Minggu, 08 Agustus 2021
Team GB gold medals, world records and brilliant moments - the best of Tokyo 2020 | Tokyo Olympics - BBC Sport
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2021-08-08 11:38:20Z
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Taliban captures Kunduz, third provincial capital in three days - Al Jazeera English
The Taliban has captured the city of Kunduz, the armed group said, the third provincial capital it has taken over in the last three days.
A Taliban statement on Sunday said it has captured the police headquarters, the governor’s compound and the prison in the city.
Local sources and journalists in Kunduz confirmed to Al Jazeera that Taliban fighters are present in the capital.
“Heavy clashes started yesterday afternoon, all government headquarters are in control of the Taliban, only the army base and the airport is with ANDSF [Afghan security forces] from where they are resisting the Taliban,” Amrudddin Wali, a member of Kunduz provincial assembly, said.
Health officials in Kunduz said 14 bodies, including those of women and children, and more than 30 injured people have been taken to hospital.
“We don’t know what’s going on outside because all our efforts and attention is on the patients coming in,” a doctor told Al Jazeera from a Kunduz hospital.
Sunday’s takeover comes after the group seized the provinces of Nimruz and Jawzjan in the last two days.
Kunduz had previously fallen to the group in 2015 and 2016.
On Saturday, the Taliban captured Jawzjan capital Sheberghan, the city’s deputy governor said, a day after Zaranj, capital of Nimruz, fell “without a fight”, according to its deputy governor.
The defence ministry said that on Saturday evening, US B-52 bombers struck several Taliban targets in Sheberghan.
‘Feels like a military city’
People in Kunduz tried to flee ahead of the Taliban’s arrival, a resident told Al Jazeera, and are still afraid of going outside their houses.
“Though the fighting has calmed, it still feels like a military city,” the resident said, referring to the presence of Taliban forces in key parts of the city and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces carrying out operations in the city.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry released a video of an Afghan commando saying the ANDSF have been conducting coordinated operations in the province over the last 24 hours.
The commando said in the video the Taliban suffered heavy casualties in these operations as “they were trying to take key points” in the province, adding that the armed group’s “dream” would not be fulfilled.
“You should be certain that the Afghan forces are with you,” the commando tells the people of Kunduz.
Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis, reporting from the capital, Kabul, said: “A journalist in the centre of Kunduz told us the Taliban has taken over the police chief’s office, the election commission’s office and that the Taliban flag is flying at the central roundabout.”
“The government is denying Kunduz has fallen but, by all accounts, it has,” she added.
Though the Taliban has taken two provincial capitals since Friday, Kunduz – in the far north – would be the most significant to fall since the armed group launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal from the country.
The Taliban has gained vast parts of rural Afghanistan since launching a series of offensives in May to coincide with the start of the withdrawal.
Intense fighting continued in the capitals of the southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, which the Taliban has been trying to take over for several weeks now.
A Helmand provincial council member said on Sunday that government air attacks damaged a health clinic and high school in Lashkar Gah, the capital.
The defence ministry statement also confirmed that air attacks were carried out in parts of the city that killed 54 Taliban fighters and wounded 23 others.
It made no mention of a clinic or school being bombed.
On Saturday, the US embassy issued a statement condemning the Taliban’s inroads into provincial centres in the south and north.
“We condemn the Taliban’s violent new offensive against Afghan cities. This includes the unlawful seizure of Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, the attack on Sheberghan, capital of Jowzjan province yesterday and today, and continuing efforts to take over Lashkar Gah in Helmand and provincial capitals elsewhere,” the statement read.
Dostum: ‘Time to stand against the enemy’
Sheberghan is home to notorious strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum, who returned to Afghanistan only this week after medical treatment in Turkey.
Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in the north, which garnered a fearsome reputation in its fight against the Taliban in the 1990s – along with accusations that his forces massacred thousands of prisoners of war.
On Saturday, Dostum held a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace. A palace statement quoted Dostum as saying that “it is time to stand alongside” the security forces and to “stand against the enemy”.
