears came true.

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Delhi chief minister must stay in custody for another two weeks, court rules

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Opposition parties accuse government of ‘match fixing’ for elections over Arvind Kejriwal treatment

Delhi’s chief minister, a key opposition leader, must remain in custody for a further two weeks, a court has ruled, with India’s opposition parties accusing the government of “match fixing” before the country’s elections later this month.

On Monday, a court ruled that Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, could remain in judicial custody till 15 April and will be sent to Delhi’s notorious Tihar jail.

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India’s opposition protest against Modi’s ‘match-fixing’ before election

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Parties unite at New Dehli rally to accuse PM of ‘tax terrorism’ and rigging the vote, after arrest of prominent leader

Indian opposition parties united on Sunday to protest against the arrest of a prominent leader weeks before a national election, accusing the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his party of rigging the vote and harassing them with large tax demands.

“Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing in this election,” the leader of the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, told a rally in New Delhi, as the crowd chanted “shame”.

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Taliban edict to resume stoning women to death met with horror

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Afghan regime’s return to public stoning and flogging is because there is ‘no one to hold them accountable’ for abuses, say activists

The Taliban’s announcement that it is resuming publicly stoning women to death has been enabled by the international community’s silence, human rights groups have said.

Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organisation Women’s Window of Hope, said the announcement had condemned Afghan women to return to the darkest days of Taliban rule in the 1990s.

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India summons envoy after US criticises Delhi chief minister’s arrest

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Calls for fair legal process for opposition figure Arvind Kejriwal amid claims rivals to Modi are being targeted before elections

Arvind Kejriwal: the Delhi chief minister jailed by Modi’s government

The chief minister of Delhi has been remanded in custody for a further four days amid international criticism of his arrest on corruption charges last week.

A Delhi court ruled on Thursday that a powerful central government agency could keep Arvind Kejriwal in jail until 1 April as part of a corruption investigation his party decried as a “political conspiracy” before national elections beginning next month.

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Six killed after suicide bomber rams convoy of Chinese engineers in Pakistan

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Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver killed while en route from Islamabad to dam construction site

Six people have been killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in north-west Pakistan, in the third significant attack on Chinese interests in the country in a week.

The first two attacks targeted a Pakistani naval airbase and a strategic port used by China in the south-west province of Balochistan where Beijing is investing billions in infrastructure projects.

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‘I noticed nothing strange’: suspect’s colleagues express shock at Moscow attack

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Limited details have emerged about background of Muhammadsobir Fayzov and three other Tajik men accused of carrying out atrocity

Former colleagues and clients at the small barber shop where Muhammadsobir Fayzov once worked were stunned when they saw the news.

They knew the 19-year-old as a promising, hard-working stylist, and saw no signs that he and three other Tajik gunmen would be accused of committing last Friday’s bloodbath at a concert city hall in Moscow.

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Minister told to name sources in Afghan inquiry or face potential jail term

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Johnny Mercer given 10 days to reveal source of claims British troops engaged in war crimes

The minister for veterans’ affairs, Johnny Mercer, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.

Mercer in effect admitted last month in front of the public inquiry into the claims that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.

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Delhi chief minister to be held for six days after arrest on corruption charges

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Judge says Arvind Kejriwal can be held until next Thursday, as his party’s leaders condemn accusations as politically motivated

An Indian court has ruled that Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will be kept in custody for six days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges.

Kejriwal, the top elected official for the Indian capital, was taken in by police on Thursday night as part of an investigation into an alleged scam involving kickbacks for alcohol licensing deals.

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Everest climbers prepare to pick up their own poo as season gets under way

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Authorities are now mandating that climbers remove their waste from the mountain using biodegradable bags

It’s one of the more unedifying challenges involved in scaling to the highest point on Earth – how best to relieve oneself in the freezing, inhospitable environment of Mount Everest.

That question is about to become slightly more complicated as climbers prepare for a change in protocol when the season gets under way next month, with a new rule about removing their own faeces as they trek up and down the mountain.

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Indian opposition claim ‘conspiracy’ as Delhi chief minister arrested

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Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal is held as part of corruption case a month before elections

Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has been arrested in a corruption case, a move condemned by his party as a “conspiracy” by Narendra Modi’s government to target the opposition before next month’s elections.

Kejriwal, who is the leader of the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) and has been Delhi’s chief minister since 2015, was arrested at his home on Thursday night by a dozen officers from the enforcement directorate (ED), an investigating agency under central government control.

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Dozens of Rohingya refugees rescued from overturned boat in Indian Ocean

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Soaked survivors clung to hull overnight before being taken to safety by Indonesian rescue team

Dozens of Rohingya refugees have been rescued from the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia after spending the night balanced on the hull of their overturned boat.

Seventy-five people were pulled from the stricken vessel, which was spotted on Thursday by an Indonesian search and rescue ship.

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Auction of Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Myanmar attracts no bidders

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Home being sold after supreme court ruling in dispute with Aung San Suu Kyi’s estranged brother, with the price reportedly set at tens of millions of dollars

No bidders have appeared at an auction in Myanmar for the sale of the home of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for which the starting price was reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

The family property on Yangon’s Inye Lake was up for auction by order of the supreme court, after a years-long legal battle between Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 coup, and her estranged brother Aung San Oo.

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Star wars: Sri Lanka’s powerful astrologers split over auspicious dates

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Group employed by government divided for first time over best date for new year rituals

Sri Lanka’s government-backed traditional astrologers have failed to unanimously agree on the best date for new year rituals, with squabbling seers warning of “disaster” and accusing rivals of misinterpreting the position of stars.

Astrologers are hugely influential figures consulted by the island’s Buddhist and Hindu communities, and their advice for auspicious dates guides everything from marriages to business deals – and even national elections.

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Global eradication of polio ‘tantalisingly close’ with UK urged to keep up funding

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After no reported cases of wild polio for 19 weeks, vaccination efforts boosted at last endemic spots in Pakistan and Afghanistan

The world is “tantalisingly close” to eradicating polio – with no confirmed cases of wild polio anywhere so far this year. But experts warn that vaccination efforts – and funding – must not falter if the world is to rid itself of a human infectious disease for the second time in history, after smallpox.

There have been no reported cases of wild polio infection in people for the last 19 weeks. Figures from the World Health Organization reveal that the last confirmed cases were on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan in October and September 2023 respectively; these are the last nations on Earth where polio is endemic.

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India to hold world’s biggest election in seven stages from April

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Modi favourite to win third term in largest democratic exercise in history held across six weeks

India is to hold a national election in April it has been announced, in what will be the world’s largest election with nearly a billion people eligible to vote.

Many consider Modi’s re-election a foregone conclusion, owing to both the premier’s robust popularity a decade after taking office and a glaringly uneven playing field.

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Five killed in attack on Pakistan military post near Afghan border

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Unnamed militant group drove vehicle laden with explosives into post and detonated suicide bombs

Militants have attacked a military post in Pakistan near Afghanistan using a vehicle laden with explosives, killing five security force members, Pakistan’s military said.

The incident in north-west Pakistan was carried out by six attackers, the military’s media wing said in a statement, without naming the militant group responsible for the attack.

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