Sunday, Sep 13, 2026

• A Newslaundry investigation into Delhi's paying-guest and hostel sector finds it has grown into a lightly regulated, profit-driven business built on a chronic shortage of housing for students and young workers in the city. Newslaundry
• Flood victims in Kanpur allege they were given cough syrup bottles bearing a July 2026 expiry date during relief distribution and blame it for illness that followed; Uttar Pradesh's health department denies the medicine came from current stock. The Wire
• The Allahabad High Court quashed an order branding a petitioner a "goonda" under Uttar Pradesh's Goondas Act, with the judge ruling the law should apply only to genuine cases of public disorder and not to innocent or already-acquitted individuals. Scroll.in
• Maharashtra's State Human Rights Commission has recommended a First Information Report against Pune's Police Commissioner and subordinates over the illegal detention and public parading of three minor boys tied to a police vehicle in July, calling the Commissioner's response inadequate. LiveLaw
• The National Legal Services Authority's third National Lok Adalat drive, held on 12 September across 26 states and 7 union territories, settled more than 2.10 crore cases worth ₹13,589 crore through consensual dispute resolution. LiveLaw
• An investigation finds India's National Board for Wildlife has enabled the shrinking or de-notification of 35 protected areas despite standing Supreme Court orders meant to safeguard them. Article 14

• On the sidelines of the 18th BRICS summit (the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other member states) in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping that peace along the India-China border is essential to the development of ties, with both sides committing to a "fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable" resolution of the border dispute. Scroll.in
• BRICS leaders issued a joint condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack at the summit. Scroll.in
• BRICS nations reached consensus on a New Delhi Declaration after difficult negotiations, with India bridging disagreements among members, including over the US-Iran conflict; Modi called for equal representation in global technology governance. The Wire
• Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat resigned his Congress party positions after the Enforcement Directorate recovered ₹32 lakh in cash, gold coins and chains, and luxury watches from his personal assistant in a probe linked to alleged exam irregularities; Rawat said he has "absolutely no faith" in the allegations but stepped down to protect the party. Scroll.in
• Former deputy commissioner Devashish Sharma received the Bharatiya Janata Party's nomination for the Nagaon Lok Sabha bye-poll a week after taking voluntary retirement from the civil service; the Congress party has asked the Election Commission to scrutinise his conduct while still in office. Scroll.in
• Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati expelled her nephew Akash Anand from the party after he failed to repost her criticism of his father-in-law, and forced the father-in-law's retirement despite his compliance, raising questions about the party's stability ahead of Uttar Pradesh's 2027 election. The Wire
• The Bombay High Court declined to halt activist Manoj Jarange-Patil's planned march to Mumbai, saying it cannot prevent protest in a democracy; Jarange-Patil has been on hunger strike since late August demanding Maratha reservation under Other Backward Classes and Kunbi caste certificates. Scroll.in
• The Supreme Court clarified that a high-powered committee probing violence during youth protests cannot itself direct the registration of First Information Reports, that power stays with the court, and proceedings will continue under court supervision from 15 September. The Wire
• Upcoming: the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's National Statistics Office is due to release August retail inflation data on 14 September. A Business Standard poll of 11 economists projects the Consumer Price Index at 4.5-5%, which would be a 20-month high, driven by sugar, onion and edible-oil prices. Business Standard

• At least eight United Democratic Party legislators, including a cabinet minister, are reportedly set to defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party, seeking five cabinet berths including a Deputy Chief Minister's post against the two the BJP currently holds; BJP leader A L Hek, after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, signalled the party's ambition to eventually form its own government in the state. The Shillong Times
• Hek said talks with the eight legislators await final clearance from the BJP's Delhi leadership, with the party's stated strategy aimed at forming the government by 2028. Hub News
• Voice of the People Party president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit warned voters about the BJP's ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh amid the defection buzz, saying a BJP-led government could have serious implications for Meghalaya's indigenous population. The Shillong Times
• In Delhi, Hek discussed the political situation in Meghalaya with Amit Shah, including the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act amendment bill now with a Joint Parliamentary Committee, and reiterated the BJP's ambition to become an independent political force in the state. Meghalaya Monitor
• Shah has committed to further talks with Christian stakeholders on the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act amendment bill once the 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee finishes its review; the Congress party plans to campaign against the bill in the Shillong parliamentary bypoll, citing provisions it says could let the state take over NGO properties over renewal lapses. The Shillong Times
• Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inaugurated infrastructure and tourism projects in West Garo Hills' Tikrikilla, including the ₹3,500 crore Phulbari bridge project, billed as the northeast's longest once complete, and a smaller bridge over the Didak River; the government also cited more than 3,500 km of roads built statewide over eight years. ANI via Meghalaya government
• The Voice of the People Party has demanded the removal of the state's Commissioner and Secretary of Education, Vijay Kumar Mantri, alleging his structured-pay and school-rationalisation policies have caused uncertainty for teachers. Meghalaya Monitor
• Women members of the state Bar submitted resolutions to legislators seeking the removal of Advocate General Amit Kumar, following an August meeting where 406 members voted to strike his name from their rolls over remarks about the Bar's handling of women members' grievances. The Shillong Times
• Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who holds the home and police portfolio, defended enforcement action against Khasi Students' Union activists over August 19 violence, saying the response would be the same regardless of the organisation involved, and noted upcoming joint inspections of facilitation centres under the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, 2016. Meghalaya Monitor

