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Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 344 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday. The majority of deaths, 328, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, while at least 120 others were injured.One resident told AFP it felt like “the end of the world” was coming, as the ground shook with the force of the water. The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine affected districts where rain was still hampering efforts.”Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” said Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency.”Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions,” he told AFP.”They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.”The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.Eleven more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the national disaster authority said.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.- ‘Reeling from profound trauma’ -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.In Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, resident Azizullah said he “thought it was doomsday”.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” he told AFP. “The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill.On Friday, funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.In the picturesque district of Swat, an AFP photographer saw roads submerged in muddy water, electricity poles grounded, and vehicles half-buried in mud.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 650 people, with more than 880 injured.In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP residents kept on searching through the rubble overnight.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” said 32-year-old schoolteacher Saifullah Khan.”We still have no clear idea who in this small village is alive and who is dead,” he added.”I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids.”

Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday.The majority of deaths, 307, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 15 women and 13 children. At least 23 others were injured.The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine affected districts where rain was still hampering efforts.”Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency, told AFP.”Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions,” he added.”They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.”The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest for the next few hours, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the national disaster authority said.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.- ‘Doomsday’ monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.One resident likened the disaster to “doomsday”.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” Azizullah, a resident of Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, told AFP.”I thought it was doomsday,” he said. “The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill.On Friday, funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 600 people.In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.Another villager in Buner told AFP locals kept on searching through the rubble throughout the night.”The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” 32-year-old local schoolteacher Saifullah Khan told AFP.”We still have no clear idea who in this small village is alive and who is dead,” he added.”I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities marked the fourth anniversary of their takeover on Friday buoyed by Russia’s first official recognition of their government, a step they hope other countries will follow.Helicopters circled above Kabul, dropping flower petals over the city to mark the Taliban seizure of the capital on August 15, 2021.Taliban members and supporters leaned out of trucks and rickshaws on the streets below waving the black-and-white “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” flags.They also carried yellow jerry cans — a common receptacle for homemade bombs during the 20-year war against US-led forces. Celebrations were organised across the country, although a military parade like the one held with much fanfare last year at the Bagram airbase, once the linchpin for US-led operations, was cancelled without public explanation. A gathering was held instead at the enormous Loya Jirga Hall in Kabul, where hundreds of men listened to ministers praise the government’s achievements.Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who remains largely secluded in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar, did not attend but, in a statement read by a spokesman, hailed the return of security to Afghanistan.”Our people were saved from corruption, oppression, usurpation, narcotics, theft, plunder and looting in the light of Islamic laws,” the statement said.”A positive environment was created for the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan.” The speeches did not mention the steep challenges facing a country gripped by one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations. In Jalalabad in the east, farmer Zabihullah — who like many Afghans only uses one name — celebrated the Taliban takeover but also hoped authorities would address poverty and unemployment.”They should address the bad situation in the country, because of unemployment poor Afghans are going from one country to another, some die, some are detained, it is a chaotic situation,” the 45-year-old told AFP.The Taliban government remains largely isolated on the global stage over restrictions imposed under their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with women facing restrictions the UN has deemed “gender apartheid”.The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in July for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over the persecution of women and girls who are banned from most education and work.Women and girls are also barred from parks and gyms, and from travelling without a male guardian.- International engagement -The Taliban authorities scored a victory in July when Russia became the first country to officially recognise their administration.Kabul also enjoys close ties with China, Qatar and several Central Asian states.The Taliban government has reported talks in Kabul with officials from Western states, including Norway, Britain and the United States. International Crisis Group analyst Ibraheem Bahiss said women’s rights are still important to the international community but other issues, particularly security, take precedence.”Even Europe — because it has a core interest with migration — has continued to pursue engagement,” he told AFP, although discussions with Taliban authorities on women’s rights were “a complete non-starter”. The Taliban authorities have almost no internal opposition but struggle with economic fragility, international aid cuts and the influx of four million Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries.The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) condemned any engagement with the Taliban authorities in a statement. Contrary to its claims, RAWA said, the Taliban government “is not dedicated to ensuring peace and human dignity but is bent on destroying the last vestiges of our people’s most basic rights”. Independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council called on the international community on Thursday not to normalise relations with the Taliban authorities and to reject their “violent and authoritarian rule”. “Operating without legitimacy, the Taliban enforces an institutionalised system of gender oppression, crushes dissent, exacts reprisals, and muzzles independent media,” they said in a statement.

Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan have killed at least 199 people in the past 24 hours, national and local officials said on Friday.Of those killed, 180 were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where one resident likened the disaster to “doomsday”.Another nine people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, along with five in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the National Disaster Management Authority said.Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 19 women and 17 children. At least 28 others were injured.Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission, the province’s chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, said in a statement.The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra and Battagram disaster-hit areas.In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill, AFP photos showed. Funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.”I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” Azizullah, a resident of Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, told AFP.”I thought it was doomsday,” he said.”The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face,” said Azizullah who, like many in the region, uses only one name.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest, urging people to avoid “unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas”.In the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a region divided with Pakistan, rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble on Friday after a flood crashed through a Himalayan village, killing at least 60 people and washing away dozens more.- Prolonged monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and is expected to end later.”The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.The provincial government has declared Saturday a day of mourning, chief minister Gandapur said.”The national flag will fly at half-mast across the province, and the martyrs will be laid to rest with full state honours,” the statement from his office said.Scientists say that climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 500 people, including 159 children. In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.

Heavy monsoon rains have triggered landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan, leaving at least 169 people dead in the last 24 hours, national and local officials said Friday.The majority of the deaths, 150, were recorded in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, it said.The majority of those killed have died in flash floods and collapsing houses.Five others, including two pilots, were killed when a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a mission to deliver relief goods, the chief minister of the province, Ali Amin Gandapur, said in a statement.The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd amassed around an excavator trawling a mud-soaked hill, AFP photos showed. Funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging people to avoid “unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas”.In the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, a region divided with Pakistan, rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble on Friday after a flood crashed through a Himalayan village, killing at least 60 people and washing away dozens more.- Prolonged monsoon -The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and is expected to end later.”The next 15 days, particularly from August 16 till the 30th of August, the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he added.The provincial government has declared Saturday as a day of mourning, chief minister Gandapur said.”The national flag will fly at half-mast across the province, and the martyrs will be laid to rest with full state honours,” the statement from his office said. Scientists say that climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 320 people, nearly half of them children. In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.In 2022, monsoon floods submerged a third of the country and killed 1,700 people.

Indian rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble Friday after the latest deadly flood to crash through a Himalayan village killed at least 60 people and washed away dozens more.Torrents of water and mud driven by intense rain tore through Chisoti village in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday, leaving dozens missing, including Hindu pilgrims who were visiting a shrine.It is the second major deadly flooding disaster in India this month.Officials said a large makeshift kitchen in Chisoti, where more than 100 pilgrims were, was completely washed away by what Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported was a sudden “cloudburst” rain storm.Arun Shah, 35, had just completed his pilgrimage with his family when the flood struck.”It was horrifying”, he told AFP, speaking by telephone from a hospital in Kishtwar district, where Chisoti is located.”Boulders and a rush of water came down from the mountain. We all got separated while trying to save ourselves,” he said.Kishtwar district hospital head Yudhvir Kotwal told AFP more than 100 people were brought in after the disaster.”Most of the injured had head injuries, fractured bones and ribs,” Kotwal said, adding that “dead bodies are still being retrieved from under the mud and rubble”.Heavy earthmovers were brought to the disaster area to dig through deep mud.The army’s White Knight Corps said its troops, “braving the harsh weather and rugged terrain, are engaged in evacuation of injured”.Emergency supplies including ropes and digging tools were being brought to the disaster site, with the army supporting other rescue teams.Mohammad Irshad, a top disaster management official, told AFP on Friday that “60 people are recorded dead”, with 80 people unaccounted for. Floods and landslides are common during the June-September monsoon season, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency, severity and impact.Floods on August 5 overwhelmed the Himalayan town of Dharali in India’s Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has not been confirmed.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a “distress signal” of what is to come as climate change makes the planet’s water cycle ever more unpredictable.Roads had already been damaged by days of heavy storms in Kishtwar district. The area lies more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the region’s main city Srinagar.Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the spate of disasters in his Independence Day speech in New Delhi on Friday.”In the past few days, we have been facing natural disasters, landslides, cloudbursts, and many other calamities,” he said.”Our sympathies are with the affected people. State governments and the central government are working together with full strength.” 

