Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Will the West engage with North Korea?
UN nuclear watchdog says North Korea has resumed nuclear activity.
We Tried Cereal from the US! 映画にでてきそうなアメリカのシリアル食べてみた！
This was in a box full of gifts from a fan in the US!! It's Cereal from the US! It was so fun to try stuff from the US!!
Nations have vastly different approaches towards relations with the Taliban
After more than two decades, US troops have completed their final withdrawal from Afghanistan, bringing the war to an end. So, what now? The Taliban are left with the job of governing the country, and the international community must decide how to deal with Afghanistan's new rulers.
Six In The Morning Tuesday 31 August 2021
UK and US took ‘joint decision’ to keep Kabul airport gate open
British sources dispute claim US forces kept gate ‘open longer than they wanted to’ before deadly attack last week
The UK and the US took a “joint decision” to keep Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate open last Thursday, British sources have said, despite what turned out to be a prophetic warning that a terror attack by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) on western soldiers and gathering crowds was imminent.
The fresh briefing comes in the aftermath of an unusually detailed leak of the run-up to Thursday’s deadly bombings, which had claimed that the Americans had kept the gate “open longer than they wanted to” so the UK could finish its evacuation from Afghanistan.
British defence sources in effect disputed the leaked account, arguing in a fresh briefing that both countries’ militaries had agreed to keep the Abbey Gate open, in what was described by the UK as a “joint decision” despite the acknowledged risk.
EU says 70% of its citizens are now fully vaccinated
Countries in the EU are battling a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant
The EU has fully vaccinated 70 per cent of its adult population against Covid-19, the 27-member bloc’s president Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
The EU had set the target to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population by the “end of the summer”, first implied to be at the end of September. Although the EU’s vaccination drive began at a slower pace due to lack of supply, the bloc said in July that 70 per cent of its citizens had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
In a video message shared on social media, Ms Von der Leyen said that “today we reached an important milestone in our vaccination campaign”.
Philippines: Nurses threaten mass resignation amid COVID surge
Saying they are overworked and underpaid, health care workers across the Philippines are threatening to walk off the job unless they receive benefits promised by the government.
The Philippines is currently experiencing record-high COVID caseloads driven by the highly transmissible delta variant. As hospitals fill up, overworked nurses have staged protests and are threatening mass resignations if government benefits are not paid by September 1.
At the start of the pandemic last year, the Philippines' government set aside special risk allowances for health care workers, which included hazard pay and money for accommodation and transportation.
Wildfire prompts evacuation of South Lake Tahoe, a popular tourist destination
A popular vacation haven normally filled with tens of thousands of summer tourists was clogged with fleeing vehicles Monday after the entire resort city of South Lake Tahoe was ordered to leave as a ferocious wildfire raced toward Lake Tahoe, a sparkling gem on the California-Nevada border.
Vehicles loaded with bikes and camping gear and hauling boats were stuck in gridlock traffic in the city of 22,000, stalled in hazy, brown air that smelled like a campfire. Police and other emergency vehicles whizzed by.
Ken Breslin was in bumper-to-bumper traffic less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from his home, with only a quarter-tank of gas in his Ford Escape. His son begged him to leave Sunday night, but he shrugged him off, certain that if an evacuation order came, it would be later in the week.
South African researchers keep wary eye on yet another new coronavirus variant
Updated 1108 GMT (1908 HKT) August 31, 2021
Genetics researchers who have been watching for new coronavirus variants say they've seen a troubling new lineage that carries many of the same hallmarks as other strains, including Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
The variant they are watching, called C.1.2, has popped up across South Africa as well as in seven other countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the researchers report. They're not sure whether its constellation of mutations will make it more dangerous, but it carries changes that have given other variants increased transmissibility and the ability to evade the immune system's response to some degree.
Having more mutations does not necessarily equal more danger -- some mutations can weaken a virus and it's the combination of changes that affects whether a virus becomes more efficient. One extra mutation could cancel out the effects of another.
Fox News accused of stoking violence after Tucker Carlson ‘revolt’ prediction
Fox News is driving political violence in the US, a media watchdog warned, after the primetime host Tucker Carlson predicted “revolt” against the Biden administration.
In a Monday night monologue targeting the White House and military leaders over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Carlson demanded resignations. He also said: “When leaders refuse to hold themselves accountable over time, people revolt. That happens.
“We need to change course immediately and start acknowledging our mistakes. The people who made them need to start acknowledging them or else the consequences will be awful.”
