Officials now say no ban on animal sacrifice in Kashmir

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday said there is no ban on the sacrifice of animals during the upcoming Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday, a day after the government asked law enforcers to stop the sacrifice of cows, calves, camels and other animals.
18 July 2021

Congress MP writes to Modi for probing nationality of union minister Nisith Pramanik

An Indian lawmaker of the main opposition Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to probe allegations that Minister of State for Home in the federal government Nisith Pramanik, from West Bengal, is a Bangladeshi national.
18 July 2021

Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes southern Philippines

An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 struck the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental early on Sunday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
18 July 2021

Thailand plans more curbs as Covid deaths hit record

Thailand is looking to introduce more restrictions on movement as authorities yesterday reported record numbers of new cases and deaths, despite partial
17 July 2021

Rivals meet in Doha

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks yesterday, AFP correspondents said, as violence rages in the country with foreign forces almost entirely withdrawn. 
17 July 2021

Move to omit Rabindranath's work in UP: BJP trying to 'saffronize' education, says West Bengal minister

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to "saffronize” the school education after the Uttar Pradesh government's move to omit the works of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and India’s legendary scholar Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan from the syllabus for class 10 and 12.
17 July 2021

Kabul, Taliban negotiators meet in Qatar as Afghan fighting rages

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks on Saturday, AFP correspondents said, as violence rages in the country with foreign forces almost entirely withdrawn.
17 July 2021

All gaps in India’s bordering fencing to be filled by 2022: Amit Shah

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah today said that all gaps in the country’s border fencing will be filled by next year to completely stop infiltration and other anti-national activities.
17 July 2021

China steps up fight with emissions trading scheme

China launched its long-awaited emissions trading system yesterday, a key tool in its quest to drive down climate change-causing greenhouse gases and go carbon neutral by 2060. 
16 July 2021

This day in history

1973 - A military coup in Afghanistan led by former prime minister Sardar Muhammad Daoud Khan overthrew King Mohammed Zahir Shah; a republic was proclaimed with Daoud as president.
16 July 2021

Pulitzer Prize-winning journo killed in Afghanistan

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said.   
16 July 2021

BioNTech produces 10 times more antibodies than Sinovac

People who received BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine had ten times the amount of antibodies than those given China’s Sinovac, a Hong Kong study has shown, adding to growing data on different jabs’ effectiveness. 
16 July 2021

75 children killed since Myanmar coup

Dozens of children have been killed and hundreds arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since a coup more than five months ago, UN rights experts warned yesterday.
16 July 2021

Rise in Covid-19 cases in six states of India ‘still worrisome’, says Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today noted with concern the fast-rising number of Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and many other countries and said “this should alert us and the world.”
16 July 2021

Reuters’ chief photographer Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan

Danish Siddiqui, the chief photographer of Reuters was killed in Afghanistan while covering clashes in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar.
16 July 2021

Covid Delta Variant: Indonesia faces ‘worst-case scenario’

Indonesia is now fighting a “worst-case scenario” epidemic, a senior minister said yesterday, adding the government was preparing for a further spike in coronavirus cases as the more virulent Delta variant spreads.
15 July 2021

Hong Kong journalist union says press freedoms ‘in tatters’

Hong Kong’s press freedoms are “in tatters” as China remoulds the once outspoken business hub in its own authoritarian image, the city’s main journalist union said yesterday, adding it feared “fake news” laws were on their way. 
15 July 2021

Myanmar junta slams UN on Rohingya resolution

Myanmar’s junta rejected on Wednesday a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for reconciliation with the persecuted Rohingya minority, slamming “one-sided allegations” over its treatment of the stateless community. 
15 July 2021

Sanctions bite Myanmar Junta

An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s ruling military leaders to represent them in Washington and other capitals said on Wednesday he has stopped his work with the generals because sanctions prevented him from being paid.
15 July 2021

'Momen gets no assurance of prompt vaccine supply from Indian foreign minister'

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made no assurance of supplying vaccine from India any time soon during his meeting with Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen in Uzbekistan today.
15 July 2021