Six in The Morning Thursday 19 August 2021

 

The Taliban want the world to think they've changed. Early signs suggest otherwise

By Rob Picheta and Saleem Mehsud, CNN

Updated 1523 GMT (2323 HKT) August 19, 2021

The Taliban's stunningly swift takeover of Afghanistan has caused dread across much of the nation, as Afghans anxiously readjust to life under a militant group that repressed millions when last in power.

Under the Taliban's rule between 1996 and 2001, brutal floggings, amputations and public executions were common. Women were largely confined to their homes, and the death penalty was in place for offenses including female adultery, homosexuality and the rejection of Islam.

With the glare of the media again on Kabul, and Western forces staging a hasty retreat, the world is anxiously waiting to discover whether the new Taliban era will see a return to those days.

Hundreds of men in Pakistan investigated over mass sexual assault on woman

Lahore police open case against 300-400 unidentified people captured on video

Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad

Thu 19 Aug 2021 11.05 BST

Police in Pakistan have opened cases against hundreds of unidentified men after a young woman was sexually assaulted and groped by a crowd of more than 400 men in a park in Lahore as she made a TikTok video.

The shocking assault was captured on several videos, which went viral and showed a mob descend on the woman as she was in Lahore’s Greater Iqbal park making a TikTok video with friends. In broad daylight, the men picked up the young woman and tossed her between them, tearing her clothes and assaulting and groping her.

The woman registered a case against 300 to 400 unidentified persons with Lahore police, according to the case report seen by the Guardian.

Belarus sprinter who defected during Olympics wants to run for Poland

While it can take up to three years to change a sporting citizenship, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya hopes her application will be fast-tracked

Celine Wadhera

The Belarusian sprinter who defected during this summer’s Tokyo Olympics has said that she wants to run for Poland.

In an interview on RBC television channel, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said that she plans to apply for Polish citizenship so that she can become a part of the national track team.

She said: “We are now going to try to change my sporting citizenship so that I can compete for the Polish national team”.

Taliban triumph means more worries in Africa

The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan has taken the world by surprise. In Africa, it compounds the worry and fear in countries struggling to crush Islamist insurgencies.

For over a decade now, there's been a surge in the activities of extremist groups in East and West Africa, the Sahel and parts of southern Africa.

Many are Islamist militant groups with some form of affiliation to al-Qaeda, an organization the United Nations (UN) has said shares links with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Somalia-based media affiliated with the homegrown al-Shabab group hailed the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan in what could be seen as a show of support, says London-based political analyst Ahmed Rajab.

Pakistan cheers Taliban out of ‘fear of India’ – despite spillover threat

After years of accusations that Islamabad was covertly backing the Taliban, Pakistan overtly hailed the fall of Kabul on Sunday. Experts say geostrategic concerns about its enemy India motivate Pakistan’s pro-Taliban stance – making it unlikely to change course, even amid fears that the militants’ control of Afghanistan accentuates the jihadist threat at home.

Islamabad’s reaction to the Taliban’s victory was the opposite of the despair in Western capitals: Their triumph showed that Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery”, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asserted.

Khan’s special assistant Raoof Hasan framed the fall of Kabul – for many, a moment encapsulated by footage of hundreds of Afghans running alongside a departing US plane, desperately trying to flee – as a “virtually smooth shifting of power from the corrupt Afghan government to the Taliban”.

COVID-19 patient forced to give birth at home, baby dies

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

August 19, 2021 at 17:45 JST

A newborn died after a novel coronavirus patient was unable to find a hospital that would admit her and forced to give birth at home.

According to the Chiba prefectural government and other sources, the woman in her 30s, who lives in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, tested positive for COVID-19 and was diagnosed with mild symptoms. She was in her eighth month of pregnancy.

She had a fever, but was not allowed to be hospitalized because of her mild symptoms as of Aug. 15. She was deemed ineligible for a program prioritizing women in their 36th or more week of pregnancy for hospitalization.