Indian Sub-continent

NEW DELHI, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people died and 28 were injured when a bus carrying around 35 passengers fell into a deep gorge in India's northern hilly state of Uttarakhand on Sunday, confirmed a local cop.

The accident took place on the Gangotri National Highway near Gangnani area, when the bus was moving from Gangotri to Uttarkashi area.

The injured were admitted to a local hospital, said a senior state government official.

LAHORE, Pakistan, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, vandalising several churches and setting scores of houses on fire after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran, police and community leaders said.

The attack took place in Jaranwala in the industrial district of Faisalabad, police spokesman Naveed Ahmad said. The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes.

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A Muslim mob on Wednesday stormed a Christian locality in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, burning one church, damaging two others and demolishing the house of a man after accusing him of desecrating the pages of Islam’s holy book, police said.

The attack happened in the district of Faisalabad in eastern Punjab province, local police chief Rizwan Khan said. He said the mob attacked the Christian colony after some of the Muslims living nearby accused a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend of desecrating pages of the Quran.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 15 (APP): The Embassy of Pakistan in Hungary has announced to arrange the first-ever four-day art exhibition of Pakistani artists from September 5, in connection with the 76th anniversary of Independence Day.

The exhibition titled “Chaharbagh” will display the work of eight artists interpreting their thoughts in different mediums from traditional miniatures to contemporary mix media, a press release on Tuesday said.

The artists will include Alefiya, Javaria Ahmad, Maryam Cheema, Minaa Haroon, Murad Khan, Mumtaz, Sakina Akbar, Sana Durrani and Sundas Azfer.

KABUL, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday marked the second anniversary of their return to power, celebrating their take-over of Kabul and the establishment of what they said was security throughout the country under an Islamic system.

After a lightning offensive as U.S.-led foreign forces were withdrawing after 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered the capital on Aug. 15, 2021, as the U.S.-backed president, Ashraf Ghani, fled and the Afghan security forces, set up with years of Western support, disintegrated.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have settled in as rulers of Afghanistan, two years after they seized power as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 13 (APP): The Pakistani nation is brimming with excitement as it prepares to mark the 76th Independence Day on August 14 (Monday) with a variety of events and activities have been arranged across the country to pay tribute to the relentless struggle of the forefathers and national heroes in their quest for a separate homeland.

DHAKA. Aug 13 (NNN-BSS) – Two incidents of bird strikes occurred at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, but no casualties have been reported.

A flight of the national flag-carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, on the Dhaka-Bangkok route aborted take-off as a bird strike caused one of its tyres to burst yesterday.

Passengers of the plane had to disembark in the taxiway, a senior pilot of the national flag carrier told the Daily Star, a leading local newspaper.

COLOMBO, Aug 13 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lankan President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, emphasised the necessity of implementing a well-structured strategy, aimed at attaining an annual export revenue of at least two billion U.S. dollars from the gem and jewellery industry, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said, today.

DHAKA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- As a significant surge in dengue fever cases has gripped Bangladesh, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for efforts to control the mosquito vector population and minimize individual exposure such as using mosquito repellents and wearing long-sleeved clothes.