India faces deepening demographic divide as it prepares to overtake China as the world’s most populous country

India’s entrenched north-south divide is growing as its population changes, with serious social and political consequences

The cry of a baby born in India one day next year will herald a watershed moment for the country, when the scales tip and India overtakes China as the world’s most populous nation.

Yet the story of India’s population boom is really two stories. In the north, led by just two states, the population is still rising. In the richer south, numbers are stabilising and in some areas declining. The deepening divisions between these regions mean the government must eventually grapple with a unique problem: the consequences of a baby boom and an ageing population, all inside one nation.

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Seasonal fruit pickers left thousands in debt after being sent home early from UK farms

Nepali workers who quit jobs and borrowed cash to come to UK are out of work just weeks after arriving

Nepali workers hired to pick fruit on British farms say they have been left thousands of pounds in debt after being sent home only weeks after they arrived.

The fruit pickers were recruited under the government’s seasonal worker scheme and say they were offered work for six months. But less than two months after arriving, they were told they were no longer needed and instructed to book flights home.

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UN chief urges Myanmar junta to get democracy ‘back on track’

António Guterres says it’s vital a peace plan agreed with the junta, but so far not enforced, takes effect

UN chief António Guterres has urged the Myanmar junta to immediately return to democracy, saying it was the only way to stop the “unending nightmare” engulfing the country.

Myanmar has spiralled into bloody conflict since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February last year, with thousands killed.

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Indian police investigating film that portrays Kerala as Islamic terrorism hub

Makers of Bollywood film say it is based on real information and events but have not provided any evidence

Police in Kerala are investigating a controversial Bollywood film that portrays the southern Indian state as a hub of Islamic terrorism and forced conversion.

The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, has come under criticism for its fictional depiction of tens of thousands of women from Kerala who it claims were converted to Islam and became terrorists for Islamic State in Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.

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Evidence suggests reporter killed in Kenya was targeted, says Pakistan

Kenyan police decline to respond to interior minister’s comments regarding death of Arshad Sharif

Pakistan’s interior minister has said evidence suggests a prominent Pakistani journalist was the victim of a targeted killing in Kenya, rather than an accidental shooting, though he said he still needed more information on the incident.

The Kenyan police spokesperson Bruno Shioso declined to respond to Rana Sanaullah’s comments on Tuesday regarding the death of the TV journalist Arshad Sharif, who was shot dead on the evening of 23 October on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

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‘We worked alongside our worries’: Myanmar resumes hot-air balloon festival

Rival teams begin launching aerial artistic creations that explode with fireworks once (hopefully) in the sky

Thousands of people have gathered in the hills of central Myanmar for the annual Tazaungdaing light festival marking the end of the rainy season with a fiery display of exploding hot-air balloons.

The celebration in the former British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin has not been held for two years because of the Covid pandemic and unrest after a military coup.

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India bridge collapse prompts fears over safety of thousands of ‘distressed’ structures

Tragedy that killed 135 sparks safety fears over creaking colonial-era structures

The collapse of a bridge in Gujarat that left 135 people dead has prompted concerns over the safety of thousands of other colonial-era structures across India.

The bridge in Morbi was more than a century old when it snapped in two last month while families had gathered on it to enjoy an evening on the river. Many of those standing in the middle of the bridge plunged into the river and drowned, while others died from the impact of falling on to the stones and boulders below.

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Imran Khan supporters take to streets as shooting fuels Pakistan tensions

Stakes raised on Friday as clashes erupt between police and protesters in cities across Pakistan

Hundreds of police officers equipped with teargas hurriedly took positions near a junction connecting Islamabad with its twin city of Rawalpindi as a group of protesters burned wood and chanted slogans on Friday.

The two groups edged towards each other, and then the protesters hurled stones at the police, who responded with teargas rounds. Not long afterwards, the protesters dispersed, and police reopened the junction to traffic.

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Infosys still operating from Russia eight months after saying it was pulling out

Exclusive: Indian firm from which Rishi Sunak’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends retains staffed Moscow office

The Indian IT services company Infosys from which the prime minister’s wife collects £11.5m in annual dividends is still operating from Moscow eight months after the company said it was pulling out.

The company retains a staffed office and is paying subcontractors in the Russian capital to carry out IT services for a global client although a spokesperson said they were looking to end that arrangement.

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Imran Khan shooting is latest incident in Pakistan’s violent political history

From the assassination of its first PM in 1951, the country has suffered waves of brutal sectarian conflict and murders

Last month, Pakistan summoned the US ambassador in Islamabad for a dressing down after President Joe Biden described the south Asian country as “one of the most dangerous nations in the world”. Biden was apparently referring to Pakistan’s combination of nuclear weapons and apparent instability. He might have been talking about the threat faced by the country’s own politicians instead.

On Thursday, the former prime minister Imran Khan was shot when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country, in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt. The 70-year-old did not appear to be seriously injured but the incident underlines once again how politics in Pakistan is inseparable from violence.

