SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Wednesday, February 26, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Flash floods kill 21 members of two families in Afghanistan, says official (Reuters)
Reuters [2/25/2025 10:25 AM, Muhammad Yunus Yawar, 41523K]
At least 21 members of two families died in flash floods on Tuesday in western province of Farah in Afghanistan, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Abdul Mateen Qaniee said women and children were among them, adding that another five suffered injuries.
The families had gone for a picnic in Kojar village in Pushtkoh district.
They were climbing a mountain when heavy rain and hailstorm hit them, Qainee said.
Flash floods killed 315 people and injured more than 1,600 in northern Afghanistan last year. Flash floods kill 21 members of two families in Afghanistan (The Independent)
The Independent [2/26/2025 1:35 AM, Maroosha Muzaffar, 44.8M]
Flash floods left at least 21 people dead and four injured in Afghanistan’s western Farah province on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.
The dead, who were swept away into a ravine, included several children, ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee was quoted as saying by Reuters.
They all belonged to two families who had set out for a picnic at Kojar village in the Pushtkoh district, only to be caught in a sudden downpour and hailstorm while climbing a mountain.
It was unclear if the bodies had been retrieved yet.
Farah is known for its arid and rugged landscape. The region struggles with limited infrastructure and accessibility which often hinders emergency response efforts, particularly during natural disasters like flash floods.
Flash floods are a recurring disaster in Afghanistan. In 2024, the country faced a series of catastrophic floods that caused widespread destruction, claiming hundreds of lives and devastating communities across multiple provinces.
One of the worst disasters occurred in May, when powerful flash floods swept through the province of Baghlan, killing at least 315 people and leaving hundreds injured or missing. The floods also destroyed more than 2,000 homes, leaving dozens of families displaced and many unaccounted for.
By July 2024, the United Nations reported that casualties from floods across the country had climbed by 58 and that there were 380 injured people. The floods had either damaged or completely destroyed 573 houses.
Assessments revealed that at least 734 families were in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Trump’s ICE Detains Afghans Who Helped U.S. Forces (Reason Magazine)
Reason Magazine [2/25/2025 7:00 AM, Beth Bailey, 52868K]
In his first month back in office, President Donald Trump has raised alarms for Afghan allies in the U.S. who have spent years unsuccessfully seeking asylum or permanent residency after the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. The BBC has reported that Afghans have already been deported, and are among the 299 migrants living in a Panamanian hotel without access to legal representation.
Nasib, a former Afghan intelligence officer, was detained two weeks ago during a regular check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I spoke with Susan, the immigration lawyer representing Nasib. (Pseudonyms are being used to protect both against retribution.).
In her practice, Susan has helped hundreds of Afghans seek safety in the U.S. Nasib became her client in February 2024, just weeks after he claimed asylum at the border with Mexico and was paroled into the U.S.
Nasib served 13 years in Afghan military intelligence, training alongside American personnel and working closely with international partners. According to Susan, he saved many American lives. In a letter of recommendation shared with Reason, a U.S. intelligence professional assigned to mentor Nasib praised his vital work and called him "trustworthy and loyal.".
Nasib’s work put him squarely in the sights of the Taliban, who began targeting their enemies while seizing control of the country in the summer of 2021 and have continued their campaign of reprisal unimpeded.
To avoid a gruesome death, Nasib and his brother attempted to flee the country through Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021. They were outside Abbey Gate on August 26 when an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated explosives, killing 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans. Nasib’s brother lost an arm, was hit by shrapnel in his neck, and now requires surgery that can only be performed outside the country.
Fearing that the Taliban would find and kill him, Nasib had to stay away from his family home, staying with relatives and friends for several days at a time to avoid capture. During his absence, the Taliban visited Nasib’s wife and children, demanding to know his whereabouts.
Nasib applied to the Special Immigrant Visa program but was ineligible because he was an employee of the Afghan government. Nasib qualified for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is currently suspended as the result of Trump’s January 20th executive order. Without a former U.S. government employee to refer him to the USRAP, Nasib saw only one route to safety in the U.S. He applied for a visa to Brazil and became one of more than 8,100 Afghans who traveled through Central America between 2021 and mid-2024 to gain access to the U.S. border.
When he arrived in Mexico City in late 2023, Nasib applied for an appointment to request asylum with U.S. Customs and Border Protection using the now-defunct CBP One mobile app. Three months later, he presented himself at the border at the appointed time and was allowed into the U.S. on two years of parole.
Nasib settled into American life, finding a job at a distribution center that allowed him to send money home to his mother, brother, sisters, wife, and two children. At the end of 2024, he requested asylum at his master calendar hearing and included his wife and children as derivative applicants on his petition. Given an asylum hearing date in the spring of 2025, Nasib was told in the interim to go to his scheduled annual check-in with ICE in February.
With news of the Trump administration carrying out mass deportations of migrants, Susan insisted on accompanying Nasib to his ICE appointment. "I’ve gone to ICE check-ins before," Susan said, explaining that officers typically examine an applicant’s papers and tell them to return the following year. During Nasib’s appointment, Susan said she only saw two individuals brought into the facility and subsequently allowed to leave.
When Nasib was called, Susan was not allowed to accompany him. Later, Nasib recounted that ICE agents confiscated his wallet, shoes, and belt before arresting him without explanation. The agent did not respond to Nasib’s request that he loosen Nasib’s painfully tight handcuffs.
An agent told Susan that her client had been detained. When she asked why, the agent replied, "Well, new administration." Susan told the agent that Nasib had parole but was told in response that "parole is revoked." She asked again what the reason was for detaining Nasib and received the same answer: "new administration.".
As his family’s only wage earner, Nasib is concerned about them while he remains in detention—but Susan is fearful for her client. For 14 years, Nasib has been taking antidepressants, which ICE refuses to provide. Nasib was recently told that he could get counseling, but not for at least 20 days. Without his medication, he "is crying all the time," Susan says.
Nasib also cannot access halal meat or a copy of the Quran, which as a practicing Muslim, he is required to read throughout the coming month of Ramadan. Susan says it is unclear how the ICE facility will manage religious detainees’ fasting requirements during Ramadan.
Susan is determined to do what she can for her client. "Now that he’s in detention, it’s up to me to try my best to get him out," she said. "It is very unjust." As an Afghan ally with no record, Susan insists that Nasib shouldn’t be there. "He should never have been detained.". Taliban says ‘misunderstanding’ led to arrest of British couple in Afghanistan (The Guardian)
The Guardian [2/25/2025 2:53 PM, Nadeem Badshah, 126906K]
A British couple were arrested in Afghanistan due to a “misunderstanding” that they had fake Afghan passports, the Taliban said on Tuesday.Peter and Barbie Reynolds, 79 and 75, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February while returning to their home in the central province of Bamiyan.The couple, who run education and training programmes in Afghanistan, were arrested along with Faye Hall, a Chinese-American friend and an interpreter from their business.Taliban spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani said the arrests were due to a “misunderstanding” that they possessed fake Afghan passports.On Monday, the Reynolds’ daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said the family had initially chosen not to involve the UK authorities “hoping to hear directly from the Taliban about why they’d arrested our parents”.“Our parents have always sought to honour the Taliban, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to explain their reasons for this detention. However, after more than three weeks of silence, we can no longer wait,” Entwistle told Times Radio.“We’re now urgently calling on the British consulate to do everything in their power to get us answers and to put as much pressure as they can on the Taliban for their release.”On Monday, Qani said the Taliban would attempt to release the couple “as soon as possible”, the BBC reported.He said: “A series of considerations is being taken into account and, after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible.”The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan”.The couple married in Kabul more than 50 years ago and run Rebuild, “an Afghan-registered research and training business” that has been operating since 2009.In an open letter to the Taliban, Entwistle and her three brothers said: “We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest. Our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.” Arrest of British couple in Afghanistan clear example of Taliban lawlessness, former ambassador warns (The Independent)
The Independent [2/25/2025 7:24 AM, Arpan Rai, 126906K]
The arrest of a British couple in Afghanistan was a "clear example of the Taliban’s alarming lawlessness", a former US ambassador to the war-ravaged country has said.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds, a couple in their 70s running Rebuild – an education and training programme for girls and women – were arrested by the Taliban as they travelled back to their home in central Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province on 1 February.
Their children have confirmed they lost touch with their parents, who have been living inside Afghanistan for the past 18 years and stayed back in the country after the Taliban took control in August 2021. They also got married in Kabul in the 1970s.
The couple was arrested earlier this month alongside an American friend Faye Hall who had rented a plane to travel with them, Rebuild’s employees said. A translator working with them has also been arrested.
The Taliban authorities told the group that their flight "did not co-ordinate with the local government" and are now inside a prison facility in Kabul.
Former diplomats and experts monitoring the situation warned that the Taliban holding Mr Peter and Ms Barbie is a move to put pressure on the UK.
Ryan Clark Crocker, former US ambassador to Afghanistan, told The Independent that the arrest of the couple was a "clear example of the Taliban’s alarming lawlessness and a sign to the international community that anyone can be next".
"The de facto authorities have been in the business of taking hostages and this is a continuation of that business. There have been hostages before and there will be hostages even after this," Mr Crocker, who also serves as the member of the Afghanistan War Commission, said.
The Afghanistan War Commission is an independent body to review US decisions pertaining to the war in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021.
"A series of considerations is being taken into account, and after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible," said Abdul Mateen Qani, the Taliban’s Interior Ministry spokesperson. The three foreign nationals have Afghan passports and national identity cards, the Taliban spokesperson said.
The Taliban official did not remark on the health condition of Mr Peter, 79, and Ms Barbie, 75, as the Rebuild employees have expressed concern over their deteriorating health in the absence of help from the Taliban. Mr Peter has been denied access to his heart medication and his condition was "not good", a staff member at Rebuild said.
"It is a highly cynical move by a completely appalling misogynist tyrannical government and everything about the Taliban has gotten worse in the last year. The Taliban have a very cynical policy which is to keep some foreign hostages as it were in the bank, you know who knows when you might want to put a bit of pressure on Britain," said David Loyn, visiting senior research fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
"They’re holding several Americans at the moment. It’s very unclear exactly why this couple were taken. They’ve worked in Afghanistan for a long time. The Taliban is trying to test their ability and leeway to operate in Afghanistan by continuing to harvest the odd foreign to come the way of the Taliban," he told The Independent.
Mr Peter’s employees have expressed grave concerns over his life.
"It seems that if Peter and Barbie are not released soon, Peter may lose his life because he needs medication, and the Taliban are not allowing him it," a staff member told the PA news agency, calling the couple "the most honourable people I have ever met in my life". British pensioners detained in Afghanistan are ‘pawns’ in Taliban power struggle (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph [2/26/2025 12:00 AM, Akhtar Makoii]
An elderly British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan are victims of a deepening internal power struggle within the Islamist regime, The Telegraph has learned.
