カテゴリー: South and Central Asia
Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes prime minister and finance minister, another becomes agriculture ministerSri Lanka’s new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has begun concentrating power within his own powerful family, appointing one brother Mahinda as…
Feroz Khan flees after Hindu nationalist group says: ‘A Muslim cannot teach us our religion’A Muslim scholar of Sanskrit has gone into hiding after protests from some rightwing Hindu students claiming that, as a Muslim, he cannot teach Sanskrit, the an…
Burmese leader will lead delegation to international court of justice next monthAung Sang Suu Kyi will travel to The Hague to defend Myanmar against allegations of genocide, her office has announced.The Burmese leader, once an icon of democracy but now…
A team of volunteer paralegals are fighting to stop Indians without proof of citizenship being sent to detention campsWhen she was one, Suro Devi was rescued by a sewer cleaner from a rubbish dump in Assam, northeast India. When the state of Assam star…
Timothy Weeks and Kevin King had spent more than three years in captivity The Taliban have released an American and an Australian held hostage since 2016 in exchange for three prominent members of the militant group who were set free by the Afghan gove…
Even the prime minister has chopped the vegetable out of her official menu after monsoon caused Indian crop failureBangladesh has been forced to import planeloads of onions as the price of the cooking staple soared to record highs, an official said, wi…
Even the prime minister has chopped the vegetable out of her official menu after monsoon caused Indian crop failureBangladesh has been forced to import planeloads of onions as the price of the cooking staple soared to record highs, an official said, wi…
Sri Lanka’s new leader oversaw brutal operation that ended civil war but left 40,000 deadEven his own family nickname him “The Terminator”.Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 70-year-old retired lieutenant colonel who will be Sri Lanka’s next president, has built …
Alleged evidence implicates UK troops in murder of children in Afghanistan and IraqThe UK government and the British army have been accused of covering up the killing of children in Afghanistan and Iraq.Leaked documents allegedly contain evidence impli…
Victory for nationalist ex-army general raises fears over rights and religious harmony Sri Lanka’s former wartime defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, part of the country’s most powerful political dynasty, has been elected president, raising fears abou…
Police say convoy of more than 100 vehicles was shot at but no casualties reportedBuses transporting Muslims to cast their ballots in Sri Lanka’s presidential election have been attacked by gunfire, fuelling fears that minorities are being targeted to …
Since the Easter bombings, the community has faced violence and vilification. Many think there may be worse to comeThe phone calls began two months ago from an unknown number. Hilmy Ahmed, the vice-president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, did not rec…
Myanmar is accused of mass persecution and ‘ongoing genocide’ of Muslim minorityJudges at the international criminal court (ICC) have authorised a full-scale investigation into allegations of mass persecution and crimes against humanity that forced at …
Myanmar is accused of mass persecution and ‘ongoing genocide’ of Muslim minorityJudges at the international criminal court (ICC) have authorised a full-scale investigation into allegations of mass persecution and crimes against humanity that forced at …
Voters choose a new president this weekend on the Indian Ocean island. If they opt for the Rajapaksa family it augurs badlyThere are worse things than disappointment, as Sri Lankans may find out when they go to the polls on Saturday. The 2015 president…