01·South Asia·AF·2h agoUnder-covered Taliban mark 5 years in power as aid groups warn of crisis
The Taliban marked five years in power on Saturday, seeking to portray their government as in control even as aid and rights groups warned of escalating crises.
Outside the former US embassy in Kabul, armoured Taliban vehicles took part in a parade, displaying flags and banners, and celebrating what the government described as “victory day” from Western domination.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, said in a video address that their return to power was the result of “morale, courage” and “divine assistance”.
But he also made a rare acknowledgement of “issues and problems that may still exist.”
International organisations and the UN say the Taliban have struggled to address the natural and humanitarian crises Afghanistan has faced over the past five years, in part because Afghan women are under severe restrictions.
The Taliban have also faced a string of assassinations of key regional officials in the country’s northeast in recent weeks.
In late July, the Taliban’s information director in Badakhshan province was killed in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. The mayor of the province’s capital also died in an attack on Thursday, local media reported.
Taliban officials did not immediately confirm the reports.
Diplomatic inroads
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 amid the withdrawal of the US and its allies, they promised to govern more liberally than they had in the late 1990s and early 2000s a period marked by public executions, the sheltering of Osama bin Laden and the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas.
But those assurances quickly faltered, human rights groups say. The Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls since 2021, barring 2.5 million of them from secondary schools and universities, according to Unesco, and limiting their freedom of movement.
Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month, according to data released by UN Women on Wednesday.
The Taliban say they respect women’s right
1 source · no Western pickup
02·South Asia·IN·4h agoUnder-covered PM Shehbaz directs NDMA to ensure relief for citizens in flood-hit areas
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to provide every possible assistance and relief to people in flood-affected areas.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the prime minister gave the directives during a meeting with NDMA Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik.
The prime minister directed that “all available resources should be utilised to provide every possible assistance and relief to the people in flood-affected areas”.
He further instructed the NDMA to maintain effective coordination with relevant provincial institutions and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs).
The prime minister also appreciated the use of artificial intelligence and modern technology at the National Emergencies Operation Centre.
During the meeting, the NDMA chairman briefed the prime minister on the country’s weather situation, particularly the flood situation in the wake of monsoon rains.
The chairman also briefed the prime minister on relief activities in flood-affected areas and measures being taken for the rehabilitation of flood victims.
With the cooperation of the federal government, NDMA relief operations in flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) will continue, the statement quoted the chairman as saying.
According to the NDMA, 155 people have lost their lives and 460 have been injured in rain-related incidents from June 26 to August 14.
Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies.
However, heavy downpours also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas.
On Friday, the Flood Forecasting Division of the Pakistan Meteorological Department warned of possible high flooding in storm-water nullahs linked t
1 source · no Western pickup
03·Middle East·AE·8h agoUnder-covered Trump signals plan to claim Hormuz ‘soon’
• Urges Americans to accept higher gas prices to stop Iran going nuclear
• UAE accuses Tehran of attacking two vessels; shipping in the strait comes to near standstill
• Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha condemn strikes, demand unconditional return to free navigation
• Houthis strike Saudi oil site, Yemen’s Mocha port; eight killed
• JD Vance confirms keeping US energy prices down is ‘goal number one’; Bessent vows sanctions ‘world has never seen’ against Tehran
GARDEN CITY: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would “soon” declare the strategic Strait of Hormuz a US territory once Iran is defeated, even as fresh attacks on Emirati oil tankers brought maritime traffic in the vital waterway to a near standstill.
Trump’s remarks at a New York rally underscored the escalating international struggle over the narrow corridor, where a grinding stalemate of retaliatory blockades has shifted Washington’s immediate wartime focus from containing Iran’s nuclear programme to preventing an energy crisis that could hit Americans at the pump.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said with a chuckle during an appearance at a police academy in New York state. “It’s true.”
“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” Trump told a cheering crowd of supporters and police.
He urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump said Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” should remember that this was the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon.
“What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves … and we’re really doing a great job,” said Trump, adding he would never apologise for attacking Iran.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates a
1 source · no Western pickup