India and China start disengaging at Himalayan border in new pact
India and China started pulling back their troops at the disputed Himalayan border as the two nuclear-armed powers began ending their four-year-long military standoff.
The major anticipated border de-escalation marks the biggest thaw between New Delhi and Beijing since the deadly clashes between their troops in May 2020 in Galwan Valley.
Hundreds of troops of the Indian Armed Forces and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) standing eyeball-to-eyeball at two points on the border in the western Himalayas are moving back from their positions, an Indian government source said on Friday.
“According to the recently agreed solution between India and China, their frontline armies are implementing relevant work, with smooth progress so far,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said in Beijing on Friday.
A government official in New Delhi said troops on both sides of the border have started withdrawing from the areas of Depsang and Demchok, the last remaining frontline points where they stood face-to-face.
In New Delhi, a government official speaking on the condition of anonymity and aware of the details said troops on both sides had started withdrawing from the areas of Depsang and Demchok, the last remaining points where they had stood face-to-face.
India and China have been embroiled in regional tensions since July 2020 after a military escalation in Galwan Valley killed 20 Indian soldiers and four PLA soldiers. Friction between the two nuclear-armed neighbours remained at an all-time high as the clash morphed into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area.
China and India heightened their security arrangements and stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
But in a major breakthrough on Monday at the Brics Summit in Kazan, India announced that it has agreed with China to a pact on resumption of military patrols along the border in the Himalayan region, ending the stand-off.
A day later, China’s foreign ministry also confirmed that Beijing “will work with India to implement these resolutions properly”.
The deal came through as president Xi Jinping and prime minister Narendra Modi met in Kazan on the sidelines of the regional summit as they met Russian president Vladimir Putin.
While neither China nor India have publicly announced the details of the new pact, Mr Xi and Mr Modi on Wednesday agreed to boost communication and co-operation in a bid to help end the conflict.
Both nations have earlier ordered pull back of troops from five other face-off points but the last such withdrawal happened over two years ago.
The clashes had led to a major diplomatic and military fallout between India and China. India, as a result of the clashes, blocked direct flights with China, banned hundreds of Chinese mobile applications and added layers of vetting on Chinese investments, drying up major proposals from giants like BYD and Great Wall Motors.
However, now New Delhi is considering opening up the skies and fast-tracking visa approvals to complement the recent easing of tensions, reported Reuters citing two Indian government sources.
They added that New Delhi will be taking baby steps and is not ready yet to reverse all steps taken against Beijing any time soon.
India and China have fought a war over their undemarcated border in the Himalayan passes in 1962.
Cancer awareness campaign comparing breasts to oranges sparks debate
An advertisement campaign aimed at raising breast cancer awareness in the Indian capital’s metro system has come under severe criticism for likening breasts to oranges and was subsequently pulled down.
The ad campaign featured an AI-generated image of several women on a bus, with one holding an orange in her hand. The text overlaid on the image read: “Check your oranges once a month.”
Several social media users highlighted the use of the word “orange” to refer to breasts, questioning why one would need to use this imagery instead of using direct, straightforward messaging to drive home the importance of regular checkups.
One commenter on X, who said he lost his mother to breast cancer, said that the use of indirect language led to women potentially not speaking up.
“My own loving dear mother died of breast cancer, which was Stage 4 at diagnosis. The irony was her son (me) ws a breast surgeon at that time, & out of modesty, she did not even tell her own son, when it was a small lump, that was potentially curable. So please don’t sexualize breast cancer which is the most common cancer worldwide,” he wrote.
Agents of Ishq, a project about sex, love and desire, also brought up how not using the correct words leads to people associating sexual organs with shame, and therefore not seeking help with preventable and treatable health conditions.
“Prohibiting SexEd accustoms us to associate sexual organs with shame & stigma. The outcome is people becoming uncomfortable bringing up a fatal condition,” they said.
Mahua Mitra, MP with the political party Trinamool Congress, also questioned the campaign.