The couple’s arrest was ordered by a commander linked to the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister, in what is thought to be a political move.
Tensions are mounting between the group and top Taliban leaders in Kandahar, who are battling a rebellion over the regime’s crackdown on women’s rights.
Sources within the Taliban said that the detention of Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, is not based on any violations of local laws or religious customs, but rather to increase international pressure on the government and its supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada.“This is part of a broader plan to sideline him [Akhundzada] and position Haqqani as the leader and to portray him as someone more capable of engaging with the West by releasing them.”
Mr and Mrs Reynolds, who have worked in the war-torn country for around 18 years, were arrested while returning to their home in central Bamiyan province earlier this month.
A Taliban spokesman told The Telegraph on Monday that the couple, who hold Afghan passports, would be released “soon”.
The spokesman added that they are being well cared for and have received medicine for their health issues.
The couple, who met at Bath University, have been running training projects in schools in the country since 2009. They ran education projects in Kabul and Bamiyan, including training for mothers and children, despite Taliban restrictions on women.‘Not violated any laws’When the Taliban took power in 2021, most foreigners left, but the couple stayed - even after their staff had departed from the country.
The Taliban official who spoke with The Telegraph said authorities were aware of their presence but had not previously arrested them.
He said: “Everyone was already aware that the Britons were living there but had not arrested them as they had not violated any laws or religious principles. In fact, they were well-respected by the local people.”
The arrests have triggered intense disagreements between Taliban factions based in Kabul and Kandahar, with “heated phone calls exchanged” between the two power centres.The interior ministry, responsible for detentions and potential releases, is controlled by the Haqqani network, which seems to be using the situation it has created to challenge the establishment in Kandahar, where supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based.“Since their arrest, there has been significant back-and-forth between Kabul and Kandahar,” the official revealed.“As the interior minister and the authority overseeing their detention and potential release, Haqqani seeks to present himself as a more reliable figure than those in Kandahar.”
Mr and Mrs Reynolds held training courses for Afghan health ministry officials in Kabul before the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.‘They are good people’
Fada Mohammad Peykan, a former deputy health minister who was trained by the couple in 2019, described them as “kind and patient people with excellent behaviour”.
He said they loved Afghans and had a deep understanding of the country. During their courses, he added, they never spoke about politics.
Mr Peykan told The Telegraph: “As their student and a ministry official at the time, I testify that they are good people – they are harmless and not the kind of people who would commit a crime.”
After their arrest, Mr Peykan sent them an email and shared news of their arrest among friends to find a way to secure their release.
He said: “They understand Afghanistan’s pain and have always sought to learn things that would be helpful for Afghans. The Taliban don’t understand anything. They grow up with terror and don’t treat foreigners well.”
As the internal rivalries intensify, foreign nationals in Afghanistan face growing uncertainty.
The detention of the elderly British couple suggests that foreigners could increasingly be used as pawns in the Taliban’s internal power struggles.
While the Taliban initially presented a unified front during their takeover of the country following the withdrawal of US and allied forces, cracks in their leadership structure have become increasingly visible.
The regime is now facing an internal revolt over women’s rights that could spark another war in Afghanistan, and supreme leader Akhundzada is in conflict with senior ministers over it.
The draconian measures have complicated the Taliban’s efforts to gain international recognition and access frozen assets and have caused practical governance challenges that have intensified tensions between moderates and hardliners within the Islamist regime.
More severe restrictions on women
Under Mr Akhundzada’s leadership, the Taliban has implemented more severe restrictions on women, including bans on education beyond primary school, employment in most sectors, appearing in public without a male guardian and speaking in public.
Mr Akhundzada, who has led the Taliban since 2016, is opposed by Mr Haqqani, Mullah Yaqoob, the defence minister, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy foreign minister, who all favour a more progressive approach.
On Monday, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan warlord and a former mujahideen leader, expressed concern about Afghanistan’s current situation under Taliban rule.
Mr Hekmatyar, known as “the butcher of Kabul”, warned that the country is in a volatile state with some on high alert and “their hands on the trigger”.
The divide has put the Kandahar-based faction loyal to Mr Akhundzada against the Haqqani network.
The Haqqani network, known for its close ties to foreign terror groups and involvement in high-profile attacks, has positioned some of its key figures in the Taliban administration.
Mr Haqqani, for whom the US government has issued a $10 million (£8 million) bounty, has direct control over internal security matters, giving his faction significant influence over day-to-day governance.
The arrangement has created a dual power structure that has increasingly caused friction as the Taliban attempts to consolidate its rule.
A second Taliban official who spoke with the Telegraph said: “Both sides are doing everything in their power to weaken the other, with no clear logic behind their actions.“The Haqqanis arrest foreign tourists to further isolate Akhundzada and his inner circle - it makes no difference whether it’s detaining an elderly couple or shooting each other.“He [Akhundzada] refuses to listen to government officials, many of whom are frustrated with his policies, some believe that the only way to remove him is to deepen his international isolation.”‘Do everything in your power’, say family
The couple’s daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said the family had first chosen not to involve the UK authorities, “hoping to hear directly from the Taliban about why they’d arrested our parents.”
On Monday, however, the family called on the government to do “everything in their power” to secure their release.
The UK closed its embassy in Kabul and withdrew its diplomats from the country after the Taliban returned to power.
The Foreign Office says support for British nationals in Afghanistan is “severely limited” and advises against all travel to the country. Taliban continues corporal punishment, flogging 20 Afghans over alleged adultery (VOA)
VOA [2/24/2025 6:16 PM, Ayaz Gul, 2913K]
Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban authorities publicly flogged 20 men and women Monday on charges of adultery, rape, and engaging in “illegitimate relations.”
The Taliban’s Supreme Court reported that all defendants received sentences of 39 lashes each and prison terms ranging from one to seven years.
The punishments were carried out in the eastern Khost and central Parwan provinces, with residents, judicial, and government officials among the spectators.
Since regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have publicly flogged hundreds of men and women. Most were charged with offenses such as adultery, sodomy, eloping, having illegitimate relations and robbery.
The number of Afghans subjected to flogging this month alone has reached 86, with 17 women among the victims, according to data from the top court.
The United Nations has condemned corporal punishment being conducted by the Taliban as a violation of international law and human dignity, calling for the practice to be halted immediately.
The Taliban government, which is not recognized by any country, defends its criminal justice system and overall governance by stating that they are aligned with Islamic law or Sharia and dismissing foreign criticism as misguided.
The de facto Afghan leaders have placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education and employment, effectively erasing most of them from public life in Afghanistan and drawing persistent calls from the U.N. to reverse what it condemns as “gender-apartheid." Pakistan
Exclusive: US to send first special deportation flight to Pakistan with illegal migrants on Thursday (WION)
WION [2/25/2025 12:10 PM, Anas Mallick, 2067K]
The United States will deport at least eight Pakistani nationals via a special flight that will depart on the 26th of February and arrive in Pakistan on the 27th of February, WION has learned from reliable sources. This will be the first direct deportation flight from the United States to Pakistan, which will be carrying illegal migrants.The flight, which will have illegal Pakistani migrants who are currently in custody of the US, will land at Rawalpindi’s Nur Khan airbase on Thursday.The United States administration had sent about 10 odd names for verification of nationality to the Pakistani authorities, out of which eight were verified, leading to the deportation flight being arranged by the US administration.The Pakistani diaspora in the United States is small and comprises of about 680,000 nationals in numbers.Illegal migrants from Pakistan don’t even make up a fraction of the figure, it is said.The exact number of undocumented Pakistanis in the US was disputed due to varying calculation methods. Estimates for the year 2022 ranged from 7,000 to 15,000, according to the US department of homeland security data.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier that the deportation flights were an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, which he said has a destructive and destabilising effect.The US State Department further said that such deportations send a message of deterrence to other people who may be considering migrating illegally. Dying to leave: Why Pakistanis are risking their lives to reach Europe (VOA)
VOA [2/25/2025 1:21 PM, Sarah Zaman, 2913K]
When Amir Ali left the narrow alleys of his village in Pakistan’s Punjab province last summer for the plazas of Spain, he thought his dream of a better life was finally coming true. The 21-year-old had failed seven times before to get a visa for countries in Europe and the Middle East.
Six months later, in mid-January, Ali was one of 22 Pakistani men whom Moroccan authorities rescued from a stranded migrant boat in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa.
At least 43 Pakistanis were among 50 men who perished from hunger, dehydration and physical torture at the hands of human smugglers.
Limping with an injured foot in his home in Gujranwala district, Ali said he felt lucky to be alive.
"It’s not as if we survived because of some food or water," he said. "Not at all. It’s just that God wanted to save us, so we survived.".
Since December 2024, dozens of Pakistanis have died as boats carrying migrants to Europe have run into accidents.
While Pakistan does not rank among the top 10 countries from which migrants attempting irregular entry into Europe come, thousands of its nationals risk their lives every year to reach the continent.
Human smugglers are becoming savvy too, officials say, as kingpins move abroad to evade an ongoing crackdown, and rely on digital currencies to transfer the proceeds of their crime.
A harrowing journey
Ali’s trip began more than 1,200 kilometers south of Gujranwala in Karachi, where he boarded a plane to Senegal on a visa that smugglers had arranged.
"I didn’t even know that a country with that name existed," Ali told VOA.
From Senegal he obtained a visa to enter Mauritania, where he stayed in a safe house with dozens of other migrants for almost five months.
The dream journey was turning into a nightmare.
"There were so many boys in one room, there was no room to sit," Ali said. "It was mentally very tough.".
In the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 2, he was stuffed with more than 80 others on a boat headed from Nouakchott, Mauritania, to Spain’s Canary Islands.
After a day of travel, the boat ran out of fuel. To lighten the load, Ali said, the smugglers threw away the passengers’ belongings and took away their meager rations.
"On the fourth day on the boat, a man went crazy because of hunger. He jumped into the ocean. We all got very scared thinking about what was going to happen next," Ali said.
Smugglers, the survivor said, thrashed anyone who complained or didn’t comply.
"The smugglers told us to throw the dead bodies in the water," said Ali. "When we refused, thinking how could we throw our brothers, they beat us up a lot.".
The ordeal ended almost two weeks later when Moroccan authorities rescued the survivors after a fishing boat spotted them.
Ali’s family sold livestock and precious agricultural land and took loans to raise nearly $10,000 to get their son to Spain. His mother is worried about the debt but delighted that her son is alive.
Who is leaving?
Almost two hours away in Gujrat district of Punjab, Haji Shaukat Ali is devastated. His son Chaudhry Atif Gorsi and nephew Chaudhry Sufyan Gorsi did not survive.
A roadside sign leading to their village commemorates the two as martyrs.
"We sent them because of our weakness," said Ali, sitting among a group of mourners, some of whom had come from Europe. "The weakness is money.".
