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India’s defence minister vowed on Wednesday a swift response to those who carried out and planned the Kashmir region’s worst attack on civilians in years.”Those responsible and behind such an act will very soon hear our response, loud and clear,” Rajnath Singh said in a speech in New Delhi, a day after gunmen killed 26 men at a tourist hotspot in the contested Himalayan region.”We won’t just reach those people who carried out the attack. We will also reach out to those who planned this from behind the scenes on our land.”Singh did not identify those he believes are responsible for the killings, but said that “India’s government will take every step that may be necessary and appropriate”.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the Muslim-majority region where rebels have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.- ‘Serious risk’ -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that those responsible for the “heinous act” will “be brought to justice”.Modi is set to hold an emergency cabinet meeting with top security chiefs later on Wednesday.”Their evil agenda will never succeed,” Modi said in a statement shortly after the attack. “Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger.”Nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilise the other, and New Delhi says Islamabad backs the gunmen behind the insurgency. Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday offered its “condolences to the near ones of the deceased”.Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a “very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019”.- Blood stains -Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians” in recent years.A hospital list verified by police recorded 26 men who were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam and raked crowds of visitors with automatic weapons.All those killed were listed as residents of India except one man from Nepal.In a separate incident in Kashmir at Baramulla on Wednesday, the army killed two people after a “heavy exchange of fire”, saying the gunmen were part of an “infiltration bid” crossing the contested frontier from Pakistan.AFP journalists near the site of the Pahalgam attack reported a heavy deployment of security forces. Pahalgam is popular with tourists in summer and is about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the city of Srinagar.Smears of blood could still be seen on the grass where the killings took place as forensic investigators searched for evidence.A tour guide told AFP he had carried some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.The killings came a day after Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi.The deadliest previous attack on civilians was in March 2000 when 36 Indians were killed on the eve of a visit by then-US president Bill Clinton.- ‘Heinous’ -US President Donald Trump called Modi to offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.China, which neighbours the troubled region, offered its “sincere sympathies” to the families of those killed.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.Authorities in recent years have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.The worst attack in recent years was in Pulwama in February 2019 when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.

Indian security forces in Kashmir were conducting a major manhunt on Wednesday, a day after gunmen opened fire on tourists and killed 26 people in the region’s worst attack on civilians in a quarter of a century.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia, decried the “heinous act” and pledged that the attackers “will be brought to justice”.Modi is set to hold an emergency cabinet meeting with top security chiefs later on Wednesday.”Their evil agenda will never succeed,” Modi said in a statement shortly after the attack. “Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger.”A hospital list verified by police recorded 26 men who were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot in Pahalgam and raked crowds of visitors with automatic weapons.All those killed were listed as residents of India except one man from Nepal.No group has claimed responsibility but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.- ‘Serious risk’ -India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency. Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.Pakistan’s foreign ministry offered its “condolences to the near ones of the deceased”.Analyst Michael Kugelman said the attack posed a “very serious risk of a new crisis between India and Pakistan, and probably the most serious risk of a crisis since the brief military conflict that happened in 2019”.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians” in recent years.The bodies of those killed were brought to Srinagar by a fleet of ambulances on Wednesday as military helicopters soared overhead, searching the forested mountain flanks for signs of the attackers.”This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” Abdullah said in a statement.”The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”In a separate incident at Baramulla on Wednesday, the army killed two people after a “heavy exchange of fire”, saying the gunmen were part of an “infiltration bid” crossing the contested frontier from Pakistan.- Blood stains -AFP journalists near the site of the Pahalgam attack reported a heavy deployment of security forces. Pahalgam is popular with tourists in summer and is about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the city of Srinagar.Smears of blood could still be seen on the grass where the killings took place as forensic investigators searched for evidence.A tour guide told AFP he had carried some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.The killings came a day after Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi.The deadliest previous attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 Indians were killed on the eve of a visit by US president Bill Clinton.- ‘Heinous’ -Tuesday’s killings sparked global condemnation.US President Donald Trump called Modi to offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.China, which neighbours the troubled region, offered its “sincere sympathies” to the families of those killed.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.Authorities in recent years have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors. Air India said it was adding two extra flights out of Srinagar on Wednesday as terrified tourists sought to return home.The worst attack in recent years was in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.

