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LOD, Israel (AFP) — A repatriation flight from Romania carrying Israelis evacuated from Ukraine landed at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv on Tuesday to the teary relief of waiting relatives. Badr Tawil, 23, a student who fled Ukraine’s under-fire second city Kharkiv, said he had escaped chaos. “We just woke up once and we heard the sounds around us. Bombs everywhere. So we decided to leave, just to leave Ukraine,” he said. Israeli Foreign […]
BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Australians were ordered to flee their homes Monday, as torrential rain sent floodwaters to record levels, leaving residents stranded on the rooftops of their homes. Eight people have died, and the country’s weather bureau has warned further severe thunderstorms and intense rainfall will cause “life-threatening flash flooding” across a swathe of the central Pacific coastal region. In the country town of Lismore, resident Danika Hardiman woke […]
by Roel Catoto Agence France Presse DAPA, Surigao del Note, Philippines (AFP) — Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as super typhoon Rai slammed into the country Thursday, with a charity warning the storm could hit coastal communities “like a freight train”. Rai was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) an hour as it made landfall on the southern island of Siargao at 1:30 […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday called for a dialogue with the Taliban as the hardline Islamists finalise a new government that will set the tone for their rule in Afghanistan. “We simply have to talk to the Taliban about how we can get people who have worked for Germany out of the country and bring them to safety,” Merkel told a new conference in North Rhine-Westphalia state. “They are the […]
by David FOX Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Taliban were expected to form a government as early as Friday with the new regime under intense international scrutiny over its vow to rule Afghanistan with greater tolerance, especially on women’s rights. The announcement of a new administration could be made after Friday afternoon prayers, two Taliban sources told AFP, as the Islamists shift gears from insurgent group to governing power, days after […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — UK politicians on Friday slammed British diplomats for reportedly leaving Afghan staff’s contact details on the ground as they evacuated the Kabul embassy compound, now guarded by the Taliban. The discovery comes as the UK has acknowledged its hurried evacuation effort left hundreds of eligible Afghans behind. The Times in a front-page story by veteran war correspondent Anthony Loyd reported that he found unshredded documents revealing contact details of […]
LONDON, United States (AFP) — Britain said it will run its last evacuation flights from Kabul on Saturday before pulling out its troops, leaving several hundred Afghans otherwise eligible to fly to the UK behind. The UK is winding up its operation to airlift civilians ahead of the August 31 deadline for US troop withdrawal as Taliban forces prepare to take over the airport. “We’re reaching the end of the evacuation, which will take place […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday condemned the deadly attack outside Kabul airport and said Madrid was working to “evacuate as many people as possible” out of Afghanistan. “Spain strongly condemns the attack suffered today at the Kabul airport. Our heartfelt solidarity with the victims,” he said in a tweet. “The international community stands with the Afghan people, ensuring their rights and dignity. We are working to evacuate as many […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — As many as 1,500 American citizens may still need to be evacuated from Afghanistan and the Taliban have pledged to allow some departures after US troops leave the country on August 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. Blinken told reporters that at least 4,500 American citizens of the 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan have departed. He said officials have been in “direct contact” with another […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — A Taliban spokesman on Tuesday urged skilled Afghans to stop fleeing the country, and warned that it would not accept any extension of the August 31 deadline for evacuations. The hardline Islamist group said Americans were taking “Afghan experts” such as engineers and doctors out of Afghanistan. “We ask them to stop this process,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a press conference in Kabul. “This country needs their expertise. They […]
by Sebastian Smith with David Fox in Kabul Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States intends to complete its pullout from Afghanistan by August 31 and needs to withdraw rapidly because of a growing risk of terrorist attacks. “The sooner we can finish, the better,” Biden said of the plan to evacuate Americans, Afghan nationals and US troops from Taliban-controlled Kabul. “Each day of operations […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has evacuated “more than 4,000 American passport holders plus their families” since mid-August, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. “We expect that number to continue to grow in the coming days,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We are continuing to contact the Americans who have previously registered with Kabul embassy to determine whether or not they are still in Afghanistan, and to help them […]
