Six In The Morning Monday 6 September 2021

 

Taliban claim victory in Panjshir, but resistance forces say they still control strategic position in the valley

By Nic Robertson, Nilly Kohzad, Tim Lister and Helen Regan, CNN

Updated 1424 GMT (2224 HKT) September 6, 2021

The Taliban have claimed victory in Afghanistan's Panjshir province, with a spokesman saying the region had been "completely conquered" following two weeks of fierce fighting with a resistance group.

Panjshir was the last remaining hold-out among Afghanistan's 34 provinces to resist the Taliban. If the claim is true, it would mean the Taliban now control every Afghan province.

However, the National Resistance Front in Afghanistan (NRF), an anti-Taliban group which has been battling the militants' offensive in the Panjshir Valley, denied the claim, with spokesman Ali Nazary telling CNN: "The resistance is still all over the valley."

Brazil: warning Bolsonaro may be planning military coup amid rallies

Former world leaders and public figures say nationwide marches are modelled on US Capitol insurrection

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Mon 6 Sep 2021 08.55 BST

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his allies could be preparing to mount a military coup in Brazil, according to an influential group of former presidents, prime ministers and leading public figures on the left.

An open letter claims rallies that Bolsonaro followers are staging on Tuesday represent a danger to democracy and amount to an insurrection modelled on Donald Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.

They assert the nationwide marches by Bolsonaro supporters against the supreme court and Congress, involving white supremacist groups, military police, and public officials at every level of government, are “stoking fears of a coup in the world’s third largest democracy”.

State department accused of preventing evacuation flights from leaving Afghanistan

Private evacuation organiser in Afghanistan claims US government ‘is not allowing any private charters carrying refugees to land anywhere’

Clara Hill

The US Department of State has been accused of delaying clearances for flights evacuating Afghanistan to land in neighbouring countries, say reports.

Rick Clay, the operator of PlanB, a private group organising evacuations out has said the State Department is the only entity stopping his planes from leaving the airport, according to reporting by Fox News.

He outlined that he was desperate to get the required State Department clearance to land in Doha and has 4,500 people waiting; US citizens, visa and green card holders and Afghan refugees. This comes after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban after the US military withdrawal last month, and despite a federal government attempt to get everyone out by the end of August.

Belarus convicts activist Maria Kolesnikova on 'extremism' charges

A court in Minsk has found opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova guilty on charges of trying to seize power and of extremism. Kolesnikova, who tore up her passport to prevent expulsion, faces 11 years in prison.

A guilty verdict has been delivered in the case involving Belarusian activist Maria Kolesnikova. The activist was charged with attempting to seize power and with extremism by Belarusian authorities.

Kolesnikova is a member of the opposition Coordination Council and was arrested in September. She now faces an 11-year prison term.

Climate change pushes New Zealand to warmest recorded winter

By NICK PERRY

The southern winter that just ended in New Zealand was the warmest ever recorded, and scientists say that climate change is driving temperatures ever higher.

For the three months through August, the average temperature was 9.8 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit), according to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

That's 1.3C above the long-term average and 0.2C higher than the previous record posted last year. Scientists have been keeping records since 1909, but most of the warmest winters have been recent.

Six Palestinians escape from high-security prison in Israel

Israeli police launch a search after six Palestinians managed to break out from Gilboa prison overnight through a tunnel.

Israeli forces have been searching for six Palestinian prisoners who managed to escape from a high-security facility in northern Israel early on Monday.

The prisoners escaped from the Gilboa prison, which is supposed to be one of Israel’s most secured facilities. Such breakouts are extremely rare.

“Overnight, we received a number of reports about suspicious figures in agricultural fields and from the prison service, which discovered very quickly that prisoners were missing from their cells and that six escaped,” police spokesman Eli Levy told Israeli Kan Radio.