Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Former Bush adviser charged with amassing top secret files

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Indian-American Ashley Tellis allegedly obtained US military data and passed envelopes to Chinese officials

A prominent Indian-American academic and former US government adviser has been arrested and charged with the unlawful detention of national security information, including thousands of pages of top secret documents that were found at his home in Virginia.

Ashley Tellis, 64, who served on the national security council of the former US president George W Bush and is credited for helping to negotiate the US-India nuclear deal, was arrested and charged over the weekend.

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Dozens killed in fresh clashes along Afghanistan-Pakistan border

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Two sides declare ceasefire after Islamabad carries out retaliatory strikes on Kabul and Kandahar province

Dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed after fresh clashes broke out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and Islamabad carried out retaliatory airstrikes on the Afghan capital, Kabul, and Kandahar province.

The two sides declared a ceasefire by Wednesday night after the latest outbreak of violence, which came after the deadliest cross-border clashes in years over the weekend.

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‘Your basis to live is checked at each and every step’: India’s ID system divides opinion

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Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches

It is often difficult for people in India to remember life before Aadhaar. The digital biometric ID, allegedly available for every Indian citizen, was only introduced 15 years ago but its presence in daily life is ubiquitous.

Indians now need an Aadhaar number to buy a house, get a job, open a bank account, pay their tax, receive benefits, buy a car, get a sim card, book priority train tickets and admit children into school. Babies can be given Aadhaar numbers almost immediately after they are born. While it is not mandatory, not having Aadhaar de facto means the state does not recognise you exist, digital rights activists say.

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US Congress committee investigating Musk-owned Starlink over Myanmar scam centres

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Provision of internet access to scam centres being investigated as Starlink swiftly becomes Myanmar’s biggest internet service provider

A powerful bipartisan committee in the US Congress says it has begun an investigation into the involvement of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite business in providing internet access to Myanmar scam centres, blamed for swindling billions from victims across the world.

The move comes as it was revealed that large numbers of Starlink dishes began appearing on scam-centre roofs in Myanmar around the time of a crackdown in February that was supposed to eradicate the centres, according to a investigation by Agence France-Presse

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Heavy clashes erupt along Pakistan-Afghanistan border

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Escalation comes after Pakistani airstrike in Kabul, with Taliban launching reprisals against military posts

Intense clashes erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday night after an attack by the Taliban on Pakistani military posts.

This escalation comes after a Pakistani airstrike in Kabul this week, as reported by security officials from both nations.

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Unease at slow pace of change in Nepal one month on from gen Z protests

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Promised crackdown on corruption is not happening fast enough for many who saw government toppled within a day of protests

Prakash Bohora was one of the first of Nepal’s gen Z protesters to feel the sting of a police bullet. Like thousands of other young people, he had taken to the streets of the capital last month to protest against corruption and a draconian ban on social media.

He had no idea that day in Kathmandu would escalate into what is now described as Nepal’s gen Z revolution, which saw the toppling of the government within a day, the dissolution of parliament and appointment of a new interim prime minister, the anti-corruption hardliner Sushila Karki, by the end of the week.

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Mount Everest hikers describe ‘extreme’ conditions as huge rescue effort continues

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At least 200 people still stranded after unseasonally heavy snowfall during China’s Golden Week holiday

Trekkers have described facing “extreme” conditions after an unseasonable snowstorm during one of China’s busiest holiday weekends stranded hundreds of people on Mount Everest, prompting a massive rescue effort.

Chinese authorities said about 350 people had made their way down but at least 200 remained stranded at the Everest Scenic Area, to the east of the mountain, on the Tibetan side of the border.

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Mount Everest rescue under way after snowstorm traps nearly 1,000 people

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Hundreds of trekkers stranded by blizzard on eastern face of mountain in Tibet already guided to safety by rescuers

Rescue efforts are under way on Mount Everest after a snowstorm trapped nearly 1,000 people in campsites on the eastern side of the mountain, according to Chinese state media.

Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of the mountain in Tibet were guided to safety by rescuers on Sunday, as unusually heavy precipitation including rain pummelled the Himalayas.

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Arbitrary detention victims urge Starmer to press Modi on jailed British Sikh

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Activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been held in Indian prison for nearly eight years without full trial

The sisters of the British-Egyptian human rights campaigner Alaa Abd el-Fattah have intervened for the first time since his release from prison in Egypt to call on Keir Starmer to push Narendra Modi to free a British Sikh activist when he meets the Indian prime minister next week.

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, has been held in an Indian jail for nearly eight years without facing full trial in what his supporters say is an arbitrary and egregious denial of justice by a British ally.

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Afghanistan ‘blind without phones and internet’ on second day of telecoms blackout

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Taliban authorities cut fibre-optic network in nationwide shutdown of communications to prevent ‘vice’

Afghans are living under a near-complete communications blackout after Taliban authorities cut internet and mobile phone services for a second day as part of an unprecedented country-wide crackdown.

