Legislators allied to disputed PM Rajapaksa fight with rivals in second day of clashes Sri Lanka’s parliament has been disrupted for a second day, with legislators allied to the disputed prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, hurling chairs at police officers and allegedly throwing chilli powder at opposing MPs. It was the latest violent incident in the crisis that erupted three weeks ago,… Read more »
Sri Lankan lawmakers say they have passed a no-confidence motion against the country’s purported prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, removing the PM and his cabinet from their posts and deepening an unprecedented constitutional crisis in the country. But allies of Rajapaksa – controversially appointed by Sirisena last month after the president sacked the incumbent PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe – say they are… Read more »
The Indian screen gangster – long a staple in Bollywood – has evolved in recent years, with Netflix and now Amazon Prime tapping in to the country’s interest in crime stories Rolling deep … Mirzapur. Photograph: Amazon The launch of Amazon Prime’s gangster saga Mirzapur marks another milestone in the evolution of the Indian screen gangster. The TV series will… Read more »
Pollution in the Indian capital Delhi exceeded the safe limit by 66 times on Thursday, shrouding the city in toxic fumes the morning after millions of firecrackers were burst for the Hindu festival Diwali. Delhi government monitors showed the density of fine pollutants — small enough to evade the body’s natural defences and breach the blood-brain barrier — reached 1,665 in… Read more »
Repatriations are set to begin on Thursday, but most, if not all, have said they do not want to go back Rohingya refugees are fleeing the camps in Bangladesh, and some have gone into hiding, out of fear of being sent back to Myanmar this week, according to aid groups. Repatriation of the Rohingya is scheduled to begin on Thursday, but it is… Read more »
Until recently, Maniram Mandiwal felt like just another cog in the wheel. The headteacher of Rajasthan’s Shaheed Col Jayprakash Janu secondary school left work as soon as he could. He didn’t know any of his pupils by name, and took no interest in his staff. Mandiwal had spent a quarter of a century in teaching without ever experiencing a “special… Read more »
Prof Vinita Damodaran draws parallels between recent Sabarimala protests and similar movements against the entry of lower castes into temples in the 1920s The images of large crowds protesting against the entry of women and girls of a certain age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala (Report, 18 October) reminded me of similar movements against the entry of lower castes into… Read more »
The prominent Pakistani cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the “father of the Taliban”, has been killed in a knife attack at his home in Rawalpindi. Haq’s son, Hamidul Haq, said his father was alone in his bedroom when he was attacked by an assailant, who escaped undetected. “My father has been martyred. He was alone at his home. His… Read more »
India’s leading film festival struck several controversial films from its lineup to make room for female-directed features and address a mood of change. But will it halt harassment on set? Introducing the recent series opener of India’s top-rated talk show, Koffee With Karan, the director-producer-personality Karan Johar championed Bollywood’s new-found “girl power”: 12 months of successes – such as the… Read more »
Karen people in Tanintharyi region fear project to protect 800,000-acre area will cut them off from ancestral lands A British conservation charity has become embroiled in a row with villagers displaced by civil war in Myanmar over plans to protect pristine forests housing wild Asian elephants, tigers and sun bears. Fauna and Flora International (FFI) is helping to finance the $21m (£15.8m) ridge… Read more »