Studies conducted by Gallup Pakistan and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, or PIDE, in recent years show lack of jobs as the primary reason for wanting to leave a country where economic growth is barely keeping up with population growth.
According to Pakistan’s Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than 65,000 people left legally to work abroad just in January 2025. Between 2022 and 2024, an average of roughly 800,000 nationals moved abroad for work annually. Most went to the Middle East but a few to Europe.
Pakistanis also made nearly 5,000 attempts to enter Europe illegally in 2024, data from the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex indicates.
Amir Ali’s home district of Gujranwala and the Gorsi cousins’ home district of Gujrat, lead in migration trends, along with nearby Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin and Faisalabad districts, despite being hubs of agriculture and industrial activity.
"They are not the poorest of the poor," said demographer Durre Nayab, pointing to the ability of migrants from this region to pull together thousands of dollars to fund their journey.
"But it’s not just the financial aspect," Nayab, who was involved in the PIDE study, told VOA. "The two other aspects that came out were lifestyle, and somehow, they thought they would gain more respect out of [the] country.".
Many Pakistanis wanting to leave felt poorly treated compared to their wealthier countrymen, Nayab explained.
"This difference made them disillusioned about the whole system," the demographer said.
The PIDE study showed 37% of Pakistanis would leave, if given a chance.
Does life get better?
Kashif Ali, a cousin of the deceased Gorsis, spent hundreds of dollars to arrange a sponsor for a work permit to Italy a decade ago.
"In Pakistan, a middle-class laborer earns around $3 a day. For that same work, they make $20 to $25 overseas," said Ali, who works in boat making.
His family in Pakistan now has a new home and a car.
Such a turn of fortune is on display across small towns and villages in central Punjab. Experts say it inspires many others to risk their lives to reach Europe.
It was a similar story of success that made Ishraq Nazir move from Mandi Bahauddin to Greece. He entered the European country after a brief stay in Turkey as a tourist in 2009.
It took Nazir a decade to get a Greek residency permit after his asylum request was rejected.
For years he worked odd jobs like herding cows and painting trees to get by. Now he works in a packaging factory earning almost $60 a day and said he finally feels settled.
"I had to face a lot of difficulties, but the fact is that if I had stayed in Pakistan, I would have not gotten anything given the type of jobs they have," Nazir told VOA on the phone while packing disposable plates. "My friends are still where they started.".
Umar Shaid from district Sialkot arrived illegally in Greece by boat from Libya in October.
"I am struggling. It’s very hard to find work. There are very few opportunities. I don’t have any friends or relatives to seek help from," Shaid said by phone over the sound of the Athens metro.
Shaid said he has spent around $15,000 to pay smugglers and take care of his day-to-day expenses.
"Honestly, I believed the stories people told me and took this silly decision," said Shaid. Still, he said he was not planning to go back to Pakistan.
Crackdown on smugglers
This month, Pakistan’s Senate passed three bills to toughen anti-human smuggling laws, increasing fines and jail terms.
Pakistan began cracking down on human smuggling after hundreds of its nationals died off the coast of Pylos, Greece, in June 2023 in one of the worst migrant boat disasters.
A report by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights says after that disaster, authorities arrested 854 suspected human smugglers.
Frustrated by recent incidents, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-level task force in January, with himself as the head, to combat human smuggling.
The Federal Investigation Agency, or FIA, has ramped up efforts, arresting dozens of alleged human smugglers and confiscating the assets of others to force them out of hiding.
"For the first time we have seen that they [smugglers] are using Bitcoin and digital currency. They have shifted away from traditional ways of money laundering." Bilal Tanvir, FIA deputy director for the Gujrat region, told VOA.
However, he said a lack of resources and low rate of conviction of alleged criminals posed a challenge in curbing the crime.
The FIA is also facing increased scrutiny. Sharif’s government removed the agency head at the end of last month. More than 100 officials have been fired, suspended or blacklisted for alleged involvement in and insufficient action against human smuggling.
Survivor Ali told VOA his group of migrant men faced no hurdle boarding the flight for Senegal at the Karachi airport.
"Someone connected with the agents came, held our hand and told us to come after him. Wherever we went, we followed him," Ali said. "Nobody stopped us.".
Tanvir defended his agency, saying officers focus on those entering the country more than those on their way out.
The impact of tragedies
Surrounded by friends and neighbors, Ali looked disappointed. He told VOA he would not recommend attempting to reach Europe by boat.
Others in the room felt differently.
"Why should I lie?" said Tariq Bajwa, who supports his young sons’ plan to head to Europe illegally in a few years. "Looking at others, we are willing to try as well.".
Several young men in the room agreed.
Why Europe? "Just because," said Hamza Qayyum, the son of a farmer. "There’s farming in Europe. I don’t feel like doing it here," the 20-year-old with a sixth-grade education explained.
Asked if they would risk drowning in the sea, Muhammad Zohaib, whose brothers work in the Middle East asked, "Why not?".
"Planes crash too, so what’s the big deal if a boat sinks?" the 20-something said. "One can run into an accident right outside the house.". Pakistan’s transgender community finds hope and dignity at a culinary school (AP)
AP [2/26/2025 3:51 AM, Babar Dogar, 456K]
For transgender students involved in a very special project at a culinary school in Pakistan, there is more to a class than just learning the art of cooking.
Neha Malik used to dance at parties and weddings for a living and was, occasionally, a sex worker. Since January, she has been enrolled in a new course for the trans community at the Culinary & Hotel Institute of Pakistan.The free six-month program in the city of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, welcomed its first group of 25 trans students in January; the second group of 25 began training on Feb. 1.
Now, Malik, 31, dreams of working as a chef in Dubai, the futuristic, skyscraper-studded city in the United Arab Emirates.
She never misses a class. “I am so absorbed in learning that I don’t have time to dance anymore,” she added.
Many Pakistanis have entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality, and trans people are often considered outcasts in the conservative Muslim-majority country. Some are forced into begging, dancing and even prostitution to earn money. They also live in fear of attacks.
The U.N. development agency said last year that the majority of trans people in Pakistan reported experiencing violence or abuse and that most reported being denied employment opportunities because of their gender identity. Just 7% were employed in formal sectors, the UNDP added.
Trans women in public office and the media have raised awareness about a marginalized and misunderstood community, and overall, the community has seen some progress in the protection of their rights.
Supreme Court rulings allow them to self-identify as a third gender, neither male nor female, and have underscored they have the same rights as all Pakistani citizens.
Last year, Lahore got its first ride-sharing service for trans people and women in an effort to protect them from discrimination and harassment, and in 2022 Pakistan launched a hotline for trans people.“Society usually looks down on us,” said Malik. “We have to change this mindset. Now, people come up to me and ask what I do when they see me in a chef’s coat and hat.”
Since classes started, students file into the Lahore culinary school with backpacks and beaming smiles, swapping their colorful clothes for white uniforms.
However, it’s a struggle. They each get a monthly stipend of 8,000 rupees, around $26 — nowhere near enough to live on as a student.“How can we survive on that when my rent is 15,000 rupees?” said 26-year-old Zoya Khan. Her utility bills swallow up most of it, she said.
So she performs at a few events a month.“I used to earn a decent amount (from dancing), I won’t lie,” she added. But “there was no respect in it.”“Why do we come here? It’s because we see hope,” said Khan, who wants to start her own business after graduating — a roadside cafe.
Nadia Shehzad, the institute’s chief executive, said the project will help the trans community, a “rejected and ignored sector of society” get equal recognition.
The school is trying to get government officials to help the aspiring chefs with visas to go abroad for work, Shehzad said. There are also talks with local hotels and restaurants about jobs once the students graduate — with wages of up to 30,000 rupees, or about $107.
Still, it’s not easy for for trans people to leave behind dancing, begging and sex work for the culinary program, said Shabnam Chaudry, a trans community leader.
Many wonder if society would give them work — or if people at restaurants would eat food cooked by trans chefs.
In the past, Chaudry said she had seen many trans people taking makeup and sewing courses, only to fail to find jobs afterward and be forced to return to begging and dancing to survive.
She is also concerned about their prospects of finding a job: Pakistan has hundreds of thousands of young people with skills and degrees who cannot find work.“In the face of this tough competition, who will give jobs to trans people,” Chaudry asked. “People are not ready to shake hands with us.” India
EU to Seek India’s Help to Enforce Sanctions on Russia (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/25/2025 10:43 AM, Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Shruti Srivastava, 16228K]
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will ask for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assistance to enforce sanctions on Russia when the two leaders meet this week in New Delhi.Von der Leyen and other EU officials will also discuss the issue of greater market access and India’s high tariffs on items such as cars and wine as a part of ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement, an EU official told reporters in a virtual background briefing on Tuesday.No major announcements are expected during the visit on Thursday and Friday but the two sides will try to put together a framework to set the agenda for the India-EU summit scheduled for later in the year, the official said.The EU is keen to intensify the enforcement of sanctions on Russia, said the official, adding that Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens India as much as Europe. India could play an important role to end the war in Ukraine and ensure lasting peace, the person said.India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t immediately comment. The South Asian country observes UN sanctions only.The South Asian country has not condemned Russia for invading Ukraine but has advocated dialog and diplomacy to end the war. Russia is one of the biggest sources of crude oil and weapons for India.The two sides will also discuss the trade corridor linking India to Europe passing through the Arabian peninsula.The European Union is committed to develop infrastructure including ports, railways and roads to connect India to Europe, the person said. The situation in the region, however, has changed because of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.US President Donald Trump’s negotiations to end the war in Ukraine without directly involving Europe and the threat of tariffs as the EU tries to decouple from China have added to the urgency for deeper cooperation with India. EU will ask India to cut tariffs on cars, wine to boost ties, reduce reliance on China (Reuters)
Reuters [2/26/2025 4:17 AM, Manoj Kumar, 5.2M]
The European Union plans to urge India to lower its high tariffs on cars and wine to boost trade, as it seeks to reduce its reliance on China, a senior official from the bloc said, ahead of a visit by the European Commission president to New Delhi.
Echoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of reciprocal tariffs, the official said the EU would press India to cut tariffs on some goods and broaden market access for its products, while offering flexibility on agriculture issues to expedite free trade agreement talks.
"The Indian market is relatively closed, especially to key products of commercial interest to the European Union and our member states’ industries, including cars, wines and spirits," said the official, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen’s two-day visit from Thursday, accompanied by leaders of EU member nations, coincides with escalating geopolitical tensions, with Brussels and New Delhi set to outline key areas for deeper cooperation under their strategic partnership.
Leyen will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, followed by discussions with trade minister Piyush Goyal.
The next trade negotiations round is scheduled for March 10-14 in Brussels.
The EU’s call for lower tariffs comes amid Trump’s threats to impose reciprocal tariffs from early April, which has caused anxiety for India’s exporters. Analysts from Citi Research estimate potential losses of about $7 billion annually.
