Category Archives: South and Central Asia

At least 16 killed as flash floods hit Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir

Posted on by

Thousands rescued from makeshift camps in Himalayas after sudden deluge in Indian-controlled region

Emergency workers rescued thousands of pilgrims after flash floods swept through their makeshift camps during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a Himalayan cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens, officials said.

Authorities suspended the pilgrimage for two days as the sudden rains continued to lash the region. Teams of rescuers from India’s military, paramilitary and police as well as disaster management officials combed through the slippery mountain tracks and used thermal imaging devices, sniffer dogs and radars to locate dozens of missing people. Civilian and military helicopters evacuated the injured to hospitals.

Continue reading...

Sri Lanka: president agrees to resign amid unrest

Posted on by

Beleaguered Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he will step down on 13 July, following turmoil in Colombo

The Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has agreed to resign after a dramatic day during which his house and offices were stormed by protesters and the home of the prime minister set on fire.

In a late-night message conveyed through the parliamentary speaker, Mahinda Yapa, the beleaguered president said he would step down from power on 13 July to “ensure a peaceful transition of power”.

Continue reading...

No kidding: long-eared goat becomes media star in Pakistan

Posted on by

Simba the goat’s owner says kid’s ears are record-breaking and has contacted Guinness World Records

A kid goat with extraordinarily long ears has become a media star in Pakistan, with its owner claiming a world record that may or may not exist.

Simba is living a pampered existence in Karachi, where he was born last month with ears that were strikingly long – and have grown to reach 54cm (21in).

Continue reading...

‘The family took over’: how a feuding ruling dynasty drove Sri Lanka to ruin

Posted on by

The inside story of Rajapaksa family infighting that toppled a country into violence and bankruptcy

Dilith Jayaweera can still recall the moment he realised Sri Lanka was hurtling, unstoppably, towards financial ruin.

It was around October 2021 and Jayaweera, a Sri Lankan media magnate and close friend of the Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had invited Basil Rajapaksa, the president’s younger brother, who was also the finance minister, to join him for dinner.

Continue reading...

Monsoon rains cause at least 77 deaths in Pakistan in three weeks

Posted on by

Homes, roads, bridges and power stations also badly hit with Balochistan province faring worst

At least 77 people have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan in the past three weeks, the country’s minister for climate change said on Wednesday.

The monsoon rains have also damaged homes, roads, bridges and power stations, Sherry Rehman told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, as storms continued to lash the country.

Continue reading...

Famine: what is it, where will it strike and how should the world respond?

Posted on by

A toxic combination of climate emergency, conflict and Covid is pushing some of the poorest countries into an acute hunger crisis

Global hunger toll soars by 150m as Covid and war make their mark

The world is in the grip of an unprecedented hunger crisis. A toxic combination of climate crisis, conflict and Covid had already placed some of the poorest countries under enormous strain, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent grain and fuel prices soaring.

“We thought it couldn’t get any worse,” said David Beasley, director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), in June. “But this war has been devastating.”

Continue reading...

Indian director receives threats over film poster of goddess with Pride flag

Posted on by

Police open cases against Leena Manimekalai for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ with short film Kaali

An Indian film director is facing police investigation over the poster for her new film, which depicts the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette and clutching an LGBTQ+ flag.

Leena Manimekalai, an Indian film-maker based in Canada, has received thousands of threats of violence after the poster for her short film Kaali, which was aired in the Canadian city of Toronto at the weekend, went viral on social media.

Continue reading...

Taliban excavates founding leader’s car, buried to escape US troops

Posted on by

The extremist group said the white Toyota, which belonged to Mullah Mohammad Omar, should be displayed

The Taliban have dug up a white Toyota used by their founding leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, to escape into hiding in southern Afghanistan after the US invasion.

Senior officials have called for the vehicle to be put on display at the national museum in Kabul. It already houses the cars and coaches of former kings and prime ministers, including one with bulletproof glass fragmented by an assassination attempt.

Continue reading...

Fears for British Council staff trapped in Afghanistan despite breakthrough

Posted on by

Exclusive: Contractors at ‘high risk’ of Taliban reprisals still have no idea how to get out of country safely

More than 180 British Council contractors left trapped in Afghanistan have been given immediate permission by the UK government to apply online to come to Britain, but no hint of how to get out of the country safely.

The partial breakthrough came after a campaign led by MPs and former colleagues of the staff that had been horrified that they had been left behind, and exposed to retribution by the Taliban for teaching values of diversity and openness.

Continue reading...

Sri Lanka limits fuel to essential services with supplies set to run out in days

Posted on by

Miles-long queues outside petrol stations despite ban on sales for private vehicles for at least a week

Sri Lanka’s energy minister has said the country’s fuel supplies will run out in a few days, forcing nationwide school closures and prolonged power cuts, as the worst economic crisis in its history continues.

Kanchana Wijesekera said fuel stocks were enough to last less than a day under current demand, and petrol and diesel was being limited to essential services such a healthcare and public transport in order to stretch out the remaining supplies for a few more days and ensure the country did not shut down entirely.

Continue reading...

Uzbekistan imposes regional state of emergency after deadly unrest

Posted on by

Government U-turns over plans to curtail autonomy of Karakalpakstan but fears rise tensions may escalate

Eighteen people were killed and 243 wounded during unrest in Uzbekistan’s autonomous province of Karakalpakstan over plans to curtail its autonomy, Uzbek authorities said.

