The Dead Afghan’s Tale: How Afghanistan’s Poorest Are Bearing the Brunt of the War
Mujib Mashal / Dasht-e-Qala, Afghanistan 5 hours ago
The young boy does not say a word. His eyes water as he turns away, staring out the window or at the mud walls of his family home in Dasht-e-Qala, in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province. Just across the river and over the hills lie Tajikistan and the vast expanse of Central Asia.
Abdul Basit has seen what no 7-year-old should see. He saw the dead body of his father Yoldash, an Afghan police officer, who was chopped up into six pieces by the Taliban and left to rot in the sun for nearly 30 days in western Farah province. The Afghan government did not even send a search or rescue mission for him. When Basit and his uncle Gul-Murad finally arrived to pick up the corpse, Yoldash’s two hands and half of his torso were missing.
Though the manner of his death is particularly brutal, Yoldash’s story is not uncommon among the Afghan security forces, which, as of June, have taken full lead of the country’s security ahead of the U.S. and its international coalition’s 2014 drawdown. Families of many Afghan security personnel who have fallen in the line of duty report neglect by the political leadership in Kabul. On average, 10 Afghan soldiers are killed every 24 hours in Afghanistan, and there is a high attrition rate, with many deserting the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces.
Mohammed Morsi backers brace for Cairo crackdown
Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi have fortified their two Cairo sit-in sites.
They acted as Egyptian security officials said their forces will move against the entrenched protest camps.
At the main sit-in, vendors said they have sold hundreds of gas masks, goggles and gloves to protesters readying for police tear gas.
Three waist-high barriers of concrete and wood have been built against armoured vehicles.
Egypt, where more than 250 people have been killed in clashes since Mr Morsi was toppled on July 3, is braced for more violence as the four-day Muslim Eid celebrations wrapped up yesterday to end the holy month of Ramadan.
ENERGY
Fearing blackout, South Korea calls on public to curb electricity use
People across South Korea are expected to avoid using electricity during peak hours for the next three days. The appeal from the energy minister comes amid trouble in the nuclear power sector and an ongoing heatwave.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jik called on South Korean citizens and businesses to curb electricity usage for three days beginning on Monday.
"We are facing potentially our worst power crisis," Minister Yoon Sang-jik said on the eve of the predicted sharp drop in power reserves.
"We may have to carry out a rolling blackout... if one single power plant goes out of operation," he added.
It's 'for or against' Kirchner in Argentina - and its primary elections
As Argentines go to the polls today, the campaigns are laying bare a widening fissure that could become increasingly entrenched.
Sergio Massa marches down a corridor, casting aside his suit jacket and rolling up his shirtsleeves – as if preparing for a schoolyard tussle – before facing the camera: “If they want to fight, we’re going to fight,” he says.
That’s the controversial TV spot Mr. Massa, who is running for a congressional seat in Argentina’s upcoming midterm elections, chose for his campaign. But he is not the only politician to adopt an aggressive tone against the Front for Victory, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s ruling alliance.
“Her or you” is lawmaker Francisco de Narváez’s polarizing slogan. Meanwhile, the Front for Victory has implored voters to “choose love over hate” in today’s open primaries – in effect a mass poll for the decisive midterms on Oct. 27. The results will determine Kirchner’s level of support after a turbulent year of mass protests and unpopular economic policies.
That’s the controversial TV spot Mr. Massa, who is running for a congressional seat in Argentina’s upcoming midterm elections, chose for his campaign. But he is not the only politician to adopt an aggressive tone against the Front for Victory, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s ruling alliance.
“Her or you” is lawmaker Francisco de Narváez’s polarizing slogan. Meanwhile, the Front for Victory has implored voters to “choose love over hate” in today’s open primaries – in effect a mass poll for the decisive midterms on Oct. 27. The results will determine Kirchner’s level of support after a turbulent year of mass protests and unpopular economic policies.
In the Cosa Nostra heartland of UK Mafia boss Rancadore
Clinging to the foothills of a steep-sided mountain on the outskirts of Palermo is Trabia, the quaintest of provincial fishing ports.
Outwardly it is a warm and welcoming place, popular at this time of year with the touring visitors.
But inside the walls there are watchful eyes. These are the winding narrow streets of the Cosa Nostra, and in the early 90s it was the boss Domenico Rancadore who ruled.
ASIA PACIFIC
India to join elite club with launch of own aircraft carrier
AFP-JIJI
India was set Monday launch its first indigenously built aircraft carrier, two years behind schedule and at an estimated cost of up to $5 billion.
The ceremony, to be attended by senior defense officials and diplomats, will mark India’s entry into an elite club of nations — including Britain, France, Russia and the United States — that that have designed and built their own aircraft carriers.
“It took us seven to eight years to design it,” A.K. Saxena, the navy’s chief designer, said, adding that the project’s 2009 launch had been “complex and challenging.”
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