The annual Rugby Championship, featuring World Cup title-holders South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, kicks off on Saturday amid uncertainty over its future.New Zealand will do an eight-match tour of South Africa next year, including three Tests, during the August to October window when the Championship is staged.   That tour is aimed at boosting the coffers of the two national rugby bodies, and rules out the Springboks and All Blacks being involved in a double-round Championship as well. Australia are set to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the Championship has always been reduced from a double to single round in years when the global showpiece takes place.   Adding to the long-term uncertainty is South Africa agreeing to an eight-match tour of New Zealand in 2030.Record four-time world champions South Africa and Australia get what could be the last six-round Rugby Championship, at least for the foreseeable future, underway at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.A few hours later, nine-time Championship winners New Zealand take on Argentina in Cordoba.Pre-Championship discussions among Springbok supporters centred around the chances on September 6 of South Africa defeating greatest rivals New Zealand in Auckland for the first time since 1937.The matches against Australia — they clash again on August 23 in Cape Town — were rarely discussed as the fortunes of the Wallabies had hit rock bottom in the past two years.  – Unwanted history -Australia created unwanted history at the 2023 World Cup in France by failing to make the knockout stages for the first time.Last year, they suffered a 40-point loss in Argentina, one of five defeats in six Championship matches.But the just completed three-Test series against the British and Irish Lions saw dramatic Test-by-Test improvement, culminating in a 22-12 triumph in the last encounter under a Sydney deluge.Australia lost the series 2-1, but impressed with their physicality and passion, with Lions coach Andy Farrell among their cheerleaders.”I think special things are going to happen for this team (Australia) over the next 18 months. By the time the World Cup comes round, they will be a force to reckon with,” he said.South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus was particularly impressed with the work of the Australian pack, led by captain and No 8 Harry Wilson, at the breakdowns.This was an area where the Springboks did not always impose themselves when beating Italy twice and Georgia comfortably in warm-up matches.”They (Australians) really fight hard at the breakdowns and clean out well. We have to nullify that threat,” said Erasmus. While South Africa have become wary of Australia, tradition favours a home victory as the Springboks have won 10 of 11 Tests against the Wallabies at Ellis Park.In Cordoba, New Zealand will be favoured to beat Argentina, but the days when an All Blacks victory over the Pumas was taken for granted are over.Three-time World Cup winners New Zealand won 28 of the first 29 Tests against the South Americans, with the other drawn.But the unpredictable Pumas have won three of 10 internationals between the countries since, two of which came in Christchurch and Wellington. “We want to play fast and be really strong at the set-pieces. Our team is really trying to find its identity this year,” All Blacks prop Fletcher Newell told reporters in Cordoba.New Zealand warmed up with a hat-trick of victories over France, who lacked many resting stars, including scrum-half Antoine Dupont. Argentina confirmed their hard-to-fathom form by beating the British and Irish Lions in Dublin, then losing twice at home to a severely-weakened England.”The key is to give our backs a plentiful supply of ball. They have the ability to cause problems for any opponents,” said Argentina loose forward Marcos Kremer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday that India is seeking self-reliance in energy independence and the development of its own powerful defence systems, vowing to defend his country’s interests “like a wall”.Modi delivered his annual Independence Day address from the imposing ramparts of New Delhi’s Red Fort at a time when India faces intense pressure and threats of additional tariffs from the United States.”Self-reliance is the foundation of developed India,” Modi said after a flypast of military helicopters scattered flower petals above an invited crowd of thousands.”Freedom becomes meaningless if someone becomes too dependent on others”.Ties between New Delhi and Washington have been strained by Trump’s ultimatum that India end its purchases of Russian oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow as it wages its military offensive in Ukraine.India has said it “stands ready” to support efforts to end the Ukraine war and endorses a summit to be held between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.But the United States says it will double new import tariffs on India from 25 percent to 50 percent by August 27 if New Delhi does not switch crude suppliers.”We know that we remain dependent on many countries to meet our energy needs”, said Modi, leader of the world’s most populous nation and fifth-biggest economy.”But to build a truly self-reliant India, we must achieve energy independence.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement congratulating India’s Independence Day, said the relations between the two nations were “consequential and far-reaching”, and wanted to “ensure a brighter future for both”.- ‘Blood and water’ -Modi urged scientists and engineers to focus on building key sectors and technologies including fighter jet engines, semiconductor chips and military hardware systems.”We will have India-made semiconductor chips in the market by the year’s end,” Modi said.He added that the country was also working towards building a space station and would have a “defence shield” in the next decade, without giving further details.Modi also honoured the Indian armed forces, which took part in a four-day conflict with arch-rival Pakistan that ended in a ceasefire on May 10. “India will give a befitting reply to any other misadventure by the enemy,” he added, and referred to New Delhi’s suspension of its cross-border water sharing treaty with Pakistan.”India has decided that blood and water will not flow together”, he added.Modi did not speak directly about Trump, but said he would “stand like a wall” against any policy that hurts the interests of farmers.Agriculture employs vast numbers of people in India and has been a key sticking point in trade negotiations.”When economic selfishness is rising day by day… we must not just sit and worry about the crisis but instead focus on our strengths,” Modi said.

