Friday, August 20, 2021

NATO urges Taliban not to allow Afghanistan to become a "breeding ground" for terrorism

NATO foreign ministers have urged the Taliban not to allow Afghanistan to become a breeding ground for terrorism. 

Speaking after a virtual meeting to discuss the crisis, NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg called for people to be allowed to safely evacuate the country. 

Lucy Hough has more from Brussels. 

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Wall Street turns attention to U.S. consumer [PREVIEW]

Investors on Wall Street will turn their attention this week to the
U.S. consumer and their appetite for spending.

It's a somewhat light week for economic data but some key inflation
data will also be of keen interest.

William Denselow reports from New York.

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$5.8bn of student loans cancelled for some disabled borrowers

Nearly six billion dollars worth of student loans is being cancelled
for people with permanent disabilities in the US.

The debts will be wiped out automatically.

Sarah Walton reports.

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Court declines order for striking Doctors to resume duty in Nigeria

A Nigerian court has rejected an application for resident doctors in the country to suspend their ongoing strike.

 

The doctors embarked on an indefinite strike about three weeks ago demanding improved welfare among other requests from the government.

 

Tesem Akende reports from Jos, Nigeria

 

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UK Foreign Secretary defends decision not to personally call Afghan counterpart over interpreter evacuations

The UK's Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has defended his decision not to personally call his counterpart in Afghanistan over the evacuation of interpreters from the country.


He says he prioritised 'security' at the airport in Kabul and delegated the call to a junior minister.


Chris Jones has more from London.


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Mass Polio Vaccination in Uganda

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Uganda is set to roll out a mass polio immunisation for children under 5 years.

 

The move follows an outbreak of the infectious type 2 strain of polio in the country.  

 

The viral disease is transmitted from person to person, mainly through contaminated water or food, or contact with an infected person.

 

Michael Baleke has more…

 

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GERMAN COVID-19 CASES HIT THREE MONTH HIGH

Germany has recorded a major spike in new Covid-19 cases - as health experts raise concerns about the growing likelihood of a fourth wave. 

Germany, which will soon offer booster shots, has managed to so far avoid the high case numbers seen in other European countries like France and Spain, but there's consensus among health groups that vaccination levels still need to increase to ensure community transmission levels remain manageable over the winter months. 

From Berlin, Trent Murray reports. 

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Uganda May not Host Afghan Refugees Soon

SUGGESTED LEAD

Uganda's Foreign Affairs Minister J.J Odongo has told Parliament the country will not be receiving Afghan refugees soon.  

The Minister says the US government asked Uganda about the possibility of hosting 2000 Afghan evacuees, but a decision has not yet been made.
 
This contradicts earlier reports that Uganda would start receiving Afghan refugees imminently. 

Isabel Nakirya reports

DRC INMATES DEATHS

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More than 100 prisoners are reported to have died at a detention facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year largely due to lack of food and medicine.

A local NGO says the deaths occurred in an overcrowded prison in the capital Kinshasa.

Chris Ocamringa has that report from Kinshasa...

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Alexey Navalny calls for stronger anti-corruption efforts

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has written an essay from prison, calling on the West to do more to tackle corruption. On the anniversary of Navalny's poisoning, the essay has been published in a series of European newspapers. Julia Chapman has more.

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AFGHANISTAN: SAFETY CONCERNS, UK PRESSURE ON MINISTER

There are fresh concerns for the safety of people in Afghanistan who worked with US and Nato forces.

A confidential UN assessment says the Taliban are going door to door with a wanted list - and threatening relatives if they don't surrender.

Major Andrew Fox is a former paratrooper who served on three tours of Afghanistan.

He says the documents underscore how perilous the situation is for those who've been marked out as collaborators:

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UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is facing intensified calls to resign over his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan while he was on holiday.

It's emerged a phone call that the Foreign Secretary was advised to make to his Afghan counterpart on Friday - but which was delegated to a junior minister - did not take place at all.

Officials had suggested the call, to arrange help for translators to leave the country.

The Foreign Office says given the rapidly changing situation it wasn't possible to arrange a call before the Afghan government collapsed.

Layla Moran is the Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesperson.

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Delhi Gets its First Smog Tower to Combat Air Pollution

Delhi will receive its first smog tower on Monday, to help purify air in one of the world's most polluted cities.

The structure, over 20 metres tall (over 65 feet), is expected to clean the air around a kilometre radius.

Sreoshi Mukherjee has more on this story.

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Australia - Curfew added to lockdown restrictions in Greater Sydney

With another 644 new infections recorded overnight in the state of New South Wales, lockdowns in Greater Sydney have been extended until the end of September and an overnight curfew will be introduced next week.


From midnight on Monday, people in 13 local government areas will be required to stay at home between 9pm and 5am.


Shaun Bindley reports...


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COURTESY AIR NEWS MEDIA - AUSTRALIA



White House: US doesn't know how many Americans are in Afghanistan


President Biden's National Security Adviser has confirmed that the US Government does not know how many Americans are in Afghanistan awaiting evacuation from Kabul Airport.


For days, White House estimates of the number of Americans in Afghanistan has ranged from 5,000 to 12,000.


Now Jake Sullivan has told CBS News presenter Norah O'Donnell that it's unclear how many people the US military needs to get out.


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Thousands of US Students Quarantine As School Starts

More than 20-thousand students in the US state of Mississippi have been told to quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. 

Some 4500 children there became sick with COVID during the first week of school. 

US Correspondent Rachel Silverman has details. 


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Thursday, August 19, 2021

BREAKING: Kabul diplomats warned State Department of Afghan government's imminent collapse

It's been revealed that more than two dozen US diplomats working at the American embassy in Kabul sent a classified cable to President Biden's Secretary of State last month warning him of the potential for a rapid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.


The State Department has confirmed the authenticity of the document which was supplied to Secretary of State Antony Blinken by diplomats who said they wanted to register their disagreement with the pace of President Biden's troop withdrawal.


Our Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.


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Mixed close on Wall Street following new jobs data

There was a mixed close on Wall Street as some investors continued to
weigh concerns that the Federal Reserve may soon roll back economic
stimulus.

But there was also some positive jobs data released.

Sarah Walton reports from New York

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Negotiations continue on Capitol Hill after man makes bomb threat

There's a security alert on Capitol Hill where Police and the FBI are investigating a bomb threat after a man claimed to have explosives in his truck.


Congress is in recess but the Capitol's office buildings have been evacuated.


Tom Manger, Chief of the Capitol Hill police, confirmed that the suspect was live-streaming on Facebook from his vehicle as negotiations with officers took place.


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Facebook has now deleted the suspect's videos and his access to the livestream.

European Union evacuates 106 Afghan support staff from Kabul

The European Union says more than 100 staff members of its EU delegations have been safely evacuated from Afghanistan. 

The bloc is looking to evacuated a further 300 from Kabul airport. 

It comes as the EU foreign policy chief described events in Afghanistan as a "catastrophe."

Lucy Hough has more from Brussels. 

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US struggles to evacuate civilians from Afghanistan

The Pentagon says it's only managed to evacuate 600 Americans from
Kabul airport in the last 48 hours.

The update comes after President Biden admitted it may be necessary to
keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond the planned August 31st
withdrawal.

Nick Harper reports from Washington.

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