The EU is India’s largest trading partner in goods, with trade nearing $126 billion in 2024, marking an increase of about 90% over the past decade.
REDUCING RELIANCE ON CHINA
As part of its "de-risking" strategy, the EU aims to strengthen economic and security ties with India, diversify supply chains, and reduce reliance on key products from China.
The EU also views India as a vital ally in addressing security challenges, the official said, including cyber threats and tensions in the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific.
Leyen is also expected to seek India’s support for a "peaceful and just deal" for Ukraine’s security, the official said.
The EU and India could sign an agreement to share classified security information to tackle common threats such as cyber attacks and terrorism, while exploring defence equipment trade.
Despite these potential benefits, trade analysts said the visit may not yield tangible results.
For substantial cooperation, the EU should acknowledge India as a data-secure country, said Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Delhi-based think-tank Global Trade Initiative, and India’s former negotiator on trade talks with the EU.
"While both parties have concerns about China, neither sees it as a top priority," Srivastava said adding India is focused on border tensions with China, while the EU is more concerned with the Ukraine-Russia conflict and NATO matters. India must double renewable capacity additions to meet 2030 clean-energy targets, report says (Reuters)
Reuters [2/25/2025 11:35 PM, Sethuraman NR, 78938K]
India must double its annual solar and wind capacity additions over the next five years to meet its 2030 clean-energy targets, despite record additions in 2024, Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said in a report on Wednesday.India added nearly 28 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind capacity in 2024, with solar power additions accounting for 70% of total additions, according to the country’s renewable energy ministry.The country has set a target to achieve at least 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030, up from its current 165 GW. However, India is still falling short of its previously set target to add 175 GW by 2022."The pace of renewables deployment needs to accelerate dramatically to reverse the rise in fossil generation and meet India’s ambitious targets," said GEM, a U.S.-based research group that tracks global energy projects.Despite a strong pipeline of renewable projects, fossil fuels accounted for more than two-thirds of the total increase in power generation in 2024, according to the report."A significant uptick in renewables deployment is required for renewable sources to expand upon their current one-fifth share of total generation and to eat into coal’s dominance," GEM said, adding that renewables tend to generate power less readily than fossil sources.India also plans to raise its coal-fired capacity by 80 GW by 2031-32, increasing the total from the current 220 GW, to ensure a reliable base load of power to meet growing domestic electricity demand.The expansion of renewables will require navigating several challenges, including inadequate electricity transmission infrastructure, limited energy storage capacity, and higher financing costs, according to GEM. India’s renewables sector falling far short of needed investment surge (Financial Times)
Financial Times [2/25/2025 9:31 PM, Andres Schipani and Krishn Kaushik, 14.6M]
India’s renewable sector must boost investments and access foreign financing if the world’s most populous country is to meet its target to more than double non-fossil fuel sources of power by the end of the decade, experts, officials and industry figures have warned.
India, which is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the International Energy Agency, received total green energy investment of just over $13bn last year.
That falls far short of the $68bn needed annually to achieve New Delhi’s goal of producing 500 gigawatts of power from renewable sources by 2030, according to a report released this week by energy think-tank Ember.“When you look at the gap of how much money has to flow into renewables, it’s very clear that, even in conservative targets, we need a lot more investments and financing than what is coming in,” said Neshwin Rodrigues, senior energy analyst for India for Ember and one of the report’s authors.
The report estimated that a total capital flow of $300bn by 2032 would be needed to keep India on track to meet its “ambitious” renewable energy targets.
India has about 209GW of installed renewable energy capacity, which contributes less than a quarter of the country’s total power generation, according to Ember and government data.
By comparison, China, the world’s largest polluter on an annual basis, generates about 35 per cent of its power from clean energy sources, not including nuclear energy.
The authors point to obstacles to financing in India’s renewable energy sector including “project commissioning delays, driven by land acquisition challenges, grid connectivity issues and regulatory hurdles”.
The US has also accused Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder of Adani Green Energy, India’s largest solar operator, of orchestrating a bribery scheme to win contracts in the country. Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.
Despite India’s strong demand for renewable energy, “in the short term” the allegations involving Adani “increase the risk” perception of India, said Vibhuti Garg, South Asia director with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Moody’s said last week that India’s power sector would need to invest up to 2 per cent of GDP over the next decade to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2070 net zero pledge — more than what the rating agency said China and Australia would invest over that period.
S&P Global’s India subsidiary Crisil estimated in a report last month that India’s green investments totalled nearly $70bn between 2019 and 2024. This will need to go up to $350bn in the next five years if it is to meet its green energy targets, Crisil forecast, which it said would be an “uphill task” because of perceptions of low-carbon projects as being high-risk, longer gestation periods and changing regulatory policies resulting in an unpredictable business environment.
Such financial shortfalls highlight the challenges facing India’s green energy transition. Officials, industry leaders and experts pointed in particular to the sector’s struggle to raise foreign capital. India’s minister for new and renewable energy Pralhad Joshi last month stressed the need for “even higher renewable financing”.“Access to long-term low-cost capital and foreign capital will be essential to bridge the funding gap” for the renewables sector, Moody’s said.
The Reserve Bank of India offered more than $1bn of 10-year sovereign green bonds between November and January, of which 75 per cent did not find any takers.
Yet raising foreign capital has been hamstrung by protectionist policies that limit the ability to hedge against the rupee’s fall in the long term and the state setting electricity prices, according to one western diplomat.
Sumant Sinha, chair of Nasdaq-listed ReNew, one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, said there was international equity funding available and domestic banks had stepped up lending. But “one part of the market the Indian companies are not able to or are not accessing right now is the international bond market”, he said.
Vinay Rustagi, a renewable industry expert and director of Premier Energies, pointed to high interest rates and global expectations of higher returns as hurdles for fundraising.“Investors have become more selective,” he said. Billion Indians have no spending money – report (BBC)
BBC [2/25/2025 2:53 PM, Nikhil Inamdar, 78938K]
India is home to 1.4 billion people but around a billion lack money to spend on any discretionary goods or services, a new report estimates.The country’s consuming class, effectively the potential market for start-ups or business owners, is only about as big as Mexico, 130-140 million people, according to the report from Blume Ventures, a venture capital firm.Another 300 million are "emerging" or "aspirant" consumers but they are reluctant spenders who have only just begun to open their purse strings, as click-of-a-button digital payments make it easy to transact.What is more, the consuming class in Asia’s third largest economy is not "widening" as much as it is "deepening", according to the report. That basically means India’s wealthy population is not really growing in numbers, even though those who are already rich are getting even wealthier.All of this is shaping the country’s consumer market in distinct ways, particularly accelerating the trend of "premiumisation" where brands drive growth by doubling down on expensive, upgraded products catering to the wealthy, rather than focusing on mass-market offerings.This is evident in zooming sales of ultra-luxury gated housing and premium phones, even as their lower-end variants struggle. Affordable homes now constitute just 18% of India’s overall market compared with 40% five years ago. Branded goods are also capturing a bigger share of the market. And the "experience economy" is booming, with expensive tickets for concerts by international artists like Coldplay and Ed Sheeran selling like hot cakes.Companies that have adapted to these shifts have thrived, Sajith Pai, one of the report’s authors, told the BBC. "Those who are too focused at the mass end or have a product mix that doesn’t have exposure to the premium end have lost market share."The report’s findings bolster the long-held view that India’s post-pandemic recovery has been K-shaped - where the rich have got richer, while the poor have lost purchasing power.In fact, this has been a long-term structural trend that began even before the pandemic. India has been getting increasingly more unequal, with the top 10% of Indians now holding 57.7% of national income compared with 34% in 1990. The bottom half have seen their share of national income fall from 22.2% to 15%.The latest consumption slump, however, has deepened amid not just a destruction in purchasing power, but also a precipitous drop in financial savings and surging indebtedness among the masses.The country’s central bank has also cracked down on easy unsecured lending that propped up demand after the Covid pandemic.Much of the consumption spending of the "emerging" or "aspirant" class of Indians was led by such borrowing and "turning off that tap will definitely have some impact on consumption", says Pai.In the short run, two things are expected to help boost spending - a pick-up in rural demand on the back of a record harvest and a $12 billion tax give-away in the recently concluded budget. It will not be "dramatic" but could boost India’s GDP - largely driven by consumption - by over half a percent, says Pai.But major longer-term headwinds remain.India’s middle class - which has been a major engine for consumer demand - is being squeezed out, with wages pretty much staying flat, according to data compiled by Marcellus Investment Managers."The middle 50% of India’s tax-paying population has seen its income stagnate in absolute terms over the past decade. This implies a halving of income in real terms [adjusted for inflation]," says the report, published in January."This financial hammering has decimated the middle class’s savings - the RBI [Reserve Bank of India] has repeatedly highlighted that net financial savings of Indian households are approaching a 50-year low. This pounding suggests that products and services associated with middle-class household spending are likely to face a rough time in the years ahead," it adds.The Marcellus report also points out that white-collar urban jobs are becoming harder to come by as artificial intelligence automates clerical, secretarial and other routine work. "The number of supervisors employed in manufacturing units [as a percentage of all employed] in India has gone down significantly," it adds.The government’s recent economic survey has flagged these concerns as well.It says labour displacement as a result of these technological advancements is of particular concern for a mainly services-driven economy like India, where a significant share of the IT workforce is employed in low value-added services sectors that are most prone to disruption."India is also a consumption-based economy, thus the fall in consumption that can result from the displacement of its workforce is bound to have macroeconomic implications. If the worst-case projections materialise, this could have the potential to set the country’s economic growth trajectory off course," the survey says. ‘You need a bath after the bath’: World’s largest religious gathering wraps up after 600 million devotees take holy dip (CNN)
CNN [2/25/2025 11:06 PM, Aishwarya S Iyer and Helen Regan, 908K]
Hundreds of millions of Hindu devotees have bathed in sacred waters, despite concerns over overcrowding and water pollution, as the world’s largest religious gathering wrapped up Wednesday in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Over the last 45 days, more than 620 million people – nearly a third of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population - have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj, in a spectacle of color and expression of faith.
Followers have come to take a holy dip in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three holy rivers – the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – to purify their sins and take another step closer to "spiritual liberation.".
Every 12 years the festival carries the prefix "Maha," which means great, as it’s the largest gathering of the Kumbh Mela that’s held every three years in one of four cities.
"It is a unique, once in a lifetime experience," said Sushovan Sircar, 36, who works as an independent consultant in Delhi. "People from all over India are here, as I saw number plates of cars from almost every state.".
Though this year’s festivities have been marred by two separate, deadly crowd crushes, millions have turned out for the festival despite concerns of overcrowding and reports of "unsafe" levels of contamination in key bathing sites.
A report from the Central Pollution and Control Board (CPCB), part of India’s Environment Ministry, last month found high levels of coliform faecal bacteria in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, despite the government touting sustainable initiatives and sanitation efforts.
Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath denied the accuracy of the government report, insisting that the water was not just safe for bathing, but also for the Hindu ritual of drinking a handful after bathing.
Attendees often submerge themselves fully, sometimes drinking or collecting the sacred water in containers.‘My sins are cleansed, but not my body’
Sircar, the independent consultant from Delhi, said he bathed in the water at Sangam point – the confluence of the three rivers considered to be the most auspicious place to bathe and where most people take their dip – twice last week.
"There is a concern because there is nothing I can do about the contamination in the water. In your mind you tell yourself, this part looks clean, spend a few minutes in, recite prayers and come out," said Sircar.
"I took a shower for sins and then another shower for the contamination," he laughed. "So you need a bath after the bath… My sins are cleansed, but not (my) body.".
Before the festival began, India’s top environmental court directed the state and federal pollution boards to ensure the river water was clean enough to drink and bathe in. It called for increasing monitoring and sample collecting of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers and ensuring that no untreated sewage or solid waste would be discharged.
But a report submitted by the federal pollution board on February 3 stated that faecal coliform levels, a key indicator of untreated sewage and faecal matter in water, were far above the safe limit set by the board of 2,500 units per 100 millilitres.
At various parts of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers around Prayagraj levels were more than 1,000 over the safe limit, according to the report.
Adityanath said his government was continually monitoring the water levels to ensure its quality.
Kumbh Mela organizers also told CNN that an "exhaustive survey" of all 81 drains that release water in the rivers was carried out ahead of the festival.
"We have ensured that the water quality has been maintained," said Kumbh Mela officer Vivek Chaturvedi.
Aishwary Sharma, 31, a finance professional in Delhi, said he took a dip in the rivers despite knowing it could be polluted.
"I think it is quite evident that the Ganga and Yamuna are not clean rivers," he said. "(But) there are many things that are bad for you… The air we breathe is so toxic for our health… It is just another thing that is polluted that could have a harmful impact on my health.".
For others, their faith and participating in the sacred festival was more important than their concerns.
"What (most people) are interested in is their devotion and religion and that they want to take that holy dip," said Sunny Parasher, 34, from Panchkula in Haryana state.
"Where there is devotion, where there is religion, there is no question," he said.
Kalpana Mishra, 55, a housewife from Prayagraj, said she would not take another holy dip after reading the pollution board’s report.
"What does being a literate person mean if you hear all this and still decide to go?" she asked.
Exposure to faecal contamination can cause water borne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhoea, cholera, gastroenteritis, E-coli, skin disease and vomiting, health experts warn.
Push to clean the rivers
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made cleaning the Ganges, India’s holiest river, a priority since first taking office in 2014 – with billions of dollars spent or pledged on sewage treatment, cleaning surface waste and afforestation in the decade since.
The Ganges, a lifeline for 400 million people who live and work along it, runs through 50 Indian cities that pump out about 3 billion liters of sewage every day – only a fraction of which is treated before it reaches the river, according to the World Bank.
The Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges, has also for decades been plagued by the dumping of toxic chemicals and untreated sewage.
Ahead of the festival, Indian authorities touted this year’s gathering as a "Green Kumbh," with sustainable initiatives such as a ban on single-use plastics, eco-friendly toilets, electric rickshaws and an army of 15,000 sanitation workers hired to clean up after major bathing days.
The Ministry of Culture said in January that the festival had been "meticulously planned to uphold hygiene and ecological balance" and would "set an example for future large-scale events worldwide" in environmental responsibility.
Protecting and cleaning the river was even a major theme at a conference held on the sidelines of the festival with religious and environmental leaders coming together for the first time on how religious institutions can address the climate crisis.
"If there is no water in the rivers, there is no Kumbh. We don’t consider it water, we consider it nectar," said Indian spiritual leader Swami Chidanand Saraswati at the meeting. "If we all do not make efforts to protect it, then the next (Kumbh Mela) will be on mere sand.".
But complicating the green efforts was the enormous crowd size at this year’s Kumbh Mela, which saw 250 million more people than originally expected, according to one expert. Authorities had planned for about 400 million people to attend over the six-week gathering, with about 9 million people per day, but about 620 million people attended in total, according to government figures.
"It is a mammoth task to take care of such a crowd," said Dr Nupur Bahadur, an associate director with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a research institute that looks at wastewater management, established by the Indian government.
River contamination could be better managed by adopting better on-site prevention and disinfection methods, Bahadur said.
One of them could be halting the dip after every 12 hours for one hour" and letting fresh water run through the bathing areas before "the dips can be restarted," she said.
Bahadur said that while the festival’s "massive increase in footfall" strained its infrastructure, it has still been "the best human effort possible" in such a situation.
Prayagraj resident Mishra said she will be happy when her city gets back to normal.
"My eyes are constantly burning and there is so much dust," she said. "I want the festival to end so I can get back to my life.". India’s vast Hindu festival draws to an end (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/25/2025 8:34 PM, Staff, 52868K]
India’s Kumbh Mela festival wraps up Wednesday, with final ritual river bathing ceremonies ending six weeks of celebration that organisers say have been attended by hundreds of millions of devotees.
Despite two deadly stampedes that killed dozens, the festival in the northern city of Prayagraj has been hailed as a triumph by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, bolstering its carefully cultivated image as a steward of Hindu resurgence and national prosperity.
Both Modi and his ally, firebrand Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath -- chief minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh where the festival is held -- say the millennia-old festival has been the "grandest" yet.
The Kumbh Mela is rooted in Hindu mythology, a battle between deities and demons for control of a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality.
The festival, which opened on January 13, ends Wednesday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Maha Shivratri, in honour of the deity Shiva.
According to eyebrow-raising figures from Adityanath’s state government, more than 620 million devotees took part in the festival, a staggering statistic even for the world’s most populous nation of 1.4 billion people.
Millions more people seeking salvation are expected to shrug off stomach-churning faecal matter measurements to immerse themselves in sacred river waters on Wednesday.
Authorities say the estimates have been calculated using artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras, but the figures are impossible to independently verify.
The festival was marred by a deadly stampede on January 29 that killed at least 30 people and injured 90 others.
Officials insisted for hours that no one was seriously injured, despite graphic television footage from the scene.
Earlier this month, another 18 people died during a stampede at the main railway station in New Delhi when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to Prayagraj.
The deaths have taken the sheen off the government’s claims of stellar management of the event.
But the twin tragedies failed to deter millions who continued to pour into the temporary township along the banks of the river. Modi wants Tesla to build cars in India. Making the plan work may not be easy (CNBC)
CNBC [2/26/2025 3:30 AM, Dylan Butts, 35.4M]
India has been striving to become a global manufacturing hub, having successfully invited major companies such as Apple to set up as well as expand production in the country.
To further bolster its manufacturing prowess, the South Asian nation has been eyeing Tesla
to set up its base in the country. And the carmaker that has appeared reluctant for long is now signaling interest in the market as the Indian government attempts to welcome it by implementing a new EV tariff policy.
Tesla is reportedly recruiting and scouting showroom locations in the country, following a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this month. “One thing is for sure, Tesla is coming to India based on the recent news, and the government is also very serious about it,” Puneet Gupta, Director for the Indian automotive market at S&P Global Mobility, told CNBC.
India introduced an EV policy last year that proposes to lower the import duties on EVs to 15% from about 70%, with the government set to start accepting applications under this policy before March-end, according to domestic news agency IANS.
This relaxation only applies to premium EVs priced at over $35,000 and requires investments totaling nearly $500 million and long-term plans to set up local manufacturing.The EV policy represents a targeted move to appeal to Tesla’s business interests, signaling India’s readiness to support EV manufacturing, Ammar Master, a South Asia director of Automotive at GlobalData, told CNBC. “The Indian government has been proactive in its attempts to lure Tesla into establishing its manufacturing base in India,” he said.
The automaker, however, faces several headwinds to breaking into the world’s third-largest auto market.
It’s unclear if Tesla’s entry makes sense under India’s investment scheme, with any plans the automaker might have likely to be rolled out slowly and in a measured way due to several entry barriers, Gupta and other analysts said.
Price and commitment issues
According to a recent research note by Bank of America, if Tesla were to enter this scheme, it would translate to minimum landed car prices of $40,000.
At this price, Tesla EVs would enter India’s market at a very high price point, above what existing Indian OEMs cater to and implying a small addressable market, BofA said.
Under the planned EV scheme, Tesla would also need to follow a 3-year timeline for setting up manufacturing facilities in India, reaching a 50% domestic value addition within 5 years.
Analysts say jumping into this commitment would be premature for Tesla, based on their current price points.
A research note from BNP Paribas on Monday stated that local production in India won’t make sense unless Tesla can reduce its vehicle prices to below $30,000 to allow for mass volumes in India.
Meanwhile, Tesla has yet to signal significant interest in setting up a manufacturing base in the country, with its recent job openings consisting of mostly consumer-facing positions.
Additionally, geopolitical barriers may influence Telsa’s decision to produce cars in India under the new Donald Trump administration. In an interview alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week, President Trump said that Tesla manufacturing in India would be “very unfair.”
The company has also been working on completing the production of manufacturing plants in Germany and Texas. ‘Slow and measured’
Given the price and investment challenges, experts told CNBC that Tesla’s India foray will start with exporting cars to the market to test the waters first. “We expect Tesla’s entry into India to be slow and measured, given the low average price point in the market,” BNP Paribas said, noting that the company has plans to launch more affordable models later this year.
Meanwhile, S&P Global Mobility’s Gupta said that Tesla will likely push India to tweak its EV tariff policy further, allowing it to start shipping to the country more easily before making any investment promises.
Some local media sources in India have reported that government may further tweak the EV policy to attract Tesla considers the market. “Even if they commit to the current proposal, it will be after six months or so,” added Gupta.
