TALIBAN BATTLES DEFIANT PROTESTERS AS 100 U.S. CITIZENS SEEK ESCAPE
Respite has yet to return to Afghanistan as series of life and death events unfold in the troubled Middle East country following the U.S. withdrawal of its troops characterised by chaos, the capitulation of the Afghan government and the Taliban takeover.
CBS News reports that Taliban gunmen fired weapons into the air to break up a demonstration in the capital against the group’s takeover of the country. But even as the Taliban faces defiance, the U.S. government is actively working with the group to try and ensure a safe escape for Americans still stuck on Afghan soil.
The protest in Kabul was sparked by the Taliban’s apparent capture of Afghanistan’s last bastion of resistance, Panjshir province. As CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata reports, anti-Taliban protests have been growing in size and fury by the day.
Heavy gunfire was heard in the capital as the Islamic fundamentalists fired to disperse the crowds, sending people scrambling. The protesters included many women shouting “freedom,” and others yelling “Death to Pakistan” over that country’s meddling in Afghanistan and perceived backing of the Taliban.
Amid continued reports that the Taliban is detaining, beating and even killing people who test its strict rules, another demonstration was held in the north of the country in support of women’s rights. Every protest is a bold gamble against a regime known for its extreme brutality.
As the Taliban tightens its grip on power, the U.S. State Department said an American family of four had been able to flee the country over a land border. But there was growing outrage over Americans and Afghans still stranded in Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that there were still believed to be “somewhere around 100” U.S. citizens wanting to escape from Afghanistan.
Satellite images have shown six evacuation planes at the Mazar-iSharif airport, north of Kabul, amid accusations from U.S. politicians and a non-profit group that the Taliban have been preventing their departure for nearly a week.
U.S. WILL BE GOING BACK TO AFGHANISTAN, SAYS LINDSEY GRAHAM
Amid a chaotic exit from a country it has waged the longest war on foreign land, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham says the U.S. “will be going back into Afghanistan,” the Washington Post reports.
Graham, in an interview Monday with the BBC, predicted a looming clash between the Taliban and extremist groups such as the Islamic State would necessitate American military action in the country. “We will be going back into Afghanistan,” Graham said. “We’ll have to, because the threat will be so large.”
He said Afghanistan “will be a cauldron for radical Islamic behavior,” presenting the United States with only two options: “You can say that’s no longer my problem … or hit them before they hit you.”
Graham has long advocated for an aggressive campaign against the Islamic State. But public polling shows that the American public has little appetite for prolonging the conflict.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll last week found that Americans overwhelmingly supported President Biden’s decision to end the war in Afghanistan, though they disapproved of how he executed the withdrawal.
The last time a majority in a Post-ABC News poll said the war was worth fighting was in late 2009, and then
just a narrow 52 percent majority said so, with Republicans more likely than Democrats or independents to say the war, which began under Republican President George W. Bush, was worth the cost.
The United States will maintain “robust counterterrorism capabilities” in the region, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport. The attack killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians desperately trying to flee the country.
The United States hit back in a drone strike in Kabul, which the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley told reporters was targeting an “imminent” threat posed by the Islamic State’s offshoot in Afghanistan.
EMBATTLED PRINCE CHARLES DENIES SAUDI TYCOON CASHFOR-HONOURS ALLEGATIONS
A money-for-knight scandal is roiling the UK monarchy as Prince Charles denied any knowledge of allegations a close aide offered to help secure a knighthood and citizenship for a Saudi tycoon in return for charity donations.
Newsweek reports that the Prince of Wales and the chief executive of his charity, The Prince’s Foundation were yesterday reported to the police. Officers are currently assessing the information provided.
The Mail on Sunday published a letter he reportedly sent to an adviser of Saudi billionaire Sheikh Marei Mubarak Mahfouz bin Mahfouz.
The denial came after allegations in The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday that Michael Fawcett offered to help a Saudi tycoon secure a knighthood and British citizenship in return for donations to Charles’ charities.
A Clarence House statement said: “The Prince of Wales has no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation now underway by The Prince’s Foundation.”
Fawcett resigned over the weekend as The Prince’s Foundation launched its own investigation into the scandal. However, by Sunday, Norman Baker, a former U.K. government minister, had complained to the police.
On Monday, anti-monarchy campaign group Republic followed up with their own police report and said they had named both Charles and Fawcett in their allegations on Twitter.
JAPAN: THREE DIE AFTER TAKING CONTAMINATED MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE
A third man has died in Japan after receiving an injection from one of three batches of Moderna vaccines since identified as contaminated, though authorities say no causal link has yet been found.
According to The Guardian, the 49-year-old man had his second shot on 11 August and died the following day. His only known health issue was an allergy to buckwheat, the health ministry said on Monday.
As with the previous two deaths, the ministry said it had yet to establish if the latest fatality was linked to the vaccine.
The shot came from the same batches that were found to have fragments of stainless steel in them, leading to a recall of 1.63m doses of the Moderna vaccine on 26 August. The three batches were manufactured in Spain under contract by Moderna.
The company has yet to comment on the most recent fatality, but last week issued a joint statement with local distributor Takeda Pharmaceutical, saying: “The rare presence of stainless steel particles in the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine does not pose an undue risk to patient safety and it does not adversely affect the benefit/risk profile of the product.”
Early last month, two men in their 30s with no underlying health conditions died within days of getting their second dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Contaminants believed to be pieces of rubber fragments from vial stoppers that entered the vaccine liquid due to incorrectly inserted needles were found in Okinawa, Gunma and Kanagawa in late August and early September.
PROTESTERS HIT CANADIAN PM TRUDEAU WITH STONES
Protesters have hit Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with stones during a campaign stop.
He was returning to his bus after visiting a brewery when he was pelted by gravel. The incident occurred in London, Ontario. BBC reports he was not injured. Mr Trudeau called a snap election in mid-August in the hope of gaining a majority government for his left-of-centre Liberal party.
But his campaign has been disrupted by demonstrations against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions.
Just over a week ago, the prime minister was forced to cancel an election rally after a crowd of angry protesters ambushed the event.
After the incident, Trudeau told journalists he might have been hit on the shoulder.
HRW ACCUSES EGYPT SECURITY FORCES OF COVERING UP EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS
Human Rights Watch has accused Egypt’s security forces of killing dozens of alleged militants in extrajudicial executions, claiming the deaths occurred during “shoot-outs.”
HRW cited interior ministry statements as reporting 755 such killings between 2015 and 2020. It examined the cases of 14 men whose relatives said they died in custody, said the BBC.
The interior ministry has not commented, but its statements said its forces opened fire in self-defence.
They also said most of those killed over the five-year period were sought for “terrorism” and that most belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Thousands of members and supporters of the banned Islamist movement have been detained as part of a broad crackdown on dissent overseen by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi since he led the military’s overthrow of his predecessor, Mohammed Morsi, in 2013 following mass protests.