None of the standing searches for Meghalaya-linked NGOs, institutions or named government programmes, including the Government Innovation Lab and the State Capability Enhancement Project, turned up anything new today.

Bangladesh

• Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves rose to $37.57 billion by June despite fuel and fertiliser cost shocks from Middle East tensions, helped by monthly remittances exceeding $3 billion and roughly $6 billion in central-bank dollar purchases over the last fiscal year. The Daily Star
• Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni said the government is reviewing 101 memoranda of understanding signed with India under the former Awami League government, citing concerns such as preferential port treatment for Indian vessels. The Daily Star
• Dhaka police arrested 32 leaders and activists of the banned Awami League over a procession in Gulshan, with a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The Daily Star
• Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the Bangladesh Innovation Fair 2026, appealing for collaboration among entrepreneurs, researchers and business leaders on national development. The Daily Star
• Dengue has now reached all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with health officials warning September and October will be peak months, especially in 15 high-risk districts. Prothom Alo
• Jamaat-e-Islami will field its own mayoral candidates against ally National Citizen Party in Dhaka's two city corporations despite their national electoral alliance. Prothom Alo

Pakistan

• The prime minister's political adviser Rana Sanaullah said Parliament, not public forums, should decide on creating new provinces, and flagged concern that a planned opposition march could turn violent. Dawn
• Coalition partners the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz held talks to bridge differences, with the Pakistan Peoples Party accusing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government of mishandling inflation and fuel prices. Dawn
• Pakistan's United Nations envoy urged stronger global counter-terrorism cooperation at a Security Council session marking 25 years since 9/11, as a new UN report warned that groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are exploiting artificial intelligence tools and gaming platforms. Dawn
• Upcoming: from 14 September, all Hajj and Umrah pilgrims travelling from Pakistan must carry a digital vaccination certificate linked to the National Database and Registration Authority, covering polio, meningitis, yellow fever and influenza. Dawn

Sri Lanka

• Security authorities warn that hand grenades sourced from old military stock are increasingly used by criminal gangs for intimidation, available for as little as 10,000 to 20,000 rupees. Daily Mirror
• Opposition members resigned from the parliamentary select committee reviewing the Provincial Council electoral system after the government extended the committee's deadline to 17 December. Daily Mirror
• The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna held its "Janasatana" rally in Anuradhapura, drawing former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other former officials. Daily Mirror
• The Presidential Secretariat has directed the Digital Economy Ministry to design what it calls the world's first national "universal basic artificial intelligence" pilot, aimed partly at curbing digital-dollar currency outflows. Daily Mirror
• The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said domestic fuel prices will stay unchanged for now despite global crude price volatility. Daily Mirror

Nepal

• A woman in Saptari gave birth on a hospital pavement after staff demanded 3,200 rupees for tests her family could not afford, exposing gaps in Nepal's free-maternity-care policy, which does not cover lab tests. The Kathmandu Post
• Indian television channels covering the Bhotekoshi floods were criticised by residents and media experts for focusing on reporters stuck in mud rather than on the victims. The Kathmandu Post
• United Telecom Limited's telecom licence has lapsed after the company missed a 4 September deadline to clear roughly 31 billion rupees in dues; the company is seeking more time and disputes that it has been treated unfairly. The Kathmandu Post
• A decade-old plan for a road bypassing the collapse-prone Krishnabhir section of the Prithvi Highway was never built because of land-cost disputes; after an August 30 subsidence, officials are now upgrading local tracks to finish an alternative route before the Dashain festival. The Kathmandu Post

