Sri Lanka’s government has agreed to ban the ritual sacrifice of animals and birds at Hindu temples on the island. A government spokesman told the BBC the move was proposed by the Hindu Religious Affairs ministry, and said most moderate Hindu groups support it. Some Hindus sacrifice goats, buffalo calves and chickens at temples as an offering to their deities…. Read more »
A suicide bombing in east Afghanistan has killed at least 68 people, officials say, in one of the deadliest insurgent attacks in recent months. The bomber struck in a crowd of people protesting against a local police chief in Nangarhar province near Pakistan. The death toll from Tuesday’s blast soared overnight. Another 165 people were injured – local hospitals struggled… Read more »
A new nationwide study shows that nearly two in every five women who commit suicide are Indian. This is extremely significant because it is unusual for a country with India’s geography and socio-economic indicators to have such high suicide rates. In fact, the new study suggests that the suicide rates of Indian women is three times higher than what would… Read more »
Nearly two in every five women in the world who kill themselves are Indian, according to a Lancet study published this week that says the country’s suicides rates constitute a public health crisis. The rate of Indian women who die by suicide has fallen since 1990, but not as fast as elsewhere in the world, and now represents 36.6% of… Read more »
BY SAAD SAYEED ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s military is using fear and intimidation to stifle the media and undermine press freedom even as overall violence against reporters has fallen, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Wednesday. The press freedom group said the military had established “lines of control” to pressure the media and journalists who pushed back or… Read more »