Unfiltered Stories

15/12/2022

21/08/2021

A U.S. Marine calms an infant during an evacuation at the airport in Kabul.
Pentagon officials have said their focus remains on maintaining the airport perimeter and increasing the number of evacuees

16/08/2021

4 reasons why Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan Matters to the world.

15/08/2021

A senior interior ministry official told Reuters news agency that Ghani left for Tajikistan.

Ghani’s departure comes amid negotiations for a peaceful transfer of power after Taliban fighters encircled Kabul after capturing 26 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals in less than two weeks.

Meanwhile, a Taliban official told Reuters they were checking reports about Ghani’s departure from the country.

On Sunday, Taliban troops surrounded Afghanistan’s seat of power, promising it had instructed its fighters to refrain from violence and offer safe passage to anyone wishing to leave Kabul.

15/08/2021

The Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital Kabul today and an official said President Ashraf Ghani had left the city for Tajikistan, capping the terrorists' lightning push for power. A senior Afghan Interior Ministry official said Ghani had left for Tajikistan.
Asked for comment, the President's office it "cannot say anything about Ashraf Ghani's movement for security reasons".

A representative of the Taliban said the group was checking on Mr Ghani's whereabouts. American diplomats were evacuated from their embassy by chopper after a swift advance by Taliban, who were poised to run Afghanistan again 20 years after they were toppled by US-led forces following the September 11 attacks on the United States. Taliban fighters were reaching the capital "from all sides", a senior Afghan interior ministry official told Reuters.

But there were no reports of fighting and the group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said they were waiting on the outskirts and were in talks with the Western-backed government for a peaceful surrender. "Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed," he said. Representatives from the two sides were due to meet in Qatar on Sunday, Fawzi Koofi, a member of the Kabul negotiating team, told Reuters.

15/08/2021

partly shut the world’s third-busiest container port after a worker became infected with Covid, threatening more damage to already fragile supply chains and global trade as a key shopping season nears.

All inbound and outbound container services at Meishan terminal in Ningbo-Zhoushan port were halted Wednesday until further notice due to a “system disruption,” according to a statement from the port. An employee tested positive for coronavirus, the eastern Chinese city’s government said.

The closed terminal accounts for about 25% of container cargo through the port, calculates security consultant GardaWorld, which said “the suspension could severely impact cargo handling and shipping.” Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG said there will be a delay in sailings.

15/08/2021

The said it has no plans to take the capital “by force”. The armed group issued the statement as its fighters moved to the outskirts of Kabul.

“Negotiations are under way to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property and honour of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis,” it said.

“The Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city,” a spokesman for the Taliban tweeted, although some residents reported fighters peacefully entered some outer suburbs.

Panicked workers fled government offices. Thousands of now live in parks and open spaces in Kabul itself, fearing the future.

14/08/2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while formally launching the national vehicle scrapping policy said on Friday that Alang having the necessary infrastructure and manpower for scrapping of ships can become a “big hub for scrapping of vehicles.”
“Today the national automobile scrapping policy is being launched. This policy will give a new identity to mobility of New India and the automobile sector. This policy will play a big role in modernising the country’s vehicle population and removing unfit vehicles from the roads in a scientific manner,” Modi said while virtually launching the vehicle scrap policy at an investors meet held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

He said new technologies in the mobility not only reduces cost of travel and transportation but also helps in economic growth. “It is the need of the hour that India targets clean, congestion free and convenient mobility in the 21st century,” he said, adding that the new policy which is important part of the “circular economy” will attract Rs 10,000 crore of new investments in the country.

13/08/2021

India registers 40,120 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours taking the total caseload to over 3.20 crore. While the country recorded 585 fatalities taking the death toll to over 4.3 lakh.

Currently, India's active infections have come down to 3.85 lakh which constitutes 1.20% of total cases. It is the lowest since March 2020.

With 42,295 patients recovering in the past 24 hours the total recoveries across the country is at 3,13,02,345. It is the highest ever recovery rate achieved at 97.46%.

The daily positivity rate is at 2.04% and the weekly positivity rate remains at 2.13%.

13/08/2021

As the Taliban is gaining ground in Afghanistan by capturing many key cities in the country, the terror group is now forcing women to get married to its terrorists, a media report said on Thursday.
Afghans are also witnessing the ex*****on of captured soldiers and unprovoked attacks on civilians by the Taliban in its recent captured areas.

Afghans pouring into Kabul and those still in Taliban-held areas say they have witnessed unprovoked attacks on civilians and ex*****ons of captured soldiers. In addition, they say, Taliban have demanded that communities turn over unmarried women to become "wives" for their terrorists -- a form of sexual violence, human-rights groups say, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The Taliban had publicly pledged to be magnanimous in victory, assuring government officials, troops and the people of Afghanistan that they have nothing to fear as ever-larger swaths of the country fall under their control. But their actions say otherwise, The Wall Street Journal added.

On Thursday, the US Embassy in Kabul had criticised the Taliban as it had received reports of the Taliban executing members of the Afghan military who had surrendered. "Deeply disturbing & could constitute war crimes," the embassy said on Twitter.

08/08/2021

Lionel Messi fought back tears as he began a press conference at which he confirmed he is leaving Barcelona, the football club where he has played his entire career.

He was emotional before he even made an opening statement.

“These recent days, I’ve been giving lots of thought about what I could say, and the truth is that I can’t think of anything,” Messi told a news conference as hundreds of fans, many wearing his number 10 jersey, massed outside Barca’s Camp Nou stadium to bid farewell to the player.

“This is really difficult for me after so many years, being here my entire life, I’m not ready for this and honestly last year with all the nonsense, I was convinced I knew what I wanted to say but this year is not the same.”

08/08/2021

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Sunday said that a study has suggested that mixing and matching of Covid-19 vaccines - Covaxin and Covishield - show better result.
As per the ICMR, the study has also suggested that immunisation, with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, followed by inactivated whole virus vaccine was not only safe, but also elicited better immunogenicity.