Asia | The Daily Star

  • Kashmir family alleges Indian forces killed three civilians

    The family of three missing Kashmiris have alleged the trio was killed in a staged operation by the Indian army, bringing back memories of past cases of extrajudicial killings in the Muslim-majority region.

  • Bhutan in virus lockdown for the first time

    Bhutan has been largely shielded from coronavirus but yesterday, the remote Himalayan kingdom famous for measuring gross national happiness went into lockdown for the first time.

  • PM ‘concerned’ as call grows for reform of the monarchy

    Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday said he is concerned about a growing student protest movement after another student group issued an unusually frank 10-point call for reform of the monarchy.

  • Facebook has not shared ‘evidence’

    The head of a UN investigative body on Myanmar said Facebook has not released evidence of “serious international crimes”, despite vowing to work with investigators looking into abuses in the country including against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

  • Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic glasses go on sale in UK

    A “rare and important” pair of iconic glasses worn by Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi look set to sell for tens of thousands of pounds after a British auction house put them up for sale on Monday.

  • We have to ‘save it ourselves’

    Hong Kongers rushed to buy pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily yesterday in a show of support for its owner, who was arrested a day earlier as police rounded up critics of China.

  • Hong Kong residents buy newspaper to support free press

    Long lines of people bought up copies of the Apple Daily paper at Hong Kong newsstands to support a free press in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

  • China flexes muscles with raid, arrests

    Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was arrested yesterday and led in handcuffs through his newspaper office as police raided the building, part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent since China imposed a security law on the city.

  • J&K militants kill fifth BJP politician

    A Kashmir politician who died of gunshot wounds yesterday has become the fifth member of India’s ruling nationalist party to be killed by militants in the turbulent region since last month.

  • China fumes as US lauds Taiwan’s democracy

    A US cabinet member heaped praise on Taiwan’s democracy and its success in battling the coronavirus as he met the island’s leader yesterday during a historic visit that China has slammed as a threat to peace.

  • PM Hasina congratulates Mahinda Rajapaksa on Lankan polls victory

    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina congratulates her Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on his party’s victory in the recently held parliamentary polls.

  • South Korea floods, landslides kill 26 as heavy rains continue

    At least 26 people have died after 46 days of heavy rains in South Korea, with the country's longest monsoon in seven years causing more flooding, landslides and evacuations.

  • Thai student protest leaders arrested

    Thai authorities arrested a student leader and legal adviser yesterday over anti-government protests, a legal group said. Protesters, led by student groups, are returning to Thailand’s streets calling for the ousting of a conservative government led by pro-military politicians.

  • Rajapaksas secure big win

    Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa brothers secured a two-thirds majority in a parliamentary election that will allow them to rewrite the constitution and increase their power, final results showed yesterday.

  • Pak demands J&K action while ignoring Uighurs

    Even as Pakistan this week drew international attention to the plight of Muslims in Indian Kashmir, Islamabad stayed conspicuously silent about another embattled Muslim community -- China’s Uighur population.

  • Malaysia’s ex-finance minister charged over tunnel project

    Malaysia’s former finance minister Lim Guan Eng is charged with corruption over a $1.5 billion undersea tunnel project and slams the move as political persecution by the new government.

  • Grenade attack on Pak rally for Kashmir injures 30

    At least 30 people were injured in a grenade attack on a rally in Karachi on Wednesday, as Pakistan marked the first anniversary of India’s revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomy.

  • Standoff with China will be a long one

    India’s defence ministry has warned, in a statement since removed from its website, that a military standoff with China that began with border fighting in June is likely to be a long one, despite multiple rounds of talks between the nuclear-armed rivals to defuse the tension.

  • Coronavirus Outbreak

    India sees record deaths

    India has recorded the biggest single-day fatalities of 904 in the past 24 hours as fresh coronavirus infections surged by another 56,282 cases to reach nearly two million.

  • Rajapaksa party on course for big Sri Lanka election win

    Sri Lanka’s ruling party took a clear lead yesterday in early results from parliamentary elections in which the dominant Rajapaksa family hope to strengthen their grip on power.

  • Al Jazeera says Malaysian office raided over documentary

    Malaysian police Tuesday raided Al Jazeera's Kuala Lumpur office and seized computers as part of an investigation into a documentary about migrants that has angered the government, the broadcaster said.

  • Indian police crackdown on illegal liquor suppliers after 86 die

    Indian police raided rural hamlets and made arrests to break up a bootlegging cartel after 86 people died from consuming illegally-produced alcohol in the northwestern state of Punjab, officials say.

  • 11 killed as crane collapses at Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam

    As many as 11 people died after a huge rail-mounted crane collapsed at the premises of Hindustan Shipyard Limited in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, District Collector Vinay Chand has informed.

  • Coronavirus Outbreak

    Muslims in West Bengal celebrate Eid-ul-Azha amid sharp spike in Covid-19 cases

    Amidst a sharp spike in coronavirus cases, India’s West Bengal state has witnessed a subdued celebration of Eid-ul-Azha as Muslims offered prayers at mosques and homes by maintaining social distancing.

  • US fuelling new Cold War as election nears: China

    China yesterday accused the United States of stoking a new Cold War because certain politicians were searching for a scapegoat to bolster support ahead of the US presidential election in November.

  • Priyanka Gandhi moves out of govt bungalow before deadline

    Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra yesterday vacated her official bungalow at Delhi’s posh Lodhi Estate area before the deadline specified in a July 1 eviction order.

  • UMNO quits as Malaysia’s ruling coalition stumbles

    The biggest party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition yesterday said it will withdraw from a political alliance with the prime minister but will continue to support the government, potentially undermining the stability of his administration.

  • India uses arrival of new fighter jets to warn China

    The first five Rafale fighter jets bought from France in a multi-billion-dollar deal landed in India yesterday and the defence minister used their arrival to launch a veiled warning to neighbouring China over territorial tensions.

  • India virus cases hit 1.5m

    Coronavirus infections in India passed 1.5 million and deaths neared 35,000 yesterday, but test results in Mumbai slums cast further doubt on official data in the world’s second-most populous nation.

  • China, India’s neighbours agree on four-point plan

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held the first joint virtual conference with his counterparts from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal during which he proposed a four-point plan to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic, boost economic recovery and resumption of the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) infrastructure projects.

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