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☆ King apologises for Netherlands' historic role in slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Dutch King Willem-Alexander speaks at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, July 1, 2023. The king apologised for the royal house's role in slavery and asked for forgiveness. Peter Dejong/Pool via REUTERSAMSTERDAM, July 1 (Reuters) - Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands' historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today. The apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the Netherlands' colonial past, including involvement in both the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in its former Asian colonies. Willem-Alexander apologised in Indonesia in 2020 for "excessive violence" during Dutch colonial rule.

Persons: King Willem, Alexander, Peter Dejong, Keti, Willem, Mark Rutte, Rutte, Orange, Toby Sterling, Jason Neely, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Dutch State, Royal House, Royal, Thomson Locations: Netherlands, Amsterdam, REUTERS AMSTERDAM, Caribbean, Amsterdam's, Indonesia, Dutch, East India

New Delhi CNN —Nearly half a million people in northeast India have been affected by severe flooding after heavy rains battered the region, turning roads into rivers and submerging entire villages. More than 495,000 people spread across 22 districts in the state of Assam have been impacted by floodwaters, its disaster management authority said in a statement Thursday. Men trying to cross the flooded street in Nalbari district of Assam India on Tuesday June 21, 2023. Assam, a state of more than 31 million people, experiences heavy rain and flooding during India’s unrelenting monsoon season which can last from April to September. A man carries belongings from his partially submerged house in the flood affected Dhamdhama village of Nalbari district, in India's Assam state on June 22, 2023.

Persons: Dasarath Deka, Biju Boro Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, ZUMA Press, Getty Locations: New Delhi, India, Assam, Nalbari district, Assam India, Nalbari, India's Assam, AFP, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

New Delhi CNN —Eleven people have been shot dead and 14 injured in a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence that has gripped the northeast Indian state of Manipur. The current unrest has seen some of the worst violence in recent years and has sparked criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs Manipur. If they are given this status, other ethnic groups – many of whom are Christian – say they fear they will not have a fair chance for jobs and other benefits. People wait at a temporary shelter in a military camp on May 7, after being evacuated by the Indian army, as they flee ethnic violence that has hit the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Metei community dominates positions within the state government, and have been privy to more economic and infrastructural advancement than the other ethnic groups.

Persons: JNIMS, Deben, Arun Sankar, Narendra Modi, Modi, Amit Shah’s, Christian Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Raj Medicity Hospital, CNN, Getty, Indian, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Union, Indian National Congress Locations: New Delhi, Manipur, state’s, Imphal, Indian, Arun, Myanmar, Kashmir, India, Kuki

☆ A bridge under construction in India's Bihar state has collapsed -- for the second time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A four-lane concrete bridge being built across the River Ganges in the east Indian state of Bihar has collapsed for the second time in just over a year, once again raising questions about the quality of its construction. The Sultanganj Bridge has collapsed twice since construction began in 2017, the first time in April last year before Sunday’s catastrophic failure. It’s not clear why the bridge collapsed last year or if those problems had been rectified. Crowds of people on the river bank can be seen filming the bridge and shouting as it tumbles down. The Sultanganj Bridge is not the only one to have collapsed in India in the last year.

Persons: Bihar’s, Nitish Kumar, McElhanney Organizations: CNN, Singla Locations: Bihar, India, Morbi, Gujarat

The crushed train cars were cleared and the jumbled tracks straightened and rejoined, as workers labored on Sunday to quickly restore an important rail line in east India two days after the country’s worst train disaster in decades. Families of the victims were still struggling to reach the site of the wreck, near the town of Balasore in Odisha State. The desperate journey to claim the bodies of loved ones was complicated for many families by a lack of train service, though by late Sunday night, some rail movement on restored tracks began in both directions. Officials said a special train would ferry relatives from the city of Kolkata, in the neighboring state of West Bengal, to Odisha. And the government of Odisha announced free bus service on the disrupted train route.

Persons: Odisha, ”, Rahul Kumar Organizations: Officials Locations: India, Balasore, Odisha State, Kolkata, West Bengal, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

☆ Asia's drug trade is thriving post-pandemic, UN report warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

There are other signs of the drug trade bouncing back. West African trafficking networks in East and Southeast Asia, which “all but disappeared” during the pandemic, have now resumed their activities, the report said. From Myanmar, meth and other synthetic drugs then travel out to the world, with shipments previously found as far away as Japan, New Zealand and Australia. It also pointed to the high number of drug-related arrests and admissions at drug treatment facilities as further evidence of robust trade. That figure is 167% higher than the previous year, according to the UNODC report.