Monday, August 30, 2021
Afghanistan’s Own Battle: On the front line
We followed Afghan National Army soldiers during their first year fighting the Taliban in Helmand without NATO support.
How megaships cause mega problems
When the Ever Given became stuck in the Suez canal in March 2021, people woke up to the sheer size of these megaships. But these vessels, which now dominate container shipping, have been quietly ballooning in size for more than 50 years, and even doubling in capacity every few years since the turn of the millennium. The bigger they have grown, the more problems they have caused for consumers and producers, problems that extend much further than getting stuck
From Bush to Biden: One war, four US presidents on Afghanistan - BBC News
Four US presidents have overseen America's presence in Afghanistan over the past two decades. How they handled the conflict was shaped by conditions on the ground, but also by their distinctive views on American values and interests.
Where did the coronavirus come from? | COVID-19 Special
Where did the virus behind COVID-19 come from? It's a question that's dogged researchers since the early days of the pandemic. Most maintain it jumped from bats to humans in a Chinese market. Some claim it could have other origins – in particular, a breakout from a lab working with viruses.
Six In The Morning Monday 30 August 2021
Kabul families say children killed in US drone attack
Ten people from a Kabul neighbourhood killed in US drone attack – Washington claims ISKP fighters were the target.
30 Aug 2021
The Ahmadi and Nejrabi families had packed all their belongings, waiting for word to be escorted to Kabul airport and eventually moved to the United States, but the message Washington sent instead was a rocket into their homes in a Kabul neighbourhood.
The Sunday afternoon drone attack, which the US claimed was conducted on an Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP, or ISIS-K) target, killed 10 members of the families, ranging from two to 40 years old.
Ida weakens to tropical storm as it moves to Mississippi with destructive winds, heavy flooding
, and Kendra Nichols Today at 10:49 a.m. EDT
,
and
Kendra Nichols
Forecasters warned that flooding from storm surges will continue through Monday morning in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. As Ida’s center moves into southwestern Mississippi, damaging winds could cause more power outages. Heavy rainfall is possible through Tuesday morning across southeastern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi and southwestern Alabama.
Forecasters warned that flooding from storm surges will continue through Monday morning in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. As Ida’s center moves into southwestern Mississippi, damaging winds could cause more power outages. Heavy rainfall is possible through Tuesday morning across southeastern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi and southwestern Alabama.
Armed robbers take hostages in deadly bank raids in Brazil city
At least three people dead and trail of explosive booby traps left across Araçatuba in São Paulo state
Reuters in Rio de Janeiro
Armed robbers have taken hostages and left a trail of explosives devices in a deadly raid on three banks in a small Brazilian city.
The attack in Araçatuba, a city of roughly 200,000 people in the interior of São Paulo state, is the latest in a series of increasingly violent bank heists in Brazil. Experts believe a pandemic welfare programme for poorer Brazilians has encouraged robbers to plan bold raids in sleepy regional cities where bank branches are storing more cash.
More than 20 heavily armed men carried out the robberies in Araçatuba, using 10 cars, said Álvaro Camilo, the executive secretary of Sao Paulo’s military police. As the gang made their getaway, they took hostages with them and burned cars, while leaving a trail of explosive booby traps across the city.
The hackers trying to overthrow Belarusian leader Lukashenko
Belarusian hackers have released portions of a huge data trove that reveals the inner workings of the most secret police and government databases to try to get rid of Lukashenko, writes Ryan Gallagher
Opponents of the Belarus government say they have pulled off an audacious hack that has compromised dozens of police and interior ministry databases as part of a broad effort to overthrow President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans, as the hackers call themselves, have released portions of the huge trove they say includes some of the country’s most secret information. It contains lists of alleged police informants, personal information about top government officials and spies, video footage from police drones and detention centres and secret recordings of phone calls from a government wire-tapping system, according to interviews with the hackers and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Among the pilfered documents are personal details about Lukashenko’s inner circle and intelligence officers. In addition, there are mortality statistics indicating that thousands more people in Belarus died from Covid-19 than the government has publicly acknowledged, the documents suggest.
Leaded petrol runs out of gas, century after first warnings: UN
The use of leaded petrol has been eradicated from the globe, a milestone that will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths and save world economies over $2.4 trillion annually, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said Monday.
Nearly a century after doctors first issued warnings about the toxic effects of leaded petrol, Algeria -- the last country to use the fuel -- exhausted its supplies last month, UNEP said, calling the news a landmark win in the fight for cleaner air.
