Washington, Feb 4 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held separate meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, holding wide-ranging discussions on the India-US strategic and economic partnership.
Kathmandu, Feb 3 (IANS) Nepal’s interim government on Tuesday decided to withdraw the Social Media Bill registered in Parliament by the then K P Sharma Oli–led government, which had been widely criticised for seeking to curtail freedom of expression.
Dhaka, Feb 3 (IANS) With the law and order situation worsening in Bangladesh under the Muhammad Yunus led interim government, political violence has continued to rise sharply across the country ahead of the February 12 national election as casualties in January increased significantly in comparison to December 2025, local media reported on Tuesday citing a Dhaka-based human rights organisation.
Dhaka, Feb 3 (IANS) For years, Beijing’s mouthpieces dismissed testimonies from minority groups across China, including Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tibetan survivors as fabrications, cast satellite images as misinterpretations, and labelled leaked documents as forgeries, while mocking the evidence as "Western propaganda".
Colombo, Feb 3 (IANS) Political uncertainty, shifting alliances and legislative defections have caused a volatile environment in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) - regions that have witnessed continuous instability, a report has stated.
Washington, Feb 3 (IANS) The India-US trade deal announced by US President Donald Trump is a “very significant” development and could reshape economic ties between the two countries, Atul Keshap, President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), said on Tuesday.
Dhaka, Feb 3 (IANS) Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman’s recent social media remarks equating women’s work outside the home with prostitution are not merely a conservative stance but dehumanising, reducing teachers, garment workers, doctors, nurses, journalists, police officers and civil servants to a single degrading label, a report said on Tuesday.
Dhaka, Feb 3 (IANS) As political tensions intensify ahead of Bangladesh’s February 12 elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Tuesday accused the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami of distorting history, warning that the latter could one day claim that Ghulam Azam, the former Jamaat leader, proclaimed the country’s independence, local media reported.
Athens, Feb 3 (IANS) Journalists and media organisations across Pakistan have faced mounting pressures in recent years, including legal cases, threats, and constraints on reporting. Critics argue that the frequent use of counterterrorism laws by the Pakistani authorities in cases related to speech and political commentary blurs the line between legitimate national security concerns and the silencing of dissent, a report said on Tuesday.
Dhaka, Feb 3 (IANS) For Bangladesh to develop as a democratic state, citizens must question whether a radical political party like Jamaat-e-Islami, with its regressive stance on women, has the right to remain registered and function within the country’s existing constitutional and legal framework, a report questioned on Tuesday. Until these fundamental questions are addressed, it added, entrusting such a party the responsibility of governing the state would be irresponsible.