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities marked the fourth anniversary of their takeover on Friday, buoyed by Russia’s first official recognition of their government, a step they hope other countries will follow. Parades were planned in several cities, including in central Kabul, where helicopters were set to drop flowers and the white-and-black flags of the Taliban’s “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” fluttered across the city to mark their capture of the capital on August 15, 2021. Taliban members gathered on Thursday night at a square near the shuttered US embassy — seat of their enemy during their 20-year insurgency — waving flags and setting off fireworks, an AFP journalist said. The military parade held last year with much fanfare at the Bagram airbase, once the linchpin for US-led operations, was cancelled this year, without public explanation. The Taliban government remains largely isolated on the global stage over restrictions imposed under their severe interpretation of Islamic law, targeting women in particular. The International Criminal Court issued in July arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity over the persecution of women and girls, who are banned from most education and work, as well as parks, gyms and travelling without a male guardian.  But the authorities scored a victory in early July when Russia became the first country to officially recognise their administration. Kabul also enjoys close ties, despite lacking official recognition, with countries including Central Asian states, China and the United Arab Emirates.On the Western front, the Taliban government reported talks in Kabul with officials from Norway, Britain and the United States, among others. The authorities face almost no internal opposition, though steep challenges stem from economic fragility, international aid cuts and the influx of four million Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries.Independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday called on the international community not to normalise relations with the Taliban authorities and to reject their “violent and authoritarian rule”. “Operating without legitimacy, the Taliban enforces an institutionalised system of gender oppression, crushes dissent, exacts reprisals, and muzzles independent media while showing outright contempt for human rights, equality and non-discrimination,” the experts said in a statement.

On a lively weekend, a bartender in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu balances carefully a slice of titaura, a local tangy and spicy hog plum treat, on top of a martini glass.The drink is an example of how a new wave of cocktail bars is combining age-old techniques with local traditions to craft uniquely Nepali drinks to make a global mark.Until recently, cocktails were an afterthought on most bar menus in the capital of the Himalayan nation, often overshadowed by beers or straight spirits.Concoctions available tended to be unbalanced, too strong or far too sweet.But over the past five years, the city’s cocktail scene has changed, led by a new generation of bartenders turning global experience into local innovation.”It’s definitely evolving at a very fast pace,” Abhishek Tuladhar, who started his own bar after returning home to Kathmandu from a finance job in Singapore, told AFP.”We’re really thrilled, because we have a lot of ingredients and a lot of talent that we can definitely showcase to the world.”Tuladhar’s Barc this year won the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ Michter’s Art Of Hospitality Award, a first for Nepal, and has climbed up their rankings to number 35.The speakeasy Barc’s menu champions tea from Ilam in western Nepal, childhood tangy street favourites like titaura and khattu — dried fruit sweet snacks — and local rice spirit aila, flavouring it with local spices.”I think it is understanding that flavour and making it palatable to all markets,” Tuladhar said. “It’s not just a direct translation.”- ‘Forced creativity’ -When Rabin Gurung returned from Hong Kong and decided to open a cocktail bar, he spent months trying to finding a simple key ingredient — lemon.”Classic cocktail recipes demand lemon, but I could only find lime in the markets,” said Gurung, 37, co-founder of the bar Bitters & Co.”We sent out people to look at all citrus grown here in Nepal until we found something.”Many imported ingredients and liqueurs can be hard to find — or are very expensive.US-returnee Santosh Faiia, 29, who runs the popular BlackBird bar and newly opened Layaa in the heart of Kathmandu’s tourist hub Thamel, said that the struggle to find ingredients forced the industry to be “creative”.Bartenders now make several ingredients from scratch, including special bubble-less clear ice, house bitters, and syrups infused with local botanicals like rhododendron.That approach is paying off.With a growing curiosity among Nepali drinkers and tourists alike, bartenders now find themselves at the heart of a fast-evolving scene.”I think that is what creates a great amount of excitement amongst consumers. And that is why I think the recognition has happened,” said veteran Indian bartender Yangdup Lama, who has designed the cocktail menu of the newly opened Old House in Kathmandu. “There’s this ‘wow’ factor.”Both BlackBird and Bitters & Co have previously been listed in Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ extended list. – ‘Nepali hospitality’ -Growing interest in cocktails is driving new investments, creating more stable job opportunities for bartenders, particularly significant in a country where around 1,600 young people leave daily in search of work abroad.”Things are gradually shifting, and bartending is starting to be seen as a viable career path so people can work here in Nepal and stay close to their families,” said Faiia.The drinks themselves are out of the price range of many ordinary people in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in Asia.But several new bars have popped up in the last year that prominently feature cocktail recipes with home-grown names and ingredients.  Emma Sleight, head of content for Asia’s 50 Best Bars, sees strong potential in Nepal’s emerging bar scene.”Anyone who has experienced Nepali hospitality knows it is full of sincerity and heart,” she said.”Combine that with Nepal’s rich culture, its incredible ingredients, and the passion of its people, and you get something truly unique.”