Indian tourist brochures dub the Himalayan region of Kashmir “Little Switzerland”, and its mountain meadows are usually packed with visitors escaping the sweltering summer heat in the lowland plains of India.On Wednesday, a day after gunmen killed 26 men in an attack on the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported an “exodus of our guests”.For New Delhi, the 3.5 million tourists who it says visited Kashmir in 2024  — mostly domestic visitors — illustrated what officials called “normalcy and peace” returning to the troubled region after a massive crackdown.Rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, but violence had dropped since New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory.A day after the attack, the region’s deadliest assault on civilians since 2000, tourists scrambled to leave, cramming into buses and taxis, while hoteliers reported a surge of cancellations.At Pahalgam, the site of the attack, the usually tranquil meadows surrounded by pine forests and snowcapped mountains, reverberated with the thumping sounds of military helicopters taking part in a vast manhunt for the attackers.Around 24 hours after the attack, smears of blood were still visible at the site of attack, now patrolled by soldiers dressed in bulletproof jackets.Soldiers guarded the entrance, as forensic investigators collected evidence.- ‘Heartbreaking’ -Until Tuesday afternoon, Hotel Mount View in Pahalgam was sold out for months, manager Abdul Salam told AFP. But since news of the killings broke, he has been inundated with people scrapping their travel plans.”This tragedy will paralyse business in Kashmir,” he said.  “We are trying hard to reassure our customers who may still want to come.”Indian authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region known for its lush valleys as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat elsewhere in India during the summer.A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.”It’s heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests from the valley after yesterday’s tragic terror attack in Pahalgam, but at the same time we totally understand why people would want to leave,” Abdullah said in a statement.India’s Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai issued a letter which called on airlines to “take swift action to increase the number of flights…facilitating the evacuation of tourists”.Air India said Wednesday it had laid on extra flights “in view of the prevailing situation”.Tourist Paras Sawla, from India’s financial hub Mumbai, said many visitors were “fearful” after the attack.He was seeking to get the first flight home that he could.But the saddest part, he said, was that ordinary Kashmiri people, famous for their hospitality, were doing all they could to help.”We are not scared of the public here”, Sawla said. “They are very supportive, helping out with whatever we need.” 

Indian security forces in Kashmir carried out a major manhunt Wednesday, a day after gunmen opened fire on tourists, slaughtering at least 26 people in the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” and pledged that the attackers “will be brought to justice”.Modi, who cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia to return to India early Wednesday, met with top security officials immediately on his arrival, a government official said.No official toll has been released, but security sources told AFP that at least 26 people were killed on Tuesday afternoon when gunmen burst out of forests at a popular tourist spot and raked crowds of visitors with automatic gunfire.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack had been “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”.No group has claimed responsibility, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.- ‘Abomination’ -“This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” Abdullah said in a statement after the attack.”The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”AFP journalists near the site of the attack in Pahalgam, a popular site for tourists in summer some 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar, reported heavy deployment of security forces.”The search operation is currently in progress, with all efforts focused on bringing the attackers to justice,” the Indian army’s Chinar Corps said in a statement overnight.A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.The killings came a day after Modi met US Vice President JD Vance in New Delhi.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement shortly after the attack.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 Indians were killed. That attack occurred on the eve of a visit by US president Bill Clinton.- ‘Heinous’ -The killings on Tuesday sparked global outrage.US President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that “Europe will stand with you”.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.Survivors said the gunmen targeted men, shooting some from point-blank range.One woman survivor reported that men in uniform emerged from surrounding forests to a meadow where tourists were enjoying the peace of nature, The Indian Express newspaper reported.Survivors said they had assumed they were policemen.”They were there at least for 20 minutes, undeterred, moving around and opening fire”, the newspaper quoted the survivor as saying. “It seemed like an eternity”. The victims included an Indian Navy officer, who had recently got married, and who was on holiday with his wife. Another survivor told news outlet India Today that the attackers asked the men in her family to recite the Muslim call to prayer.”Then they resumed firing and shot my father and uncle,” the survivor said. 

