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Opposition says prime minister targeting Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’ and violating election rulesIndia’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of hate speech during a campaign rally where he called Muslims “infiltrators” who had “many children” and claimed they would take people’s hard-earned money.The opposition accused Modi of “blatantly targeting” India’s 200 million Muslim minority with comments made while addressing voters at a...

Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading...

Experts say Indian PM is hoping to be ‘bigger than Gandhi’ as he aims to win a third term in officeAs the distant rumble of a helicopter drew closer, cheers erupted from the gathered crowds in anticipation. By the time India’s prime minister finally stepped on to the stage, bowing deeply while immaculately dressed in a white kurta and peach waistcoat and with a...

First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week periodVoting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with...

Two men from Bishnoi gang, whose leader has threatened to kill Salman Khan, arrested over Mumbai shootingTwo members of a criminal gang have been arrested by Indian police for firing at the home of the Bollywood actor Salman Khan in retaliation for the star’s killing of two antelopes.The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a wider desert-based religious sect...

Thailand PM says army is weakening after junta requests permission to land evacuation flight from Myawaddy across the borderMyanmar’s embattled junta has evacuated personnel from a key border position after hundreds of soldiers surrendered to opposition groups, in another humiliating defeat for the army.The military is now on the brink of losing control of Myawaddy, in Karen state, one of the most important border...

Defence minister’s comments after Guardian report are first time India has acknowledged any assassinations on foreign soilIndia’s defence minister has appeared to confirm that the government carried out extrajudicial killings in neighbouring Pakistan, after a Guardian report on the alleged assassinations.Intelligence officials from India and Pakistan who spoke to the Guardian had alleged that India’s foreign intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), had...

Allegations of up to 20 assassinations since 2020 follow Canada’s accusation of Delhi role in murders of dissidentsThe Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, according to Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives who spoke to the Guardian.Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed...

Researchers find that in low and middle-income countries owning spectacles can help people over 35 can increase their incomeOwning a pair of reading glasses might help people increase their earnings by a third, according to new research.The study, conducted in Bangladesh, is the first to examine the impact of having a decent pair of spectacles, and researchers found monthly median earnings among one group...

High court members allege ISI put cameras in their bedrooms and tortured a relative to make them hear an appeal against ex-PMClaims by senior Pakistani judges that the intelligence agencies put pressure on them in cases involving the former prime minister Imran Khan have reached the country’s supreme court, following the publication of an unprecedented letter that has created a storm in Pakistan.The letter...

Shah Muhammad Rais was devastated when Taliban destroyed his shop, but now he is sending books to Afghanistan via the internetShah Muhammad Rais first opened his bookshop in the Afghan capital in 1974. By 2003, when his story was made famous by the bestselling book The Bookseller of Kabul, the business had collected about 100,000 books, in different languages, about literature, history and politics....

Opposition parties accuse government of ‘match fixing’ for elections over Arvind Kejriwal treatmentDelhi’s chief minister, a key opposition leader, must remain in custody for a further two weeks, a court has ruled, with India’s opposition parties accusing the government of “match fixing” before the country’s elections later this month.On Monday, a court ruled that Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, could remain in...

Parties unite at New Dehli rally to accuse PM of ‘tax terrorism’ and rigging the vote, after arrest of prominent leaderIndian opposition parties united on Sunday to protest against the arrest of a prominent leader weeks before a national election, accusing the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his party of rigging the vote and harassing them with large tax demands.“Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing...

Afghan regime’s return to public stoning and flogging is because there is ‘no one to hold them accountable’ for abuses, say activistsThe Taliban’s announcement that it is resuming publicly stoning women to death has been enabled by the international community’s silence, human rights groups have said.Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organisation Women’s Window of Hope, said the announcement...

Five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver killed while en route from Islamabad to dam construction siteSix people have been killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in north-west Pakistan, in the third significant attack on Chinese interests in the country in a week.The first two attacks targeted a Pakistani naval airbase...

Limited details have emerged about background of Muhammadsobir Fayzov and three other Tajik men accused of carrying out atrocityFormer colleagues and clients at the small barber shop where Muhammadsobir Fayzov once worked were stunned when they saw the news.They knew the 19-year-old as a promising, hard-working stylist, and saw no signs that he and three other Tajik gunmen would be accused of committing last...

Johnny Mercer given 10 days to reveal source of claims British troops engaged in war crimesThe minister for veterans’ affairs, Johnny Mercer, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.Mercer in effect admitted last month in front of the public inquiry into the claims that he believed...

Judge says Arvind Kejriwal can be held until next Thursday, as his party’s leaders condemn accusations as politically motivated An Indian court has ruled that Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will be kept in custody for six days after his dramatic arrest on corruption charges.Kejriwal, the top elected official for the Indian capital, was taken in by police on Thursday night as part of...

Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal is held as part of corruption case a month before electionsDelhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, has been arrested in a corruption case, a move condemned by his party as a “conspiracy” by Narendra Modi’s government to target the opposition before next month’s elections.Kejriwal, who is the leader of the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) and has been Delhi’s chief...

Group employed by government divided for first time over best date for new year ritualsSri Lanka’s government-backed traditional astrologers have failed to unanimously agree on the best date for new year rituals, with squabbling seers warning of “disaster” and accusing rivals of misinterpreting the position of stars.Astrologers are hugely influential figures consulted by the island’s Buddhist and Hindu communities, and their advice for auspicious...

After no reported cases of wild polio for 19 weeks, vaccination efforts boosted at last endemic spots in Pakistan and AfghanistanThe world is “tantalisingly close” to eradicating polio – with no confirmed cases of wild polio anywhere so far this year. But experts warn that vaccination efforts – and funding – must not falter if the world is to rid itself of a human...

Modi favourite to win third term in largest democratic exercise in history held across six weeks India is to hold a national election in April it has been announced, in what will be the world’s largest election with nearly a billion people eligible to vote.Many consider Modi’s re-election a foregone conclusion, owing to both the premier’s robust popularity a decade after taking office and...

Unnamed militant group drove vehicle laden with explosives into post and detonated suicide bombsMilitants have attacked a military post in Pakistan near Afghanistan using a vehicle laden with explosives, killing five security force members, Pakistan’s military said.The incident in north-west Pakistan was carried out by six attackers, the military’s media wing said in a statement, without naming the militant group responsible for the attack....

Party of Indian prime minister was by far biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds, which were struck down as unconstitutionalIndia’s election commission has published details of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of political donations, exposing how much prime minister Narendra Modi’s party benefited from a controversial financing scheme.According to the data that was released, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) received more than 60bn rupees...