COLOMBO: Desperation in Sri Lanka’s capital. People scrambling for rubber dinghies and makeshift rafts on Friday (May 20) to escape monster floods in the capital Colombo. Half a million people have fled their homes across the island. The heaviest rains in 25 years have pounded the island since a week now, sparking huge landslides that […]
Eighteen years after India and Pakistan tested nuclear devices in Pokhran and Chagai on May 11, 13, and 28, in the year 1998, there remains a wide gap in perception on what this ‘nuclear deterrent’ spells for each other. “When India declared itself a nuclear weapons state in May 1998, Pakistan had to go nuclear […]
Nepal: the latest country to join the ‘intolerant’ tags on social media? For one, they’re booting out a foreigner for criticizing their government in his tweets and social posts. Secondly, there’s no way you can appeal! A Canadian living and working in Nepal has been ordered to leave the country within two days after criticising […]
For the first time ever, a Pakistan court will hear a Sikh man’s case against Muslims for ‘blasphemy’. In this Islamic country, it’s usually the non-Muslims who are tried under this controversial law,. Five people have appeared in a Pakistani court accused of blasphemy after a Sikh man complained they had desecrated his turban during […]
Sri Lanka will prohibit HIV discrimination in educational settings, says its Supreme Court. This is the first court in South Asia to make a general pronouncement recognizing human rights of those living with HIV, and sets a precedent for future cases in Sri Lanka challenging HIV discrimination experienced in settings other than education. The court […]
Islamic State (IS) hackers have published a “hit-list” of over 70 U.S. military personnel who have been involved in drone strikes against terror targets in Syria and asked their followers to “kill them wherever they are.” According to The Sunday Times, the hackers have links with Britain and call themselves ‘Islamic State Hacking Division’ and […]
“Our happiness knows no bounds, as we announce the Royal Birth of His Royal Highness The Gyalsey on 5th February 2016.” This was the statement of Bhutan’s Queen as she announced her firstborn son on Facebook this week. Our Prince, the first Royal Child of His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Her Majesty […]
GUWAHATI: Lianne Catherine Swan of Pakistan clinched the gold medal in the women’s 200m breaststroke in the ongoing South Asian Games in India’s city of Guwahati. Lianna Swan holds dual citizenship, British and Pakistani. She gave Pakistan its first gold at the ongoing meet. Her father is British and her mother is Pakistani. She resides […]
COLOMBO (Sri Lanka)- Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse’s second son was remanded in custody for two weeks after being arrested Saturday on a charge of money laundering, police and court officials said. Navy officer Yoshitha Rajapakse, 27, was taken into custody by authorities for questioning about dealings at his private television channel, Carlton Sports […]
In Bangladesh, it’s called the battle of the Begums. The struggle between the nation’s two women political leaders for the mastery of Bangladesh becomes sharper with the Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina according its approval to the filing of sedition charges against the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader, Begum Khaleda. The political situation […]
With the January 20 terror attack on a university in northern Pakistan and militant groups splintering into breakaway factions, the fight against terrorism in South Asia will grow more complicated in the near future. Near the city of Peshawar, armed militants stormed Bacha Khan University in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistani security forces battled for […]
KABUL (Afghanistan) – A photograph of an Afghan woman whose nose was sliced off by her husband in a fit of rage has sparked revulsion across the country, with activists demanding punishment for the “barbaric act”. Reza Gul, 20, was rushed to hospital after she was attacked with a pocket knife on Sunday by her […]
