One of the top roller-coaster sagas in what, some years ago, I christened Pipelineistan, has yielded a definitive twist. The US$8 billion,1,814-kilometer Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) was officially inaugurated on Friday, in full pomp, and with proceedings broadcast live on Afghan TV, on the Turkmen-Afghan border close to Herat. The daily Report Must-reads from across Asia – directly to your inbox… Read more »
Myanmar’s military is building bases where Rohingya homes and mosques once stood, Amnesty International said on Monday, citing new evidence from satellite imagery. Nearly 700,000 members of the Muslim minority fled to Bangladesh in 2017 after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown on insurgents that the US and UN have called ethnic cleansing. Myanmar rejects that accusation, saying it was responding… Read more »
A Bangladeshi aircraft has crashed while trying to land at Kathmandu airport in Nepal, killing at least 49 people, officials have said. The US-Bangla Airlines plane made an unexpected turn while landing just after 2.15pm local time on Monday, clipping a fence and bursting into flames, according to the airport’s general manager, Raj Kumar Chettri. The aircraft came off the… Read more »
UN human rights officials have said it is likely that “crimes under international law” have been committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar and called for a body to collect evidence that could be presented in international criminal courts. Speaking to the Human Rights Council on Monday, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said that “the… Read more »
In countries not as developed as the United States, laws against slavery aren’t enforced or just don’t exist. Women and children are still being trafficked for profit and used as slaves. For some, this industry is a huge portion of the economy. Without steady jobs most people will look to a shady way to make money whether it be human… Read more »
The suicide bomb attack happened near a compound where Afghanistan’s political and tribal elites are due to gather next week to debate a security pact with the United States. Officials in the capital say the bomber crashed a vehicle filled with explosives into an Afghan army vehicle. One man fleeing the bombing described seeing a white Totoya Corolla vehicle speed… Read more »
Along the Great Silk Road the shadows of predator and prey chase each other across the wide grassland still today. Like other partnerships that have remained unchanged for centuries, today’s Eagle Hunters care for their birds from the moment they hatch. The bond between eagle and owner is clear as they “kiss” in a gentle touch between beak and nose. It is… Read more »
DHAKA, Bangladesh – A hardline Islamic school in Bangladesh said Tuesday it had confiscated hundreds of mobile phones and torched them in a bonfire because they were distracting students from their learning. Pupils at the seminary in southeast Bangladesh were ordered to hand over their cellphones Sunday to school administrators who then tossed the devices en masse into a fire in a nearby field…. Read more »
Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide state of emergency for the first time since the civil war era in response to days of violent unrest between Sinhalese and Muslim communities. The special measures permitting soldiers to be deployed in civilian areas will initially apply for 10 days, at which point the deployment would need to be ratified by parliament, said Mano… Read more »
In this article from the Fair Observer it goes into further detail on how scientist are using advanced technology to help with environmental problems. One way they are tracking the environments changes like the rate at which glaciers are melting by using technology like remote sensing and tracking from base stations. Pollution has been a major problem with India as they… Read more »