“That’s B-R-E-A-S-T-S , breasts. Say it aloud please. Your mom has them, your wife, your sister, your daughter. Technically you have a pair too. They’re NOT oranges in case you haven’t noticed.”
Non-profit organisation YouWeCan Foundation, which was behind the advertisement, responded to a user on LinkedIn and defended their campaign.
“At YouWeCan, we know firsthand how difficult it is to get people to talk openly about breast cancer. It’s a topic that many avoid, unless it impacts them personally or someone close to them,” they wrote.
“Our use of oranges in the campaign was a bold creative choice, carefully thought through, with the goal of breaking the silence surrounding breast cancer. We would never use creative strategies to ridicule or diminish a cause that is so close to our hearts.
“We are proud that this campaign has already achieved significant success, with more and more people engaging with the topic positively and opening up vital conversations about early detection.
“Ultimately, our focus remains on driving impactful conversations that lead to life-saving actions, and we are dedicated to pushing this mission forward.”
Following the backlash, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Wednesday evening withdrew the advertisement. In a statement on X, they wrote: “DMRC authorities found the content inappropriate and immediately took serious cognizance of the matter. The said ad was found to be displayed only in one train and was removed at around 7.45pm on Wednesday.
“DMRC always strives to be sensitive to public sentiments and doesn’t encourage any sort of campaign/activity/display advertising which is not in good taste or in defiance of prevalent guidelines of advertising in public places. The Delhi Metro will endeavour to ensure that such incidents of inappropriate advertising don’t take place on its premises.”
The Independent has reached out to the YouWeCan Foundation for a comment.
YouWeCan chief mentor and trustee Poonam Nanda defended the use of oranges, saying that open discussions about breasts “can be sensitive” in India, according to Indian news daily Hindustan Times.
“Some have questioned our choice of using oranges in the breast cancer awareness campaign, but few have asked why. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I fully support this metaphor. In India, where openly discussing breasts can be sensitive, creative visuals help open up conversations about health that might otherwise be avoided,” she said.
“Despite initial discomfort, it broke taboos and empowered women to identify early warning signs. Similarly, in Argentina, campaigns have used vegetables like cucumbers and pumpkins to symbolise breasts, helping raise awareness for self-examinations.”
Nanda is referring to the 2017 Know Your Lemons campaign, which used the visual of lemons in an egg carton to replicate a simple but clear way to show what breast cancer symptoms can look and feel like.
Designer Corrine Beaumont, who created the design, had lost both grandmothers to breast cancer at the ages of 40 and 62, and wanted to create something so women would know exactly what to look out for.
“Some patients don’t want to talk about breasts or look at them. Often women used in campaigns don’t look like ordinary women – but even those with little literacy can understand this,” she told the BBC.
The YouWeCan Foundation’s campaign doesn’t illustrate symptoms of any kind.
Data from the ministry of health and family welfare shows that India ranked the highest in the number of estimated breast cancer deaths – 98,337 – for 2022 among females. A SURVCAN-3 study (Cancer Survival in Countries in Transition) from 2023 showed that while the 3-year median survival for breast cancer across countries was 84 per cent, it was 68 per cent in India.
Soldiers among four people killed in militant ambush in Kashmir
At least two Indian Army soldiers and their two civilian porters were killed when militants ambushed an army vehicle in Kashmir.
The militants sprayed bullets at an army vehicle carrying soldiers close to the highly militarised line of control (LOC) near Gulmarg in Kashmir on Thursday night, the police said.
The de facto frontier divides the disputed federal territory between India and Pakistan, which they both claim in its entirety but control only parts of it. The Himalayan region is at the heart of the decades-old dispute between the two nations.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989, which has resulted in the death of thousands of people. New Delhi insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge denied by Islamabad.
The attack took place hours after the lieutenant governor of the federal territory, Manoj Sinha, chaired a Unified Headquarters (UHQ) meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation amid the rising number of attacks in the region.