Security forces detained 516 people while dispersing protesters on Friday but have released many of them, the national guard press office told a briefing.

Continue reading...

India bars Pulitzer-winning Kashmiri photojournalist from flying to France

Posted on by

Sanna Irshad Mattoo says she was stopped by immigration officials at Delhi airport despite holding valid visa

Indian authorities have blocked a Pulitzer prize-winning Kashmiri photojournalist from taking a flight to Paris where she was to take part in a book launch and photography exhibition displaying her photos from Kashmir.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo, who works with Reuters as a multimedia journalist from Indian-administered Kashmir, was stopped at the Delhi airport by immigration officials on Saturday, despite holding a valid French visa.

Continue reading...

India tailor murder: police arrest two alleged ‘masterminds’

Posted on by

Authorities say total of four men in custody after Kanhaiya Lal Teli was killed amid Hindu-Muslim tensions

Indian police have made fresh arrests over the murder of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, which sparked tensions between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority and a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent them from escalating.

Three senior police officials said on Saturday that two Muslim men based in Rajasthan were being held for planning Teli’s murder in his shop in Udaipur, a popular tourist destination. Two other Muslim men were already under arrest.

Continue reading...

Dfat bungle delayed visas for former Afghan embassy employees at risk from Taliban

Posted on by

Exclusive: Freedom-of-information investigation reveals error in urgent submission to then minister Marise Payne

A file number bungle by an Australian government department caused a four-week delay in helping some Afghan citizens at risk of retribution from the Taliban as the militant group swept to power in Afghanistan, Guardian Australia can reveal.

A freedom-of-information investigation reveals the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade prepared an urgent submission for the then minister Marise Payne asking for a decision about a group of former embassy employees within three days.

Continue reading...

Afghan embassy staff remain in hiding despite being eligible for UK relocation

Posted on by

UK government accused of leaving former employees and their families ‘in limbo’ in Afghanistan, where they are targets for the Taliban

More than 170 people who worked for the British embassy in Kabul remain in hiding in Afghanistan in fear for their lives, almost a year after the Taliban retook the country.

A list of Afghans currently in hiding, seen by the Guardian, shows almost 200 former interpreters, security guards and local staff waiting for a response from the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office, the departments responsible for relocating people at risk. All of those on the list are eligible for transfer to the UK under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap), intended to bring those formerly employed by the UK government, and their family members, to safety in Britain.

Continue reading...

Delhi police arrest Muslim journalist Mohammed Zubair over tweet from 2018

Posted on by

Journalists demand release of co-founder of Alt News after he was accused of insulting Hindus

The co-founder of a factchecking website has been arrested by police in Delhi weeks after he highlighted derogatory comments made by a spokesperson for Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) about the prophet Muhammad.

Mohammed Zubair, who set up the Alt News website, flagged the remarks made during a television debate at the end of May on Twitter, bringing them attention they may not otherwise have had.

Continue reading...

Sri Lanka suspends fuel sales for two weeks as economic crisis worsens

Posted on by

Ban on sales to everything except essential services comes as nation tries to conserve fuel supplies that are barely enough to last a single day

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka has announced a two-week halt to all fuel sales except for essential services and called for a partial shutdown as its unprecedented economic crisis deepened.

The south Asian nation is facing its worst economic meltdown since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, and has been unable to finance even the imports of essentials since late last year.

Continue reading...

Sri Lanka almost out of fuel, with no fresh supplies in sight

Posted on by

Bankrupt nation’s energy minister apologises to motorists but unable to say when petrol and diesel imports will be restored

Sri Lanka has increased the price of fuel by up to 22%% after the energy minister warned it had virtually run out of petrol and diesel after several expected shipments were delayed.

Kanchana Wijesekera apologised to motorists as he said on Saturday that oil cargoes that were due last week did not turn up, while those scheduled to arrive next week will also not reach Sri Lanka due to “banking” reasons.

Continue reading...

Taliban say they will not interfere with Afghanistan earthquake aid

Posted on by

Aid organisations complain the group in the past has tried to divert aid to supporters of their insurgency

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have pledged not to interfere with international efforts to distribute aid to tens of thousands of people affected by this week’s deadly earthquake.

Even before Wednesday’s quake the country was in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, with aid flows and financial assistance severely curtailed since the Taliban’s return to power.

Continue reading...

‘Too much suffering’: survivors talk of quake’s deadly toll in Afghanistan

Posted on by

5.9-magnitude earthquake leaves children buried under rubble and villages destroyed in already impoverished country

Sitting on a hill overlooking the remote Gayan district, Abdullah Abed pointed towards several freshly dug graves. “They screamed for help,” he said of his son Farhadullah, 10, and daughter Basrina, 18. “We tried to save them but by the time we pulled them out of the rubble, their voices had gone quiet.”

Today they lie buried beside 10 other family members lost in the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Wednesday. An estimated 250 people have died in the hard-hit district, many of them now buried next to Abed’s children, among the more than 1,150 people feared dead and 1,500 injured across Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika and Khost provinces. It was Afghanistan’s deadliest quake in two decades.

Continue reading...