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[ AP ] Taliban allowing ‘safe passage’ from Kabul in US airlift
The Taliban have agreed to allow “safe passage” from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a U.S.-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said Tuesday, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country’s new rulers. Jake Sullivan…
[ Decrypt ] Dogecoin Foundation Returns With Elon Musk Rep, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin as Advisors
The core developers behind Dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency that seeks to be a global payment method, have announced the members of the renewed Dogecoin Foundation. Its new advisory board includes Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Elon Musk representative Jared Birchall, according to a statement shared today by the foundation. Three prominent Dogecoin community members, Gary Lachance, Jens Wiechers…
[ AP ] Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs
A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders. The woman, 26-year-old Wu Huan, was on the run to avoid extradition…
[ MalaysiaKini ] Palace instructs MPs to vote on new PM in writing
Istana Negara has instructed members of the Dewan Rakyat to submit their choice of prime minister in writing. The MPs will have until 4pm tomorrow to do so. Their letters have to be certified as true. This instruction – sighted by Malaysiakini – was sent by Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to all MPs this morning.…
[ Mothership ] A glimpse inside an overloaded US military plane with over 600 Afghans fleeing country
The cargo plane, which was one of the many which were able to take off with hundreds of civilians on board, was carrying over five times of its suggested load as it departed. Over 600 Afghans, including women and children, were packed into that space. Some of the other flights may have had an even…
[ BBC ] UK blood supplies to be used to make life-saving drug
Plasma from blood donations in England will be used to make a vital medicine, following a rule change to reduce reliance on imported stocks. Each year about 17,000 people need immunoglobulin treatment and, until recently, there was a ban on using plasma from UK donors to safeguard against vCJD or “mad cow disease”. Officials say…
Muhyiddin resigns, but status quo remains, likely to stay on as the Prime Minister for at least another year
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin tendered his resignation to the King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, on Monday (Aug 16). But while he stays on as caretaker premier for now, there appears to be no clear candidate for his successor. Mr Muhyiddin’s ouster – the Constitution obliges him to resign as there is no provision for a minority government – looks set to throw the nation…
[ MEMO ] Lebanon premier blames corruption for fuel tank explosion
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab has blamed corruption for Sunday’s fuel tanker explosion, describing the incident as a “humanitarian tragedy”, reports Anadolu Agency. At least 28 people were killed and 79 others injured when a fuel tanker exploded in Akkar region in northern Lebanon early Sunday. “What happened in Talali town in Akkar is a humanitarian…
[ Jamestown Foundation ] Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s Latest Merger Enables Renewed Attacks in Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), announced on August 7 that it had merged with a former al-Qaeda-affiliated, anti-state Pakistani jihadist group once led by Ustad Aslam (Umar Media, August 7). It becomes the ninth jihadist group to join the TTP since July 2020. Among the other groups are three TTP splinters, two…
[ Middle East Eye ] ‘Our children are fuel for war’: Village sons leave Yemen countryside for the battlefield
Source: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-war-taiz-village-sons-leave-countryside-battle-saleh Thousands of Yemenis from far-flung provinces fighting under the leadership of Tareq Saleh, the nephew of late Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have joined battles against Houthi rebels on the country’s western coast. These fighters and their families have rented homes in the Taiz countryside, providing an unexpected source of income for cash-strapped villagers. But while…
Taliban: The war is over in Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, for the Taliban’s political office told Al-Jazeera Mubasher TV that the war is over and that the type of rule and the form of regime will be clear soon. This happens as Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, saying that he wanted to avoid bloodshed – a move…
[ ABC News ] Afghanistan updates: Another 1K US troops heading to Kabul, bringing total to 6,000
Another 1,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne have been ordered to head directly to Afghanistan’s capital instead of Kuwait to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission, a U.S. official told ABC News. That brings the total number of U.S. troops being sent back to Afghanistan to…
[ SCMP ] Hong Kong experiences ‘alarming’ population drop, but government says not all 90,000 leaving city because of national security law
