Afghanistan could start to run out of food by September, UN warns

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

World Food Programme calls for urgent aid as chaos of Taliban takeover and second drought in three years create dire humanitarian situation

UN agencies have warned of food shortages to Afghanistan as early as September without urgent aid funding, as it emerged first aid supplies, including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits, were stuck due to restrictions at Kabul airport.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday the closure of the airport to commercial flights has held up key deliveries.

Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Analysis: Tuesday’s meeting called by Boris Johnson may include postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of crisis

The emergency meeting of G7 nations on Tuesday – called by Boris Johnson as this year’s chair of the G7 – is in essence a gathering of the vanquished but faces a threefold agenda: how to ensure as many Afghans as possible can leave Kabul, and whether the US is prepared to stay beyond the original 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces; how a resettlement programme can be coordinated for the medium term; and finally, how to encourage the Taliban to form an inclusive government, including by threatening sanctions or withholding recognition.

But each country will bring its own concerns and an ugly postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis cannot be ruled out.

UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Exclusive: Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan says continuing evacuations after 31 August could spark reaction from militants

Britain has begun a last-ditch scramble to get people out of Kabul amid warnings from the senior diplomat on the ground that staying past the current 31 August deadline may not be realistic and risks provoking the Taliban.

Speaking to MPs from Kabul, Sir Laurie Bristow, Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said trying to hold Kabul’s airport any longer would be fraught with risk. He was speaking before Tuesday’s G7 meeting, which is expected to discuss a request from the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to the US president, Joe Biden, to stay longer.

Taliban says US troops staying beyond deadline ‘will provoke reaction’ – video

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Staying beyond the agreed deadline of 31 August would be 'extending occupation', Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said on Monday, and this would 'provoke a reaction'.

The comments were made after a firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at the airport left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded. Thousands of soldiers have returned to the country to manage the airlifting of foreigners and Afghans who worked with western nations out of the Taliban-controlled country

US and allies will face ‘consequences’ if troops stay after deadline, Taliban warn

Tennessee floods death toll rises after homes and businesses destroyed – video

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

The flooding in rural areas on Saturday took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether loved ones survived. Many of the missing live in neighborhoods where the water rose fastest, Humphreys county sheriff Chris Davis said.

At the White House in Washington, Joe Biden said he expressed his 'deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic loss of life through this flash flood'

Tennessee floods death toll rises to 22 as Biden offers help

China reports zero local symptomatic Covid cases for first time since July

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Tough measures were deployed after the recent Delta variant outbreak

China’s health authority has reported no new locally transmitted symptomatic Covid cases for the first time since the Delta variant outbreak began in July.

While it is unclear whether the figure will remain at zero in the weeks to come, experts said it was yet another sign that Beijing’s “zero tolerance” approach was unlikely to be changed.

‘It’s just unbelievable’: Tennessee surveys wreckage after floods kill 22

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Succession of thunderstorms deposited record-breaking 17in of rain in some parts of state

Tennesseans were surveying the mangled wreckage of towns and communities across the middle of the state on Monday, after a record-breaking deluge caused flash flooding that swept away houses, shattered lives and left at least 22 people dead and many more missing.

Gunshots fired at far-right Proud Boys rally in Portland – video

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

A protest on Sunday in Portland, Oregon culminated in a gunfight, when antifascist demonstrators returned fire at a man who shot at them with a handgun in a downtown street.

Portland police bureau confirmed that a man had been arrested over the shooting, which came after a day of protest descended into running clashes involving hundreds of protesters and counter-protesters

Hundreds clash in Portland as Proud Boys rally descends into violence

‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Agency issues message after misinformation about ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, spreads on social media

Ahead of full US authorisation of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had a simple message for Americans contemplating using ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, instead of getting a Covid shot.

Henri drenches US north-east as 140,000 lose power in slow-moving storm

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

National Hurricane Center says storm to slow down further and likely stall near Connecticut-New York line

The slow-rolling storm Henri was taking its time drenching the US north-east on Monday.

Henri, which made landfall as a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon in Rhode Island, had moved north-west through Connecticut. It hurled rain westward far before its arrival, flooding areas as far south-west as New Jersey before pelting north-east Pennsylvania, even as it dropped to tropical depression status.

‘Devastating’: how UK’s foreign aid cuts could hurt the world’s poorest

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Data analysis highlights the human cost if thousands of overseas projects lose funding

Experts have warned of “devastating” consequences of the UK’s foreign aid cuts after Guardian analysis revealed the UK is cutting funding at a time when major recipient countries are at risk of becoming more politically unstable.

Thousands of activities providing life-saving support are being cut due to the government’s decision to reduce aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income.

‘I cry all the time’: the plight of Afghan refugees in Calais

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

More Afghans are arriving in norther France hoping to make it across the Channel to claim asylum in the UK

Salaam Khan had not long ago woken up after another fruitless night attempting to cross the Channel from Calais and was on alert for the arrival of the French police. They come most mornings to confiscate the tents of the hundreds of migrants and refugees sleeping on the city’s outskirts.

“It’s a new day and the same shit,” he said.

Hundreds clash in Portland as Proud Boys rally descends into violence

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Running street battle ends in gunfight after ‘Summer of love’ protest in a parking lot of a former Kmart store

A rightwing protest in Portland on Sunday has culminated in a gunfight, when antifascist demonstrators returned fire at a man who shot at them with a handgun in a downtown street.

