UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called on the international community to take “concrete and meaningful” action to alleviate the suffering of Kashmiri people under Indian occupation, while stressing the need for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute. “As a party to the Kashmir dispute, this is the UN’s long-standing obligation,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN,… Read more »
The Indian and Pakistani governments have accused each other of sabotaging peace talks in the latest spat over militancy in the Kashmir region. But where did it all go wrong for the proposed foreign ministers’ meeting? India recently canceled a proposed meeting between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, which was set to take place… Read more »
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The first phase of local council elections ended Monday in Indian-controlled Kashmir amid tight security and a separatist-sponsored shutdown. Authorities deployed tens of thousands of additional soldiers in the already highly militarized region for the elections, which are being held in four phases. Voter turnout was slightly over 8 percent in Muslim-dominated areas of the Kashmir… Read more »
Aljazeera Alakhpura, India – It’s 2:30pm and a road in Alakhpura, a village in Haryana state nestled between cotton and wheat fields, is abuzz with dozens of girls, some on bicycles, on their way to a football field next to the only school.
Aljazeera With a week to go until long-delayed parliamentary elections, Awrang Zib Zierak, a 38-year-old labourer in Afghanistan‘s capital city of Kabul, has decided to vote despite concerns about transparency and security. For Zierak, an election with risks of fraud and security threats is better than no election at all. He believes voting is his right.
Aljazeera Karachi, Pakistan – Pakistan’s navy is no longer part of the counterpiracy Combined Task Force (CTF) that operates in the western Indian Ocean, officials told Al Jazeera. The decision to leave the task force was taken after the US-led operation refused to pay for fuel for the patrolling warships as part of a previous agreement, two highly-placed military officials… Read more »
Aljazeera Dhaka, Bangladesh – A Dhaka court has handed down death penalty to 19 people, including two former ministers, and sentenced a top opposition leader to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
DHAKA — Bangladesh’s cabinet on Monday approved a draft law prescribing the death penalty for drug offenses, despite widespread criticism over a narcotics crackdown in which police have shot dead more than 200 people since May. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched a campaign to toughen punishments for drug crimes ahead of a general election due by December. But the… Read more »
Nepal is set to become the first country to double its tiger population as part of the World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF) “Tx2” programme which aims to double the number of tigers all over the world. Nepal’s tiger population has risen to 235 from the baseline population of 121 counted in 2009, the WWF said in a statement released on Sunday… Read more »
Campaigners are calling on India to protect girls in state-run institutions who are at risk of sexual assault and violence after 34 girls were violently attacked by a mob for fighting off sexual harassers in Bihar state. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a residential school for girls in Supaul district, witnessed chaotic scenes on Saturday after some girls objected to sexual advances and… Read more »