Number of people in city now estimated to be 7.39 million, a 1.2 per cent drop in a year Social administration expert Professor Paul Yip says officials should try and address the concerns of those going elsewhere Nearly 90,000 residents have left Hong Kong amid a wave of emigration in the year after the national security…
Petition to call for UN recognition of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) underway
A petition is started on Change.org by “Nang Si Si Win NUG support group Australia” to call for the recognition of Myanmar’s government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG) by the United Nations General Assembly. When we first encountered the petition, it was around 7000 signed. Currently as of the writing of the article,…
[ Reuters ] Indonesian army says has stopped ‘virginity tests’ on female cadets
The Indonesian army has ended a controversial practice of virginity tests on women who apply to become cadets, according to its chief of staff, a move welcomed by activists who have long campaigned against it. “Two-finger tests”, where doctors check the hymen of female recruits to try to determine their virginity, was systematic, abusive and…
[ Task & Purpose ] The US is sending B-52s and AC-130 gunships back in Afghanistan to slow its impending collapse
The U.S. Air Force has committed B-52 bombers and AC-130 gunships to support Afghan forces on the ground, Task & Purpose has confirmed. The Times of London was first to report about those U.S. aircraft being used to conduct airstrikes in Afghanistan. No information was immediately available on how many airstrikes the B-52s and AC-130s have carried…
Exercise Falcon Strike 2015: China J11 34 – 42 Thai Gripen | Full Translated Report
According to a report by Alert5 that is published on 10 December 2019, which somehow gone viral recently after National Interest wrote an article based on the report. So we decided to join in the fun, but report directly based on the “leaked photos” of the after action review presentation in the Alert5 report. We…
[ Business Insider ] Chinese sleeper agents are trying to enter the UK through a scheme designed for Hong Kongers fleeing the city, report says
– Chinese agents are trying to enter the UK with a visa designed to give refuge to Hong Kongers. – Sources told The Times agents try use the visa introduced after China’s new national security law. – It is not clear if any have been successful, and the UK government said it has a strict vetting process.…
The Myanmar military junta had denied responsibility for the alleged assassination plot on Myanmar’s UN Ambassador
According to the report by Reuters on the statement by the Myanmar military-led government on state television MRTV, the junta had denied responsibility for the uncovered assassination attempt on the Myanmar’s United Nations ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, dismissing it as a domestic U.S case. “The event is a domestic case in the United States. Judgment…
[ SCMP ] China sticks with zero Covid-19 approach, leaving borders closed for now
Beijing is set to stick to its zero-tolerance Covid-19 strategy, in a sign that mainland China’s borders will not be opening to Hong Kong or the outside world any time soon. While some experts – including leading epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong, known as “China’s Dr Fauci” – are suggesting the country will need to live with…
[ CNN ] China’s spiraling Delta variant outbreak hits Wuhan, as country introduces mass travel restrictions
China’s spiraling Delta variant outbreak has reached Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, prompting citywide coronavirus testing as authorities scramble to contain the city’s first reported local infections in more than a year. China is grappling with its worst outbreak in months, with more than 300 cases detected in more than two dozen cities across the…
[ The Guardian ] Myanmar duo arrested in New York over plot to kill UN ambassador
Two Myanmar citizens have been arrested in New York state for plotting with an arms dealer in Thailand – who sells weapons to the Burmese military – to kill or injure Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York said on Friday that Phyo Hein Htut, 28, and…
[ Noahpinion] Why is China smashing its tech industry?
For those outside China’s byzantine, opaque nexus of party, government, and big business, it’s very difficult to figure out what’s going on. Just who is ordering these actions is not clear, or what the ultimate result of the crackdown will be. That makes it very hard to figure out why it’s happening. Some observers see this as an…
[ SCMP ] Biden administration approves its first arms sale to Taiwan
The potential US$750 million deal includes 40 new M109 self-propelled howitzers and almost 1,700 kits to convert projectiles into more precise GPS-guided munitions The proposed sale would improve Taiwan’s capability to blunt a Chinese land invasion The US State Department notified Congress on Wednesday of a proposal to sell some US$750 million of weapons to…
[ The Vibes ] RM114 mil in seized assets returned to Najib, Umno
Assets totalling RM114 million, seized from Pavilion Residences on May 17, 2018, have been returned to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno. This comes after the prosecution decided to not file for an appeal in the forfeiture suit after it was dismissed by high court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin. Deputy public prosecutor Faten…