Nepal sees sharp fall in tourist arrivals from Western countries

IANS | April 1, 2026 6:10 PM

Kathmandu, April 1 (IANS) Nepal has witnessed the impact of the ongoing West Asia crisis as the number of foreign tourist arrivals from Europe, the Americas, West Asia, and Africa has dropped sharply in March, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said on Wednesday.

India and Tajikistan review cooperation across various sectors

IANS | April 1, 2026 5:36 PM

Dushanbe, April 1 (IANS) Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Sibi George, called on Tajikistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sirojiddin Muhriddin on Wednesday, discussing bilateral ties, regional and global matters of common interest.

Pakistan: Four men allegedly gang rape woman in moving van

IANS | April 1, 2026 5:16 PM

Islamabad, April 1 (IANS) In yet another shocking crime details emerging from Pakistan, four men allegedly gang raped a woman in a van that moved around the Baga Sheikhan area which comes under the jurisdiction of Rawat police in Pakistan's Punjab province, local media reported.

UN expert slams ban preventing Afghan women from entering its offices

IANS | April 1, 2026 4:55 PM

Kabul, April 1 (IANS) UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has criticised the continued ban preventing Afghan women from accessing United Nations offices, terming the policy discriminatory and unjustifiable, local media reported on Wednesday.

People protest in Karachi over forced marriages, conversions of minor Christian girls

IANS | April 1, 2026 3:23 PM

Islamabad, April 1 (IANS) Christian groups and rights activists staged a protest in Pakistan's Karachi, expressing deep concern over what they described as a rising wave of forced marriages and religious conversions involving minor girls from their community across the country, a leading minority rights group said on Wednesday.

July Charter a continuous act of deception by interim govt: B'desh Home Minister

IANS | April 1, 2026 2:56 PM

Dhaka, April 1 (IANS) Bangladesh's Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed strongly condemned the 'July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025', issued during the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government term, terming it an "endless document of deception" and a "national fraud", local media reported.

Pakistan's transgender community highlights discrimination in securing jobs

IANS | April 1, 2026 2:10 PM

Islamabad, April 1 (IANS) Members of the transgender community in Pakistan's Faisalabad have expressed concerns over the discrimination and the non-implementation of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018, especially the failure to implement the three per cent job quota in government and semi-government institutions, local media reported on Wednesday.