Indian Sub-continent

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Two years after the Taliban banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education. Now, the rights of Afghan women and children are on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly Monday in New York.

The U.N. children’s agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban, although it estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons.

NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (NNN-PTI) – The death toll in the ongoing ethnic violence that shook India’s north-eastern state of Manipur has risen to 175, officials said today.

As per figures released by police in the state last night, since May 3 – the day violence broke out in the state – 175 people have been killed, 1,118 injured and 33 reported missing.

The number of weapons looted from the state armoury since the beginning of the violence was 5,668. However, so far, only 1,329 weapons have been recovered.

DHAKA, Sept 15 (NNN-BSS) – Bangladesh’s national flag carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, resumed the flight between Dhaka and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou yesterday, said a statement by the Chinese embassy in Bangladesh.

According to the statement, following the resumption, there are now six round-trip flights on this route weekly, with a capacity of 900 passengers. The flight had been suspended before, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

KABUL, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Four commuters lost their lives and 19 others sustained injury in two road accidents in Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.

In the first crash which occurred in Spin Boldak district of southern Kandahar province late Thursday night, three travelers including two children were killed and 11 others injured, some in critical condition, provincial police spokesman Hafiz Sabir said.

The official blamed reckless driving for the accident, saying irresponsible driving often claims the lives of innocent commuters in the province.

NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (NNN-PTI) – At least 10 people went missing, while 20 others were rescued, after a boat carrying them capsized today, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, officials said.

The boat capsized in the river Bagmati in Muzaffarpur district, about 73 km north of Patna, the capital city of Bihar.

Following the accident, authorities rushed rescuers and disaster management officials to the spot, to carry out search and rescue operations.

New Delhi, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Experts have fanned out in India's southern state of Kerala to collect samples of fluid from bats and fruit trees in a region where the deadly Nipah virus has killed two people and three more have tested positive.

The state is battling its fourth outbreak since 2018 of a virus for which there is no vaccine, and which spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, killing up to 75% of those infected.

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people, including a leader of a religious political party, got injured in an explosion in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Thursday, police said.

The leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) was on his way to attend a political rally in Kalat district when he was attacked while passing by Mastung district of the province, the police told media.

Talking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, police sources from Mastung said that according to initial reports, the leader Hafiz Hamdullah's vehicle was hit by a suicide bomber.

NEW DELHI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The southern Indian state of Kerala shut some schools, offices and public transport on Wednesday in a race to stop the spread of the rare and deadly Nipah virus, which has killed two people.

Two adults and a child were still infected in hospital, and more than 700 people were being tested for the virus, spread via contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, a state health official said.

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President Arif Alvi stressed the need to strengthen cooperation with China in multiple fields under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the President House Media Wing said on Tuesday.

At a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong on Tuesday, the president appreciated China's long-term support for Pakistan's development, saying that the China-Pakistan friendship has been unique and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for decades.

12 September 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on Monday to expand trade and security ties between the two nations, Anadolu news agency has reported.