World Asia: South & Central
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Cover Story The girls who took over a town in rural India
Development experts around the world are increasingly focused on girls as a linchpin of economic and social progress. In Thennamadevi, though, teen girls have taken action on their own, improving their village with a speed that would make any official envious.
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First Look Myanmar bulldozes remnants of Rohingya villages
Satellite images of Myanmar's Rakhine state show dozens of Rohingya villages have been leveled by authorities. Human rights advocates say the government is demolishing what amounts to scores of crime scenes before any credible investigation takes place.
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First Look Rohingya refugees could find new home on Floating Island
In what its prime minister said would be a 'temporary arrangement,' Bangladesh is turning an uninhabited island into a home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims. But aid workers said they remain seriously concerned the island can't sustain livelihoods for thousands of people.
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First Look To avoid global watchlist, Pakistan takes control of Islamist charities
Pakistan's government assumed control of a vast web of charity organizations previously run by Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation charities, two groups viewed as terrorist fronts by the United States.
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Amid Kashmir's unrest, girls' sports are more than a game
Young Kashmiri sportswomen are pushing boundaries in everything from rugby to karate. It's a source of both empowerment and escape in a region where opposition to Indian rule often flares into violence.
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Fighting sexism, India's police ask: When is 'women only' good for women?
A vicious gang rape in 2012 spurred a groundswell for reform to combat rampant harassment and gender-based violence. Some police have turned to all-female patrols and stations – but the approach has plenty of critics. Part 6 of Reaching for Equity: a global series on gender and power.
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First Look South India's 'Tollywood' film industry addresses sex trafficking
Tollywood, an influential film industry, has produced six short anti-trafficking films designed to deter young men from buying sex in an effort to counter the number of trafficked girls and women lured by acting opportunities.
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First Look Malala returns home with promise to continue fighting for girls' education
Six years after she was shot by the Taliban for attending school, Malala returns home to Pakistan. She continues to work for girls' education and asks that Pakistan be united on such issues as providing better health care and education.
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First Look Pakistan's first transgender newscaster breaks barriers
Marvia Malik is the first trans TV anchor in a conservative Muslim country where members of her community are often ostracized and targeted in violent attacks. She aims to use her profession to change the perceptions of Pakistani society toward transgender people.
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Global decline in democracy? The lesson from India may be 'Not so fast.'
Many of the world’s established democracies are showing strains, and India is no exception. But the world's largest democracy also offers a portrait of a remarkably diverse, complex society resisting some antidemocratic pressures.
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First Look India offers assistance in boosting use of solar power around the world
India, the top contributor to growth in energy demand, is now in partnership with France to take its growing knowledge on solar power and use it to help other tropical countries around the world implement programs of their own.
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For Indians rethinking college abroad, home has new degree of possibility
A new US administration, red tape, and the high costs have discouraged some applicants from abroad. But in India, many university students say they see a growing sense of opportunity right here, for their college years and beyond.
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First Look India's plan for an eco-friendly city asks farmers to give up their land
The new city of Amaravati, designed to be eco-friendly and sustainable, is seen as a new direction for Indian cities that are typically polluted and congested. However, there's been a push back from local farmers unwilling to relinquish fertile land to construction cranes.
Photos of the Week Photos of the Week 04/23
A girl looks through a window of a train parked at a railway station in New Delhi on April 20.
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First Look Chinese solar company takes root in India to avoid import taxes
Global complaints of Chinese trade policies have risen recently, and several countries are considering import taxes against the nation. In response, one of the China's largest solar suppliers announced plans on Tuesday to invest in manufacturing facilities in India.
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For Afghan women, rocky path to respect exacts a steep price
Western donors have spent heavily to improve women's lives in Afghanistan and teach them to fight for their rights. But the efforts would be more successful, some say, if they better fit the Afghan cultural context. Part 4 of Reaching for Equity: a global series on gender and power.
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First Look India moves to deny tobacco industry's right to trade
In a legal argument relying on a Roman-era law doctrine, the Indian government aims to take away the tobacco industry's right to trade in an effort to limit opposition to new regulations.
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First Look Refugees in limbo: Rohingya reluctant to go home
Bangladesh and Myanmar have struck a deal to send Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in Bangladesh back to villages in Myanmar, but refugees are hesitant to return to a country that regards them as illegal migrants.
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First Look Rohingya refugees find their voice in demands to Myanmar
Citizenship, return of land, and justice are just some of the things being petitioned by Rohingya refugee leaders in a Bangladesh refugee camp. Representing 40 villages, Rohingya elders are heading the effort to have their demands met by Myanmar ahead of the repatriation process.
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First Look As Indian cities develop, minorities forced into slums
Ghettoized into cramped conditions, low-income Hindus and Muslims struggle with access to civic amenities, ostracized in their efforts to find a job and better living conditions. These minorities and their increasingly worsening conditions highlight the deepening divide between the rich and the poor in India.
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First Look Bangladesh agrees with Myanmar on Rohingya return
Myanmar will begin the repatriation process of refugees currently in Bangladesh next week, but refugees fear mistreatment and that the temporary camps in Myanmar could become permanent.
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First Look Mapping India's 'invisible' shoemakers
A meeting of shoemakers in south India aims to improve conditions for homeworkers, most of whom do not have access to social security or fair wages.
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US sanctions based on "unreliable accusations," say Myanmar officials
The response comes less than a week after the Trump administration levied sanctions against Major General Maung Maung Soe, who was in charge of a crackdown on the Rohingya minority in the western state of Rakhine.
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First Look Myanmar to free reporters detained for drone camera
Myanmar police said they will release two journalists, an interpreter, and a driver, after arresting the group for filming with a drone. Two Reuters journalists, who were jailed in December while covering the Rohingya refugee crisis, remain in custody.
