Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/16/aid-cuts-by-us-others-could-imperil-afghanistan-govt-watchdog The World Bank recently released information that conveys that international aid to Afghanistan has decreased drastically. In 2011 the Afghanistan government received $6.7bn in international aid, compared to $4.2bn it received in 2019, a $2.5bn decrease. The large decrease in aid is the result of the U.S. and other donors attempting to take steps that decreases their involvement… Read more »
Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/17/un-team-visits-remote-bangladesh-island-where-rohingya-relocated The Rohingya is a minority Muslim group who is fleeing violence in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar, often seeking refuge in Bangladesh. Last week a UN delegation attended a three-day visit to a remote bay of Bengal Island, where more than 13,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees were moved last December by the Bangladesh government. The relocating of refugees as resulted in… Read more »
Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/1/hundreds-rally-in-bangladesh-over-writers-death-in-prison The death of Ahmed Dhaka has sparked widespread protest in Bangladesh over the controversial Digital Security Act, which was used to arrest the writer last year. Bangladesh students have clashed with police while marching through the state’s capital, which was the site of around 300 activists organize and rally. These protests are denouncing the death of a writer… Read more »
Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/16/pakistan-accuses-india-of-nuclearizing-indian-ocean The Pakistani foreign minister recently criticized the India’s military expansion, while his own country held naval drills with 45 countries in the Arabian Sea. A large group of countries, including the U.S., participated in a five day naval exercise that was hosted by the Pakistan Navy. However, the Pakistani foreign minister is drawing to the aircraft carriers and… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-india/pakistan-army-chief-says-ready-to-bury-hatchet-with-india-for-peace-idUSKBN2BA1S9 Pakistani General Qamar Javed Bajwa has called for India and Pakistan to move forward and “bury the past” with a joint ceasefire between the military of the two countries. General Bajwa stressed that India needs to create a “conducive environment” and called on the United States to play a role in ending the ongoing regional conflicts. … Read more »
Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-cases/india-and-pakistan-suffer-resurgence-of-covid-19-cases-idUSKBN2BA0BA A huge surge in Covid-19 cases have hit India and Pakistan on Thursday. New curfews are being enforced across nine districts of Punjab in India and the New Delhi city government has pledged to increase the number of vaccines given from 40,000 to 125,000 daily. In the Indian state of Odisha local authorities are trying to… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56425115 The disruptions caused by Covid-19 could be to blame for deaths of 239,000 mothers and children in South Asia. The United Nations report named “Direct and Indirect Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic and Response in South Asia” focused on the 1.8 billion people in Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This region has had 13… Read more »
Link to Article: https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/indias-rising-infections-spark-concerns-second-pandemic-wave In New Delhi the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for “quick and decisive steps” to halt the quicly emerging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. India has counted the most cases after the United States and Brazil, yet consistent weeks of decline had raised hope for the nation that Covid-19 was on… Read more »
Link to article: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/16/music-is-my-life-ban-on-schoolgirls-singing-in-afghanistan-met-with-protest Government appears to backtrack on decree after women take to social media to sing in defiance under #IAmMySong hashtag Last week Kabul’s Education Department announced that girls aged 12 and above could no longer sing at public events, unless the events were attended by a majority of women. They also stipulated that girls couldn’t be trained… Read more »
Link to Article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/17/yangon-becomes-battle-zone-as-myanmar-junta-enforces-martial-law Traumatised residents flee area as security forces fire at unarmed anti-coup protesters The industrial neighbourhood Hlaing Tharyar, in Yangon, has been hit hard by the military coup as the junta has increased their number of deployed troups in order to quell demonstrations and protesters. The big city has thus turned into a battle zone where more… Read more »