Any retreat of Dostum’s fighters would dent the government’s recent hopes that militia groups could help bolster the country’s overstretched military.
In Zaranj, social media posts suggested the Taliban was welcomed by some residents.
They showed captured military vehicles, luxury SUVs and pick-ups speeding through the streets, flying white Taliban flags, as residents – mostly youths and young men – cheered them on.
“The Afghan security forces lost their morale due to intense propaganda by the Taliban,” a senior official from the city, who asked not to be named, told AFP. “Even before the Taliban attacks … most of the security forces put their weapons on the ground, took off their uniforms, and left their units and fled.”
On entering Zaranj, the fighters opened the gates of the city jail, officials said, freeing Taliban prisoners along with common criminals.
Additional reporting by Ali Latifi in Kabul
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2021-08-08 09:58:39Z
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Bus crash in Turkey kills 14 with 18 more injured - Daily Mail
Turkey bus crash horror: 14 killed and 18 injured after coach veers off major motorway and rolls down bank
Fourteen people have been killed and at least another 18 injured after a bus veered off a major road and rolled down an embankment in western Turkey.
The crash happened around 4.40am local time in Balikesir province, the local governor's office said.
Eleven people were declared dead at the scene while three others died later in hospital.
Pictures showed how the bus had come off the road while exiting a highway and going around a sharp bend, before rolling down the embankment.
While the bus came to rest on its wheels, its roof had been crushed after it rolled over.
Emergency crews could be seen removing passenger's luggage from the crushed vehicle while a crane hauled the remains of the vehicle away.
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2021-08-08 09:53:06Z
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Afghanistan war: Taliban capture city of Kunduz - BBC News
The Taliban have captured the key northern Afghan city of Kunduz after fierce fighting with government forces.
A local official told the BBC all but the city's airport had fallen to the militant group.
Chaotic scenes have been reported inside Kunduz, with buildings and shops ablaze. The Taliban's flag has been seen raised in the city centre.
Kunduz is the third regional capital to fall to the Taliban since Friday and their most important gain this year.
Violence has escalated across Afghanistan after US and other international forces began to withdraw their troops from the country, following 20 years of military operations.
Taliban militants have made rapid advances in recent weeks. Having captured large swathes of the countryside, they are now targeting key towns and cities.
On Friday, Zaranj in the south-western province of Nimroz fell into their control. Less than 48 hours later, the northern city of Sheberghan in Jawzjan province was seized.
There are reports that another northern city, Sar-e-Pul, has also been captured, although this is yet to be independently confirmed.
Thousands of civilians have been displaced during the fighting this year. Families, including babies and young children, have been sheltering in a school in the north-eastern city of Asadabad.
"Many bombs were dropped on our village. The Taliban came and destroyed everything. We were helpless and had to leave our houses. Our children and ourselves are sleeping on the ground in dire conditions", Gul Naaz told AFP.
"There was firing, one of my seven-year-old daughters went out during that fighting and disappeared. I don't know if she is alive or dead," another displaced resident said.
The importance of Kunduz
The seizure of Kunduz is the most significant gain for the Taliban since they launched their offensive in May.
It is one of Afghanistan's largest cities and considered a gateway to its northern provinces. Its location makes the city strategically important - there are highways connecting Kunduz to other major cities, including the capital Kabul, and the province shares a border with Tajikistan.
That border is used for the smuggling of Afghan opium and heroin to Central Asia, which then finds its way to Europe. Controlling Kunduz means controlling one of the most important drug smuggling routes in the region.
It also holds symbolic significance for the Taliban because it was a key northern stronghold before 2001. The militants captured the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but have never been able to hold it for long.
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2021-08-08 08:01:59Z
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Taliban seizes provincial capitals and lays siege to Afghan cities - Financial Times
The Taliban have captured two provincial capitals and descended on several others across Afghanistan, making significant advances in their campaign for control of the country as the US and UK warn their citizens to leave.
The Taliban on Friday captured its first local capital, Zaranj in the country’s southwestern Nimroz province, without any strong resistance and sent Afghan officials and armed forces fleeing into neighbouring Iran.
This weekend, the insurgents also over-ran Sheberghan, the capital of northern Jowzjan province, a strategic and symbolic gain. Jowzjan is the stronghold of Abdul Rashid Dostum, a powerful anti-Taliban warlord who until last year served as vice-president to Ashraf Ghani.
Other provincial capitals, including Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Kunduz, are under siege. The Taliban, who have already swept through large swaths of the countryside, are targeting several strategic cities following the Biden administration’s decision to pull out remaining US forces by the end of this month.
Analysts warn that the escalating violence could result in a protracted civil war, impending break-up of the country or the Taliban overrunning the national capital Kabul.
The Islamist group on Friday assassinated Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the government’s media centre, in the capital and also claimed responsibility for a deadly attack last week that targeted the defence minister, who was not present.
While some officials denied Sheberghan had completely fallen to the Taliban, multiple sources confirmed the insurgents had gained control of the city and much of the province. After several days of clashes, the Taliban reportedly used water canals to breach the city’s defensive lines in the dead of the night.
One local businessman told the Financial Times that there was now “no resistance” and social media videos reportedly showed Taliban forces inside Dostum’s palace.
US forces have carried out air strikes in a bid to deter the Taliban and boost the morale of Afghan national security forces, but an American defence official said the strikes amounted to only “a handful” each day.
The US embassy in Kabul on Saturday said US citizens should leave Afghanistan “immediately”. “The order for American citizens to leave is an indication of the deteriorating security situation,” the US defence official told the Financial Times.
The UK Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice to urge all citizens to leave the country.
Joe Biden ordered the drawdown of US troops to bring America’s longest-running war to a close, upholding a deal the Trump administration struck with Taliban.
Both presidents took the decision against the advice of some US military officials, who warned pulling out troops risked emboldening the Taliban and damaging fragile gains in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration has been making a last-ditch effort to secure a negotiated political settlement that would give the Taliban a role in the government rather than pursue its advantage on the battlefield, but to little effect.
“These Taliban actions to forcibly impose its rule are unacceptable and contradict its claim to support a negotiated settlement in the Doha peace process,” the US said.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. They were deposed by a US invasion in response to the 9/11 attacks, which were conducted by al-Qaeda, a jihadi group that established ties to the Islamist Taliban militancy.
On Friday, Deborah Lyons, the UN special representative for Afghanistan, said at least 104 civilians had been killed and 403 wounded in Lashkar Gah since late July.
Civilians in the city are trapped in the close-range combat between the Taliban and besieged Afghan forces, with heavy bombardment from US and Afghan air forces adding to the danger.
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2021-08-08 06:11:15Z
CAIiEBEpKJU_dTqcDL48j2dDhWgqGAgEKg8IACoHCAow-4fWBzD4z0gw_fCpBg
COVID-19: Travel boost as seven more countries join green list from today - and France leaves 'amber plus' - Sky News
Hopes for a summer getaway are given a boost from today with a sizeable expansion of the government's green travel list - and the return of holiday favourite France to the regular amber category.
After a spell on the so-called "amber plus" list, France's move back to amber means that fully vaccinated travellers returning from there to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland no longer need to quarantine.
India, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are moving from red to amber, whilst Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Romania and Norway are going green.
People arriving from green list countries do not need to quarantine regardless of vaccination status - but it's the additional amber list destinations that appear to have attracted the most interest.
Ahead of the changes to the lists coming into effect at 4am today, travel companies reported a surge in interest in journeys to France and the UAE.
Brittany Ferries said bookings between the UK and France had more than doubled after the government's announcement earlier this week, Eurostar said it was ready to boost capacity on its London-Paris route, while Skyscanner reported a threefold increase in searches for Dubai.
But today also marks the addition of several places to the red list - meaning that arrivals must spend 11 nights at a quarantine hotel.
The new red list countries are Mexico, Georgia, and the French overseas territories La Reunion and Mayotte.
For now, solo travellers staying at quarantine hotels face a rate of £1,750 - but this will rise to £2,285 on Thursday.
