‘Overjoyed’ justice and son, who spent two years in hiding in Pakistan, reunited with family after landmark case
A female Afghan judge who was in hiding in Pakistan after fleeing the Taliban has won a landmark right to sanctuary in the UK.
The 53-year-old judge, whose true identity cannot be disclosed due to security concerns but is referred to as Yosra, was granted the right to come to the UK after a long legal battle with the Home Office.
Continue reading...Fighting increases in border states while junta continues to delay elections
Fighting between the Myanmar army and anti-junta rebels has flared up in recent days, with local people in one village saying on Saturday that 14 people were killed in a single raid.
Deadly violence has engulfed Myanmar since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021 and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead.
Continue reading...Indians were shocked when social media exposed a mob abusing minority Kuki women. But similar incidents have been happening with impunity for months
As footage emerged last week of two women in the state of Manipur being forcibly stripped, paraded naked, publicly molested and allegedly gang raped, everyone from prime minister Narendra Modi to the chief justice of India publicly expressed their shock and disgust.
Breaking his long silence on the conflict that has been raging in Manipur for months, Modi declared that “what happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven” and that “the entire country has been shamed” by the attack.
Continue reading...Film being reviewed to ensure it is not violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values
The launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over “objectionable content”.
Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values.
Continue reading...As violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities continues in north-east India, campaigners criticise the authorities’ reaction and both sides warn of civil war
Manipur is a state in north-east India with a population of more than three million. It has been embroiled in an ethnic conflict since early May, fought between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki tribe.
Continue reading...Attempt to curb domestic inflation behind country’s decision on non-basmati white rice
India has banned non-basmati white rice exports to curb domestic inflation, raising fears of further increases in global food prices just days after wheat and corn prices were sent climbing by Russia’s termination of a key grain deal.
The immediate ban, introduced after heavy rains hit domestic crops, follows the failure of a 20% duty on international exports introduced in September to curb foreign demand, which has soared after extreme climate conditions hit production in countries.
Continue reading...Police say further arrests expected as attack captured in viral video prompts nationwide outrage
Four men have been arrested in connection with the case of two women who were stripped naked, publicly paraded and allegedly gang raped in the Indian state of Manipur, in an attack that caused outrage after it was captured in a viral video.
The arrests took place on Thursday, a day after the footage of the assault prompted anger across India and was condemned by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the supreme court. The police said more arrests were expected soon.
Continue reading...Indian PM had been criticised for failing to talk about deadly ethnic conflict taking place in north-eastern state
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has broken his months-long silence on the deadly ethnic conflict raging in the state of Manipur after a video emerged of women being stripped naked, paraded and assaulted before it is alleged they were gang raped.
Outrage erupted across India after footage was circulated from Manipur of two women from the minority Kuki tribe being forcibly stripped naked by a mob of the majority Meitei tribal group who can be heard shouting: “If you don’t take off your clothes, we’ll kill you.” The women are then publicly groped and dragged to a field, where it is alleged they were gang raped.
Continue reading...Leaders put aside personality clashes and ideological differences to form coalition to take on PM
Leaders of 26 opposition political parties in India have united to form an alliance in an attempt to oust the country’s populist prime minister, Narendra Modi, in next year’s general election.
During a conclave of opposition parties held this week, it was decided that the coalition will be called the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance: otherwise known as INDIA.
Continue reading...People are united to end military dictatorship but international support is needed, Naw Hser Hser says
The crisis in Myanmar should be referred to the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including widespread sexual violence, an open session at the UN security council will be told.
Naw Hser Hser, the first Myanmar human rights defender to brief council members in an open session since the 2021 coup, will also call for greater action to cut crucial supplies of arms and finances to the military junta.
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Continue reading...Chandrayaan-3 launches from island in southern India in follow-up to failed effort four years ago
An Indian spacecraft has blazed its way towards the far side of the moon in a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago to land a rover softly on the lunar surface, India’s space agency said.