“A massive search operation has been launched against the militants responsible for the attack… Additional reinforcements have been sent to the area,” an army officer, who didn’t want to be named, told Reuters.
On Sunday, gunmen fatally shot at least seven people and injured five others working on a strategic tunnel project near another resort town of Sonamarg. Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for decades for the attack.
At least 19 people have been killed in the past 15 days, with the Gulmarg ambush being the latest, according to reports. The targeted attacks took place just days after an opposition alliance formed a local government after prime minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.
Newly-elected chief minister Omar Abdullah, in a post on X, termed the “recent spate of attacks” in the region “a matter of serious concern”.
“I condemn this attack is the strongest possible terms and send my condolences to the loved ones of the people who lost their lives,” he added.
The lieutenant governor said he has directed officials for “swift and befitting reply to neutralise terrorists”. “Sacrifice of our martyrs will not go in vain,” his office said in a post on X.
Sri Lanka police arrest three people after threat to Israelis
Sri Lankan police arrested three people over a threat to Israeli travellers after heightening security at popular tourist attractions.
The Indian Ocean island’s elite Special Task Force (STF) have scaled up security in three tourist hubs, including capital Colombo, after the US Embassy in Colombo warned of a possible threat to Israeli tourists.
Three suspects have been taken into custody and are now being interrogated, said minister of public security and foreign affairs, Vijitha Herath.
But he declined to give more information, saying that would hamper the investigation.
On Wednesday, authorities said they raised security around Arugam Bay, a popular surfing destination in the country’s east, as well as Weligama and Ella after receiving intelligence from another country about a possible threat to Israeli travelers.
A day later, Mr Herath said the information received did not include specifics on the nature of the threat but warned that an “attempt will be made to create disturbances” targeting places where Israel nationals conduct religious gatherings.
Israel’s national security council has also called on Israelis to immediately leave some tourist areas in southern Sri Lanka over the threat.
Sri Lanka, famed for its pristine beaches, tea plantations, and historic temples, is seeing a resurgence in tourism as the island nation recovers from a severe financial crisis.
Currently, 575 Israel nationals are on the island, the minister said.
The US embassy in Sri Lanka alerted Americans to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice due to “credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations” in that area.
Measures such as road blocks and vehicles checks have been put in placed with army and navy troops deployed among other security measures to protect tourists who will be visiting the country during the year-end season.
In 2019, eight simultaneous suicide bomb attacks on three tourist hotels and three churches on Easter Sunday killed 269 people, jolting its tourism industry.
In the first eight months of this year, 1.5 million tourists arrived in Sri Lanka, including a total of 20,515 from Israel, government data showed.
Militant attack kills 10 security personnel in northwest Pakistan
At least 10 Pakistan frontier police personnel were killed in an intense shootout in a militant attack in northwest Pakistan, authorities said on Friday.
The attack, which took place near a security outpost in Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province overnight on Thursday, also wounded other security forces, local police official Abdul Rauf said.
A large group of militants stormed the outpost and killed members of the frontier constabulary security force, according to three senior police sources who confirmed the attack to Reuters.
The assailants suffered casualties but fled along with their dead and injured accomplices when authorities dispatched reinforcements to the security post in the town of Draban, Mr Rauf said.
Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, confirmed the attack and paid tributes to the security forces killed and offered condolences to their families.
Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The group, a prominent regional rival of the Taliban carrying out terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, said the attack was retaliation for the killing of a senior leader, Ustad Qureshi, just 24 hours before by the Pakistan security forces.
Qureshi, regarded as a senior commander by the TTP, was among the nine killed in an intelligence-based operation, which also killed two suicide bombers in the Bajaur district bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan’s military said on Thursday.
The Pakistan military’s security forces shot and killed a total of 19 insurgents within 24 hours in two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur and Mianwali city in eastern Punjab.
Security forces recently have been conducting intelligence-based operations against Pakistani Taliban, who are known as TTP and have been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
According to Islamabad, the TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban refute the allegations.
