PGM

04/08/2021

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, a state investigation has found. US President Joe Biden and other fellow Democrats are calling for him to step down.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat governor of New York, should resign from his post over allegations he sexually harassed 11 women.
The call came after the New York Attorney General's Office released a detailed summary of its investigation into the charges.
Investigators found that Cuomo had "engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under New York state law," according to New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Biden said: "I think he should resign."

02/08/2021

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has accused Iran of orchestrating a deadly attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman. Tehran rejected the allegations.

02/08/2021

Min Aung Hlaing says no Myanmar elections until 2023

Myanmar’s military ruler has promised multi-party elections and the lifting of the state of emergency by August 2023, extending an initial timeline given when he deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government earlier this year.

The general’s announcement in a televised address on Sunday, six months after the February 1 coup, would place Myanmar under military control for nearly two and a half years – instead of the initial one-year timeline the army announced days after its power grab.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, with the military facing protests and strikes that have paralysed the administration and economy. Security forces have killed more than 900 people in a crackdown on anti-coup protests and dissent, according to a local monitoring group, and there has been a resurgence of armed conflicts in the borderlands.

02/08/2021

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned a Taliban attack on a UN compound in Herat, Afghanistan, which resulted in the killing of an Afghan security guard.

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on Friday, the UN's main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"So-called 'anti-Government elements' targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA's provincial headquarters," the mission added.

Responding to the attack, the UN chief "expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and wishes those injured a speedy recovery", Guterres' deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement late Friday.

The Secretary-General said that attacks against UN personnel and premises are prohibited under international law and may constitute war crimes. He reiterated the UN commitment to support the government and people of Afghanistan in their efforts to achieve peace and stability.

Also condemning the attack, Deborah Lyons, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, said: "This attack against the UN is deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms... The perpetrators of this attack must be identified and brought to account."

The UN's presence in Afghanistan is as a civilian entity focused on supporting peace efforts, promoting the rights of all Afghans and providing humanitarian and development assistance. IANS

02/08/2021

Kabul, Aug 1: Flights in Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport were suspended on Sunday after rockets struck the nation’s second main international airport, a local official confirmed.

“The initial information found Taliban militants fired three rockets at the Kandahar International Airport and two of them struck the runway late Saturday night,” the official told PGM.

“Local authorities were inspecting and trying to repair and reopen the runway as soon as possible,” the official said, adding that there were no casualties.

Kandahar city, the capital of the southern namesake province, has been the scene of fierce clashes recently as Afghan government security forces continued heavy fighting to prevent Taliban militants from advancing.

The militants have been trying to overrun the city after capturing several suburban districts in the province in recent weeks.

On Saturday, three civilians were killed and 10 civilians, were wounded during heavy battles in Kandahar city, according to officials on Sunday.

02/08/2021

02/08/2021

Every jobseeker welcomes an invitation to a second interview, because it signals a company’s interest. A third interview might feel even more positive, or even be the precursor to an offer. But what happens when the process drags on to a fourth, fifth or sixth round – and it’s not even clear how close you are to the ‘final’ interview?

That’s a question Mike Conley, 49, grappled with earlier this year. The software engineer, based in Indiana, US, had been seeking a new role after losing his job during the pandemic. Five companies told him they had to delay hiring because of Covid-19 – but only after he’d done the final round of interviews. Another three invited him for several rounds of interviews until it was time to make an offer, at which point they decided to promote internally. Then, he made it through three rounds of interviews for a director-level position at a company he really liked, only to receive an email to co-ordinate six more rounds.

“When I responded to the internal HR, I even asked, ‘Are these the final rounds?’,” he says. “The answer I got back was: ‘We don’t know yet’.”

That’s when Conley made the tough decision to pull out. He shared his experience in a LinkedIn post that’s touched a nerve with fellow job-seekers, who’ve viewed it 2.6 million times as of this writing. Conley says he’s received about 4,000 public comments of support, and “four times that in private comments” from those who feared being tracked by current or prospective employers.

“So many people told me that, when they found out it was going to be six or seven interviews, they pulled out, so it was a bigger thing than I ever thought it was,” he says. Of course, Conley never expected his post would go viral, “but I thought that for people who had been on similar paths, it was good to put it out there and let them know that they’re not alone”.

In fact, the internet is awash with similar stories jobseekers who’ve become frustrated with companies – particularly in the tech, finance and energy sectors – turning the interview process into a marathon. That poses the question: how many rounds of interviews should it take for an employer to reasonably assess a candidate before the process veers into excess? And how long should candidates stick it out if there’s no clear information on exactly how many hoops they’ll have to jump through to stay in the running for a role?

01/08/2021

The Kruger National Park in South Africa is where most of the country's rhino are being slaughtered. Authorities are battling to protect the species from poaching gangs.

01/08/2021

Italy's Lamont Marcell Jacobs has been crowned the world's fastest man as he won the 100m title at the Tokyo Olympics

01/08/2021

More than 3,000 police and special forces were deployed around the French capital Paris today as thousands of protesters angered by the government's planned introduction of health passes descended on the city.

01/08/2021

Researchers say the Greenland ice sheet shed enough water in one day to cover the entire state of Florida with two inches of water.

01/08/2021

Afghan forces fought fierce street battles and bombed Taliban positions as the group’s fighters swarmed major cities amid an intensifying nationwide offensive.

01/08/2021

Ismail Haniya has been re-elected as leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, cementing his control of the organisation which rules the besieged Gaza Strip.

01/08/2021

PGM
Zia Ghafoori, his pregnant wife and their three small children landed in the United States from their home in Kabul in September 2014.
He held five US visas - a reward for 14 years of service as an interpreter with US Special Forces in Afghanistan.
But the benefits stopped there. Upon arrival, Zia found himself homeless - sent to a shelter by a well-meaning volunteer who told him it would be a place for him and his family to start a new life.
Seven years later, the memory still angers him.
Speaking to media from North Carolina, where he now lives, he recalled struggling to look his children in the eye, apologising for bringing them to the US.
"I couldn't control my tears," he said. "After what I had done for both countries, I was asking myself 'is this what I deserve?'"
But among his peers Zia, now 37, counts himself lucky to have made it to the US at all.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have served as interpreters, fixers and local guides to US and allied soldiers since the start of Afghan War in 2001, when Western forces invaded to wrest control of the country from the Taliban.
Decades after the beginning of what would become America's longest-running conflict, President Joe Biden has vowed to withdraw US troops by 11 September - even as the Taliban appear poised to return to power.

01/08/2021

A 100-year-old former guard at the Sachsenhausen N**i concentration camp will stand trial in the fall, charged as an accessory to the murder of some 3,500 people.

01/08/2021

JUST IN: At least three rockets struck Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan overnight, Afghan officials have said.

31/07/2021

Afghan civilians feel stuck between a corrupt gov't and a brutal, violent, oppressive Taliban that is gaining ground.

31/07/2021

Two former German police officers have gone on trial for a smash and grab robbery of a jewelery store earlier this year when thieves made off with €200,000 ($237,339) worth of precious stones.