Chandrayaan-3, the word for “moon craft” in Sanskrit, took off from a launch pad in Sriharikota, an island in southern India, with an orbiter, a lander and a rover, in a demonstration of India’s emerging space technology. The spacecraft will embark on a journey lasting slightly over a month before landing on the moon’s surface later in August.
Continue reading...The Chandrayaan-3 is set to blast off from a spaceport in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh
India’s space agency has made final preparations for the launch of a rocket that will attempt to land a rover on the moon and mark the country’s arrival as a power in space exploration.
Only the United States, the former Soviet Union and China have made successful lunar landings. An attempt by a Japanese start-up earlier this year ended with the lander crashing.
Continue reading...Nepali pilot and five Mexican passengers killed after aircraft crashes soon after takeoff near Lukla
All six people onboard a tourist helicopter in Nepal have been killed after it crashed soon after takeoff in the Everest region.
The Manang Air flight was heading for the capital, Kathmandu, from near Lukla, a gateway for climbing expeditions to the world’s highest peak, with five Mexican tourists – two men and three women – and a Nepali pilot onboard.
Continue reading...Poor oversight, lack of understanding and weak collaboration between allies contributed to ease of Taliban takeover, conclude US and UK aid bodies at London conference
America’s huge, badly-coordinated and politically-driven aid programme in Afghanistan engendered the corruption that undermined its entire mission and turned Afghans away from the western coalition, according to the head of a US aid watchdog.
“We did not really understand Afghanistan or how it worked as a country,” John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar), told a conference at the defence and security thinktank the Royal United Services Institute.
Continue reading...Beijing is source of ‘systemic challenges’ but alliance members are divided on how to engage
Nato leaders and their allies are heading to Vilnius, Lithuania, this week, for two days of meetings starting on Tuesday. Among them is Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, who will give one of the opening speeches.
The summit will be dominated by discussions about the alliance’s relationship with Ukraine. But Yoon’s attendance reflects a growing interest among members in stepping up their dialogue with countries in the Asia-Pacific.
Continue reading...Consumers, farmers and even McDonald’s struggle in shortage blamed on irregular weather
Listening to the chatter at Delhi’s vegetable markets, only one question is on everyone’s lips: just how much will a tomato cost today?
Prices of tomatoes, a staple of Indian cooking, have soared by more than 400% in recent weeks as the country has been gripped by a nationwide shortage.
Continue reading...Research into loss of trawler with hundreds of deaths strongly contradicts official accounts – while finding a failure to mobilise help and evidence that survivor statements were tampered with
Attempts by the Greek coastguard to tow a fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants may have caused the vessel to sink, according to a new investigation by the Guardian and media partners that has raised further questions about the incident, which left an estimated 500 people missing
The trawler carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the coast of Greece on 14 June. There were 104 survivors.
Continue reading...Residents in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand warned not to go outside and Delhi schools closed amid flooding and landslides in multiple states
Torrential rain across northern India has killed at least 22 people, causing landslides and flash floods in the region, with Delhi receiving the most rainfall in decades, reports and officials have said.
Schools in Delhi were closed after heavy rains lashed the national capital over the weekend, and authorities in the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand asked people not to venture out of their homes unless necessary.
Continue reading...Dozens more injured in state notorious for political violence during polls to elect local leaders
At least seven people were killed and dozens more injured in India after clashes over local polls in West Bengal, a state notorious for political violence during election campaigns.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has in recent years worked hard to gain a toehold in West Bengal – ruled by a Communist party for much of its history – to expand its reach beyond its Hindi-speaking northern heartlands.
Continue reading...Workers charged with culpable homicide and destruction of evidence after one of country’s deadliest rail accidents
Three men have been arrested in India over a triple-train collision that killed nearly 300 people last month, one of the worst rail accidents in the country’s history, police have said.
The train crash in eastern Odisha state occurred when a packed passenger train was mistakenly diverted on to a loop line and hit a stationary goods train.
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