Pakistan: Guterres condemns deadly suicide bombing at Islamabad mosque

Pakistan: Guterres condemns deadly suicide bombing at Islamabad mosque

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres said he condemned the bombing “in the strongest terms.” Call for accountability “The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,” the statement said, stressing that those responsible “must be identified and brought to justice.” Mr. Guterres extended his condolences to […]

World News in Brief: Pakistan floods, countries lag on climate reporting, concern over attack on peacekeepers in south Lebanon, cuts hit human rights investigations

World News in Brief: Pakistan floods, countries lag on climate reporting, concern over attack on peacekeepers in south Lebanon, cuts hit human rights investigations

In a statement released by his Spokesperson, the UN chief noted that the disaster driven by severe monsoon conditions had been exacerbated by climate change, impacting around 1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people need humanitarian aid while more than 3,000 homes, over 400 schools and some 40 health facilities have suffered some level […]

Pakistan floods leave villages cut off as monsoon devastation continues

Pakistan floods leave villages cut off as monsoon devastation continues

Aid agencies are continuing to work tirelessly to reach the hardest-hit areas. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said nearly 800 people have died since late June – almost three times the toll during the same period last year. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been hardest hit, where flash floods and landslides swept away homes and […]

World News in Brief: Gaza aid crisis latest, deadly floods in India and Pakistan, funding cuts exacerbate Somalia drought

World News in Brief: Gaza aid crisis latest, deadly floods in India and Pakistan, funding cuts exacerbate Somalia drought

In an alert from the World Food Programme (WFP), the agency said that half a million people “are on the brink of famine”, a claim backed up by multiple humanitarian agencies. The latest worrying data is showing widespread acute malnutrition. A ceasefire is the only way to scale up aid deliveries, the UN agency insisted. It explained […]

UNHCR urges Pakistan to stop forced returns of Afghan refugees

UNHCR urges Pakistan to stop forced returns of Afghan refugees

He expressed particular concern over the plight of women and girls sent back to Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule for four years. On 31 July, Pakistan confirmed that Afghan refugees would be deported under an ongoing ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’.  UNHCR has received reports of arrests and detention of Afghans across the country, […]

Pakistan reels under monsoon deluge as death toll climbs

Pakistan reels under monsoon deluge as death toll climbs

Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, reported at least 63 casualties and 290 injuries in the past 24 hours, pushing the nationwide toll since the seasonal rains began on 26 June to over 120 fatalities, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. The unfolding crisis – rising rivers, forecasts of further downpours, fragile rural homes collapsing […]

Shelter and safety elude Afghan women returnees from Iran and Pakistan

Shelter and safety elude Afghan women returnees from Iran and Pakistan

Since September 2023, more than 2.43 million undocumented Afghan migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan. Women and girls account for about half of the returnees from Pakistan, while their share among those returning from Iran has been steadily rising, reaching around 30 per cent in June. The escalating pace of returns is straining Afghanistan’s […]

UN Secretary-General urges military restraint from India, Pakistan

UN Secretary-General urges military restraint from India, Pakistan

In a note to correspondents issued by his spokesperson on Tuesday, Secretary-General António Guterres called for military restraint from both countries. “The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the note said. On Monday, the Secretary-General had warned that the tensions between the two South Asian neighbours had reached “their highest in […]

‘Step back from the brink’, Guterres urges India and Pakistan

‘Step back from the brink’, Guterres urges India and Pakistan

Addressing journalists outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Guterres expressed deep concern over deteriorating relations between the two South Asian neighbours, saying they had reached “their highest in years.” He reiterated his condemnation of the 22 April terror attack in the Pahalgam area of Jammu and Kashmir, which killed at […]

CAA comes into effect, Minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan to get India Citizenship

CAA comes into effect, Minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan to get India Citizenship

The Union Home Ministry on Monday, March 11, 2024, notified the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), providing for granting citizenship to people of certain faiths facing persecution in neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and it applies to those who moved to India before 2015. An MHA spokesperson announced that immigrants eligible […]

Pakistan Floods: Climate Change blamed for flash floods

Pakistan Floods: Climate Change blamed for flash floods

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Human-caused climate change likely increased the intense rainfall that flooded swathes of land across Pakistan, according to rapid attribution analysis by an international team of leading climate scientists as part of the World Weather Attribution group. Extreme rainfall in the region has increased 50-75 per cent and some climate models suggest […]

Africa declared free from wild polio; Will South Asia be Next?

Africa declared free from wild polio; Will South Asia be Next?

The World Health Organization has declared Africa free of wild polio as no new cases of wild poliovirus have been recorded on the continent since 2016, but other types of the virus persist The continent’s last case of wild polio was recorded four years ago in northeast Nigeria. There are now just just two countries […]

Trichomonosis disease discovered among myna birds in Pakistan: Report

A strain of the disease responsible for killing off nearly two thirds of the UK’s greenfinches has been discovered in myna bird populations in Pakistan. Mynas are native to the Indian subcontinent and are one of the world’s most invasive species. Although the disease is not generally fatal to them, experts from the University of […]

Rumours of Martial Law abound in Pakistan as Musharraf’s return expected

Refuting rumours about a possible judicial coup or martial law in Pakistan, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi on Saturday said the country is actually heading to elections in July to elect the next government. The remarks came when Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI) Secretary General Iqbal Dar told media on Friday that their alliance leader […]

India Missile in Pipeline to Target Whole of China: Report

India Missile in Pipeline to Target Whole of China: Report

India is gearing up its nuclear arsenal aimed at targeting entire China, while it is already capable of deterring Pakistan, said a research article published in July-August issue of ‘After Midnight’. Written by top American nuclear experts — Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris — in the article titled, “Indian nuclear forces 2017“, the […]

Welcoming India, Pakistan Aboard, China Says No Bilateral Issues at Shanghai Group

Welcoming India, Pakistan Aboard, China Says No Bilateral Issues at Shanghai Group

Welcoming India and Pakistan into the SCO, China categorically ruled out any bilateral issues cropping up at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a stand that India avowedly upheld in all multilateral forums. “As a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), we are very happy about the membership of India and Pakistan,” China’s Assistant Foreign […]

Nepal SAARC Meeting on Feb 1 to Decide on Next Summit Schedule

Nepal SAARC Meeting on Feb 1 to Decide on Next Summit Schedule

The nations of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will meet in Kathmandu on February 1-2 to attend the Programming Committee meeting over the next SAARC summit schedule. This is the first meeting of the SAARC members after the controversial postponement of the 19th SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad last year in November due […]

Trumpeting ‘America First’ Theory Far-Fetched But Feasible

Trumpeting ‘America First’ Theory Far-Fetched But Feasible

US President Donald Trump in his first Presidential address has put “America First”, setting the tone for an inward-looking diplomacy that might radically change the course of world events since the Pearl Harbor attack seven decades ago. “We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign […]