Vladivostok (Russia) (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the United States’ 20-year campaign in Afghanistan ended in “only tragedies, only losses.” Moscow has regularly slammed the US policy in Afghanistan, which is now controlled by the Taliban after their takeover this month ahead of the American pullout on August 31.
Wickwar (United Kingdom) (AFP) – An alpaca named Geronimo has been dominating headlines in the UK, due to a fierce battle between his owner and the government over whether the animal should be put down or not. Geronimo’s owner disputed the validity of two positive tests for bovine tuberculosis, making several court bids to prevent his destruction. More than 140,000 people signed a petition calling on the government to offer the animal a reprieve, but the animal was euthanised by government vets.
Kabul (AFP) – Other invaders to Afghanistan “will face what the United States has faced today,” says the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid during a press conference on the tarmac of Kabul airport hours after the last US troops left the country. The United States’ longest military conflict drew to a close when its forces abandoned Kabul’s airport, ending two decades of war.
Beijing (AFP) – Residents in Beijing react to a drastic move in the country to cut down online gaming time for under-18s to just three hours a week during term time. The move is the latest in a broad crackdown on tech giants in the world’s biggest gaming market.
Kabul (AFP) – The hardline Islamist Taliban celebrate their total return to power with gunfire after the last US troops flew out of Afghanistan to end two decades of war. Images posted by Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the Chief of Taliban multimedia branch, cultural commission, show the Taliban entering Kabul airport after US forces abandoned the frenzied airlift that saw more than 123,000 people flee life after the group’s takeover.
LaPlace (United States) (AFP) – Residents carry out rescue missions in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida made landfall, killing two and stranding many in rising floodwaters. Ida, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, knocked out power for all of New Orleans, with more than a million properties across Louisiana without power, according to an outage tracker.
Kabul (AFP) – The United States is investigating whether civilians may have been killed in an air strike it launched to destroy a car laden with explosives in the Afghan capital Kabul. Witnesses and some media reports say a number of children were among those killed in Sunday’s air strike in the crowded capital, where thousands of Afghans are still trying to flee the Taliban. The vehicle was reportedly a threat to Kabul airport and was linked to the regional Islamic State chapter.
Brize Norton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – The British ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow vows that the UK “will be putting pressure on the Taliban to allow safe passage” for the “Afghans and British nationals who still need our support” and that the UK will reopen the embassy, which will now operate from Qatar, “as soon as we can”.
Kuwait City (AFP) – In the north of Kuwait, a 2-square-kilometre (0.7-square-mile) dump has become known as the place where tyres go to die, with some 40 million of them piling up. Now the oil-rich Gulf country has plans to transform the “tyre graveyard” into a site for residential properties.
Leipzig (Germany) (AFP) – He was once a minister in Afghanistan but quit, fed up with the corruption. Now in Germany, Sayed Sadaat is making a living delivering meals on his bicycle. Working six hours on weekdays and ten hours a day on the weekend, Sadaat shuttles pizzas and other orders to customers, clad in his distinctive orange uniform and large square backpack.
The Hlanzoun riparian swamp forest in southern Benin, one of the last of its kind in the country, is home to unparallelled flora and fauna. Yet according to ecologists its unique biodiversity is under threat from poaching, agriculture and ever-increasing human exploitation.
New Orleans (AFP) – Hurricane Ida “continues to rage and ravage everything it comes in contact with” after it made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, US President Joe Biden says during a visit to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington. Powerful Hurricane Ida has battered the southern US state of Louisiana and plunged New Orleans into darkness, leaving at least one person dead 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
