Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Chinese control of information hampers assessment of Tibet flood damage

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Scale of devastation emerges in Nepal as reporters reach disaster area, but Chinese state media focus more on rescue efforts

In the days since an enormous glacier in the Himalayas snapped away from a mountaintop and cascaded into the valley below, the true scale of the devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet is still unfolding.

But the picture is emerging far more quickly in Nepal than in China, where strict controls on the flow of information from one of its most sensitive regions are hampering the public’s understanding of events.

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Flood risk forces halt to rescues in Tibet, as Nepal death toll rises to 469

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Lake has formed at epicentre of flood, forcing rescue teams to withdraw, Chinese state media report

China has paused rescue work at the epicentre of the catastrophic flooding in Tibet this week amid fears that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠was ⁠at risk ​of ‌bursting, as the overall death toll in Nepal rose to 469 people, with more than 1,300 missing.

A lake formed by immense piles of debris has begun overflowing towards the area where rescue teams were headed, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday.

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Climate crisis could be destabilising mountain areas like Nepal, experts warn

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Unusual heat this year may have melted ice and thawed bonds that hold glaciers in place – leading to catastrophe

The devastating flash flood that has ripped through the border communities of Nepal and Tibet has heightened fears that the climate crisis is destabilising the geology of mountain and polar regions, threatening millions of people.

Satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause of the deadly torrent of mud, water and ice that tore along the Bhotekoshi River on Wednesday. It swept away buildings and roads and left at least 360 dead and 1,400 missing.

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Search on for at least 33 Britons missing after flash floods in Nepal and Tibet

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Rescue teams trying to locate nearly 1,400 missing people, mostly tourists, after floods killed at least 353

Rescue teams in Nepal are searching for at least 33 British nationals who are among those missing after flash floods ravaged its border with Tibet, killing at least 353 people.

Nearly 1,400 people are missing, most of them tourists, authorities have said, after a glacier collapse triggered floods that roared down valleys and razed entire villages.

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Flash floods on Nepal-Tibet border leave scores dead and hundreds missing

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At least 157 people dead and hundreds of tourists among missing after roads, bridges and power plants swept away

At least 157 people have been killed and hundreds, including large numbers of foreign tourists, are missing after flash floods ⁠hit the Himalayan border areas of ⁠Nepal and Tibet in China, police have said, with parts of India also at risk.

The disaster was caused by a torrent of mud, water and debris that burst from the banks of a river that runs between China and Nepal. Homes, roads, bridges and power plants were swept away in Nepal, ⁠while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties”.

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At least 14 newborn babies die in fire at Pakistan hospital’s maternity ward

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Authorities at biggest state hospital in Islamabad say 15 babies were in the ward when fire broke out

At least 14 newborn babies have died in a fire that broke out in the maternity ward at one of Pakistan’s most prominent state hospitals.

The blaze began in the early hours of Wednesday and engulfed the ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the biggest state hospital in Islamabad.

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Jailed ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan allowed brief hospital visit after uproar over health

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Supreme court ordered transfer of ex-leader whose health is reportedly deteriorating, but he was returned to prison several hours later


Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was briefly taken to a hospital in the country’s capital on supreme court orders after weeks of uproar about his deteriorating health.

Khan, 73, was transferred to the hospital in the early hours of Friday, but then moved back to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi after a ⁠few hours, a spokesperson for his party said on Friday.

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Taliban threaten former Afghan police worker after MoD leak reveals identity

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UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisals

A man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.

Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government.

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Concerns grow over increased global ties with Taliban in Afghanistan

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Campaigners fear deeper diplomatic contacts are undermining demands for improvements in human rights

The Taliban in Afghanistan have launched a diplomatic effort to end their isolation as major regional and international powers show a readiness to engage more closely with the repressive regime despite its systematic human rights abuses.

Five years after the Taliban took power, an increasing number of countries are renewing ties or scaling up diplomatic contacts with the hardline Islamists, who seized power in Kabul in 2021 after 20 years of brutal insurgent warfare.