"The successful enforcement of the ban on leaded petrol is a huge milestone for global health and our environment," said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, which is headquartered in Nairobi.
North Korea appears to have restarted nuclear reactor: U.N. agency
Nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor in a "deeply troubling" development, the UN atomic agency has said, a possible sign Pyongyang is expanding its banned weapons program.
The development on the 5-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon -- North Korea's main nuclear complex -- comes with nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington at a standstill.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered to dismantle part of the Yongbyon complex at a second summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump but not other sites, in exchange for sanctions relief, and his offer was rejected.
Sunday, August 29, 2021
How should social media companies handle the Taliban?
Tech giants face challenges over disseminating Taliban content as the group prepares to form a new government in Afghanistan.
Hydrogen: fuel of the future?
It’s been hailed as fuel of the future. Hydrogen is clean, flexible and energy efficient. But in practice there are huge hurdles to overcome before widespread adoption can be achieved.
Hurricane Ida slams into Louisiana as category 4 storm
Hurricane Ida has reached the Louisiana coast as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US. The now category four storm made landfall just southwest of New Orleans.
Six In The Morning Sunday 29 August 2021
What Will Become of the Afghans Left Behind?
On Thursday, the German military suspended flights from Kabul. Thousands of people who worked for the Germans have been left behind. Berlin is hoping negotiations with the Taliban will give them a way out.
By Matthias Gebauer, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Christoph Hickmann, Christiane Hoffmann, Muriel Kalisch, Martin Knobbe, Steffen Lüdke, Maximilian Popp, Fidelius Schmid, Anna-Sophie Schneider, Thore Schröder und Christoph Schult
His voice was bursting with agitation. "Please, help us!" Abdullah Arash said over the phone. "We don’t have much time left."
The conversation took place on Tuesday, Arash was hiding with his wife and two children at a friend’s apartment in Kabul. He had hardly been outside for several days, with both he and his family paralyzed by fear. They are afraid of the Taliban.
Fears grow for Afghan refugees stuck in ‘Kafkaesque’ Poland-Belarus standoff
Lukashenko accused of encouraging refugees to come to Belarus in retaliation for Brussels sanctions
Fears are growing for a group of Afghan refugees who fled their country last month and made their way to Europe, only to find themselves marooned on the border between Poland and Belarus in a “Kafkaesque” political standoff.
The 32 refugees – women, men, and a child of 15 years old – have been stuck in a small, muddy patch of land between the two countries for almost three weeks with no access to clean water, insufficient shelter and intermittent food supplies, according to a Polish NGO.
Despite seeking international protection in Poland, they are not being allowed in, with border guards preventing them from entering. Neither are they being allowed back into Belarus, where they came from in the hope of being able to cross into the European Union.
Afghan athletes complete harrowing journey to arrive in Tokyo for 2021 Paralympics
Afghan athletes Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli have arrived in Tokyo, via what's been described as a harrowing journey from Kabul to Paris, to compete in the Paralympics.
For now, they are sequestered in the Paralympics Village alongside Tokyo Bay and will not be available for media interviews during their stay — before or after they compete. And where they go after the Games close on Sept. 5 is unclear.
The International Paralympic Committee said they arrived in Tokyo from Paris early on Saturday evening, having passed all the required COVID-19 tests to enter Japan. IPC spokesman Craig Spence said they'd need a few days to get their bearing and needed some privacy.
Israel bombs Hamas sites in Gaza after protests
Palestinians say they are resuming the demonstrations to press Israel to ease restrictions on the enclave.
The Israeli military says its aircraft struck Hamas sites in Gaza early in response to incendiary balloons launched from the besieged Palestinian enclave as a recent rise in violence tests a fragile truce that ended a deadly assault on Gaza in May.
The army said on Sunday hundreds of Palestinians gathered along the separation barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip during the night, hurling explosives and burning tyres and that troops responded with “riot dispersal means”.
More Moderna vaccine contamination detected in Okinawa
Okinawa Prefecture suspended the use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday after another contamination was spotted, the local government said.
It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches -- though the cause of their death is unknown.
Okinawa prefectural government officials said Sunday's vaccination program was partially postponed.
Herat under the Taliban: residents on the new rulers
The BBC has been speaking to people in Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city, with a population estimated to be more than 500,000.
It’s a strategically important provincial capital in the west of the country, and is close to the borders with Iran and Turkmenistan.
