KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least 40 people were killed and dozens others injured in two road accidents in southwest and northwest Pakistan on Sunday, police and local media reported. Some 29 passengers were killed when a passenger vehicle fell into a ravine near Rawlakot in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from th...
As many as 26 Rohingya refugees drowned when their boat capsized while fleeing violence in Burma. This latest disaster underscores the deepening crisis for the Rohingya. The Muslim minority is trapped in the conflict between Burma’s military and the Arakan Army insurgents. Witnesses reported that the boat, overcrowded with 30 passengers, sank ...
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has removed contentious sections from a February ruling related to the Ahmadiya community. The decision followed intense nationwide protests led by religious groups and the Council of Islamic Ideology. The court’s revised judgment, delivered by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, addresses objections to the term “preach” used...
ISTANBUL (AA) – The outgoing Indonesian president is facing a lawsuit over alleged arbitrary orders to remove the headscarf (veil) or the ‘Hijab’ worn by some Muslim women for reasons of modesty, in the run-up to the nation’s Independence Day. Joko Widodo, popular as ‘Jokowi,’ will step down in October to make way...
Apia, Samoa — AFP UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned that some Pacific territories face “annihilation” from climate-induced cyclones, ocean heatwaves and rising sea levels. On a visit to Samoa, he said the fate of the Pacific islands depended on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Nea...
Feni, Bangladesh — AFP At least 13 people in Bangladesh have been killed and 4.5 million affected by floods triggered by heavy rains, the disaster management and relief ministry has said. The South Asian nation of 170 million people, crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, has seen frequent floods in recent decades. It is among the countries...
Lahore, Pakistan – AFP The death toll in a rocket launcher attack on policemen whose vehicle broke down in central Pakistan rose to twelve on Friday, police said. Organised criminal gangs have been active in the riverine border areas of southern Sindh and central Punjab provinces for decades, often making money through kidnap-for-ransom ...
GENEVA (AA) – Since atrocities began against the Rohingya Muslims of Burma seven years ago, no one has been held accountable for crimes they endured, and the impunity cycle must be broken, the head of the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (Burma) has said. Nicholas Koumjian, head of IIMM, said that this week mark...
The Philippines has agreed to temporarily host a select group of about 300 Afghans awaiting resettlement in the United States. Under this agreement, the US government will provide essential services, including food, housing, medical care, and security for these refugees as their visas are processed. The move marks a continuation of Operation A...
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently serving a prison sentence, is aiming for a prestigious new role — Chancellor of Oxford University. Despite being incarcerated for more than a year on charges he says are politically motivated, Khan is reported to have submitted his application for the position. The chancellor role is...