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Ex-Myanmar ambassador to UK on trial for trespassing in diplomatic residence

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Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home

Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021.

Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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The return of the caspian tiger: how a species feared extinct has come back to Kazakhstan

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The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 years

On 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought extinct, with the last reliable sighting in the country recorded more than 70 years ago.

Umit – a wild-caught female tiger transported from the Russian far east – will be joined by more big cats in the coming years, with plans to establish a self-sustaining population of about 50. A wild-caught male flown from Russia is still being monitored by authorities and will be released when he is judged fit to survive alone. Two wild tiger cubs are also being reared on the reserve in special enclosures, with as little human contact as possible, and are likely to be released into the marshlands next year, to feast on boar, deer and kulans, a type of wild donkey.

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Pakistani authorities ban international media from reporting in most of country

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Rules brought in soon after killing of dozens of protesters, news of which was reported only by overseas outlets

Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations.

According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.

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Pakistani authorities ban international media from reporting in most of country

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Rules brought in soon after killing of dozens of protesters, news of which was reported only by overseas outlets

Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations.

According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.

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Pakistan precinct suspends all 78 officers and staff over alleged rape at police station

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Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting any wrongdoing at station

The alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with learning disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest ever disciplinary actions against its police force.

The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and stating that she had been sexually assaulted at the station.

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Pakistan precinct suspends all 78 officers and staff over alleged rape at police station

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Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting any wrongdoing at station

The alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with learning disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest ever disciplinary actions against its police force.

The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and stating that she had been sexually assaulted at the station.

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Top mountaineer Nirmal Purja confirmed dead after 11 hit by avalanche in Pakistan

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Other members of expedition led by world-renowned climber on Broad Peak have also died, climbing company says

A world-renowned Nepali mountaineer and former UK Special Forces member has died after being among 11 climbers caught in a deadly avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak.

Nirmal Purja was killed leading an expedition of 10 other people on the world’s 12th-highest mountain when an avalanche struck at around noon on Thursday.

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India’s monsoon rains in danger as UN chief warns planet is ‘on fire’

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António Guterres says strengthening El Niño will help push the world’s climate crisis into ‘uncharted territory’

India’s monsoon is in danger and hotter, drier conditions are forecast across much of the world as a stronger El Niño weather system is taking hold, weather experts have warned.

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the strengthening El Niño was “adding fuel to a planet already on fire” and pushing the world into “uncharted territory”.

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Pakistan accused of fatally shooting 30 unarmed protesters in Kashmir

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Local civil rights group alleges authorities removed evidence of killings amid communications blackout

At least 30 people are alleged to have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the past two days as part of what has been claimed is a brutal state crackdown that has engulfed the disputed region for weeks.

According to a local civil society group, Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the Pakistani security services fired on tens of thousands of peaceful protesters, killing 25 people on Monday and five more on Tuesday.

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India’s Cockroach movement threatens to restart protests after mass student arrests

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Cockroach Janta party says government has broken promise, with detentions in Delhi, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar

India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement, whose nationwide protests forced the resignation of the education minister, has accused the government of backtracking on its promise not to act against student protesters and has threatened to restart demonstrations.

The Cockroach Janta party (CJP), which organised mass protests over exam paper leaks and other irregularities, said it had received reports of hundreds of students being detained or “harassed” by police.

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India’s Cockroach Janta party protest victory signals trouble ahead for Modi

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Ally forced to resign, with opposition parties reinvigorated and strongman leader’s grip over media channels rocked

Even the night before Narendra Modi accepted the resignation of his education minister, India’s prime minister appeared confident that the largest mass uprising to take place in his 12 years in power would do little to rattle his government.

Addressing his “young friends” in a late-night Instagram selfie reel on Friday, he thanked the people – who were mobilised en masse across the country, shouting anti-government slogans – for their “thoughtful suggestions”.

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