However, while the Indian EV market remains small, getting a foothold there could be a valuable endeavor for Tesla as it looks for new markets amid intense competition with Chinese EV makers such as BYD. “With the current momentum, we project that Passenger BEV sales in India will reach 1 million units by 2030, accounting for 20% of total sales,” said GlobalData’s Ammar Master. Musk’s India Move Shows the Cracks in Trump’s Coalition (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [2/25/2025 3:00 PM, Mihir Sharma, 16228K]
Elon Musk’s companies may finally have cracked open the Indian market, though the reaction from US President Donald Trump shows the coalition he’s constructed is more fragile than it appears.It wasn’t obvious to anyone whether Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his recent trip to Washington as a businessman or as a representative of the US government. In fact, when Trump was asked that exact question, he seemed unsure of the answer.Perhaps the correct comeback would have been “both.” Indians certainly seem to know how to handle this apparent contradiction. A few days later, Bloomberg News reported that Tesla Inc. was hiring in India, and that plans had been drawn up to ship a few thousand of its cars to the country. The newly empowered Musk seems to have finally gotten the market access he craves.Tesla has long wanted to sell cars in India, but Musk has balked at the high tariffs that would be applicable on imported high-end EVs. The government, meanwhile, would far prefer that Musk manufacture in locally. Any agreement would involve them meeting in the middle: Last year, New Delhi said that any company investing $500 million in domestic manufacturing would be able to access lower tariffs on imports.But here’s the problem: Trump wants all tariffs lowered. He has often said that Indian import levies make it impossible for American cars to compete. Nor does he look kindly on US companies that want to invest abroad under such circumstances. In fact, when specifically asked if Musk should build a factory in India to get around its tariff walls, Trump said that would be “very unfair.”When concerns are raised about Musk having a conflict of interest as a government official, the interests in question are usually those of Musk’s companies and the American public. But the conflict that is most likely to hurt Musk is when his business requirements clash with Trump’s other priorities.Investing in India is an excellent example of such a divergence. Companies like SpaceX and Tesla have long eyed the local market, and will be willing to put money into the country if it means that they can get around high regulatory or tariff barriers. But Trump wants that capital to stay in the US.Perhaps Trump and Musk can work it out. But the problem is larger than this captivating bromance. It gets to the heart of whether two large wings of the Trump coalition — Big Tech and the America Firsters — can stay together for four years.There have already been signs of tension between these two, again involving India. Many hardline Trump supporters were dismayed when the president’s champions in Silicon Valley spoke up in favor of H1-B visas, the majority of which go to engineers of Indian origin. Musk himself felt strongly about the issue, saying that “the reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1-B.”Trump seemed to come down on the tech-bros’ side of the skilled-worker visa debate, saying that “we have to have the most competent people in our country.” But that may not be the outcome every time. Certainly, each occasion there’s such a disagreement, the coalition will fray further.For Big Tech, India is a vital resource. It’s a big, rapidly digitalizing market where a lot of money could be made. And it is also a useful source of ideas, start-ups and skilled engineers. And even if Modi’s administration refuses to open up its economy further, tech companies can deal with any barriers easily enough by investing and hiring locally. But that is unlikely to please the other part of the Trump coalition, which will see it as dangerously globalist.Trump rode to power promising that his business acumen would force everyone to make better deals with the US. But what happens when some of his followers, like Musk, want to make their own deals with the world? Texas must take advantage of India’s diplomatic train (Dallas Morning News – opinion)
Dallas Morning News [2/25/2025 9:21 AM, Arun Agarwal, 2778K]
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched down in Washington D.C. earlier this month, it served as a tangible reminder of the priority that the United States has placed on its current and future relationship with India.There can be no question that Modi’s recent visit marks a defining moment in both President Donald Trump’s second term as well as in the history of the U.S.-India relationship. This was not simply another diplomatic tour, this was a strategic visit with the top leaders of our country at a time when the world’s two largest democracies are poised for unprecedented economic and geopolitical collaboration.Nowhere is the importance of this collaboration more evident than in Texas, a state uniquely positioned to lead the way in expanding business ties, particularly in the energy and defense sectors. With one of the largest Indian American communities in the country, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s proactive approach, Texas is set to become the cornerstone of the next chapter in U.S.-India relations. The window of opportunity is now open, but it won’t remain so forever.Energy security, alongside energy independence, played a key role in the Trump campaign strategy and continues to be a vital pillar of U.S. economic growth. Presumably, then, it makes great sense that Texas, America’s oil and gas powerhouse, will be at the center of the strategic energy partnership with India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer, as its demand for oil, natural gas and renewable energy sources is soaring. Modi’s visit has underscored India’s commitment to securing stable and diversified energy partnerships, and Texas is the natural partner to fulfill this need.To further that point, Texas leads the U.S. in crude oil production, refining capacity, and liquefied natural gas exports. Houston is already a major hub for LNG shipments to India, and this trade is only expected to grow. Abbott, having visited India twice, has laid the groundwork for increased energy cooperation, focusing on LNG exports that will help India transition from coal to cleaner fuels. The expansion of LNG terminals in Texas will ensure a steady supply to India, reinforcing Modi’s push for energy security and environmental sustainability.Moreover, with India’s burgeoning interest in hydrogen and renewable energy, Texas, home to some of the most advanced clean energy projects, offers significant investment opportunities. Joint ventures in carbon capture, offshore wind and hydrogen fuel could redefine how our two nations approach sustainable energy development. The market for these opportunities is widening today and is expected to grow in the next few years.In addition to vast opportunities in the energy sector, the U.S. (and by extension, Texas) and India also share a common interest in ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and Modi’s visit has brought defense cooperation to the forefront. Texas is home to several key defense manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon, making it the ideal hub for joint military production and technology transfers. Another clear win-win for the bilateral economic partnership.With India modernizing its military and seeking to reduce its dependence on Russian equipment, Texas-based defense companies are poised to play a significant role in India’s next-generation security infrastructure. The recent deal to manufacture GE fighter jet engines in India, facilitated through already established U.S.-India agreements, sets a precedent for further collaborations in aerospace and missile defense.Beyond energy and defense, Texas is a natural fit for Indian businesses looking to expand in the U.S., as our state is home to a thriving technology sector, with cities like Austin and Dallas emerging as major tech hubs. With Indian IT giants such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro already having a presence in Texas, Modi’s visit can — and likely will — catalyze further investment in AI, semiconductors and advanced computing.With a business-friendly environment, no state income tax, and strong infrastructure, Texas offers a compelling (and significantly more affordable) alternative to California’s Silicon Valley, a fact that Modi has recognized based on his ongoing dialogue with Abbott.Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Texas is home to one of the largest and most influential Indian American communities in the country. This population is not only growing in numbers but also in economic and political influence. Indian American entrepreneurs, engineers and business leaders are actively shaping key industries in Texas, from energy to health care to finance.With this political and economic clout, our state can surely serve as a bridge between the U.S. and India, facilitating cultural and business exchanges. Abbott’s previous visits to India were partly driven by the strong advocacy of Indian American leaders who recognize the immense potential of Texas-India collaboration. Modi’s visit reinforces the role of the Indian diaspora in strengthening diplomatic and economic ties. With increased business delegations and trade missions, Texas can leverage its Indian-American community to build long-term partnerships with India.Abbott has already laid the groundwork, but it is now up to Texas business leaders, policymakers and investors to seize this opportunity. NSB
Bangladesh resumes direct trade with Pakistan after 50 years (The Independent)
The Independent [2/25/2025 5:56 AM, Alisha Rahaman Sarkar, 44838K]
Bangladesh has resumed direct trade with Pakistan after over 50 years with the first shipment of 50,000 tonnes of rice leaving Port Qasim under a deal between Islamabad and Dhaka.
The two nations have seen a drastic improvement in bilateral relations since the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took power in Bangladesh after protests toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last August and sent her fleeing to India.
Bangladesh was once a part of Pakistan but became independent after a nine-month war with Islamabad in 1971.
The export of rice marks the first instance of direct trade between the two countries in 54 years.
"For the first time, a Pakistan National Shipping Corporation vessel carrying government cargo will dock at a Bangladeshi port, marking a significant milestone in maritime trade relations," Pakistani daily The Express Tribune reported.
To begin with, Bangladesh is buying 75,000 tonnes of white rice at £395 per tonne from the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. The remaining 25,000 tonnes of grain is expected to be delivered in early March. Dhaka appears to be paying a higher price for Pakistani rice compared to its procurement from Vietnam. The country has been importing rice from Hanoi at £375.63 per tonne.
The interim government has been trying to stabilise the rice market as prices have risen by 15-20 per cent in recent months.
The new trade deal between the two countries came after Dhaka in January simplified the visa process for Pakistanis to further strengthen economic relations. The interim government removed the requirement of clearance from Dhaka for Pakistani heads of missions to get visas, Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Islamabad, Iqbal Hussain, told reporters.
Mr Hussain said increasing trade and investment between the two countries "must be a top priority" for Dhaka and Islamabad. Tens of thousands gather for Hindu festival at Nepal temple, with many lighting up marijuana joints (AP)
AP [2/26/2025 3:46 AM, Binaj Gurubacharya, 456K]
ens of thousands of Hindu devotees gathered at a revered temple in Nepal’s capital on Wednesday to celebrate one of the country’s biggest religious festivals.
In the Bankali forests near Pashupati, the temple of the Hindu god Shiva, holy men and devotees puffed on cannabis smoke, a practice that is normally illegal but is permitted during the Shivaratri festival.
Devotees have been praying and dancing to religious songs at the temple, which is one of the most important for Hindus around the world. About 81% of Nepal’s population is Hindu. Many Hindus from neighboring India also traveled to Kathmandu for the festival.
A key part of Shivaratri is the freedom to smoke marijuana, an act that is normally punishable by prison sentences of up to a month for users and 10 years for traffickers.
The forest area across the Bagmati river from the temple was filled with marijuana-smoking Hindu holy men, who camp there for days during the festival. Young Nepalese men and some women were also partaking in the smoke.“Weed smoking should be made legal but with some limits and boundaries,” said Abhishek Pathak, who was among those smoking cannabis. “There are multiple uses of marijuana and I really hope in the future that the use of marijuana will be totally legalized.”“Once it is legalized, the benefits would be not just for the individuals but for the entire country,” he said.
Lawmakers and supporters have made efforts to decriminalize marijuana in Nepal. A petition was filed in January 2020 to legalize the farming and use of marijuana, but progress since then has stalled.“Once marijuana is legalized in the country, there will be so many opportunities that it could open up like in medical use,” said Akash Rimal, a festival attendee.
Nepal was famous for marijuana and other narcotics in the 1960s, when hippies made their way to the Himalayan nation. Shops and tea houses used to advertise and sell it legally. However, marijuana was outlawed in 1976.
Hundreds of police officers patrolled the area but were not stopping the smokers from puffing on joints during the festival. Central Asia
Russian media regurgitating conspiracy theory about US biological warfare experiments in Kazakhstan (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/25/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
The Trump administration wants to be friends again with Russia. But the possibility of rapprochement does not seem to be moderating Russian behavior. Russian media outlets have recently mounted a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging the US image in Central Asia, featuring unsubstantiated reports that the Pentagon is conducting military-related research in Kazakhstan on deadly pathogens.
It all began with a February 21 report published by the Russian outlet EurAsia Daily, claiming that “the Americans are supervising activities to prepare local laboratories [in Kazakhstan] for the study of especially dangerous infectious diseases.” The report was subsequently reprinted by multiple other Russian outlets and amplified on numerous Telegram channels. To date, the Kazakh government has not commented on the Russian reports.
Over the past few days, the disinformation campaign has gained lots of traction in the Russian-language information space. It aims to sow fear among Kazakhs, as the media reports claim, without providing any proof that “the work of US research facilities in Kazakhstan has previously led to outbreaks of infectious and viral diseases.”
