Tag - south-asia

 
 

SOUTH ASIA

A defaced mural of Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, in Dhaka on Nov. 5. The new governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, Ahsan Mansur, calculates that about $17 billion was siphoned from the country’s financial system in the 15 years before Hasina's government collapsed in August.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2024
How the Bangladesh economy was siphoned dry
Some economists guess that the true value looted during Sheikh Hasina’s rule before she fled the country could exceed $30 billion, but no one can say for sure.
People farm in the Punakha valley, Bhutan, in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2024
Buddhist Bhutan to build 'mindfulness city' to create jobs and woo investment
The Gelephu Mindfulness City will lie in a special administrative region with separate rules and laws.
Students in Bangladesh have faced a crackdown against protests demanding an end to the quota system for public jobs. Despite a scaling back of the system, more needs to be done to address their woes.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2024
An Arab Spring for Bangladesh?
Student protests in Bangladesh against the quota system for public jobs could help restore democracy by bringing down Prime Minister Hasina's violent rule.
Snow and ice on the Himalayas are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as for another 1.65 billion people in the river valleys below.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 17, 2024
Low snow on the Himalayas threatens water security
Millions of people dependent on snowmelt for water face a "very serious" risk of shortages this year after one of the lowest rates of snowfall.
Local residents rush to get cold water at an ice factory in Jacobabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday. It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024
A matter of survival as South Asia’s heat wave reaches 52 degrees
It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu addresses the media after casting his ballot during the country's parliamentary election, in Male on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 22, 2024
Pro-China leader's party in Maldives win in a landslide
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's People's National Congress party won two-thirds of parliament, or more than enough for a supermajority.
Migrant workers harvest and package vegetables in a greenhouse in Gasan-myeon, South Korea, in December.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 3, 2024
South Korea needs foreign workers, but often fails to protect them
Though a shrinking population makes imported labor vital, migrant workers routinely face predatory employers, inhumane conditions and other abuse.
The PTI party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan triumphed in Pakistan's Feb. 8 elections despite not having the backing of the country's powerful military.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2024
Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?
Many Pakistani voters supported PTI, Imran Khan's party, in recent elections, showing the military that it has a rival powerhouse to contend with.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, who is currently imprisoned, speaks with foreign journalists at his residence in Islamabad on April 9, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2024
The rise, and fall, and rise again of Imran Khan
When Pakistan’s government censored the media, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party posted campaign videos on TikTok. When the police barred his supporters from holding rallies, they hosted virtual gatherings online.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set for a fifth term in office following polls that her opponents and voters have boycotted.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2024
Bangladesh prime minister extends rule in poll shunned by rivals
Voters heeded a campaign by the opposition to shun the election and draw attention to the sweeping crackdown Sheikh Hasina's government carried out in its run-up.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) sits next to Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (second from left) and others, while watching a cultural performance at the Tashichhodzong monastery in Thimpu, Bhutan, in August 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 7, 2024
India and China eye strategic areas bordering 'last barrier' Bhutan
New Delhi is determined not to let Beijing extend its influence further across what India sees as its natural sphere of influence
Commuters watch videos on their mobile phones as they travel in a suburban train in Mumbai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 14, 2023
Bollywood star in lycra or deepfake? AI on social media takes toll
More than 90% of deepfake videos online are pornographic, according to technology experts, and most are of women.
Slum dwellers shout slogans as they carry empty containers during a protest over water scarcity in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh in 2009.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 13, 2023
South Asia worst in world for water scarcity, says U.N.
"Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and rainfall, leading to unpredictable water availability," the U.N. said in a report.
The threat of Mosquito-borne dengue fever is not restricted to South Asia as infection rates are rising globally with 4.2 million cases reported in 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Sep 8, 2023
Mosquito-borne dengue grows deadlier in South Asia as planet warms
Disease experts say the worsening outbreaks of dengue are linked to the impacts of climate change.
People sit on a rail track as smoke rises from steel mills near a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 30, 2023
Air pollution now a risk to life expectancy in South Asia: study
Rapid industrialization and population growth have contributed to declining air quality in South Asia.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jun 23, 2023
Heat waves put Asia's renewable power fleet to the test
Temperatures in parts of the region rose above 40 degrees Celsius in late April, earlier than usual, causing widespread infrastructure damage and power outages.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2023
Crippling heat waves deepen Asia’s reliance on Russian energy
What began as a push from the Kremlin has now turned into a pull from Asian economies anxious about making sure their power generators are supplied with enough fuel.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 20, 2023
'Hotter and hotter': Swaths of Asia sweat in heat wave
Bangladesh saw its highest temperature for almost 60 years in the past week, while in India at least 13 people died from heatstroke along with two in Thailand, according to local media.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2023
A new Asian order is here largely thanks to Shinzo Abe
By redefining the Asia-Pacific’s geopolitical dimensions, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered a geostrategic model that is now being realized across South Asia and the Middle East.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2023
South Asia’s looming water war
The Indus Waters Treaty is nowhere near meeting India's needs and it is in Pakistan’s interest to remedy that.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?