Nepal’s first nationwide survey of the threatened snow leopard estimated nearly 400 of the elusive big cats in the Himalayan nation, wildlife officials said Tuesday.Habitat loss, climate change and poaching have greatly impacted snow leopard populations across Asia, listed as a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).But the survey offers a rare shot of hope, confirming numbers lie at the upper end of the previous estimates.With thick grey fur dotted with dark spots, and large paws that act as natural snow shoes, the species are difficult to spot and quick to hide, making field research challenging.”This is a historic step in Nepal’s snow leopard conservation journey,” Haribhadra Acharya, senior ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, told AFP.”This is the first time we are getting authentic data with the great effort of researchers,” he said.An estimated total of 397 snow leopards were counted, determined through motion-sensor camera and genetic analysis in seven key areas.It offers the most comprehensive national estimate of snow leopards — also known as the “ghosts of mountains” — previously estimated by the IUCN to be in the range of 301-400.Snow leopards are the least studied of the big cats globally due to their low population density and remote mountain habitats they inhabit.”Nepal has only two percent of the size of the snow leopard habitats globally, (yet) we host 10 percent of the total estimated population”, Ghana S Gurung, country representative of WWF Nepal, told AFP.”More importantly, we are the second smallest country in terms of snow leopard habitat size after Bhutan, (but) we hold the fourth largest population,” he added.- ‘Increased human activity’ -The Snow Leopard Trust, a US-based conservation group, says the exact total number is not known but that “there may be as few as 3,920 and probably no more than 6,390″  across 12 countries in Asia.Although conservationists have welcomed the new population estimate, many remain concerned about the threats posed by climate change and infrastructure development.”New road construction, installation of transmission lines, and increased human activity in search of herbs are disrupting snow leopards’ habitats in the Himalayas,” said Acharya, one of the lead researchers.Experts say the increasing avalanches in the mountains — where climate change is exacerbating extremes of weather patterns — are another threat.Nepal has been praised worldwide for its efforts to protect wildlife which have helped several species, including tigers and rhinos, to return from the brink of local extinction. The country’s conservation efforts have helped to triple its tiger population to 355 since 2010 and to increase one-horned rhinoceros from around 100 in the 1960s to 752 in 2021.

At least 26 people were killed Tuesday in Indian-administered Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists, security sources told AFP, in the insurgency-hit region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.The killings come a day after Modi met in New Delhi with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife and children.A tour guide in Pahalgam told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and had transported some of the wounded away on horseback.Waheed, who gave only one name, said he saw several men lying dead on the ground, while a witness who requested anonymity said the attackers were “clearly sparing women”.Pahalgam lies 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar.One security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.Other security sources and some Indian media reported late Tuesday that 26 people had died, an increase from the 24 that a senior local police officer had earlier told AFP.No group has claimed responsibility, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.Vance offered condolences in a social media post, while President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said.Modi also cut short a state visit to Saudi Arabia over the attack, the foreign ministry said.In New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “strongly condemns” the attack.- Males targeted -“The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” said the witness who asked not to be identified.”They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets. It was like a storm,” said the man, who cares for horses that are popular with tourists in the area.The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire.”They all started running around in panic”, he added.Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “the attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”, with the death toll still uncertain.”This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” he added in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that “Europe will stand with you.”- Holiday destination – Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including with gunshot wounds.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting has eased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement.In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for winter skiing, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, the majority domestic visitors.In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown.A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 Indians were killed. That attack occurred on the eve of a visit by US president Bill Clinton.pzb-bb-sai-ash-pjm/sco/des/bgs/dw