The conspiracy theory that Washington is conducting dangerous biological experiments in Kazakhstan is nothing new. Russia and China have propagated such rumors at least since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in early 2020. In 2023, a commentary published by a leading Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the Global Times, alleged the United States was “building covert biological-military laboratories in Central Asia.”
The Chinese account, along with the recent Russian reports, misstates or greatly distorts the facts. A facility situated on the outskirts of Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty, known as the Central Reference Laboratory (CRL), was indeed built with US funds provided under the auspices of an initiative known as the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The CTR initiative “was created for the purpose of securing and dismantling weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their associated infrastructure in the former states of the Soviet Union.”
Kazakhstan assumed full authority for operating the lab in 2017, and its functions are fully funded by the Kazakh state budget.
Kazakh officials have stated that the CRL’s main purpose is civilian research aimed at increasing “the technological and methodological possibilities of controlling especially dangerous infections and to conduct research to prevent mass epidemics in the country.”
The United States maintains a connection to the lab, but the American role is limited to “training and mentorship in biosafety and engineering maintenance,” according to a statement issued in 2022 by the US Mission in Kazakhstan. CPC oil pipeline operator says drone damage repairs to take two months (Reuters)
Reuters [2/26/2025 5:01APM, Olesya Astakhova, 78938K]
Damage to a pumping station on the Russian stretch of Kazakhstan’s main oil export pipeline will take two months to repair, operator Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said on Wednesday.The Kropotkinskaya pumping station in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack on February 17, sparking market concerns about supply from Kazakhstan, supplier of more than 1% of the world’s oil.There were conflicting reports about the impact on flows.Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said volumes had fallen by some 30-40% while one of the oil firms involved, Tengizchevroil, said flows from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oilfield via CPC were uninterrupted. The pipeline carries oil from Kazakhstan as well as Russian fields to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiisk and news of possible disruptions to supply have impacted global oil markets.Russian President Vladimir Putin said repairing the damage would be challenging as it would require Western equipment currently subject to sanctions.Kazakhstan has pumped record high oil volumes despite the drone incident, industry sources said, as CPC reroutes flows to bypass the damaged pumping station.U.S. majors Chevron and ExxonMobil are among its shareholders alongside the Russian state, Russian firm Lukoil, and Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas.The pipeline delivered 63 million metric tons of oil (around 1.3 million barrels per day) in 2024, CPC said, adding its exports this year stood at 9.8 million tons as of February 23.It reported revenue of $2.3 billion for 2024 with a payout to shareholders of $1.3 billion in dividends, both little changed from a year earlier. Indo-Pacific
Rights decline but bright spots in South Asia: Freedom House (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/26/2025 12:01 AM, Shaun Tandon, 913K]
Freedom declined around the world last year with authoritarians solidifying their grip, but South Asia led a series of bright spots, Freedom House said Wednesday in its annual report.
The Washington-based pro-democracy research group elevated two countries to the status of "free" -- Senegal, where the opposition triumphed after the outgoing president’s attempt to delay elections was defeated, and Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom which consolidated a transition to democracy with competitive polls.
Tiny Bhutan gained the distinction of being the only South Asian country classified as free. But others in the region made strong gains in the index without changing categories -- Bangladesh, where iron-fisted leader Sheikh Hasina fled in the face of a revolt, and Sri Lanka, where Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected president on an anti-corruption platform after breaking the stranglehold of the two long-dominant parties.
The largest score improvement in the index, which tracks both countries and territories, was in Indian-administered Kashmir, which held elections for the first time since the Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi revoked the Muslim-majority region’s special status in 2019.
But Freedom House said India as a whole saw further deterioration as it pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to gain influence over judicial appointments. The group downgraded the world’s largest democracy from "free" to "partly free" in 2021.
Yana Gorokhovskaia, the co-author of the report, said it was the 19th consecutive year that freedom fell on a global level, but that 2024 was especially volatile due to the high number of elections.
"The big picture is that this was another year of the same trajectory of a global decline in freedom but because of all the elections, it was more dynamic than previous years," she said.
She said that both Bangladesh and Syria, where Islamist-led fighters toppled longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, saw immediate improvements in civil liberties -- but that it would be a longer road to see gains in political representation.
Political rights largely "depend on institutions. And those are easy to destroy but very hard to build up," she said.
A rare bright spot in the Middle East was Jordan, which was upgraded from "not free" to "partly free." Freedom House pointed to reforms that allowed more competitive elections in the kingdom.
On the other hand, four countries were downgraded from "partly free" to "not free" -- Kuwait, Niger, Tanzania and Thailand.
Thailand -- which has repeatedly shifted in the Freedom House categories -- saw a court disband the party which won the most votes in elections and then dismiss the prime minister from the second-ranking party after an ethics complaint by senators backed by the powerful military.
Kuwait’s emir disbanded parliament after elections, while in Tanzania, Freedom House pointed to a crackdown on protesters under President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Niger came under full grip of the military after a 2023 coup ousted elected president Mohamed Bazoum.
Tunisia, El Salvador and Haiti also saw steep declines. The only country given a perfect 100 score on freedom was Finland, with New Zealand, Norway and Sweden all right behind at 99.
Freedom House, founded in 1941 with bipartisan US support, receives US government funding but is independently administered. The non-profit group has planned layoffs after President Donald Trump froze money aimed at democracy promotion. Judge temporarily blocks Trump attempt to stop refugee admissions (Washington Post)
Washington Post [2/25/2025 6:25 PM, David Nakamura and Teo Armus, 31735K]
A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping ban on refugee admissions, saying the presidential executive order represented an improper nullification of congressional authority.U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead’s granting of a preliminary injunction effectively requires the administration to restart the refugee-admissions program that President Donald Trump shut down last month as part of his actions aimed at tightening immigration controls.The judge’s order will remain in place while the case is adjudicated. The Trump administration has the right to appeal his decision within 60 days.“The president has substantial discretion … to suspend refugee admissions,” Whitehead said, according to the Associated Press, during a court hearing in a lawsuit brought by international refugee aid groups. “But that authority is not limitless.”Whitehead was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2023.In their legal filing, the plaintiffs, including some refugees affected by the ban, said Trump’s order and the related suspension of federal funds for resettlement programs “are already inflicting — and, absent expedited relief, will continue to inflict — catastrophic and irreparable harm on refugees, their family members, and organizations” involved in helping refugees.Aid groups said the federal funding covers up to the first 90 days a refugee is in the United States and is used to provide housing, furnishings, food, clothing, orientation and assistance with access to social, medical, educational and employment services.“Congress has created a detailed system that has been in place for nearly 50 years for bringing in refugees and providing integration when they arrive,” Linda Evarts, a senior supervising attorney for the International Refugee Assistance Program, said in an interview. “What Trump and the administration did was take a wrecking ball to the program in violation of congressional authority.”The ruling in Seattle comes during a flurry of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s immigration actions in the president’s first month. Four federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions temporarily halting an executive order to curb birthright citizenship. On Monday, another judge issued a partial injunction against the administration’s guidance that authorized immigration enforcement operations at religious institutions.Civil liberties groups have sued to provide legal support for migrants detained at a new facility at Guantánamo Bay, and some cities are seeking to prevent the administration from withholding federal money for “sanctuary cities,” which limit cooperation with federal deportation operations.In his executive order, which took effect Jan. 27, Trump said the United States was unable to “absorb large numbers of migrants, in particular, refugees” without compromising public safety and federal and local resources in the communities where they are resettled.The United States accepted 100,034 refugees in fiscal 2024, the most in three decades, according to the Migration Policy Institute. That was almost 10 times the number during Trump’s final year of his first term, when the country resettled 11,400 refugees, the lowest in the program’s history, after he cut admissions significantly.The Biden administration had provided for 125,000 refugees to be resettled in fiscal 2025, and by the end of December, 27,308 of them had been admitted, the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.Trump’s ban has the potential to affect tens of thousands of Afghans who were actively seeking resettlement in the United States. About 1,700 people were expected to be moved out of Afghanistan over the next four months, human rights workers estimated.Erol Kekic, senior vice president at Church World Service, which is among the plaintiffs, said he hopes the injunction will allow organizations such as his to continue supporting families who were extensively vetted before winning permission to rebuild their lives in the United States. Refugees must prove they are facing persecution in their home countries.“This is a population that has been invited to come to the U.S.,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “The decision to suspend the program was capricious and arbitrary and ultimately illegal.”Trump’s ban had already split families in two, Kekic said.The parents of one colleague of his, who fled conflict in Yemen to Egypt, had gone through intense vetting and been offered a date to come to the United States. The suspension meant it was not certain if the parents would be reunited with his colleague.An amicus brief filed in the case by 19 Democratic state attorneys general argued that Trump’s order was conflating refugees with migrants and that cutting off funding hurts efforts to integrate them into communities throughout the country. Some resettlement group leaders said they hoped the injunction would lead to the restoration of that funding.Kekic’s group works with local affiliates to cover rent, groceries and other basic needs for families for their first few months in the United States through a contract with the federal government. But like some other resettlement agencies, it had not been reimbursed by the State Department for those costs in more than a month.Church World Service had been covering the cost to support refugees who arrived in the country during the final months of the Biden administration, Kekic said.Without reimbursements, it had to furlough more than half its U.S. employees — many of them former refugees themselves. Some families, including Afghans who fought against the Taliban alongside the U.S. military, have received eviction notices because of unpaid rent and are struggling to find health care.“How do you stop paying someone’s rent when they have just arrived here and cannot work because they just got off the plane?” he said. “They need to pay for the services that we are contractually obliged to give people and have been giving.”The Office of Refugee Resettlement, a separate federal office that typically supports costs beyond refugees’ first 90 days in the United States, also has failed to fully reimburse groups such as Church World Service with no explanation, Kekic said.He said he was hopeful that the injunction would allow his group to resume its work.“We hope the administration will abide by the order,” he said. “That’s a huge question, isn’t it?” Twitter
Afghanistan
Lina Rozbih@LinaRozbih
[2/25/2025 11:08 AM, 426.4K followers, 4 retweets, 14 likes]
Government fraud was a major factor in the collapse of the Afghan government. Corruption in the form of ghost schools, ghost teachers, ghost officials, ghost contracts and nonexistent projects significantly contributed to its downfall. A truly competent government operates with efficiency, integrity, and responsible management of public funds. #Afghanistan @elonmusk
Lina Rozbih@LinaRozbih
[2/25/2025 10:37 AM, 426.4K followers, 3 likes]
Twenty-nine people died in two provinces in Afghanistan due to hail and heavy rain, officials said Tuesday. "Twenty-one people were killed and six others were injured" because of hail in western Farah province, said Mohammad Israel Sayar, head of the province’s Disaster Management Department. The victims are members of two families who had gone for a picnic, he said. In southern Kandahar, the local disaster management department said in a statement that eight people -- including women and children -- were killed in several locations due to heavy rain.