The former insurgents, who retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, began gradual restrictions on internet access earlier this month. The measures also affect telephone lines, as they are often routed over the internet.

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At least 40 dead and 124 injured in crush at Vijay rally in India

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Victims include nine children at election campaign gathering in Tamil Nadu led by popular actor and politician

Police in India have opened a criminal case against the leaders of a party headed by the actor turned politician Vijay, after a crowd crush at one of his rallies killed 40 people and injured at least 124 others.

Local officials reported that at least nine children had died at the rally, which took place on Saturday night in the Karur district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Vijay, one of the most popular and successful actors in Tamil cinema, who entered politics last year, was addressing the crowd for his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party before state elections early next year.

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Trump brags of ‘massive’ oil deal in Pakistan – but drilling has not found any

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Announcement of deal baffles experts and former ministers, who say there is no sign of any untapped reserves

The newfound camaraderie between the US and Pakistan was on full display this week as Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s powerful army chief, Asim Munir, into the Oval Office, heralding them both as “great leaders”.

Having been cold-shouldered by successive US presidents, this was the first time a Pakistani prime minister had been invited to Washington in more than six years. It was also the unprecedented second time this year that Munir – who holds no official government role – held an intimate meeting with Trump, which many took as a telling signal of where the power to cut deals really lies in Pakistan.

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Ladakh statehood activist arrested days after violent crackdown by Modi

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Sonam Wangchuk, who has been agitating against the government, was on his way to speak at a press briefing

A renowned environmentalist at the forefront of a protest movement in the Indian region of Ladakh has been arrested amid a wider crackdown on dissent under the prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Sonam Wangchuk, an activist, engineer and inventor, has been leading a lengthy agitation against the Modi government, calling for statehood and greater protections to be granted to his home region of Ladakh. He was arrested on Friday afternoon, on his way to address a press conference.

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Protesters flood streets of Philippines over state corruption

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Dozens of police officers injured as anger erupts over billions allegedly spent on bogus relief projects

Tens of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets on Sunday to protest against government corruption after it was alleged that taxpayers have lost billions of dollars to bogus flood relief projects.

Students, church groups, celebrities, and citizens from different political camps filled the streets in Manila and other cities.

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British couple released after detention in Afghanistan say they feared being executed

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Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter, 80, said it was never explained to them why they were imprisoned

A British couple who were reunited with their family in the UK after being released from almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan have said they feared being executed by the Taliban.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife, Barbie, 76, who arrived at Heathrow on Saturday, said it was never explained to them why they were imprisoned in Afghanistan after their arrest in February.

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Tulip Siddiq fears plans to use ‘fake’ documents to secure conviction in corruption trial

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Exclusive: Ex-minister being tried in absentia in Bangladesh claims ID card and passport tendered as evidence not hers

The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has said she fears prosecutors could be planning to use “fake” documents to secure her conviction in her trial in Bangladesh on corruption charges.

The Labour MP, who is being tried in absentia, spoke out after images of a Bangladeshi national identity card and a passport said to be in her name were published in newspapers in the UK and in Bangladesh.

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British couple detained by Taliban in Afghanistan return to UK

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Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter, 80, were released after being held without charge for nearly eight months

A British couple who were detained without charge for nearly eight months by the Taliban in Afghanistan have arrived in the UK.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were released on Friday, having been arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, in February.

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‘This is their attempt to silence him’: Umar Khalid reaches five years in Indian jail without trial

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Held since 2020, India’s most prominent political prisoner has become a symbol of repression under the Modi regime

“There is indeed something about captivity that makes one feel like a state of somewhere between life and death,” wrote Umar Khalid in June in a letter penned as his fifth year languishing behind bars approached.

Few understand the purgatory of jail like Khalid. For five years – since his arrest in September 2020 under a draconian terrorism law – he has remained India’s most prominent political prisoner, to many a potent symbol of the systematic crushing of dissent under the dominant Hindu nationalist regime of the prime minister, Narendra Modi.

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‘Cricket diplomacy’ collapses as India-Pakistan hostility enters field of play

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Indian players refuse to shake hands with Pakistani counterparts after Asia Cup match, in sign that traditional onfield camaraderie is eroding

As nationalistic rivalries go, few run as deep as India and Pakistan. But even as the neighbours fought wars against each other, carried out rival nuclear tests and conducted nightly shows of strength along their heavily militarised border, there was always one thing that brought them together: cricket.

But as the two sides came together on Sunday for a match in the Asia Cup tournament, the camaraderie that was once celebrated as cricket diplomacy had vanished.

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Brother of Briton jailed in India asks why UK border police are stopping him

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Gurpreet Singh Johal wants to know if stops are linked to his efforts to find out whether UK intelligence played a role in sibling’s arrest

The brother of Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh jailed in India, has written to the Home Office to ask why he is being repeatedly stopped at the airport by British border police.

Gurpreet Singh Johal, a Labour councillor in Dumbarton, asked if it was linked to his legal efforts to discover whether British intelligence played a role in his brother’s arrest eight years ago.

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