India’s KL Rahul hit an unbeaten 57 to steer Delhi Capitals to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants and get his side back to winning ways in the IPL on Tuesday.Chasing a modest 160 for victory, Delhi rode on Rahul’s 42-ball knock and a second-wicket partnership with Abishek Porel, who hit 51, to achieve their target with 13 balls to spare at Lucknow’s home ground.Delhi, with six wins in eight matches, bounced back from their previous defeat to table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are second in the 10-team table.Seam bowler Mukesh Kumar set up victory with his four wickets as he helped pull Lucknow back from 87-0 to 110-4 and then a below-par total of 159-6.”Once we picked up two quick wickets, we got the momentum and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160,” Delhi skipper Axar Patel said.In reply, Delhi lost Karun Nair for 15 bowled by Aiden Markram, a part-time off spinner, but Porel and Rahul combined to get the chase on track in their stand of 69.Markram struck again to get the left-handed Porel out after his 36-ball knock, which was laced with five fours and one six.Rahul stood firm and along with Axar, who made 34, put on an unbeaten stand of 56 to steer the team home with a winning six from Rahul.Rahul hit his third fifty of the season to go past 5,000 runs in the IPL — making him the quickest player to achieve the feat in the T20 tournament.- Lucknow ’20 short’ -Earlier, openers Markram (52) and Mitchell Marsh (45) combined the right dose of caution and aggression to steer Lucknow to 87 inside 10 overs.South African batter Markram raised his fifty and alongside Australia’s Marsh forced Delhi to rotate their bowling options.Sri Lanka pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera struck first to send back Markram caught out, and the wicket triggered a mini collapse.Australia’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc got the big wicket of West indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran, bowled for nine.Mukesh then got two wickets in one over, including Marsh, and Lucknow wobbled.Lucknow subbed out Marsh and got Ayush Badoni as the impact player, and the 25-year-old repaid the decision by regularly finding the boundary.Badoni made the most of a dropped catch by Tristan Stubbs on three to smash 36 off 21 deliveries.Badoni hammered Mukesh for three successive boundaries in the 20th over but the bowler bowled him on the fourth ball.Skipper Rishabh Pant dropped himself down to number seven but faced just two balls before being bowled by Mukesh on the final delivery of the innings.”We knew we were 20 runs short,” said Pant. “In Lucknow, the toss plays a big part. Whoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket. We just had to stay back, we just couldn’t get it away.”Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who went to Lucknow for a record bid of $3.21 million in the November auction, has scored 106 runs in eight innings with a highest score of 63.

As Catholics filed into Myanmar’s grandest cathedral to mourn Pope Francis on Tuesday, a wartime power cut plunged the worship hall into a murky gloom.But at the front of the pews a portrait of the pontiff remained illuminated by an unseen source — a backup bulb or an open window keeping the image of his face vivid and bright.It was a fitting tribute for a faith leader Myanmar Catholics hailed for shining a light on their country in its recent dark and wartorn times.”Among popes he was the most outspoken on Myanmar,” said 44-year-old nun Sister Lucy, one of hundreds packed into Yangon’s St Mary’s Cathedral as night fell.”Myanmar Catholics will miss him as the pope who always remembered Myanmar,” she told AFP.- ‘People in the peripheries’ -Pope Francis — who died Monday aged 88 — was the only Catholic church chief to visit Myanmar, arriving in 2017 as the country was in the midst of a brief democratic experiment.Since the military snatched back power in a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been plunged into a many-sided civil war which has killed thousands, displaced millions and seen half the population gripped by poverty.The conflict often fails to register on the international stage. But for Pope Francis it was a regular refrain as he called the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics to pray.”Let us not fail to assist the people of Myanmar,” Francis urged in his final sermon on Easter Sunday, recalling both the civil war and last month’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake which has killed more than 3,700.The speech was delivered by an associate because of Francis’ faltering health after he was hospitalised for five weeks with double pneumonia.”He’s a man who really cared for those people in the peripheries,” Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, told AFP after leading prayers and hymns. “He would always listen.”The special service on Tuesday night was held as Myanmar’s military said it would extend a ceasefire declared to ease earthquake relief efforts by one more week.Monitors say fighting has continued despite the truce, with little evidence Pope Francis’s calls for harmony have been answered.”The message that he left and the homework that he left for the Church is to build peace and reconciliation in the country,” Cardinal Bo said. “He would say, ‘Let’s open our hearts to everyone’.”Cardinal Bo, a Myanmar native, has been named among the potential successors to Pope Francis, with the new pontiff due to be picked by a secrecy-shrouded conclave of cardinals in the coming weeks.”We hope that the one that will be succeeding him will have the same sympathy, care and concern for the people of Myanmar,” said Cardinal Bo.- ‘Practiced what he preached’ -Inside the sweltering brickwork of St Mary’s a number of worshippers wore souvenir t-shirts from Francis’s 2017 visit and one nun used a novelty fan celebrating his trip to dull the heat.Just inside its doors, floral tributes were presented before preserved items Francis used on his four-day venture in the Southeast Asian country — a set of vestments, a raised chair, two pillows and a towel.There are only approximately 700,000 Catholics in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which has a population of over 50 million.But Francis “asked the other bishops to get out of their comfort zones”, according to 50-year-old nun Sister Margarita, in the rush of the last worshippers arriving for the service heralded by clanging church bells.”No other pope has come to Myanmar but he came,” she said. “He practiced what he preached.”

