Haji Mohammad Arshad has had a few rough years with his once lucrative poultry farms.  He started Wali poultry farms in 1982 with meager resources and the business thrived over the decades, making him millions. But the last year and a half have been challenging as overproduction has driven prices down as production costs remained high. For example, a carton of eggs in wholesale, containing 30 dozen eggs, cost him about $17 to produce but he could sell it for only around $11. Last year,Read more

Human Rights Watch is expressing concern for the fate of millions of migrant workers in the Persian Gulf region, as host countries lock down, and employers withhold wages or consider layoffs amid strict coronavirus containment measures that are leading in some cases to deportations and confinement.   Advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say they are worried for the healthRead more

With train service suspended in the country, Pakistan railway officials have begun converting air-conditioned sleeper and business class cars into medical wards for COVID-19 virus patients.Pakistan Railway medical officer Dr. Abdula Samad tells the Associated Press news agency the sleeper and business class cars they converted can each hold about 36 patients, and they alsoRead more

A Taliban delegation arrived in Kabul Tuesday to monitor the long-delayed release of their 5,000 detainees under a prisoner swap with the Afghan government brokered by the United States.This is the first time representatives of the Islamist insurgency have visited the Afghan capital since a U.S.-led military invasion of the country ousted the Taliban fromRead more

Officials in Afghanistan said Monday at least 21 security forces have died in the latest Taliban attacks, and a planned prisoner swap with the insurgent group has been delayed again.  The deadliest violence occurred in northern Takhar province where Taliban fighters assaulted several government outposts in Khawja Ghar district Sunday night. A provincial government spokesman, Khalil Assir, told VOA the raid killed 14 AfghanRead more

A group of cancer patients in Kyrgyzstan is working to meet the demand for protective surgical masks while earning funds to help pay for their treatments.The group is organized by an association known as “Together for Life,” established in July 2019. Originally, the group made handbags and purses as a kind of therapy, as wellRead more

Twenty-five members of an Indian family from Sangli in Maharashtra have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Press Trust of India report.  The account said four family members who had been in Saudi Arabia tested positive for the virus on March 23.   A week later, 21 more family members, including a two-year-old boy also tested positive.  India officials blame the quick transmission of the virus on the family’sRead more

Coronavirus infections and deaths continue to creep up as the virus makes its way around the world.  There were over 680,000 confirmed cases worldwide early Sunday. As of Sunday morning, the United States, the current epicenter of the virus, has 124,686 cases. Italy, Europe’s most afflicted country, had 92,472. The global coronavirus pandemic death toll was nearlyRead more

The Afghan government has criticized the Taliban for rejecting Kabul’s negotiating team for upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war.Waheed Omar, President Ashraf Ghani’s adviser, told reporters in Kabul on March 29 that the Taliban “should not make excuses any more” to start the long-delayed negotiations.The talks were scheduled to beginRead more

“We know things will get worse before they get better,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says in a letter being sent to British households about battling COVID-19. Johnson, who is in isolation because he has the new coronavirus, also urges people to observe the lockdown and stay home, in an effort to prevent overwhelming the National Health Service and to “save lives.”   Michael Gove, a British seniorRead more

Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus epidemic emerged in December, resumed train services Saturday after months of lockdown.Authorities reduced the city’s virus risk evaluation from high to medium.Commuters riding on six metro lines in the Hubei provincial capital, with a population of 11 million people, were required to have their body temperatures checked before entering metroRead more

Taiwan’s invitation to American journalists harassed by China to locate here instead would free them from government pressure but distance them from Asia’s hub for international news.Foreign minister Joseph Wu tweeted the invitation Saturday. He mentioned three media organizations whose reporters had been thrown out of China, apparently in response to U.S. curbs against journalistsRead more