Persons: ”, Jeremy Douglas, “, ” Douglas, Douglas, Inshik Sim Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, United Nations Office, Drugs, “, UNODC Regional Representative, Southeast, Central America Locations: Hong Kong, Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Yunnan, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Central, Laos, From Myanmar, Japan , New Zealand, Australia, South Asia, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Cambodia, France, Poland, Indonesia, South Korea

☆ How a deadly bat virus found new ways to infect people
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Scientists found bats with Nipah virus roosting near Sabith’s home. A search of the neighborhood led to a colony, near their house, of flying foxes, a common fruit bat. NETTING NIPAH: Researchers in Bangladesh use nets to catch bats and collect samples to find the Nipah virus in the wild. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainWhether Sabith ate contaminated fruit or somehow came into direct contact with a bat, the virus entered his cells. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainA year later, Chua’s team found the same strain of Nipah virus in flying foxes.

☆ India builds more hospitals as population surges but doctors in short supply
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Shivam Patel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The problem is a lack of doctors, a shortage that is reaching crucial levels as India becomes the world's most populous nation. Inaugurating the first specialised medical institute in northeast India last month, Modi said his government had sought to increase the number of doctors by setting up more medical colleges. The number of public hospitals, excluding specialised institutes, has risen some 9% in Modi’s time at the top, government data shows. The government says there was a near 80% shortage of surgeons, physicians, gynaecologists and paediatricians at community health centres in rural India as of March 2022. Specialist doctors tend to go overseas or join the private sector in metropolitan and other large cities, said Dr K. Srinath Reddy, at the Public Health Foundation of India non-profit.

☆ Why has India's Manipur state exploded in ethnic violence?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

People are evacuated by the Indian army to a temporary shelter as they flee ethnic violence that has hit the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, near Imphal on May 7, 2023. Manipur, a lush, hilly state which borders Myanmar, has long history of civil conflict since modern India’s creation. The divide between the Meiteis and the other ethnic groups is cut sharply across political and geographic lines. People wait at a temporary shelter in a military camp, after being evacuated by the Indian army, as they flee ethnic violence that has hit the northeastern Indian state of Manipur on May 7, 2023. Modi, who is in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to campaign for state elections, is yet to speak publicly about the unrest, sparking widespread anger among Manipur’s residents.

☆ Australia to prioritise long-range strike capability in defence shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/6] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy and Chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Angus Campbell speak to the media at a news conference after the release of the Defence Strategic Review at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia April 24, 2023. AAP/Lukas Coch/via REUTERSCANBERRA, April 24 (Reuters) - Australia's government will prioritise long-range precision strike, domestic production of guided weapons, and diplomacy - key points of a review released Monday recommending the country's biggest defence shakeup since World War Two. Australia must also strengthen defence cooperation with Japan, India, Pacific and South East Asian nations, the review said. The review found Australia's defence force was "not fit for purpose", he said. The navy needs more smaller vessels with long-range strike weapons, with details decided after an independent analysis this year, the report said.

☆ Japan proposes industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to India
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Manoj Kumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, April 11 Reuters) - Japan has proposed developing an industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to the landlocked northeastern states of India, and to Nepal and Bhutan beyond by developing a port and transport in the region, officials said on Tuesday. It comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India last month in which he touted the idea of a new industrial hub for the Bay of Bengal and northeast India that could bolster development in the impoverished region of 300 million people. "It can be a win-win plan for India and Bangladesh," Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan's ambassador to India, said on Tuesday, citing the industrial hub proposal at a meeting of Indian, Bangladeshi and Japanese officials in Agartala, the Tripura state capital. He said the deep seaport was likely to become operational by 2027 and would be a key to building an industrial hub connecting the Bangladeshui capital Dhaka to landlocked areas of India. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit Japan from April 25-28 at Kishida's invitation, a government statement said.

☆ The Clash of Civilizations That Heralded a Rocky Relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Abhishek Kaicker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Das, a professor of English at Oxford University, is the rare scholar who combines a sensitivity to the literature of Jacobean England with a sympathetic and nuanced understanding of the Mughal empire. In Das’s telling, Roe was not a herald of the Company Raj to come as much as a product of 17th-century England, an island nation whose commercial ambitions were beginning to overshadow its royal court. Conflicts over precedence did nothing to advance his mission of securing trade rights, which was the real reason Roe had been sent across the Indian Ocean. The Mughal emperor Jahangir suffered neither James I’s financial embarrassments nor accorded much privilege to traders. Indeed, the court’s sumptuous ceremonies led “mogul” to become a byword for fantastical wealth and overwhelming power.

☆ Analysis: India's EV dawn fans expectations fuel demand may peak early
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Mohi Narayan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Currently, around 90% of Indian petrochemical demand is met by China, he said, so a shift by Indian refiners towards domestic chemical needs could dramatically change supply dynamics. Indian refiners are investing billions of dollars to raise petrochemical capacity. Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), the country's top refiner, is raising petrochemical capacity at its Panipat refinery by 13% and building new plants linked to its Paradip and Gujarat refineries. India's state refiners, which dominate fuel retailers, plan to set up EV charging facilities at more than 22,000 fuel stations and highways by 2024. About 40% of India's fuel demand is for diesel, which is mostly used by trucks.