At least 24 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir when gunmen opened fire on tourists on Tuesday, a senior police officer told AFP, with authorities calling it the worst attack on civilians in years.Prime Minister Narendra Modi decried the “heinous act” in the summer retreat of Pahalgam, pledging the attackers “will be brought to justice”.A tour guide told AFP he reached the scene after hearing gunfire and transported some of the wounded away on horseback.”I saw a few men lying on the ground looking like they were dead,” said Waheed, who gave only one name.The attack targeted tourists in Pahalgam, which lies about 90 kilometres (55 miles) by road from the key city of Srinagar.The senior police officer in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, described a massacre in which at least 24 people had been killed.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989.They are seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.The killings come a day after Modi met with US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day tour of India with his wife Usha and children.Vance offered his and Usha’s condolences to the “victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam”.”Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack,” he wrote on X.- ‘Abomination’ -Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that “the attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”, with the death toll “still being ascertained”.”This attack on our visitors is an abomination,” he said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack are animals, inhuman and worthy of contempt.”An AFP reporter at Pahalgam spoke to another witness of the shooting who asked not to be identified.”The militants, I can’t say how many, came out of the forest near an open small meadow and started firing,” said the witness, who cares for the horses that are popular with tourists in the area. “They were clearly sparing women and kept shooting at men, sometimes single shot and sometimes many bullets, it was like a storm.” The witness said dozens of people fled as the gunmen opened fire. “They all started running around in panic”, he added. “We tried to comfort them but they were just screaming… we helped carry some injured out of there on ponies.”India’s interior minister Amit Shah flew to Kashmir and vowed those responsible would be caught.”Those involved in this dastardly act of terror will not be spared, and we will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences,” Shah said in a statement.One security source said that foreign tourists were among those shot, but there was no official confirmation.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a post on X, said he was “deeply saddened by the heinous terror attack on tourists”, adding that his nation “stands united with India”.- Popular tourist destination – Medics at a hospital in Anantnag said they had received some of the wounded, including at least two with gunshot wounds, one with a bullet injury to the neck.Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, called the killings “heartbreaking”.India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, but fighting decreased since Modi’s government revoked Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019.”Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger,” Modi said in a statement following the attack.In recent years, the authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months, and to escape the sweltering heat during the summer elsewhere in India.Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures, the majority domestic visitors.In 2023, India hosted a G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar under tight security in a bid to show that what officials call “normalcy and peace” were returning after a massive crackdown.A string of resorts are being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency.Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination.The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.The deadliest recent attack on civilians was in March 2000, when 36 people, all Indian civilians, were killed.pzb-bb-sai-ash-pjm/sco

US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that “good progress” had been made towards a trade deal with India after meeting with “tough negotiator” Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.Washington and New Delhi are negotiating the first tranche of a trade deal, which India hopes will allow it to secure relief within the 90-day pause on steep tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump this month. “Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator, he drives a hard bargain,” Vance said in a speech in the city of Jaipur, where he is visiting as part of a four-day tour of India. “It’s one of the reasons why we respect him.”Vance, who met with Modi on Monday evening, sketched out a win-win partnership saying the two nations had “much to offer one another”, urging New Delhi to buy more US military equipment and boost energy ties.”We don’t blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India’s industry, but we do blame American leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers”, Vance added.”We believe that we can fix that to the mutual benefit of both the United States and India.”Trump wants “America to grow” and “he wants India to grow”, Vance said. “Both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities by creating new jobs, building durable supply chains and achieving prosperity for our workers,” he said. “In our meeting yesterday Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all those points.”- Vance defends Trump’s tariffs -However, Vance also pointed out that India could go a “long way” in enhancing energy ties between the two countries. “One suggestion I have, is maybe consider dropping some of the non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market,” Vance added, without giving further details.”Critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Vance added.”He seeks to rebalance global trade so that America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together.”Vance, who is accompanied by his family including his wife Usha, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is due to visit the Taj Mahal at Agra on Wednesday.Vance said that if India, the world’s most populous nation, and the United States work together successfully, “we’re going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful”.But he also warned that, if “we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity”.