World News
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Indonesian navy seizes tanker and crew, says they stole oil
Indonesia’s navy announced today that it has seized a tanker and the tanker’s crew, the seamen were wanted on charges of stealing almost 300,00 barrels of crude oil out of Cambodia’s reserves. The ship was stopped on July 27 while it was off the coast of Sumatra, says the Indonesian navy. Days prior, Phnom Penh had issued a red notice…
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Afghan migrants trapped at the border between Poland and Belarus
There were originally about 50 people in the group stuck on on the Polish-Belarusian border, but according to the Polish border police, Belarusian border guards have since taken women with small children and some of the men back to Belarus. As of Monday, there were still about 24 Afghan men and women camping near the border and refusing to be…
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How the Taliban’s Afghanistan takeover could hurt US-Pakistan ties
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban has left many people in Pakistan questioning their country’s future relations with the US. Some hard-liners in Pakistan say Washington will blame Islamabad for the Islamic fundamentalist group’s takeover of Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari wrote an article on Tuesday asserting that “her country would no longer accept being scapegoated for…
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High hopes for Zambia’s new president ‘HH’
Hakainde Hichilema ran for president five times before winning this year. Popularly known as “HH” or “Bally”, a slang term for for ‘father,’ Hichilema won the Zambian election by almost a million votes. But the work ahead was not lost on him during his victory speech: “We have an enormous task ahead to revive our economy and deliver on your…
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Are India’s emergency visas for Afghans issued based on religion?
Days after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, the Indian government introduced a new category of visa to fast-track the applications of Afghans who want to come to India and flee what has become a growing humanitarian crisis. It was announced that all Afghans, irrespective of their religion, could apply for the so-called e-Emergency X-Misc Visa online. However, the announcement…
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Could Afghanistan under Taliban rule become a haven for Islamist militants?
As the US withdraws its military from Afghanistan, it is clear that Washington’s goal in the country has always been to guarantee American security. President Joe Biden left little doubt to this effect during a speech last week. “Our single most vital interest in Afghanistan remains what it always was, to prevent a terrorist attack on our country.” Biden’s assertion…
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Rwanda’s military intervention in Mozambique raises eyebrows
On August 9, the Rwandan military announced it had taken the strategically important northern Mozambican port of Mocimboa da Praia from al-Shabab militants. Kigali daily, “New Times,” quoted Brigadier-General Pascal Muhizi saying the Rwandan army had chased out the al-Shabab fighters. The jihadists had occupied Mocimboa da Praia in the Cabo Delgado province for over a year but fled towards…
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Indonesia’s former social affairs minister sentenced to 12 years in prison
Indonesia’s former social affairs minister has been handed a 12 year prison term due to a multi-million dollar Covid graft scandal. The Jakarta Corruption Court made its ruling today. An unnamed judge says the former minister, Juliari Batubara, was “convincingly guilty of corruption” following Juliari’s acceptance of 32.4 billion rupiahs in payoffs related to the obtainment of goods meant for…
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All remaining Thai nationals now evacuated from Afghanistan
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan nearly a week ago on Monday, thousands of foreign nationals raced to the airport in hopes of assistance in fleeing the country while it was still possible. Now Thailand’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has confirmed that all Thai nationals have left Afghanistan. The Foreign Ministry believes that there were 4 remaining Thai people in…
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Czech Republic: Health care professions become fashionable
In the Czech Republic, the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic reached its peak in late 2020 and early 2021: The country of 10.5 million led the world in per-capita infections and deaths. In all, some 1.7 million Czechs became ill and to date more than 25,000 people in the EU state have died as a result of COVID-19. The only…
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Vietnam Covid-19 surges, Ho Chi Minh enters lockdown Monday
With soaring Covid-19 infections, Ho Chi Minh City has issued a stay-at-home order enacting a strict lockdown that bans people from leaving their home starting Monday. The megacity of 9 million people has accounted for a full 80% of all Covid-19 deaths and 50% of Covid-19 infections in Vietnam and less harsh lockdown restrictions aren’t making headway. The deputy head…
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Hungary vs EU: Is Orban striving for Huxit?