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[2/25/2025 9:26 AM, 8K followers, 43 retweets, 124 likes]
An Afghan ally trained by U.S. intelligence professionals who was paroled into the U.S. in January 2024 was detained by ICE during an annual check-in in the leadup to his asylum hearing two weeks ago. My latest on his struggles in Reason magazine: https://t.co/3ByfS8IZod Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[2/25/2025 7:47 AM, 6.7M followers, 326 retweets, 1K likes]
Wheels down in Uzbekistan. Deeply touched by the grand reception at the airport and the warm welcome by my dear brother Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov. Uzbekistan being the crown of Central Asia, breathes history through the grandeur of its ancient cities, timeless art, and magnificent architecture. Looking forward to my engagements to enhance our common desire to strengthen these bonds of friendship through trade, investment and mutually advantageous cooperation.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[2/26/2025 1:22 AM, 481K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Statement by the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Ambassador Amna Baloch @amnabaloch4 at the High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament.
Joe Wilson@RepJoeWilson
[2/25/2025 4:06 PM, 159.3K followers, 5.1K retweets, 9.1K likes]
Grateful to join @RepublicanStudy Chairman @RepPfluger to urge @SecRubio to free Imran Khan and work to restore democracy in Pakistan. US-Pakistan relations are strongest when they are based on freedom!
Raza Ahmad Rumi @Razarumi
[2/25/2025 12:20 PM, 572.3K followers, 2 retweets, 3 likes]
Pakistan faces challenges in securing #climate finance despite commitments under its Nationally Determined Contributions. Policy reforms, institutional strengthening, and private sector engagement are key to progress. India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/25/2025 7:46 AM, 105.5M followers, 3.7K retweets, 24K likes]
Attended the Advantage Assam Summit. Over the last decade, Assam has witnessed significant development, which has made the state an attractive investment destination. This Summit will go a long way in highlighting the growth opportunities in the state across various sectors.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/25/2025 7:32 AM, 105.5M followers, 4.1K retweets, 25K likes]
Herath Poshte! This festival is closely associated with the vibrant culture of our Kashmiri Pandit sisters and brothers. On this auspicious occasion, I wish for harmony, good health and prosperity for everyone. May it also fulfil dreams, create new opportunities and bring lasting happiness for all.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[2/25/2025 11:52 AM, 3.3M followers, 154 retweets, 894 likes]
Pleased to address Advantage Assam Summit 2.0 in Guwahati alongside CM @himantabiswa, Ambassadors and delegates. Spoke about Modi Government’s commitment to ‘Act East, Act Fast and Act First’.
Highlighted:- Act East starts with a change of approach by Delhi towards Assam and Northeastern States that has happened since 2014 under Modi Government.- It is supported by Purvodaya Scheme to bring new energy and resources to infrastructure, employment, skilling and development. - Neighborhood First policy has transformed infrastructure and connectivity across our eastern borders. Wholehearted commitment to bilateral and regional cooperation can take it further.- ASEAN is a partner of enormous consequence. AITIGA review, mobility arrangements and new tech domains offer great possibilities. - IMTT highway can be a real game changer. Every effort should be made to advance it. - BIMSTEC is receiving heightened attention. We intend to commit more energies and resources.- Giving our collaboration with Japan and South Korea a more contemporary character is important. The partnership with Australia also merits a particular mention.- Assam can act as a hub for our Act East policy. Brand Assam grows stronger by the day. #AdvantageAssam2
Ashok Swain@ashoswai
[2/25/2025 5:12 PM, 621.6K followers, 95 retweets, 266 likes]
The 45-day Maha Kumbh of Hindus in India, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, ends today with the final dip in the Ganges River at Prayagraj. The ‘holy’ water of the Ganges is full of faecal matter or stool that is excreted from the intestines of animals and humans. NSB
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[2/26/2025 12:02 AM, 117.5K followers, 7 retweets, 30 likes]
.@UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres has written a letter to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, expressing his strong support for the ongoing reform efforts under the Chief Adviser’s leadership. #Bangladesh #ChiefAdviser #Reform
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[2/25/2025 9:09 AM, 117.5K followers, 143 retweets, 2K likes]
Adviser @NahidIslam_24 signs the resignation letter at the State Guest House Jamuna in the presence of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. 25 February 2025. #Bangladesh #ChiefAdviser
Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh@ChiefAdviserGoB
[2/25/2025 8:42 AM, 117.5K followers, 41 retweets, 574 likes]
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday requested consideration of the Government of Maldives for regularization of the undocumented Bangladeshi expatriates living in the country and to recruit more workforce from Bangladesh. #Bangladesh #ChiefAdviser
Brahma Chellaney@Chellaney
[2/25/2025 9:25 AM, 270.6K followers, 214 retweets, 834 likes]
Bangladesh’s descent into Islamist violence has shaken up the army chief, who played a key role in last August’s regime change. "We are going through a chaotic situation, with criminals taking advantage," Gen. Zaman said, warning that the lawlessness could tear the country apart.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 10:14 AM, 55.4K followers, 18 retweets, 17 likes]
Minister @abkhaleel met with Deputy Minister of @AzerbaijanMFA @ElnurIMammadov at the sidelines of #HRC58 They exchanged views on strengthening bilateral cooperation, and the importance of multilateral engagement on issues of mutual interest. #MDVatHRC58
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 10:13 AM, 55.4K followers, 12 retweets, 10 likes]
Minister @abkhaleel met with @WIPO Director General Darren Tang at the sidelines of #HRC58 A productive exchange was shared highlighting Maldives’ engagements with WIPO and exploring potential for further collaboration.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 9:37 AM, 55.4K followers, 14 retweets, 17 likes]
Maldives National University together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosts model Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Press Release | https://t.ly/56xrB
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 9:06 AM, 55.4K followers, 13 retweets, 9 likes]
Maldives Calls for Greater Gender Equality in Global Diplomacy at the Human Rights Council Press Release | https://t.ly/Rqci0
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 9:05 AM, 55.4K followers, 12 retweets, 7 likes]
FM @abkhaleel participated in the High Level panel discussion on Advancing Equality through Multilateralism #HRC58 side event organised by Slovenia Discussions centered on the role of women in multilateralism & women’s leadership in addressing present & future global challenges
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/25/2025 8:51 AM, 55.4K followers, 16 retweets, 13 likes]
Minister @abkhaleel spoke about the importance of digital connectivity for countries like Maldives, at the High-level side event on the impact of Internet shutdowns and the role of Freedom Online Coalition organised by @FO_Coalition and @EstoniaGeneva on the sidelines of #HRC58
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[2/25/2025 11:58 PM, 39K followers, 2 retweets, 1 like]
Statement delivered by Hon. Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism at the High Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament, on 25 February 2025 Read more: https://mfa.gov.lk/en/conference-on-disarmament-25-february-2025/ #DiplomacyLK #lka
MFA SriLanka@MFA_SriLanka
[2/25/2025 10:53 AM, 39K followers, 6 retweets, 4 likes]
Statement delivered by Hon. Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism on 25 February 2025 during the High Level Segment of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council Read: https://mfa.gov.lk/en/58th-regular-session-of-the-human-rights-council/ #DiplomacyLK #lka
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/25/2025 3:45 PM, 145.9K followers, 20 retweets, 156 likes]
Maha Shiva Rathri is a sacred and joyous occasion celebrated by Hindu devotees across the world in reverence of Lord Shiva. This divine night marks the celestial union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, as well as the powerful Tandava, Shiva’s cosmic dance of creation and destruction. It symbolises the triumph of wisdom over ignorance, dispelling the darkness of illusion and lighting the path to enlightenment.
On this auspicious night, Hindu devotees observe fasting and engage in spiritual practices, praying for the darkness of ignorance to be replaced by the radiance of wisdom. It is also a time to seek divine blessings for prosperity, peace and fulfilment in life.
The union of Shiva and Parvati is a profound representation of knowledge and power coming together. It reminds us that breaking free from the illusions of division allows us to embrace the truth with open eyes. Today, as we stand at the dawn of a new era, this message is more relevant than ever. Let us tear down the barriers that have kept us apart for generations and unite as one, casting aside discord and embracing togetherness. This is a moment to nurture interfaith harmony, celebrate our diversity and move forward with love and mutual respect, dedicating ourselves to the progress of our beloved motherland.
As we journey towards a brighter future, it is our collective responsibility to build a nation grounded in unity and strength. We are stepping into a time of transformation, embracing political, economic and social renewal, shaping a future that holds promise and hope for all.
On this sacred night, as the glowing lamps of Maha Shiva Rathri illuminate our surroundings, let them also illuminate our hearts, guiding us with unwavering faith along the path we have chosen. Let us walk forward together, hand in hand, in the spirit of peace, unity and shared prosperity.
May this Maha Shiva Rathri bring fulfilment, happiness and boundless blessings to all Hindu devotees in Sri Lanka and around the world. Anura Kumara Dissanayake President Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 26th February, 2025
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/25/2025 6:35 AM, 145.9K followers, 5 retweets, 70 likes]
Today (25), I met with @ChappazSeverine, the appointed Head of Delegation of the ICRC, at the Presidential Secretariat. We discussed the ICRC’s support for our government’s initiatives, including technical assistance for the Office on Missing Persons. I also highlighted budget allocations for search programmes and plans to celebrate "Sri Lankan Day" to foster national unity. Grateful for the ICRC’s humanitarian work in Sri Lanka since 1989.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/25/2025 5:29 AM, 145.9K followers, 44 retweets, 152 likes]
Today (25), I met with the High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives, @MasoodImv, at the Presidential Secretariat. He extended his congratulations on the government’s electoral victory and welcomed the ongoing transformations. We discussed strengthening our 60-year friendship and I appreciated the Maldives’ contribution to our bilateral ties. Central Asia
MFA Kazakhstan@MFA_KZ
[2/26/2025 1:19 AM, 57K followers, 3 retweets, 4 likes]
Interaction with the UN Development Programme was Discussed at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry https://gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/945971?lang=kk
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[2/25/2025 10:28 PM, 2.7K followers, 2 retweets, 7 likes]
Had an insightful meeting with @RepKamlagerDove, exchanging views on global and regional dynamics. Looking forward to collaborating with the Congresswoman on the HFAC South &Central Asia Subcommittee to promote shared priorities and strengthen ties between the U.S. and Kazakhstan
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[2/26/2025 1:53 AM, 212.7K followers, 4 likes]
An official ceremony welcomed #Pakistan’s Prime Minister @CMShehbaz on his official visit to #Uzbekistan. President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev greeted the guest, followed by the national anthems and a guard of honor. After introducing delegations negotiations commenced in a narrow format.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[2/25/2025 8:50 AM, 212.7K followers, 2 retweets, 18 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on economic development, job creation, and investment attraction in #Syrdarya region. Initiatives include developing industrial zones, expanding trade and service hubs, and optimizing agriculture. A renovation program will support housing with tax incentives, alongside upgrades to infrastructure, irrigation and social facilities.{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.