Presently, a lot is going on in the nation of Pakistan. Although there is of course always something happening, whether it involve the Taliban or other political news, these last two weeks have brought a lot of big news. Namely, the census has finally been initiated, the border with Afghanistan has been reopened, and secret military courts are being reinstated…. Read more »
Pakistan’s parliament on Tuesday amended the constitution to reinstate secret military courts that try civilians charged with terrorism offences, something activists have warned will lead to human rights abuses. The government and Pakistan’s powerful military say the country’s civilian judicial infrastructure is ill-equipped to deal with such cases, partly as judges fear becoming victims of revenge attacks by militants. Military… Read more »
Taliban fighters have captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand after security forces pulled out, leaving the district centre to the insurgents, officials said on Thursday. Helmand, which accounts for the bulk of Afghanistan’s billion dollar opium crop, is already largely in the hands of the Taliban but the capture of Sangin underlines their… Read more »
Nepal’s prime minister is set to throw his support behind Beijing’s initiative to build a modern-day Silk Road across Asia during a six day trip to China starting on Thursday, in a move that could upset traditional regional powerhouse India. Beijing is jostling to increase its influence in Nepal, which serves as a natural buffer between China and India. China,… Read more »
After nearly 20 years, three aborted attempts and plenty of wrangling between politicians, feudal chiefs and government officials, Pakistan kicked off a national census Wednesday under tight security. Dressed in green vests proclaiming “Pakistan Census 2017”, census teams fanned out across 63 districts in the first phase of the count, accompanied by army and police officials. The heavy security presence… Read more »
Civilians, mostly women and children, were killed last week in air raids by coalition forces in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, an initial United Nations inquiry suggested. On Thursday and Friday, as many as 18 civilians died in air strikes in Helmand’s Sangin district, according to a statement released by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Sunday. The UN said the strikes had been… Read more »
At least three Pakistani soldiers have been killed by Indian border forces in Kashmir, according to officials in Islamabad, while an equal number of Indian troops and one suspected rebel were gunned down in separate clashes. The Pakistani troops died early on Tuesday after being wounded overnight, Pakistan’s army said in a statement, adding that Indian troops had fired across… Read more »
New Delhi, India – On November 8, 2016, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a shock decision declared all 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to be “worthless pieces of paper” from midnight onwards. This surprise demonetisation sucked out 86 percent of cash from circulation, ostensibly in an attempt to flush out unaccounted wealth, or “black money”. More than one billion… Read more »
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh The United Nations’ refugee agency has asked Bangladesh to allow it to negotiate with the United States, Canada and some European countries to resettle around 1,000 Rohingya Muslims living in the South Asian nation, a senior official at the agency said. Tens of thousands of Rohingya live in Bangladesh after fleeing Buddhist-majority Myanmar since the early 1990s,… Read more »
Perhaps one of the least talked about persecuted people are the Rohingya Muslims, a minority Muslim group that resides in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The government of Myanmar has been refusing to recognize this group as citizens of the country, causing many of them to flee to Bangladesh or other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines…. Read more »