Man taking selfie trampled to death by wild elephant
A man in India was trampled to death by a wild elephant while he attempted to click a selfie in the western state of Maharashtra.
Shashikant Ramchandra Satre, a 23-year-old electrician, was laying cable nearby on Thursday when he learned about a wild tusker roaming in the Gadchiroli forest.
Satre, along with two of his friends reportedly decided to venture inside the forest to get a glimpse of the elephant. Upon spotting the animal, he tried to click a selfie from a distance, NDTV reported.
However, the elephant, named CME3 by forest officials, turned aggressive and trampled Satre under its feet. The other two men managed to save their lives and escape from the area.
Forest officials have described the tusker as huge and aggressive, who entered the Gadchiroli forest in Maharashtra from neighbouring Chhattisgarh state.
The elephant had killed at least seven others between November 2023 to May 2024 in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Maharashtra states, the Times of India reported.
“We have already informed nearby villages to take precautions and posted forest staff in each village,” said Vivek Khandekar, Maharashtra’s principal chief conservator of forests.
“Our field staff, along with the Rapid Rescue Team, are already active in the area and informing the locals about the presence of wild elephants and does and don’ts while dealing with them,” he told the Indian daily.
India reportedly has recorded the highest number of selfie deaths followed by the US and Russia.
A man in southern India was mauled to death earlier in February by an Asiatic lion after he jumped into his enclosure to take a selfie with the animal.
Prahlad Gujjar, 38, scaled a 12ft-high fence and jumped into the lion’s enclosure at Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh, zoo officials said.
In 2021, another man was trampled to death by an elephant while he tried to take a selfie with it the animal in Chhattisgarh.
There have been 379 selfie-related deaths recorded worldwide between 2008 and 2021, according to a study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine.
Chinese lawyer on hunger strike over ‘ill treatment’ in prison
A Chinese human rights lawyer has started a hunger strike in protest against his treatment in prison where he is serving time for “subversion of state power”, rights groups say.
Xu Zhiyong, 51, a former lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, is serving 14 years.
Mr Xu began his hunger strike on 4 October to protest his treatment and violations of his rights in the Lunan prison in Shandong province, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, or CHRD.
His fast has sparked concerns for his failing health among fellow activists, who have called on the Chinese government to provide “adequate medical care” to him.
CHRD called for Mr Xu’s immediate and unconditional release from what it described as “wrongful detention”.
Mr Xu is being held separately and three fellow prisoners have been charged with monitoring him around the clock, according to his lawyer.
He has been deprived of phone calls and reading or writing materials while his family claims to have never received any of the letters written by him, Radio Free Asia reported.
He is reportedly referred to in the prison system as “Prisoner No 003″, rather than by his name.
Mr Xu has lost about 5kg in 20 days, CHRD said, adding that prison authorities have not confirmed whether he is receiving any medical care during his strike.
His partner Li Qiaochu, an activist, was released from jail in August after serving a 44-month sentence given in part for having accused authorities of subjecting Mr Xu to torture.
Mr Xu and fellow lawyer Ding Jiaxi were put on trial behind closed doors in June 2022 on charges of state subversion in Linshu county in the northeastern province of Shandong.
They are prominent figures in the New Citizens’ Movement and have served prison sentences previously as well. The movement, founded in 2010, demands greater transparency around the wealth of public officials and advocates for citizens to exercise their rights as written in the constitution.
Mr Xu had written an open letter calling for Chinese president Xi Jinping to resign due to his poor handling of the country’s crisis.
He was arrested in February 2020.
“I worry about Xu Zhiyong’s dire condition. He is risking his life to protest this inhumane treatment and authorities are tightly controlling his family and relatives,” Sophie Luo, activist and wife of Mr Ding, said.
“They are practically silenced, warned against disclosing any information about Xu. No lawyer has been allowed to visit him.”