Hungary’s unofficial government newspaper Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation) often floats issues that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his government would like to gauge public opinion on without addressing those issues themselves. Last weekend, it happened again. On Sunday (August 15), the paper opened debate on an issue that had previously been deemed off-limits even in Hungarian government circles: Hungary’s exit…
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Africa: Vaccination rollout hindered by hesitancy, low supply
A new wave of COVID-19 infections across Africa, and the inequitable distribution of vaccines, has further highlighted the multifaceted inequalities both within the continent and across the globe. While in some parts of the world, the challenge is overcoming vaccine hesitancy. In others, the problem is getting the vaccines to the needy — explains Nicholas Crips, South Africa’s Deputy Director…
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Friends, enemies, neighbors? The Taliban and the Middle East
A recent editorial in Al-Alam, an Iranian-owned Arabic-language publication, warned people not to trust the Americans the way the Afghan people did. The people of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya “link the fate of their countries and their people with America and believe this will open a new door, through which they will enter into a bright and brilliant…
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AfricaLink on Air – 20 August 2021
Are civilians across Africa arming themselves?+++Ivory Coast closes borders+++Al-Shabab’s presence in Somalia as AU mission winds down+++Nigerian teen helps youths with vocational training+++Sports SOURCE: DW News
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Austrian firm rolls the dice on Japan’s first casino project
An Austrian gaming company has made what analysts describe as a “significant breakthrough” in the campaign to open the first casino in Japan, although there is still deep concern in society about the introduction of a new form of gambling. The prefectural government of Nagasaki, in the far southwest of Japan, has awarded priority negotiation rights to the Japan unit…
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Alexi Navalny poisoning marked ‘point of no return’ for Kremlin critics
“I have just flown home. I’m going to passport control. All day I’ve only been thinking about how they will search me in particular because I am a foreign agent,” journalist Olga Churakova tells her podcast listeners in an emotional recording from a Moscow airport. She describes a sense that she is not safe in her home country. Churakova tries…
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Last surviving Khmer Rouge leader denies role in Cambodia genocide
The last former leader of the radical communist Khmer Rouge regime is denying charges of genocide. The Khmer Rouge brutally ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and led to the death of around 2 million people. Some were killed in mass executions by the Khmer Rouge and some were tortured to death. Others died while they were forced to work…
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Will Moscow shake hands with the Taliban?
“We are not worried.” This comment by the Russian president’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Samir Kabulov, sums up Moscow’s reaction to the changeover of power there. On Sunday, Kabulov justified this stance on the state television channel Russia-1, saying that Russia had “good relations” with both the former Afghan government and the Taliban. This despite the fact that the terrorist…
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Relative of DW journalist killed by the Taliban
Taliban fighters hunting a DW journalist have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search in western Afghanistan to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany. Other relatives were able to escape at the last moment and are now on the run. DW’s director general, Peter Limbourg,…
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AfricaLink on Air – 19 August 2021
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backs a peaceful resolution for the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia++Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari holds separate meetings with security chiefs and elders++Today is World Humanitarian Day SOURCE: DW News
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Afghanistan: What Taliban takeover means for the region
The Chinese government has so far appeared to be at ease with the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. “The Chinese embassy in Afghanistan is continuing to operate as normal, and its ambassador and embassy staff will remain in their posts,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday. Most Chinese citizens in Afghanistan…
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Haiti earthquake confirmed death toll passes 2,000
As rescuers continue to work to assess the losses in Haiti, the death toll from Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake has surpassed 2,000 people. The devastating effects of the earthquake on the poor island nation have left thousands homeless, and today 250 more were added to the death count, reaching 2,189 people according to Haiti’s civil protection agency. They estimate the…
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British man convicted of refusing to wear a mask, harassing police, to be deported from Singapore
A British man has been sentenced to 6 weeks in a Singaporean jail following his appearance on a train without a mask, and his harassment of police. Singaporean officials confirmed the man’s jail term today. As the man already served time in jail for the offence, he will be deported from the city-state instead of serving more jail time. 40…
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Biden stands by decision to withdraw troops, says no leaving without ‘chaos ensuing’
Following Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul with thousands now trying to evacuate the country, US President Joe Biden sat down with an ABC News reporter for a one-on-one interview, standing by the decision to withdraw US troops after occupying the area for two decades. While acknowledging that he was stunned by the swift takeover of the US-backed Afghan government,…
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Meet the Middle Eastern migrants trapped in Lithuania
The trip from the center of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to the refugee reception center in Rudninkai takes about 40 minutes. It’s not that easy to get there. We have to stop and ask for directions several times. But eventually we park our car at the edge of a forest and then follow a well-trodden path through the undergrowth toward…
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Taliban triumph means more worries in Africa
For over a decade now, there’s been a surge in the activities of extremist groups in the 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 has said shares links with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Somali-based media affiliated to the homegrown…
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Airlifted Afghans to receive temporary shelter in Albania
Yuri Kim, ambassador of the United States to Albania, has revealed that a contingent of Afghans will be arriving in the Balkan country, without giving a precise figure. “We do not yet have the exact number of the Afghans who will be temporarily sheltered here,” she said in a brief statement for the media on August 17. Unofficial sources told…
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Indonesia: Will the army’s ban on ‘virginity tests’ last?
The chief of staff of the Indonesian army, General Andika Perkasa, recently announced that the army will no longer conduct virginity tests on women applying to join the forces. He was referring to the invasive two-finger examination that was conducted to determine whether female applicants’ hymens were intact. The practice, used in the past by the military to determine recruits’…
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Afghanistan: Pakistan rejoices at Taliban victory as West flounders
Afghanistan has a familiar power back in place. Kabul has fallen. The Taliban have won. And Pakistanis are euphoric. To many a foe, but to others a friend, the cloistered group of extremists has long-held cordial ties with Islamabad, and the Taliban’s recent rise from the flames has left many Pakistanis in raptures. Khan: Removal of the ‘shackles of slavery’…
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