Blasts in Afghan mosque, buses leave many dead
KABUL: A blast tore through a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital on Wednesday evening, killing at least five people, authorities and hospitals said, the same day deadly explosions hit passenger vehicles in the northern city of Mazar-i-sharif. A Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with media said explosives had been placed inside the mosque’s pulpit and at least 11 people were dead. Three blasts in northern Balkh province killed at least nine and injured 15, Mohammad Asif Wazeri, a spokesman for Balkh province’s commander told Reuters, adding the attacks targeted members of Shia community, who are a religious minority in Afghanistan.
Ukraine: Russia offers passports in occupied south MOSCOW: Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday offering fast-track citizenship to residents of occupied southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine condemned the move, with the Foreign Ministry saying that “illegal” distribution of Russian passports violates its sovereignty, territorial integrity and international laws.
UK PM faulted for lockdown parties but won’t quit LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected calls to resign after an inquiry Wednesday found that he presided over a culture of lockdownbreaking parties that featured drunken fighting among staff. I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch,” he told MPS in response to the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray.