The Independent - Asia RSS Feed

Indian nanny rented out baby to beggars

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

When Anamika Joshi came home from work in the evening, she could not understand why her seven-month-old son was so drowsy and lethargic. Then one day she came home early to discover her child missing and the nanny she had employed to look after him casually watching television.

Manmade snowfall drives Beijing to distraction

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Beijingers are watching the sky apprehensively this weekend after an unexpected, artificially induced snowstorm last weekend caused havoc and led to an outraged response from citizens, who were given no warning.

Brown tells Karzai to sort out corruption or else...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Gordon Brown issued a stark warning to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Britain will not continue to put its forces "in harm's way" in his country unless he is prepared to root out corruption.

Last Taliban stronghold captured by Pakistan army

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Pakistani troops pushing deeper into South Waziristan yesterday razed the house of the militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, killed by a US drone strike this summer, as they assaulted the last of three Taliban strongholds.

Third key Taliban town falls to Pakistan army

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:03:32 GMT

Pakistani troops entered the last of three Taliban strongholds targeted in a major offensive in the north-west today.

Afghan Taliban say they have bodies of two foreign troops

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:14:13 GMT

Two members of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan were reported missing today and the Taliban said they were holding the bodies of two drowned foreign soldiers.

Afghan Taliban say have bodies of two foreign troops

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:14:13 GMT

Two members of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan were reported missing today and the Taliban said they were holding the bodies of two drowned foreign soldiers.

Dalai Lama's monastery visit angers Chinese

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

High in the Himalayas, the biggest Buddhist monastery in India is preparing for a visit from the Dalai Lama that is set to anger and antagonise China as much as it will delight the red-robed monks that he meets.

UN to pull its staff out of Afghanistan

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The United Nations is to evacuate hundreds of its foreign staff from Afghanistan because of spiralling violence, warning that it may permanently withdraw from the country unless the security situation improves. In a move which will add to the sense of foreboding caused by insurgent attacks and political crisis, the organisation said that 600 of its 1,100 international employees would be moved abroad or to safer internal locations.

Taliban 'welcomed killer with garlands of flowers'

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The Afghan police officer who shot dead five British soldiers in Helmand on Tuesday approached the Taliban two months ago to offer his services and sought refuge with the insurgents after carrying out the killings, Afghan security sources said yesterday.

Frustration mounts over Obama's fatal indecision

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Barack Obama is coming under mounting international pressure to make an early decision on his strategy in Afghanistan amid fears of a dangerous drift as he agonises over his next moves.

Olympic condoms (and some torches) offered to highest bidders

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There was apparently not quite as much fun and games being played as expected by organizers at last year's Beijing Olympics with news breaking that a stash of 5,000 leftover "Olympic condoms'' will be placed up for auction.

Reforms needed to fight Afghan corruption, says former prosecutor

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:29:43 GMT

Afghanistan needs to reform its judiciary and police to make them capable of fighting corruption, rather than set up a new watchdog as recommended by the West, the country's former top prosecutor said today.

Afghan villagers say air strike kills 9 civilians

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:30:16 GMT

An overnight air strike by international forces killed nine civilians, including at least three children, villagers said today. Afghan authorities said they had no reports of civilian deaths.

UN relocating 600 staff after Taliban attack

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:04:39 GMT

The United Nations said today that it is temporarily relocating more than half its staff in Afghanistan following last week's deadly Taliban attack.

Still brewing in a dry land: Pakistan's only beer and whisky firm

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

On the walls of the historic Murree brewery, Pakistan's sole producer of beer, hangs a slogan that its owners would wish upon the entire country. "Eat, drink and be Murree," puns the poster, seemingly produced in the 1970s.

Suu Kyi comes out of detention to meet senior US diplomat

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Smiling and joking with photographers granted a rare opportunity to see her in public, the detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi held a two-hour meeting with a senior US diplomat in what may mark the beginning of an important shift in the relationship between the two countries.

Killed by the enemy within

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The killings were sudden and savage. There was no escape from the raking bursts of machine-gun fire for the soldiers hemmed in by the walls of the police checkpoint.

'Most of them were corrupt and stoned on opium'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

When I heard the news this morning, I thought "Christ, five in one go..." I was shocked and saddened – but I was not surprised that it had happened. I'm surprised it took this long.

Taliban takes blame for five British soldiers' deaths in Afghanistan

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:50:11 GMT

The Taliban claimed responsibility today for the killing of five British soldiers by a rogue Afghan policeman.

Taliban takes blame for five soldiers' deaths

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:54:35 GMT

The Taliban claimed responsibility today for the killing of five British soldiers by a rogue Afghan policeman.

Slaughter raises Afghan fears of the enemy within

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:14:58 GMT

The bomb had sliced the pick-up truck in half, the cab flung 20 yards down the road, the flatbed at the back twisted and torn into an unrecognizable shape. Five policemen travelling in the vehicle were killed, parts of their bodies ending up on roadside trees.

Slaughter raises Afghan fears of the hidden enemy

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:14:58 GMT

The Afghan police who join the Taliban

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:14:58 GMT

Inside the troubled Afghan national police

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:14:58 GMT