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Imran Khan wounded in ‘assassination attempt’ in Pakistan

Former prime minister shot when his convoy came under fire in eastern Punjab province, party officials and police have said

Protesters have taken to the streets of Pakistan after a gunman opened fire on a convoy carrying the former prime minister Imran Khan, wounding him and killing a supporter as he led a march on Islamabad to demand snap elections.

A party aide said Khan, 70, had been wounded in his lower leg and was stable after an incident described by his supporters as an assassination attempt. “A man opened fire with an automatic weapon. Several people are wounded. Imran Khan is also injured,” said Asad Umar shortly after the shooting.

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Myanmar could face aid ‘catastrophe’, experts warn, after junta law change

Local and international aid agencies have a choice between operating illegally or registering with the junta, which some fear legitimises their coup

Myanmar’s junta has passed a law that grants it sweeping powers over aid delivery, prompting warnings of a “catastrophic” effect on services to those in need in the crisis-hit nation.

Sources inside aid agencies in Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian that the new rules would severely impact their ability to reach vulnerable communities, likely resulting in wholesale shutdowns of some programmes.

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UK investigation to examine human rights abuses in Kazakhstan

Commission to focus on detention of journalist and political leader Zhanbolat Mamai after nationwide protests

The state of human rights in the vast, mineral-rich central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, including the continued detention of opposition leaders, is to be formally examined by senior UK parliamentarians including the former director of public prosecutions Lord MacDonald.

He will lead an independent investigation into the detention and treatment of Zhanbolat Mamai, the leader of the unregistered opposition Democratic party in Kazakhstan.

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Gujarat bridge collapse: anger grows in India over cover-up claims

Questions asked after 135 people killed as to why repair contract was given to local firm better know for making clocks

Anger is growing in India over allegations that corruption was responsible for the collapse of a bridge in Morbi in Gujarat leaving 135 people dead, amid claims that a cover-up is under way to shield those responsible.

The bridge snapped in two on Sunday evening when families were out enjoying the evening air over the river. Many of those standing in the middle of the bridge when it collapsed plunged into the river and drowned, while others at both ends of the bridge, closer to the banks, died from the impact of falling on to the stones and boulders below.

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Indian police raid news site’s office over retracted article about BJP official

Homes of several editors of the Wire also raided after complaint about story based on falsified documents

Police in Delhi have raided the premises of a news website known for its fierce criticism of the Indian government, over a retracted article about a politician in charge of the ruling party’s social media campaigns.

Officers arrived at the homes of several editors of the Wire in the middle of the night and seized their laptops and phones. They also searched the website’s office in the capital.

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Indian police arrest nine people after footbridge collapse kills at least 134

Officials say they did not issue a certificate to the company in charge of Morbi bridge that it was fit for public use after repairs

Indian police have arrested nine people, including ticketing clerks and contractors, as part of their investigation into the collapse of a footbridge in which at least 134 people, including many children, were killed.

CCTV footage from just before the collapse showed a group of young men taking photos while others tried to rock the suspension bridge in Morbi from side to side, before they tumbled into the river below as the cables gave way.

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Indian states ban guns and airguns to safeguard Amur falcons

Assam, Nagaland and Manipur officials also confiscate catapults and nets to ensure birds can recuperate

Officials in north-east India have banned the use of guns and airguns and confiscated catapults and nets in an effort to safeguard the small Amur falcons that make an autumn pit stop on their way to sunny South Africa.

Forest officers were patrolling areas of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur states to make sure no one disturbs the long-distance travelling raptors who stop briefly in India.

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Manchester Museum to reopen with ‘ordinary folk’ co-curating new gallery

Director says it’s ‘time to tell new stories’ as people from south Asian diaspora contribute experiences

A museum with a dizzying, encyclopaedic collection that spans Egyptian mummies, dinosaur skeletons and live Costa Rican frogs is to reopen next year after a £15m revamp – with a promise to be more inclusive and imaginative.

Manchester Museum has about 4.5m objects from around the world, a mix of exhibits from natural sciences and human cultures all under one roof.

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India bridge collapse: death toll rises to at least 130 as recovery efforts continue

About 400 people were on the bridge in Gujarat to celebrate a Diwali religious ritual when it collapsed, with many children among the dead

The death toll from the collapse of a pedestrian bridge over a river in Gujarat, western India, has risen to at least 130 as more stories emerge of the terrifying moment the structure gave way .

Local officials say about 400 people were on the suspension bridge over the Machchu River in the city of Morbi on Sunday and the atmosphere was festive. Families had come out on to the bridge to celebrate a post-Diwali religious ritual in which idols are immersed into the river.

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At least 81 people dead after bridge collapses in India’s Gujarat state

Rescue operation under way following failure of pedestrian suspension bridge in city of Morbi

At least 81 people were killed when a pedestrian bridge over a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat collapsed, plunging hundreds of people into the water, officials have said.

Authorities said that more than 150 people were on the suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in the city of Morbi at the time of the collapse.

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