☆ Russian Deaths in Indian Jungle Followed Days of Binge-Drinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Stacy Meichtry | Krishna Pokharel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BHUBANESWAR, India—Pavel Antov holed himself up in his hotel room, refusing food and drink for two days, after the death of a longtime friend who had accompanied him on a trip deep into the jungles of east India. The last time the staff at the Hotel Sai International recall seeing the 65-year-old Russian—a prominent regional lawmaker who owned a sausage-making company—he was alone on Dec. 24, swinging his fists in the air and heading for the hotel roof.

☆ Two calves of endangered Javan rhinos spotted in Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JAKARTA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia has welcomed two baby Javan rhinoceroses to a family of one of the world's most endangered species, the environment and forestry ministry said. Javan rhinos, which are distinguished by their single horn, were once found throughout northeast India and Southeast Asia. Today they are among the most threatened of the five rhino species, mainly due to poaching. There are now 77 Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon, the ministry said. Reporting by Heru Asprihanto and Johan Purnomo; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Netherlands PM Rutte apologises for role of Dutch state in slavery
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Tosterling Ank Kuipers | Ank Kuipers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte responds to recommendations from a panel of experts to accept the role of the Netherlands in the history of slavery and its current consequences in The Hague, Netherlands December 19, 2022. "Today I apologise," Rutte said in a nationally televised speech at the Dutch National Archives. "For centuries the Dutch state and its representatives have enabled and stimulated slavery and have profited from it," he added. "It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery...(however) the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants." The panel said that Dutch participation in slavery had amounted to crimes against humanity and in 2021 recommended an apology and reparations.

☆ Opinion: The British Empire: A legacy of violence?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

A related question is also surfacing now: What is the legacy of the British Empire writ large? Bergen: This reassessment of British Empire: You are leading the charge. Bergen: So, are the British in high school as they learn about British history being told a bunch of fairy tales? Are there similarities between the 1619 Project and what you and other colleagues are doing in your reassessment of the British Empire? And I think that’s what we’re seeing in different kinds of ways with the history of the British Empire.

☆ University of Cambridge says it gained from slave trade
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Cambridge said an investigation it commissioned had found no evidence that the university itself ever owned slaves or plantations directly. Those came from university benefactors who had made their money from the slave trade, the university’s investments in companies that participated in it, and fees from plantation-owning families, according to the investigation’s report. Researchers found that fellows from Cambridge colleges were involved with the East India Company, while investors in the Royal African Company also had links to Cambridge — two companies both active in the slave trade. “Such financial involvement both helped to facilitate the slave trade and brought very significant financial benefits to Cambridge,” the Legacies of Enslavement report said. The university said it had also received a donation to commission a Black British artist to memorialize Black Cambridge scholars, and will install explanatory plaques to contextualize older statues of those associated with the slave trade.

☆ The Kohinoor diamond was obtained by the British Empire. Some argue it should be returned to India.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-12 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, online users are calling for the British government to surrender artifacts obtained by the British Empire, including the Kohinoor diamond — one of the most famous diamonds in the world. Conversations about the diamond — also spelled Koh-i-noor — which is part of the British crown jewels, have been trending on social media amid coverage of the queen’s death, with users posting their opinions about the empire — and memes about stealing the diamond back. “The actual histories of British imperialism tell a much different story, one of horrific violence, dispossession, prejudice and significant economic exploitation,” she said. Maharaja Duleep Singh, the son and successor of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, held on to the diamond until the British annexed Punjab in 1849. (The Royal India Company was the royally chartered company formed to exploit trade with East and Southeast Asia and India.)

☆ Un cutremur puternic a lovit nord-estul Indiei (FOTO/VIDEO)
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-28 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Un cutremur cu magnitudinea 6 a lovit nord-estul Indiei miercuri dimineaţă, a informat Institutul de Geofizică din Statele Unite (USGS), potrivit DPA, citat de agerpres.ro. Cutremurul a fost înregistrat la 10,9 kilometri nord-nord-vest de oraşul Dhekiajuli, din statul Assam, nu departe de graniţa cu Bhutan. An #earthquake measuring over 6.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale hit North-East India on Wednesday morningI am coordinating with the administration and the concerned authorities to provide all kinds of required assistance to the people Dekhiajuli. pic.twitter.com/NZ22MstPxi — Sana Praveen (@SanaPraveen15) April 28, 2021Seismul s-a produs în jurul orei 02:21 GMT, la o adâncime de 34 de kilometri, potrivit USGS. Ministrul Sănătăţii din Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, a postat pe Twitter fotografii în care pot fi văzute daune minore ale clădirilor.

Organizations: Cutremurul, USGS Locations: Indiei, Statele Unite, Dhekiajuli, Assam, graniţa, Bhutan, North, East India

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