Ms Luo said her husband has been recently deprived of his right to communicate with his family for the second time.
CHRD asked concerned governments and UN human rights bodies to urgently press Beijing to provide care to and release Mr Xu.
“As he enters the third week of his hunger strike, it is essential that governments state their unequivocal support for Xu Zhiyong and other writers and dissidents unjustly imprisoned in China,” Liesl Gerntholtz of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center said.
Mr Xu was made an honorary member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center in 2013 and honoured with the PEN America 2020 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.
Beijing has been accused of dramatically clamping down on dissent since Xi took over as president in 2012. China, however, has rejected allegations of human rights abuses, claiming that the jailed rights lawyers and activists are criminals who broke the law.
Mapped: Severe Cyclone Dana makes landfall in India
Cyclone Dana made landfall on India’s eastern coast as a severe storm, uprooting trees with torrential rains and strong winds.
The storm entered Odisha state last night with maximum sustained winds of around 68mph and gusts are expected up to 75mph, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
As it made landfall, the storm pounded some districts in Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal state with heavy downpours as gusty winds brought down trees, local media reported.
Dana was expected to weaken into a cyclonic storm by forenoon as it moves inland.
The landfall process is expected to continue into Friday as the storm pushes further into northern Odisha, before gradually weakening over the next few hours, IMD said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Dana is moving north-northwest at 10kmph and is centred over north coastal Odisha, about 30km north-northwest of Dhamra town.
The storm system will move deeper in the state, triggering heavy rains, IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohapatra said.
Authorities are still assessing damage from winds and storms. As of early Friday, there were no deaths nor any major damage reported.
At least 1.1 million people were evacuated by authorities on Thursday ahead of the storm.
Flights and trains were also suspended amid storm warnings. However, Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar airports have resumed their operations on Friday.
Fallen trees and debris blocked some roads in the coastal regions as cleanup operations began on Friday.
“There has been massive damage to electrical installations due to tree falling. Roads are being cleared,” Odisha higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj, who is in charge of Bhadrak district, said, according to NDTV.
Heavy rain was forecast to bring the risk of significant flooding in low-lying areas, the IMD warned on Thursday ahead of the storm.
Authorities were on high alert for damage in three districts in Odisha, where the weather department forecast a sea surge of around 1 meter (yard) during the landfall process, which could exacerbate flooding.
“The government is fully prepared to tackle the situation. You are in safe hands,” Odisha’s chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi told people before the storm’s arrival, according to PTI news agency.
Schools and public offices were shut on Friday and over 200 trains were cancelled in anticipation of the storm’s impact.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose said on Thursday that the people have braved many storms and will face Dana with confidence and patience.
“Bengal will stand together. India will stand together. We shall overcome,” he said, according to PTI news agency.
Hundreds of personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) were deployed in both states.
The team went door-to-door with loudspeakers making people aware of the cyclonic storm.
Bangladesh, although not in the direct path of Cyclone Dana, was also bracing for its impact, particularly in coastal districts like Khulna and Barisal. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned of heavy rainfall and tidal surges as the cyclone passes close to the country’s southern coast.
Parts of neighbouring Jharkhand are also expected to face heavy to very heavy rainfall from Thursday night as the storm system moved inwards.
IMD issued an orange alert for the Kolhan region in East Jharkhand, which includes the districts of West Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharswan, and East Singhbhum.
This alert signals the possibility of heavy rainfall ranging from 115mm to 204mm within a 24-hour period, two to four times the monthly rainfall of London, which could lead to localised flooding.
India’s eastern coastline has always been vulnerable to cyclones, but the frequency and intensity of these storms are on the rise due to the climate crisis.
In the past few years, storms like Cyclone Amphan in 2020, Cyclone Yaas in 2021, and Cyclone Fani in 2019 have killed hundreds of people and caused billions of dollars in damages.
Last year was India’s deadliest cyclone season in recent years, killing 523 people and costing an estimated £2.3bn in damage.