Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday named Kanat Bozumbayev as a presidential aide, moving him from the key position of energy minister in a reshuffle which comes days after large protests calling for greater democracy. Tokayev did not immediately name a new energy minister for the oil-and-gas exporting Central Asian nation. He also appointed Madina Abylkasymova, until now a deputy… Read more »
At least 15 masked attackers have been killed and four others captured after a group of fighters attacked a border checkpoint in Tajikistan, killing a border guard and a policeman, according to authorities. The border guard service, in a statement on Wednesday, blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) armed group for the attack. There… Read more »
An earthquake shook parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmiron Friday, witnesses said. Friday’s magnitude 6.1 earthquake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan, at a depth of 210km (130 miles), the United States Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Officials in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said they were assessing damage in areas around the sparsely populated epicentre…. Read more »
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said he wants to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan “with or without” a peace agreement in order to give higher priority to strategic competition with China. The Trump administration is expected to announce plans to withdraw about 4,000 troops from Afghanistan, according to US media, after talks resumed a week ago between the US and the Taliban. Esper… Read more »
On December 11, 2019, new citizenship law was passed by India’s parliament. This no meets religion or criteria for gaining Indian citizenship. This also creates an expedited path to citizenship in anomaly for three countries Pakistan Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had people illegally enter Indian in 2014. On the condition that They practice Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Jainism or Zoroastrianism…. Read more »
Recently, a growing list has been compiled of 629 Pakistani women sold to be wed to Chinese men. Samiya David, who was sold by her brother spent only two short months in China. Investigations have found that her brother was contacted by marriage brokers targeting the impoverished Christian communities in Pakistan. Before her departure David was described as a strong,… Read more »
In this April 14, 2019 photo, Samiya David shows her picture with Chinese husband, in Gujranwala, Pakistan. K.M. Chaudary—APBY KATHY GANNON / AP DECEMBER 15, 2019 (MAZAIKEWALE, Pakistan) — Sold by her family as a bride to a Chinese man, Samiya David spent only two months in China. When she returned to Pakistan, the once robust woman was nearly unrecognizable: malnourished, too weak… Read more »
India, the world’s largest democracy, continues to normalize shutting down internet and suspending mobile communications for tens of millions of citizens in the country to thwart protests. Days after Narendra Modi -led government shut down mobile communications in the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura (yet to be restored) — home to more than 36 million people — and then parts of Uttar… Read more »
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s government is seeking to remove the leader of a three-judge panel that sentenced former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death on charges of treason and added a rider about his corpse, Law Minister Farogh Naseem said on Thursday. The judge, Waqar Ahmad Seth, had violated judicial conduct by issuing the bizarre order that Musharraf’s body should… Read more »
Agence France-Presse Wed 18 Dec 2019 20.43 EST India leads the world in pollution-linked deaths– followed by China and Nigeria – according to a report published on Wednesday that estimated the global impact of contaminants in the air, water and workplace. The report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) found pollution to be the largest environmental cause of premature death… Read more »