India previously blamed a ‘technical malfunction’ for accidental firing of unarmed missile in March
The Indian air force has said it has sacked three officers for accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan in March.
“A court of inquiry, set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the standard operating procedures by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile,” the air force said.
Continue reading...Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal say he was given electric shocks after unlawful arrest in Punjab in 2017
A British Sikh campaigner is facing a possible death sentence after the UK intelligence services passed on information about him to the Indian authorities, according to a high court complaint.
Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal from Dumbarton, Scotland, say he was tortured, including being given electric shocks, after his unlawful arrest in the Punjab in 2017 where he had travelled for his wedding.
Continue reading...New viral infection detected in dozens of children in Kerala, and now also in Tamil Nadu and Odisha
An outbreak of a new viral infection referred to as tomato flu that was first detected in children in the southern Indian state of Kerala in May has spread to two other states.
According to an article in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 82 children aged under five had been diagnosed with the virus in Kerala as of 26 July.
Continue reading...Khan is reportedly accused of making threats to the country’s judiciary and police force
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been charged under anti-terrorism legislation after he gave a fiery speech to supporters at the weekend in which he vowed to sue police officers and a female judge and alleged a close aide had been tortured after his arrest.
Khan will have to “face the law for threatening and hurling abuses”, tweeted the interior minister, Rana Sanaullah.
Continue reading...Lawyers say the woman, who is in hiding in Pakistan with her son, will be killed if sent back to Afghanistan
A female former senior judge from Afghanistan who is in hiding from the Taliban with her son has filed an appeal to the Home Office after her application to enter the UK was denied.
Lawyers for the woman – who is named as “Y” – said on Saturday they had submitted an appeal on behalf of their client and her son at the Immigration Tribunal, saying she had been left in a “gravely vulnerable position” by the withdrawal of British and other western troops.
Continue reading...Wall Street Journal suggests Russian and Chinese leaders could hold discussions in Uzbek city
Xi Jinping could meet Vladimir Putin in mid-September at a regional summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, it has been reported.
According to the Wall Street Journal, preparations are being made for the Chinese president to travel to Samarkand on 15 September for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Continue reading...In a wide-ranging Guardian interview, the former prime minister says he understands anger The Satanic Verses created ‘but you can’t justify what happened’
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has condemned the attack on Salman Rushdie, describing it as “terrible” and “sad”, and saying that while the anger of the Islamic world at Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses was understandable, it could not justify the assault.
Khan also said he expected Afghan women to “assert their rights” in the face of Taliban restrictions in a Guardian interview in which he sought to moderate his reputation as a firebrand. He is fighting for his political survival after being ousted from office in April. Khan says his staff and followers are being persecuted and intimidated and he is battling eight-year-old charges of illicit campaign financing that could lead to him being banned from politics.
Continue reading...New president has been approached to provide security for predecessor who fled country amid economic crisis
Sri Lanka’s ruling party has asked the country’s new president to provide security and other assistance for his predecessor, who fled to south-east Asia last month after protests flared amid a crippling economic crisis.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew to Singapore last month and quit as Sri Lanka’s president, making way for veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe to win a vote in parliament and take the top job.
Continue reading...Six arrested but ringleader still at large after fraudsters in Bihar charged money to locals and paid others to work there
An Indian gang operated a fake police station from a hotel for eight months where they dressed up as officers and are believed to have extorted money from hundreds of people, an official has said.
Incidents of fraudsters pretending to be police or soldiers are common in India, where there is widespread fear of and respect for those in uniform, but setting up a bogus police station takes the scams up a level.
Continue reading...UN expresses concern over rising number of civilian casualties from explosions
A blast that tore through a Kabul mosque during evening prayers on Wednesday killed 21 people, police said, as the United Nations expressed concern over a growing number of civilian casualties from explosions.
The police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said another 33 people had been injured in the blast, which witnesses said shattered the windows of buildings near the mosque in a northern Kabul neighbourhood.