Residents said their lives had totally changed living since the Taliban control, and that they fear for their safety.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Cambodia: The forgotten temple of Banteay Chhmar
Deep in the jungle of Cambodia lies a jewel from the Khmer Empire: the temple of Banteay Chhmar. Half devoured by plants and long forgotten by most people, the 800-year-old complex is being rediscovered, slowly.
Covid vaccine complications dwarfed by virus risks
A major review of vaccines suggests the AstraZeneca jab does raise the risk of blood clots and another serious condition that can cause bleeding.
Six In The Morning Saturday 28 August 2021
Afghanistan live news: last dedicated civilian flight to UK has left Kabul, says Ministry of Defence
Final UK evacuation flight purely for Afghan nationals has departed; US drone strike killed Islamic State member, no civilians
- Afghanistan drone strike targeted Islamic State ‘planner’ in car, US says
- UK councils ‘ready to assist’ Afghan refugees but lack housing
- Fear and fury in Kabul as thousands face being abandoned by UK
- Ending evacuation is ‘heartbreaking’, UK armed forces chief says
- Twelve days of chaos in Kabul – in pictures
- See all our Afghanistan coverage
US has helped evacuate 117,000 from Afghanistan
Maj Gen Taylor also insisted the US remains in control of the airport in Kabul despite the Taliban suggesting otherwise.
He said: “We’re going to continue to run the airport until the end … to make sure that we can execute our operations.”
Republican election audits have led to voting system breaches, experts say
MyPillow chief gave out election software at South Dakota event derived from Republican challenges in Colorado and Michigan
Associated Press in New York
Sat 28 Aug 2021 14.47 BST
Republican efforts to question Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020 have led to voting system breaches experts say pose a risk to future elections.
Copies of Dominion Voting Systems softwares used for designing ballots, configuring voting machines and tallying results were distributed at an event this month in South Dakota organized by the MyPillow chief executive, Mike Lindell, a Trump ally who has made unsubstantiated claims about last year’s election.
Matt Masterson, a former top election security official in the Trump administration, said: “We told election officials, essentially, that you should assume this information is already out there. Now we know it is, and we don’t know what [hackers] are going to do with it.”
Young, Jewish and on the move in Germany
What does it mean to live in Germany today as a descendent of Holocaust survivors? Deborah Feldman, author of "Unorthodox," and others shared their opinions in a DW panel.
They're Jewish, live in Germany and are part of the "Third Generation," the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors: Soprano Shai Terry, writer and feminist Laura Cazes, writer Dmitrij Kapitelman and Deborah Feldman, author of the global bestseller Unorthodox. The memoir tells the story of her upbringing in an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community in New York City. Feldman became known to millions around the world after her book was made into an Emmy Award-winning Netflix series of the same name.
The four cultural figures were panelists in the DW discussion "Jewish Life in Germany. The Third Generation on the Move." The event, which took place at the Jewish Museum Berlin, was part of a year-long program celebrating 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany. But rather than revolving around the past, the anniversary seeks to focus on the future of Judaism and the questions surrounding it.
Biden says China withholding 'critical information' about origins of pandemic
US President Joe Biden said Friday that China was still withholding "critical information" on the origins of Covid-19 as the US intelligence community said it did not believe the virus was a bioweapon – but remained split on whether it escaped from a lab.
"Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People's Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it," Biden said in a statement.
"To this day, the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continues to rise," he added.
Delta outbreak tests New Zealand's zero Covid strategy -- but lockdown has broad support at home
Updated 0023 GMT (0823 HKT) August 28, 2021
When New Zealand went into lockdown last week over a single Delta case, critics were quick to mock the country's risk-averse approach.
British newspapers didn't hold back. The Times called New Zealand a "mysterious socialist hermit nation" where the public "languish in a Covid prison," while The Telegraph slammed a once-welcoming country that had turned into an "isolated dystopia."
The reaction to New Zealand's approach speaks to a divide on how countries across the world are handling Covid. More than 18 months into the pandemic, some countries, including the United Kingdom, have accepted they may never eliminate the virus -- so instead, they're learning to live with it.
Palestinian boy dies after being shot by Israeli forces in Gaza
Hassan Abu al-Neil, 12, dies of wounds a week after he was shot by Israeli forces during protests at the Gaza border.
A 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot in the head by Israeli forces during a demonstration at the Gaza-Israel border last week has died of his wounds, Gaza health officials said.
Hassan Abu al-Neil, who died on Saturday, was shot on August 21 during the demonstration organised by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to mark the 52nd anniversary of the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and to protest against the crippling blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.
The firing by Israeli forces injured at least 41 Palestinians during the protests.
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