Bhutan

• Thimphu Police recorded 25 online banking fraud cases totalling about 2 million ngultrum in losses over a 12-day period, linked to deceptive links spread through social media. Kuensel
• Local government leaders in Zhemgang petitioned the government to transfer their district administrator, threatening mass resignation if the demand is not met. Kuensel
• A report questions the governance implications of one person holding both the presidency of Bhutan's medical sciences university and leadership of its national referral hospital, noting Bhutan's 2012 Medical Sciences Act treats the two as distinct offices. Kuensel
• Bhutan is strengthening hydropower facility safety measures against conventional floods and glacial lake outburst floods as climate-related risks grow. Kuensel

Asia Pacific

• The confirmed death toll from the fire aboard the ferry M/V June Aster rose to 76 after 41 more bodies were recovered off Palawan province in the Philippines on Saturday; 13 people remain missing. Al Jazeera
• A Hong Kong court sentenced three pro-democracy activists, two to seven years and one to five years, for organising vigils commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown, ruling they had advocated an "end to one-party dictatorship." Al Jazeera
• North Korea fired several ballistic missiles roughly 250km off its eastern coast near Wonsan on Saturday, a day after joint South Korea-US-Japan maritime drills concluded; South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launches, and US Pacific Command said they posed no immediate threat. Al Jazeera

Africa

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain with no approved vaccine, has spread to seven provinces with more than 7,000 confirmed cases and nearly 3,400 deaths; cases have also surfaced in schools since the post-summer return. Al Jazeera
• The United Nations Security Council unanimously extended the partial Darfur arms embargo by one month, as the United States pushes for nationwide sanctions and Russia opposes any expansion, amid a war that has killed at least 59,000 people and displaced about 13 million. Al Jazeera
• An intelligence dossier reviewed by the New York Times and Washington Post reportedly shows Sudan's military ran a 2024 chemical weapons programme against the Rapid Support Forces, using chlorine gas cylinders sourced partly from a water-treatment plant where they had been donated by aid groups to fight cholera. The New Humanitarian
• Uber has withdrawn from Nigeria and Uganda, citing rising fuel costs after Nigeria's subsidy removal, expensive imported parts, and commissions of 25-30% that squeeze driver profitability, following earlier exits from Ivory Coast and Tanzania. Al Jazeera
• After Kenyan President William Ruto declared foreigners should be excluded from the country's informal economy, a crackdown fuelled by local political incitement has specifically targeted Burundians, prompting many to seek safety at Burundi's embassy despite a 90-day "regularisation" window. The New Humanitarian

Latin America

• A fire at a nursing home in Pitrufquen, in Chile's Araucania region, killed 16 elderly residents; the facility had faced fines and enforcement proceedings over regulatory violations since 2019, and President Jose Antonio Kast ordered urgent nationwide reviews of nursing home conditions. Al Jazeera
• A Guatemalan judge dropped illicit association, terrorism, obstruction and sedition charges against Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development Luis Pacheco and three other Maya leaders, ruling they had broken no laws in organising 2023 protests against the then attorney general. Al Jazeera
• Authorities in Tecalitlan, in Mexico's Jalisco state, found a hidden clinic run by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel where forcibly recruited, injured workers were sheltered; eight victims were rescued and six suspected guards arrested. Al Jazeera
• Colombia's president, Abelardo De La Espriella, shut down all peace talks with armed groups, formally ending his predecessor's "Total Peace" plan, which had aimed to move away from military solutions to the country's internal conflict. The New Humanitarian

Middle East

• Israeli forces have demolished homes and threatened school buildings across Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, including the partial demolition of the Sha'ab al-Butum school and threats to the roughly 250-student Zif Secondary School for Girls. Al Jazeera
• Declassified UK Foreign Office files from 2002 show British diplomats documented a "pattern" of Israeli human rights violations, including a senior British army officer's description of "excessive force" against Palestinians during Operation Defensive Shield. Al Jazeera

