WORLD
Tajikistan only Afghan neighbour openly taking tough stand against Taliban
Tajik authorities have taken a different position and that has raised questions about why Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his government continue to make clear their strong opposition to a Taliban government in Afghanistan, Bruce Pannier writes in the Qishloq Ovozi blog.
Taliban hunt if Bactrian Treasure has been moved out of Afghanistan
The Bactrian Treasure is an important asset of Afghanistan that was brought to the presidential palace by the former government in February 2021, and was put on display for the people. However, after the collapse of the former government, concerns have been raised over its safety, Tolo News reported. Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Cultural Commission of the Taliban cabinet, said that their assessments show that items of the national museum, the national archive and the national gallery and other historical and ancient monuments are safe in their locations, Tolo News reported.
SpaceX, Blue Origin to make Moon lander design for NASA
NASA has awarded a total of $146 million for the contracts, under the agency's Artemis programme, it said in a statement. Blue Origin Federation received a value of $25.6 million, while SpaceX got $9.4 million. The highest award value of $40.8 million was bagged by Dynetics, a Leidos company, followed by Lockheed Martin at $35.2 million, and Northrop Grumman at $34.8 million.
With embassies closed, black market for visas thriving in Afghanistan
A number of travel agencies say that currently only Pakistan visas can be obtained legally, but visas of a number of other countries are being sold in the black market at high prices, Tolo News reported. Shafi Samim, the director of a travel agency in Kabul, told Tolo News that people are buying visas from the black market at double or triple the regular prices.
US, UK, Australia announce new security partnership
US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement during a virtual event, reports Xinhua news agency. In a joint statement, the three governments said the partnership, called "AUKUS", will help "significantly deepen cooperation on a range of security and defence capabilities".
US CEOs warn Congress of potential crisis if debt limit not raised
"Failure to lift the US federal debt limit to meet US obligations would produce an otherwise avoidable crisis and pose unacceptable risk to the nation's economic growth, job creation and financial markets," the letter, sent on Wednesday, said. Doug McMillon, chairman of Business Roundtable and president and CEO of Walmart, and Joshua Bolten, president and CEO of Business Roundtable, were among the writers of the letter to congressional leaders.
Imran Khan says Pak had to endure a 'terrible' relationship with US
In an interview with CNN, Khan also called out the US for repeatedly accusing Pakistan of harbouring terrorists, Dawn news reported. "What are these safe havens? The area of Pakistan along the border of Afghanistan had the heaviest surveillance by the US drones, surely they would have known if there were any safe havens?" The premier said that Pakistan was unable to take military action against the Afghan Taliban because they were not attacking Pakistan.
Xi Jinping declined Joe Biden's request for first face-to-face summit: Report
The reason behind Xi Jinping’s refusal is the constraint in the US and China relationship, the report said. Xi insisted that Washington should first adopt a less strident tone toward Beijing. Another reason cited by a US official was that the rebuttal was due to the ongoing concerns of COVID-19.
Ghani's abrupt exit scuttled Taliban power sharing deal: US envoy
In his first interview since the collapse of the 20-year western-backed government, Zalmay Khalilzad, who brokered a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw US troops, told the Financial Times that the insurgents had agreed to stay outside the capital for two weeks and shape a future government. "Even at the end we had an agreement with the Talibs for (them) not to enter Kabul," he said.
UN monitoring cameras damaged in terrorist attacks: Iranian official
"A number of these cameras were damaged during recent terrorist operations, leading to two extremely harsh and destructive reports" by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Xinhua news agency quoted Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), was as saying on Wednesday.
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