The firefight took place in the heart of downtown Portland, soon after 6pm. As antifascists followed a man at a distance who they were trying to eject from the area, he took cover behind an electrical substation box, produced a handgun and opened fire. He fired at least two shots before an antifascist returned fire with their own handgun. At least seven shots were fired.

Decision to euthanise 154 cats found in smuggling operation sparks outrage in pet-loving Taiwan

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

The pet-mad population reacted with fury after the animals were put down due to biosecurity concerns

A decision by Taiwan authorities to euthanise 154 cats found in an attempted smuggling operation has sparked outcry and calls to change laws and increase penalties.

Coast guards intercepted a fishing vessel from China on Thursday about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Kaohsiung, on Taiwan’s southern tip. After Covid screening, officials boarded the fishing boat the following day and discovered 62 cages containing the cats, including Russian Blue, Ragdoll, Persian American Shorthair, and British Shorthair breeds.

‘Nothing to eat’: Somalia hit by triple threat of climate crisis, Covid and conflict

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Overlapping crises have pushed the fragile east African country to the ‘cusp of humanitarian catastrophe’, with one in four facing food insecurity

Such was the horror that erupted in her village earlier this year that Fadumo Ali Mohamed decided she had no choice but to leave. Through the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, she walked for 30 kilometres, along with her nine children, eventually getting help to reach the capital by car.

Now in Mogadishu, she is one of more than 800,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the capital living in cramped, informal settlements with limited access to food, water and healthcare. She doesn’t like to recall the violence she fled.

New Zealand reports another 35 Covid cases as nationwide lockdown extended

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

Jacinda Ardern said outbreak was not thought to have peaked and that country must ‘hold the course’

See all our coronavirus coverage

New Zealand’s nationwide lockdown is extending until at least the end of the week, as the country battles to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19.

Auckland – the country’s largest city, where the majority of cases are – will remain in lockdown until the end of the month.

‘We love everybody’: the French drag couple making non-traditional wedding dresses

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Admin

James and ViviAnn Du Fermoir-de-Monsac want to create an atmosphere where those who don’t fit the vision of an ideal bride feel comfortable

On the third floor of a typical Alsatian building in Strasbourg, a door opens on to a bright atelier, dotted with mannequins draped in bridal wear. This is where James and ViviAnn Du Fermoir-de-Monsac live and work, designing couture wedding gowns watched over by their cheerful mascot – a yellow parakeet named Adam. And they do it in drag.

The pair say seeing clients in their drag personas creates an atmosphere where people can be accepted for who they are. They know the traditional experience of buying a wedding dress is not always easy for everyone in a world where the vision of an ideal bride is often still someone thin, white and able-bodied.

‘Big questions’: New Zealand Covid minister raises doubts about elimination strategy

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Admin

Chris Hipkins said the Delta variant was ‘like nothing we’ve dealt with so far’

The arrival of the Delta strain in New Zealand has prompted the country’s Covid-19 response minister to question the efficacy of its ambitious elimination strategy – an approach that has been the backbone of the country’s pandemic response.

Chris Hipkins told current affairs programme Q+A on Sunday that Delta raised “big questions about the long-term future of our plans”.

Tennessee floods death toll rises to 22 as Biden offers help

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Admin

Record rainfall fueled flash floods in rural town of Waverly
Governor surveys devastation as families seek missing

At least 22 people were confirmed dead on Sunday as rescue crews searched desperately amid shattered homes for dozens still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through parts of Tennessee.

Biden: Afghanistan evacuations would always have been ‘hard and painful’

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Admin

President defends US exit but makes changes to airlift effort at Kabul airport after criticism over deaths and chaotic scenes

Civil war ‘unavoidable’ if Taliban won’t talk – opposition leader

The evacuation of thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies from Kabul would have been “hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began”, Joe Biden insisted on Sunday, amid fierce criticism of his administration’s handling of the US withdrawal.

Roundup Newswires

Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network

Category Archives: World News

Afghanistan could start to run out of food by September, UN warns

Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban

Taliban says US troops staying beyond deadline ‘will provoke reaction’ – video

Tennessee floods death toll rises after homes and businesses destroyed – video

China reports zero local symptomatic Covid cases for first time since July

‘It’s just unbelievable’: Tennessee surveys wreckage after floods kill 22

Gunshots fired at far-right Proud Boys rally in Portland – video

‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid

Henri drenches US north-east as 140,000 lose power in slow-moving storm

‘Devastating’: how UK’s foreign aid cuts could hurt the world’s poorest

‘I cry all the time’: the plight of Afghan refugees in Calais

Hundreds clash in Portland as Proud Boys rally descends into violence

Decision to euthanise 154 cats found in smuggling operation sparks outrage in pet-loving Taiwan

‘Nothing to eat’: Somalia hit by triple threat of climate crisis, Covid and conflict

New Zealand reports another 35 Covid cases as nationwide lockdown extended

‘We love everybody’: the French drag couple making non-traditional wedding dresses

‘Big questions’: New Zealand Covid minister raises doubts about elimination strategy

Tennessee floods death toll rises to 22 as Biden offers help

Biden: Afghanistan evacuations would always have been ‘hard and painful’