South Asia | The Daily Star
  • Global Competitiveness Index

    Bangladesh slips a notch

    Bangladesh has come down one spot in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index thanks to a change in methodology to better reflect today's rapidly changing, increasingly digitised world economy.

  • UNSC to get briefing from key probe body

    The chair of a United Nations inquiry that accused Myanmar's military of genocide is likely to brief the Security Council this month after Britain, France, the United States and six other members requested the meeting, diplomats said on Tuesday.

  • Pak PM holds on to slim majority

    Pakistan's ruling party under new Prime Minister Imran Khan has maintained its slim majority in parliament after key by-elections, final results showed yesterday.

  • Yameen blames defeat on 'disappearing ink'

    Outgoing Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has told the Supreme Court that disappearing ink and specially treated ballot papers were to blame for his heavy election defeat last month.

  • Myanmar Buddhist monk Wirathu

    Rohingya crisis: Myanmar monk hits back at international community

    An ultra-nationalist monk -- dubbed the "Buddhist Bin Laden" -- condemns the international community for their calls to bring Myanmar's generals to justice over the Rohingya crisis.

  • Maldives risks sanctions as Yameen fights back

    Maldives judges yesterday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil.

  • #MeToo: Indian Union Minister MJ Akbar to take legal action against accusers

    In a statement released after he arrived in India from an official tour in Nigeria, Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar terms the allegations against him “false and fabricated”.

  • 22 killed in Indonesia floods and landslides

    At least 22 people have died and many are missing after heavy rain unleashed flash floods and landslides in western Indonesia, an official

  • Snowstorm kills 9 climbers on Nepal peak

    Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal's Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

  • US warns Yameen

    The United States yesterday warned that action could be taken against outgoing Maldives president Abdulla Yameen if he seeks to overturn his election defeat.

  • At least 14 killed, dozens injured

    At least 14 people were killed and 30 injured in an explosion at an election rally for a woman standing as a candidate in Afghanistan's parliamentary polls, officials said yesterday.

  • Taliban confirm meeting with US envoy in Qatar

    A Taliban delegation has met with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar to discuss ending the Afghan conflict, the militant group said yesterday, the first time either side has officially confirmed talks.

  • 15-page ballot paper!

    More than 800 faces, 15 pages, one vote. Kabul voters will wrestle with newspaper-sized ballot papers on October 20, racing to find their candidate in a city under constant threat from militant attacks.

  • Pak HC judge removed

    A Pakistani high court judge who publicly accused the country's powerful intelligence service of manipulating judicial decisions to influence the last general election was removed from his post Thursday.

  • Cyclone Titli

    Titli batters eastern India

    Cyclonic storm Titli left eight people dead and caused widespread damage in two coastal districts in India's Andhra Pradesh yesterday. However, there was no casualty or major destruction in adjacent Odisha, officials said.

  • Lanka passes bill

    Sri Lanka's parliament yesterday passed legislation to pay compensation to victims of the island's brutal civil war, nearly a decade after the end of the conflict which claimed 100,000 lives.

  • Yameen challenges election defeat

    Maldives strongman President Abdulla Yameen yesterday filed a legal challenge against his recent landslide election defeat despite international pressure for him to go quietly.

  • Shahbaz arrested at Imran's behest

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central executive committee in an 'emergency meeting' on Monday night decided to launch a protest movement against what it termed political victimisation of opponents by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led coalition government.

  • Taliban urge Afghans to boycott polls

    The Taliban yesterday directed Afghans to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections and demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the 17-year-old war as they ramped up attacks in strategic provinces.

  • Two ex-Pak PMs, journo face court

    Two former prime ministers of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, facing allegations of treason yesterday appeared before a court along with a prominent journalist in a hearing to determine whether the case should go to trial.

  • Bangladesh among top internet using country in 2017

    Internet Use in Asia: Bangladesh in top 5

    In a rapidly growing world of internet users, Bangladesh has been ranked fifth largest internet using country in Asia.

  • Taliban kill 10 cops in Afghanistan

    At least 10 policemen were killed in clashes with Taliban fighters in the central Afghan province of Wardak, officials said yesterday, amid

  • Pakistan opposition leader Shahbaz arrested for graft

    Pakistan opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif was arrested yesterday for graft, officials said, the latest corruption allegation against the Sharif political dynasty that was ousted from power by ex-cricketer Imran Khan in elections this summer.

  • Afghan airstrike on wedding party kills

    An airstrike by security forces killed four people and wounded eight others who were part of a wedding procession in the southeast

  • Indian elephant on hunt for tigress kills woman

    An elephant that was part of a group hunting a man-eating tigress in western India ran astray overnight and trampled a woman to death,

  • Nepal orders crackdown on porn websites

    Nepal said yesterday it had ordered more than 24,000 pornography websites to be blocked under a crackdown that activists have

  • Pak urges US to resume aid

    Pakistan pledged Wednesday to support negotiations with the Taliban to end Afghanistan's 17-year war as it asked the United States to restore military aid and stop blaming Islamabad for the extremists' strengths.

  • Rough road lies ahead for Modi

    The financial squeeze on India's farmers is set to worsen because of record high fuel prices and surging costs of fertilisers, posing a challenge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an election that must be held by May.

  • BJP MP meets Rahul, quits over 'corruption'

    A day after he met Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Wardha, BJP lawmaker Ashish Deshmukh on Wednesday resigned from the Maharashtra Assembly, citing alleged corruption in the Rafale deal as the reason.

  • US, Chinese unease

    Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in India yesterday looking to tie up billions of dollars in arms deals with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, likely irking the US, China and Pakistan in one fell swoop.

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