Why did China build a $340 million ghost airport in Pakistan?
Inside new £188m airport completely empty without a passenger or plane in sight
A brand new airport with the capacity to handle a whopping 400,000 passengers annually has reportedly been 'abandoned'. Completed in October 2024, you'd expect Pakistan's Gwadar Airport to be a non-stop hub bustling with passengers - but its runway is not in use.
It's a mystery that has baffled travel enthusiasts and media outlets across the world and follows the release of three satellite images that show the utter stillness and emptiness of the airport. Funded by China at a staggering cost of $240 million (around £188 million), the 4,300-acre land site is part of the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project - but many doubt the positive impact it will have on the city's 90,000 people.
It is said to have created 2,000 'local jobs' - but the validity of this claim has been met with speculation. In fact, Azeem Khalid, an expert on relations between the two countries, argued the airport isn't actually for the benefit of Pakistan at all. "It's for China, so they can have secure access for their citizens to Gwadar and Balochistan," he told AP.
It is widely reported that an aircraft from Pakistan International Airlines touched down at the airport to mark its inauguration - carrying high-ranking officials. However, since then, it appears no further scheduled flights have been confirmed. According to the Independent, the first light was 'off limits to the media and public' due to security concerns, and a ceremony honouring the opening was hosted online. It follows increasing militant violence and fears the airport's location could be used as a 'launchpad for an attack'.
While mystery engulfs the airport, one thing is starkly clear: the people of Gwadar aren't any better off. The coastal city isn't connected to the national grid and has to rely on electricity from Iran. There isn't enough clean water for residents, who say their home land is swiftly changing.
"Nobody used to ask where we are going, what we are doing, and what is your name," said 76-year-old Gwadar native Khuda Bakhsh Hashim. "We used to enjoy all-night picnics in the mountains or rural areas. We are asked to prove our identity, who we are, and where we have come from. We are residents. Those who ask should identify themselves as to who they are."
https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/inside-new-188m-airport-completely-34791626
India bulldozes illegal mosques.
Teacher's gang-rape blackmail hell: Group of children arrested - including Iraqi and Afghans - after school tutor 'suffers "hours-long" sex attack and is forced to buy the youths drugs'
A group of teenage boys have been arrested over the alleged gang rape and blackmailing of a female Austrian school teacher.
The teacher, 29, was allegedly raped by three young men 'for several hours' on two separate dates last year, prosecutors told local newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
The alleged victim is understood to have entered into an 'intimate relationship' with one of the accused, aged 17, roughly one year ago.
She fell pregnant by the teen, who was her former student, and claims he pressured her into having an abortion, the prosecution claimed.
Recordings were allegedly made of the pair's sexual encounters, which the teacher claims were used by the youths to blackmail her into buying and using drugs, the newspaper reports.
The woman was then allegedly gang-raped by three members of the group, which included an Iraqi, two Austrians, two Afghans and a Romanian. It is not known which of the group are the three accused of rape.
Her Vienna apartment was also set on fire, according to reports.
A total of seven young men, ages 14 to 17, are being investigated on suspicion of rape, extortion, and arson. Five of them are currently in custody.
The teens vehemently deny the rape allegations.
The teacher kept quiet about the alleged assault for almost a year because she felt ashamed and feared losing her teaching job, the newspaper reports.
The teens have largely exercised their right to remain silent during interrogation or legal proceedings.
Prosecutors say one teen admitted to the drugs deals, but denied having knowledge of any other wrongdoing.
Another claimed the sexual intercourse was 'voluntary' and confessed to photographing the alleged victim's ATM card, the newspaper reports.
Officials say the suspects include an Iraqi, a Romanian and two Afghani nationals, as well as two Austrian teens.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) issued a dire response to the alleged assault, suggesting that Vienna has become a hotspot for asylum seekers and an unsafe place for women.
'Vienna is increasingly becoming a no-go zone for women due to such imported violence,' the party said in a statement to Heute.
'We finally need tough consequences: deportation of criminal foreigners and an end to the asylum madness! The FPÖ demands a full investigation, maximum penalties for the perpetrators, and finally safety for our citizens!'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14498527/teens-arrested-teacher-suffers-hours-long-sex-attack.html