Europe

• Around 150,000 people demonstrated across roughly 20 German cities against the far-right Alternative for Germany party after its landslide win in Saxony-Anhalt's state election, with organisers pushing for a party ban. Al Jazeera
• BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo donated $49 million to the UK's Reform party a day after fellow crypto investor Christopher Harborne gave £36 million, bringing the party's total from the two donors to $97 million amid a Metropolitan Police probe into whether Reform accepted illegal foreign donations. Al Jazeera
• Spanish police charged at left-wing protesters in Barcelona during Catalonia's National Day celebrations. Al Jazeera
• Sweden votes on 13 September in an election polls call "knife-edge," with immigration, gang violence and the cost of living dominating a contest between Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right bloc and Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrat-led left bloc. Al Jazeera
• During a Dublin visit where he met Ireland's prime minister and president, Trump said he would "love to see" a unified Ireland, prompting Britain's prime minister to respond that there isn't enough public support for a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom. Al Jazeera
• A passenger train derailed between Rouen and Caen in Normandy on 11 September, injuring 44 people, including one woman airlifted to hospital in critical condition; French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot confirmed the incident, and the cause remains under investigation. Al Jazeera

North America

• Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident from Fort Worth, Texas, was deported to Afghanistan in the first-ever use of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a specialised court Congress established in 1996; she had been accused of helping conceal an ISIS-inspired plot but was never criminally charged, and Attorney General Todd Blanche called the deportation a national security win. Al Jazeera
• As Canadians shift toward domestic products amid Trump's trade war, a market survey found 76% chose an all-Canadian grocery basket over a cheaper American-sourced option, while Oxford Economics estimates households will bear about 20% of tariff costs through higher prices. Al Jazeera

• The World Bank's Development Impact blog argues most researchers test for attrition bias in randomised trials incorrectly by comparing only attrition rates between arms; the methodologically sound approach requires jointly testing baseline balance among respondents and balance across all four treatment-control and responder-attritor groups, which a single regression with strata fixed effects can do at once (5 days old). World Bank
• Coefficient Giving, formerly Open Philanthropy, said it is scaling up its global health and wellbeing funding, including a previously announced $1 billion allocation this year to GiveWell's recommendations, and is launching "Launchpad Funds," a new vehicle to seed and scale funds run by general managers tackling underfunded global health problems (5 days old). Coefficient Giving
• Sweden's aid agency Sida selected eleven humanitarian organisations as partners for 2026-2029 to deliver assistance in global crises (4 days old). Sida
• France's development agency AFD launched a free online course on designing climate-resilient, energy-efficient buildings for the Mediterranean region as it faces heatwaves and water stress (6 days old). AFD

• BRICS's New Delhi Declaration endorsed a new carbon-markets partnership among member states on capacity-building and carbon-finance linkages, while rejecting "unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist" carbon border measures such as the European Union's and Britain's; India's own Carbon Credit Trading Scheme has separately won UK recognition, though the Centre for Science and Environment's Trishant Dev noted that small and medium enterprises still struggle with emissions reporting and verification requirements. Down To Earth
• Nepal has formally asked the United Nations' Loss and Damage Fund for $20 million after an August 26 glacial-collapse flood killed more than 1,300 people and caused an estimated $2.56 billion in damage; Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said "we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create," and Prime Minister Balendra Shah is due to raise the request at the UN General Assembly on 24 September. Al Jazeera
• Rising seas and repeated cyclones have pushed tidal-water salinity in the Sundarbans from 21 to 33 parts per thousand between 2017 and 2021, and soil salinity up 31%, killing off medicinal trees that some 2.7 million residents and traditional healers depend on. Al Jazeera
• A new report from the United Nations Children's Fund finds climate hazards, including storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, disrupted schooling for 171 million students across 106 countries in 2025, one in ten students globally, three-quarters of them in low- and lower-middle-income countries, with lifetime earnings losses estimated at $200 billion. Al Jazeera
• August 2026 tied July 2023 as the hottest month on record globally, at 1.65°C above pre-industrial levels, accompanied by floods and landslides in Nepal and Tibet and wildfires in Europe. The New Humanitarian
• A King's College London analysis in Nature Sustainability of cyclone and heat deaths from 2000 to 2025, citing Myanmar's 2008 Cyclone Nargis (about 140,000 dead) and the 2003 European heatwave (about 70,000 dead), warns that current risk tools underestimate the scale of future catastrophic weather events; lead author Tom Matthews said "history is almost guaranteed to make us underestimate future risk." Down To Earth
• A think-tank analysis reported by Carbon Pulse concludes Canada is more than 20 years off track on its 2030 emissions target and would miss its 2050 net-zero goal under current policies. Carbon Pulse
• A United Nations review singled out Paraguay's carbon-credit authorisation fee structure, which includes a share of credit revenue set aside for adaptation, as one of the most comprehensive of its kind globally, contrasting it with flat per-credit charges elsewhere such as Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, while warning that overpricing risks pushing demand to competing countries. Carbon Pulse