All Asia: South & Central
- India’s lockdown: Where community is prized, isolation proves tough
Social distancing is hard enough in cultures that prize independence. What does it mean for places like India, where community is even more key?
- First LookIndia's bustling train stations empty as Modi calls for curfew
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a 14-hour voluntary curfew was the first nationwide effort to enforce social isolations practices meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
- As Delhi riot wounds heal, neighbors look for ‘the way ahead’
Al Hind hospital and the Mustafabad neighborhood have become the center of relief efforts after New Delhi’s worst sectarian violence in decades.
- After Delhi’s burst of violence, a Muslim artist takes stock
New Delhi’s riots, which began during Donald Trump’s state visit to the capital last month, left dozens of people dead, mostly Muslims.
- First LookAfghan peace process hits prisoner-release bump in the road
Afghanistan's president rejected the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners as a confidence-building step before Afghan power-sharing talks.
- First LookStreet clashes over citizenship rights in India turn deadly
The worst street rioting in decades hit in New Delhi Tuesday, as India's Muslims and Hindus, who have mostly coexisted peacefully for centuries, turned on each other. Religious tensions under Prime Minister Narendra Modi continue to rise.
- First LookTrump focuses on trade amid India's citizenship law protests
As President Trump tours the Indian capital, hundreds of supporters and protestors of the new citizenship law that excludes Muslims clashed in the streets. The U.S. president is keeping the focus of his trip on sealing a trade deal with India.
- Difference MakerSaving India’s storks: How smelly pests became a point of pride
Greater adjutant storks, once common in India, are now endangered. But a small army of women led by Purnima Devi Barman is out to change that.
- First LookModi's Hindu nationalist party defeated in New Delhi elections
Indian Prime Minister's Hindu nationalist party succumbed to a regional party in Delhi's legislative assembly elections on Tuesday. The stunning victory by the "common man's" party is seen as a response to India's new citizenship law.
- First LookA soldier carried out Thailand's worst mass shooting
Major shootings are rare in Thailand but the nation's worst mass shooting that killed 29 people over the weekend by a distraught soldier has prompted soul searching in the southeast Asian country of 69 million that sees its military as a protector.
- First LookLGBTQ people to be counted in Nepal's census for the first time
Homosexuality remains taboo in Nepal but the 2021 survey will help LGBTQ Nepalis access social services and inform minority group quotas, advocates say.
- First LookBangladesh counters human trafficking of Rohingya with schools
After fleeing religious persecution in Myanmar, Rohingya children are increasingly vulnerable to human traffickers. Access to education will give the 10,000 children living in world's largest refugee camp hope for the future, advocates say.
- Kashmir’s five-month blackout: Life in a swirl of rumors
Kashmir experienced a months-long internet blackout after the state’s special status was revoked, with news frequently reduced to rumors.
- First LookUN court orders Myanmar to stop Rohingya genocide
The court tells Myanmar to report continually on what measures the country has taken to comply with the order. Displaced Rohingya refugees laud order.
- First LookTaliban agree to cease-fire as step to U.S. peace deal
The Taliban agreed Sunday to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan, as a step towards a peace deal that could allow the U.S. to bring home its troops.
- First LookIndia protests grow as government bans public gatherings
Thousands of Indians are demonstrating against a citizenship law widely seen as anti-Muslim, and a threat to the country's secular democracy.
- Driving India protests, a sense that ‘we will lose everything’
India’s new citizenship law strikes at the core of individuals’ sense of self and security, and the country’s core democratic principles.
- First LookProtests across India denounce religion-based citizenship law
The law, which creates a path to citizenship based on religion but excludes Muslims, has sparked student protests and violent clashes with police.
- First LookIndia considers religion-based citizenship, U.S. panel opposes
Critics say the bill could undermine the secular foundations of India's democracy. The government says it will protect non-Muslims from persecution.
- First Look A religion-based citizenship bill heads to India's parliament
India's cabinet sent a bill to parliament that would grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims minorities in neighboring countries based on religion.