Six In The Morning Monday 5 July 2021

 

Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after militant clashes

More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers have fled to neighbouring Tajikistan after clashing with Taliban militants, officials have said.

The troops retreated over the border to "save their own lives", according to a statement by Tajikistan's border guard.

Violence has risen in Afghanistan and the Taliban have been making significant gains, particularly in the north of the country, in recent weeks.

Hong Kong police say mourning officer’s attacker is like backing terrorism

Authorities called assailant a ‘lone wolf’ domestic terrorist who had been politically radicalised

Helen Davidson in Taipei

@heldavidson

Mon 5 Jul 2021 08.51 BST

Police in Hong Kong have told citizens that mourning the death of a man who stabbed a police officer last week is “no different to supporting terrorism”, as the case was taken over by the national security department.

The comments followed the stabbing of an officer in the back on Thursday night by a 50-year-old man at Causeway Bay. Police said the man then took his own life. The 28-year-old officer sustained a punctured lung in the attack and remains in hospital in a critical condition, according to local media.

Authorities labelled the assailant, named by media as Leung Kin-fai, as a “lone wolf” domestic terrorist who had been politically radicalised, and blamed people who “incite hatred” against China. The incident took place on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule, and thousands of police had been deployed to prevent any protests in the deeply divided city.

Afghan Bundeswehr helpers arrive in Germany for asylum: report

The first group of Afghans to be granted asylum for their work with the German military has arrived in Germany, according to Der Spiegel. They are fleeing the Taliban who consider them "traitors."

The first six members of Afghan personnel, who worked with the German military during their time in Afghanistan, have arrived in Germany with their families, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Monday.

Their arrival marks the beginning of a program to provide asylum to Afghans who aided the Bundeswehr and who are now fearing for their lives as the Taliban regains control of large parts of the country.

Gunmen kidnap students in northwest Nigeria, school official says

Gunmen have kidnapped 140 students from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, a teacher said Monday, the latest in a wave of student kidnappings. Kaduna state police spokesman Mohammed Jalige confirmed the attack but did not provide details on the number of pupils taken.

Gunmen have kidnapped 140 students from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria, a school official said on Monday, the latest in a wave of mass abductions targetting schoolchildren and students.

Heavily-armed criminal gangs often attack villages to loot, steal cattle and abduct for ransom in northwest and central Nigeria, but since the start of the year they have increasingly targeted schools and colleges.

In the deep south, where they can’t give vaccines away

By Matthew Knott JULY 5, 2021

Her name is Denise Taylor, but most people call her Coach T.

Taylor has spent most of her career coaching basketball: first at college teams across the US and then as one of eight coaches in the debut season of the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Now she is the operations manager at a medical centre in the Mississippi Delta – a rural, mostly black area in the deep south that is famous as the birthplace of blues music. It is also well known as the poorest region in the poorest state in America.

Why a French culture war you've never heard of causes huge traffic problems

 In France, summer holidays are sacred. So much so that the government is willing to bend its own Covid vaccination policies to let French workers hit the beach without worrying about their second injection.

Until it did, the public outrage over the prospect that rigid vaccination plans might jeopardize people's summer getaways was enough to unite one of France's biggest divides: "juilletistes" -- those who holiday in July -- and "aoûtiens" -- those who prefer August.

To appease these fervent holidaymakers, authorities have agreed to waive guidelines that insisted second vaccinations must generally be received in the same place as the first. Now people can choose the locations, including popular vacation destinations.

The monthly preference of French sunseekers may seem a mere curiosity to the rest of the world, but for those who live there, it's a serious matter -- and one that annually grinds the entire nation to a standstill.