New Delhi CNN — When dozens of security personnel crowded onto the runway of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on Thursday, it was not to capture a terrorist or fleeing criminal mastermind, or even to apprehend an unruly passenger. It was to arrest an opposition politician who had allegedly “disturbed harmony” — by misstating the … Read more
SEATTLE – The Seattle City Council on Tuesday added caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, becoming the first U.S. city to specifically ban caste discrimination. Calls to outlaw discrimination based on caste, a division of people based on birth or descent, have grown louder among South Asian diaspora communities in the United States. But the … Read more
New Delhi CNN — Indian tax officials have ended their days-long search of the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, the British broadcaster announced Thursday. Officials had spent three days raiding the spaces following the country’s ban on a BBC documentary that was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in deadly riots … Read more
New Delhi CNN — Indian tax authorities raided the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, weeks after the country banned a documentary from the British broadcaster that was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in deadly riots more than 20 years ago. BBC News reported on television that people had … Read more
Islamabad, Pakistan CNN — The suicide bomber who targeted a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, killing more than 80 people, was a member of the Pakistani Taliban disguised as a policeman, a senior official said Thursday. CCTV footage shows the suspected bomber arriving at a police checkpoint on a scooter Monday, asking a … Read more
CNN — The United States is imposing new visa restrictions on certain current and former Taliban members, non-state security group members and others who are believed to be involved in repressing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday. The announcement comes more than a month … Read more
Islamabad, Pakistan CNN — The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb that ripped through a mosque at a police compound in northwestern Pakistan Monday has risen to at least 88, as the Pakistani Taliban gave conflicting claims of responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years. Mohammad Asim Khan, spokesperson … Read more
CNN — South Africa has signed an agreement with India to reintroduce dozens of cheetahs to the South Asian country after eight of the big cats were sent from neighboring Namibia in 2022. The first batch of 12 cheetahs is to be flown over in February, according to a statement Thursday from South Africa’s environmental … Read more
Kathmandu, Nepal CNN — At least 68 people were killed Sunday when an aircraft went down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal, a government official said, the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years. Seventy-two people – four crew members and 68 passengers – were on board the ATR 72 plane … Read more
Sydney CNN — Australia’s men’s cricket team has withdrawn from a series of upcoming matches against Afghanistan in protest over the ruling Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls’ education and employment, Cricket Australia (CA) said in a statement Thursday. The teams were scheduled to play three One Day International (ODI) games in the United Arab … Read more