UK holidaymakers in those new red list countries have been racing to get home to avoid having to quarantine, with British Airways (BA) putting on extra flights from Mexico - notably Mexico City and Cancun.
One BA flight from Cancun was due to touch down at Gatwick at 3.05am - less than an hour before the deadline.
Such frantic flight plans have been a fixture of the summer for UK tourists thus far, prompting criticism from the travel industry and politicians across the Commons.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised that the latest changes to the travel lists will be in force for at least three weeks, barring any unforeseen developments.
Despite the additions to the green list and the allowances for fully vaccinated Britons to go to amber list nations, the prime minister is being warned that more needs to be done to make foreign holidays viable for families.
Boris Johnson has been told by travel industry leaders and backbench Conservative MPs that the cost of tests are a major obstacle, with many holidays requiring as many as three tests to be arranged for each person.
Some countries, including France, have ditched the testing requirement for arrivals if they are fully vaccinated.
But there's not yet any sign of the UK government following suit - and arrivals from amber list Spain and its islands are being actively advised to use a PCR test as their pre-departure test wherever possible "as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country".
Earlier this week, Tory MP and Transport Select Committee chairman Huw Merriman tweeted: "Passengers are being ripped off with expensive PCR tests.
"We are told this is justified to sequence for variants but only 5% of tests are.
"This barrier to affordable travel needs to stop now."
Mr Merriman has called for cheaper lateral flow tests to be used for travel instead, with only those people who test positive then requiring a PCR test.
The government says a cautious reopening of the travel industry is needed to protect the UK's vaccine rollout, with almost 47 million adults having now been double jabbed.
Latest figures showed another 35,665 first doses and 162,827 second doses had been carried out, while 28,612 cases and 103 more deaths were also reported.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has dismissed criticism of Dominic Raab following a newspaper report alleging he'd avoided quarantine rules after a trip to France last month.
The Sunday Mirror said the foreign secretary should have had to go into isolation because at the time all arrivals from France had to quarantine for 10 days regardless of vaccination status.
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But ministers are said to be exempt from quarantine rules on account of conducting essential state business and a statement from Mr Raab's department said: "The foreign secretary travels on diplomatic business within the rules.
"It is his job to pursue the UK's interests abroad, including on security, trade, and international development."
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2021-08-08 03:19:20Z
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Sabtu, 07 Agustus 2021
Greece wildfires: PM describes 'nightmarish summer' - BBC News
Greece's prime minister has talked of a "nightmarish summer" as forest fires continue to ravage the country.
Thousands have been evacuated from their homes in parts of Greece and more than 1,000 firefighters have been deployed to bring the flames under control.
The country is experiencing its worst heatwave in more than 30 years.
Authorities have warned that the risk of further fires remains high in many regions including Athens and Crete.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government's priority has been "first and foremost , to protect human lives".
In the last 10 days, more than 56,000 hectares (140,000 acres) have been burnt in Greece, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Dozens of wildfires have broken out in the last 24 hours with the largest fronts in Evia - Greece's second largest island - and areas in the Peloponnese including Arkadia and Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
In Evia, more than 2,000 people have been evacuated via ferry. Ten ships are waiting at Pefki, in the north of the island, ready to evacuate more people if needed, a Coast Guard spokesperson told AP news agency.
On Saturday, a fire just north of Athens on Mount Parnitha spread smoke across the capital. Authorities set up a hotline for people with breathing difficulties, according to AP news.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area since Thursday but by Saturday the flames had receded. However with strong winds forecast, there are concerns that the fire could flare again.
One resident, who was sitting in a car park with his girlfriend, said they had only spent one night in their newly built house before they had to flee. He had spent four hours trying to use a garden house to save his property.
A number of countries have offered support to Greece. Fire-fighters from nations including the UK, France, Romania and Switzerland have sent firefighters to the area.
In Turkey, authorities have been struggling to contain a number of blazes, which have been described by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the country's worst wildfires.
Tens of thousands of hectares have been destroyed in Mediterranean and Aegean provinces.
Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
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2021-08-07 22:33:06Z
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