South Asia

Taliban launch series of attacks

Gunmen killed a provincial deputy governor and three others in an ambush in Afghanistan yesterday, officials said, as the Taliban carried out a spate of attacks across the country after launching their spring offensive.
Indian journos facing more risks, intimidation

India has constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and by some measures the biggest and most diverse media industry in the
13 children killed

At least 13 children were killed and five critically injured yesterday after a train smashed into a small school bus in northern India, an official said.
Pak HC removes FM for breaking election law

A Pakistani court disqualified Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif from parliament yesterday, striking another blow to the ruling Pakistan
Xi, Modi meet to re-set ties

The leaders of India and China are set to make their boldest attempt yet at rapprochement in talks this week just months after a
Formulate specific policy to stop border killings: ASK

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) opines that the continuation of border killings, torture and harassment are contradictory to international law and human rights.
Indian Jessica killer Manu Sharma ‘forgiven’ by her sister

Twelve years after Manu Sharma was sentenced to life in prison for killing Indian model Jessica Lall for denying him a drink at a party, her sister Sabrina Lall says she "forgives him" and won't object to his release.
Notice for Indian CJ’s impeachment rejected

Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today rejected a notice given by opposition parties led by Congress for impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Dipak Misra citing “lack of substantial merit in it”, sources said.
16 Maoists killed in western India

Indian security forces gun down 16 Maoists in a forest in western Indian state of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
Citing Rohingya massacre, Myanmar army chief urges soldiers to obey law

Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing tells military personnel in the country that they must obey the law, citing as an example the sentencing of seven soldiers for a massacre of Rohingya Muslim men that was the subject of a Reuters investigation.
YouTube helps trace man lost for 40 years

An Indian man missing for 40 years was to be reunited with his family yesterday after a YouTube video of him singing a popular Hindi film song went viral.
Geo TV returning to air after Pak military deal

Pakistan's largest TV station has been allowed back on the air at some major cable operators after talks with the military on demands it make changes in political coverage, two officials who work for the channel's media group told Reuters on Wednesday.
'Something in their hearts against us'

The Muslim nomads who lead their goats, cows and horses up and down the Kashmir hills have never felt at ease in modern India and the gruesome rape and murder of a girl from the impoverished community has heightened their fears.
India Supreme Court rejects calls for probe

India's Supreme Court yesterday dismissed petitions calling for an investigation into the death of a lower court judge in 2014 when he was presiding over a case against a top political aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India raises scope for foreign students

India has thrown open 160 educational institutions of national importance to foreign students in the first-ever initiative of its kind offering 15,000 seats under the programme in the first round.
Hate speech by Indian VIPs on the rise: Study

Indian top politicians have increasingly, by 490% to be exact, used hateful and decisive language in past four years under Modi-led government, a research by NDTV reveals.
Despite changes after 2012, India's rape victims denied speedy justice

India launched fast-track courts and a tougher rape law that included the death penalty after a gruesome assault on a young woman shocked the country in 2012, but crime statistics indicate the situation has got worse, not better, since then.
Nepal a natural area for co-op with India

Nepal is a natural area for cooperation between China and India, the Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi said
Bus falls off bridge killing 21 in Madhya Pradesh

At least 21 people have been killed and several others wounded when a mini truck carrying them to a marriage function veered off a bridge and fell into a river in Sidhi district of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh late on Tuesday night.
10 killed, several injured as storm hits Kolkata

At least 10 people have died in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal after heavy rain and strong winds on Tuesday evening. Flights, train services and traffic in Kolkata have been severely hit too due to thunderstorm and the strong winds.
Pakistan's first school for transgender persons opens

The first school for the transgender community in Pakistan is launched at an event at the Alhamra Open Air Theatre of Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Afghan, Pak forces clash near border

Two Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire from Afghanistan while working on a fence intended to cover nearly all of the disputed 2,500km border separating the countries, the Pakistani military said yesterday.
'Dhaka-Delhi fraternal ties enriched by shared art, culture'

A symbolic Mongol Shubhajatra and a mesmerising display of dance and music marked the celebration of Pahela Baishakh, Bangla New Year's Day, by Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.
President suspends House until May 8

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday suspended parliament until next month in a shock move amid a deepening
India successfully puts navigation satellite into orbit

India puts into orbit navigation satellite IRNSS-1I, a part of its satellite navigation system NavIC in copy-book style.
Myanmar court refuses to drop case against journos

A Myanmar court yesterday rejected a motion to drop a case against two Reuters journalists arrested while investigating a massacre of
18 workers killed as truck overturns in India

At least 18 labourers have been killed and 15 injured when a truck overturned in Satara district of western Indian state of Maharashtra..
ICC prosecutor seeks jurisdiction over Rohingya deportations

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked it to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of Rohingya people "from Myanmar to Bangladesh", a possible crime against humanity, according to a filing.
'Myanmar not ready for return of Rohingya refugees'

Myanmar is not ready for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, says the most senior United Nations official to visit the country this year, after Myanmar was accused of instigating ethnic cleansing and driving nearly 700,000 Muslims to Bangladesh.
Modi rules out India’s participation in Saarc summit in Pakistan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveys to his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli India’s firm opposition to the staging of the Saarc Summit by Islamabad, given the fact that Pakistan continued to support cross-border terrorism from its territory.