New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Taliban, Ghani declare cease fire for Eid holiday
The Taliban and Afghanistan’s president announced late Saturday a three-day ceasefire ahead of a major Islamic holiday that begins Sunday to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
The Taliban order, which was soon followed by an announcement via Twitter from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announcing the government “extends the offer of peace,” comes just days after U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul and Doha.
Khalilzad on his trip urged both the Taliban and the Afghan government to reduce violence and move ahead with intraAfghan negotiations, a key pillar of a U.S. peace deal with the Taliban signed in February to allow American troops to leave Afghanistan. The deal was also touted at the time as Afghanistan’s best chance for peace after nearly four decades of war.
The Taliban’s cease-fire announcement follows an Eid al-Fitr message from the Taliban leader which said the insurgent group was committed to the peace deal, was not seeking to monopolize power and promised to guarantee the rights of women and men under an Islamic system.
The directive ordered Taliban fighters not to fight but also not to fraternize with Afghan national security forces. The instructions seemed intended to avoid images that circulated during the last cease-fire in 2018, also during Eid celebrations, including Taliban fighters sharing ice cream and laughing with Afghan national security force soldiers.
PAKISTAN
Turbulence, warnings before plane crash kills 97
When the plane jolted violently, Mohammad Zubair thought it was turbulence. Then the pilot came on the intercom to warn that the landing could be “troublesome.”
Moments later, the Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed into a crowded neighborhood near Karachi’s international airport, killing 97 people, all of whom are believed to be passengers and crew members. Zubair was one of just two surviving passengers.
Meeran Yousaf, the provincial Health Department spokeswoman, said only 21 of the bodies from Friday’s crash have been identified and that most of the bodies were badly burned. Eight people on the ground were injured. Three remained hospitalized and all residents are accounted for, she said.
The plane crashed at 2:39 p.m. near Jinnah International Airport, in the poor and congested residential area known as Model Colony. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafiz Khan said the aircraft destroyed or heavily damaged 18 homes.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Abdul Sattar Kokhar said the Airbus A320 was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members. The only other survivor of the crash was Zafar Masood, a bank executive.
CALIFORNIA
Fire destroys warehouse on Fisherman’s Wharf
A fire engulfed a warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf early Saturday, sending a thick plume of smoke over the waterfront and threatening to spread to a historic World War II-era ship before firefighters brought the flames under control.
One firefighter sustained a hand injury while battling the fire at the warehouse the size of a football field on Pier 45, San Francisco Fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter said.
Baxter said after the fire subsided, investigators scoured the building to determine whether homeless people were inside.
“That is something of grave concern, that is why we’re actively trying to confirm if anybody saw anybody in this building,” he told KGO-TV.
“To our knowledge … nobody is supposed to be in the building and we are hoping … that there is no victim,” he said.
ALABAMA
Virus outlook worsening amid state reopening
With Alabama’s coronavirus caseload worsening while casinos, churches and more reopen, the state’s most recognizable person had some stern words about bringing COVID-19 under control.
“You need to be staying 6 feet away from me, and haven’t I told you you have to wear a mask when you’re in this building?” University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, himself wearing a mask emblazoned with “Roll Tide,” scolded the school’s elephant mascot in a video released as the state reopened more.
Perhaps Saban’s rant — which tied the prospects of fall football to disease control in a football-crazy state — will be the thing that makes people see a need for renewed vigilance in a place where life is largely back to normal despite a deepening health crisis.
From the Gulf Coast to the lush Tennessee Valley, Alabama’s political leaders and health experts are struggling to make many residents see the continued need for social distancing, crowd limitations and wearing masks after Gov. Kay Ivey reopened much of the economy.
Hearst wire services