Taliban hold political talks, Biden says ‘chaos’ inevitable

A Taliban fighter stands guard atop a vehicle near the site of an Ashura procession which is held to mark the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, along a road in Herat on August 19, 2021, amid the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan. (Photo by AREF KARIMI / AFP) Senior Taliban members […]

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Ex-Afghanistan president, Ghani breaks silence from exile

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has denied that he fled his country to escape the Taliban militants. Ghani left the country as Taliban forces entered Kabul on Sunday, August 15. Speaking for the first time from exile, Ghani confirmed he is in the United Arab Emirates and fled his country to prevent bloodshed after advice […]

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Taliban renames country Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Leader of the Taliban negotiating team, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founded the Taliban movement with cleric Mullah Omar in the early 1990s amid the chaos and corruption of the civil war that erupted after the Soviet withdrawal. Photo: AFP The Taliban has renamed Afghanistan the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ after its fighters swept into the […]

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American troops can’t be dying a war Afghan forces are unwilling to fight – Biden

American forces can’t be fighting a war Afghan forces are not willing to fight themselves, according to President Joe Biden, who stressed that the US mission in the Taliban-torn Afghanistan 20 years ago was to get the attackers of September 11, 2001 and not to build the landlocked Asian country. His words: “American forces cannot […]

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US gives conditions for recognising Taliban govt in Afghanistan

The United States has given conditions for recognising a Taliban government in Afghanistan. US Department spokesman, Ned Price, said on Monday that the US would only recognise a Taliban government in Afghanistan if it respects the rights of women and shuns, denounces extremist movements such as Al-Qaeda. “Ultimately when it comes to our posture towards […]

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Taliban in control of Afghanistan, panic in Kabul

Taliban fighters stand guard at an entrance of the green zone area in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar / AFP) Victorious Taliban fighters […]

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Death toll in massive Haiti quake jumps to over 1,200

People search through the rubble of what used to be the Manguier Hotel after the earthquake hit on August 14, 2021 in Les Cayes, southwest Haiti. Rescue workers scrambled to find survivors after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti early Saturday, killing at least 304 and toppling buildings in the disaster-plagued Caribbean nation still recovering […]

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Indonesian army scraps ‘virginity tests’ on female cadets

This photo taken on October 5, 2018 shows Indonesian women’s army corps taking part in a parade to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Indonesian military’s founding in Sabang island, Aceh province. – Indonesia’s army has stopped performing so-called “virginity tests” on female recruits, its chief said on August 12, 2021, following calls from rights […]

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California wildfire second worst in state history

Firefighters monitor the scene as flames from the Dixie fire jump across highway 89 near Greenville, California on August 3, 2021. – The Dixie fire has burned more than 250,000 acres and continues to get closer to residential communities. The 2017 Thomas Fire is now only the seventh worst by area destroyed — and is […]

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