Continue reading...Daksh Giri was wedged on father’s scooter when stray razor-sharp kite string wrapped around his neck
A six-year-old boy has died after his throat was cut by a stray glass-coated kite string as he rode on a scooter with his father in Ludhiana, north India.
Daksh Giri was standing on the scooter on Tuesday, wedged between the steering unit and his father, when they drove into a plastic kite string coated with powdered glass. The string became wrapped around his neck, cutting his throat. Daksh died later in hospital.
Continue reading...Gujarat frees men serving life sentences for rape, and for murder of three-year-old daughter and other relatives
A Muslim woman who was gang-raped by a Hindu mob, which also murdered her three-year-old daughter and 13 other members of her family, has spoken of her incredulity at the release of the 11 men jailed for the crimes.
The men were released on Monday by the Gujarat government after serving 14 years of their life sentences. Under Indian law, after 14 years some prisoners can be released on remission provided they fulfil certain criteria relating to their age and conduct.
Continue reading...Police report multiple casualties after powerful explosion during evening prayers
A huge bomb attack at a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers has killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27 others.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, the latest to strike Afghanistan in the year since the Taliban seized power.
Continue reading...Government accused of inaction as downpours leave schools destroyed, homes ruined, crops failing and cholera on the rise
More than 580 people have died and thousands have lost their homes across Pakistan as torrential rains batter the country.
An estimated 1 million have been affected by heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides since July as Pakistan endured more than 60% of its normal total monsoon rainfall in three weeks.
Continue reading...Yuan Wang 5 is officially described as a ‘scientific research ship’ but India suspects it has military functions
A Chinese navy vessel has arrived at a southern Sri Lankan port that Beijing leases from the government, prompting renewed security fears from India.
On Tuesday morning, the Yuan Wang 5 sailed into the Hambantota port, which was built by Beijing, and was welcomed by senior Sri Lankan and Chinese officials in a traditional ceremony that involved red carpet and a massive banner that read: “Hello Sri Lanka, Long Live Sri Lanka-China Friendship.”
Continue reading...Aam Aadmi party’s decision to scrap plan to privatise sale of alcohol comes after pressure from rival BJP
All over the Indian capital, the sound of metal shutters being pulled down at off-licences has left drinkers high and dry.
The dry spell, expected to last until 1 September, is the result of Delhi’s government scrapping a new alcohol policy that would have allowed private companies to operate off-licences.
Continue reading...MoD sources accuse other parts of Whitehall of failing to do enough to help Afghans who worked with British forces
Two RAF flights carrying as many as 500 Afghans who worked with British forces and their relatives are landing in the UK each month from Pakistan but there is deep frustration within the Ministry of Defence about how the rest of government is struggling to accommodate arrivals.
It comes as the Taliban and western allies mark the first anniversary of Nato’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Ousted leader of Myanmar will appeal against new conviction added to earlier 11-year sentence
A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on more corruption charges on Monday, adding six years to her earlier 11-year prison sentence, a legal official said.
The trial was held behind closed doors, with no access for media or the public, and her lawyers were forbidden by a gag order from revealing information about the proceedings.
Continue reading...Families who fled Taliban rule say they are grateful for the help they have received but long for a home where they can settle
The west London hotel where Fawzia Amini, a senior Afghan judge, her husband and their four daughters have lived for the last nine months has comfortable sofas in the foyer, a restaurant serving tasty meals on the first floor, and friendly reception staff – but it isn’t home.
After the turmoil and danger of fleeing their spacious home in Kabul when the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital, the family say that while they are grateful for everything the UK government has done for them, they long to be in a place of their own where they can cook their own food, work, study, and entertain relatives and friends.
Continue reading...Impact of ‘traumatic period’ still lingers with those now based in UK – and their families – 75 years on
After living in Britain for nearly half a century, Pabitra Ghosh is still gripped by a rootlessness borne after being displaced from modern-day Bangladesh as a child.
When a communal riot broke out in 1950, Ghosh, then five, fled with his family across the newly carved Indian border from East Pakistan. The train journey was both “bedlam” and “traumatic” as they abandoned their home to start afresh in Kolkata.
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