WORLD

Guns fall silent for now in Panjshir as talks with Taliban begin
IANS -
According to news emerging from Panjshir, both the groups had their first direct talks on Wednesday and Thursday, which, so far, have remained inconclusive. The dialogue was held in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, neighbouring Panjshir.
Kabul bombings: The knives are out as Biden loses face
IANS -
"With the Kabul blasts, he (Biden) will have a tough job at hand (in stabilising the situation), especially as expectations from his people were high (after he defeated former President Donald Trump). The Afghanistan debacle shows that neither has he managed to keep his home front happy nor the global community," an analyst told India Narrative.
NATO countries end evacuation mission from Kabul, 4 to 5 days ahead of Aug 31 US deadline
IANS -
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News: "We will process those people that we have brought with us, the 1,000 people approximately inside the airfield now. And we will seek a way to continue to find a few people in the crowd, where we can, but overall the main processing has now closed and we have a matter of hours."
UN Security Council condemns attacks near airport in Kabul
IANS -
Through a press statement, the members of the Security Council condemned "in the strongest terms the deplorable attacks," which were claimed by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, an Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Xinhua news agency reported.
Concerns for Pakistan rise with Kabul twin blasts
IANS -
Islamabad has been in the grip of an intense of "triumphalism" as the Taliban assumed power in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops but "deep down" there are concerns as it could once again be in the spotlight for its direct links with terror outfits. Pakistan based think tank Tabadlab estimated a cumulative real GDP loss of approximately $38 billion
Kabul security head Khalil Haqqani was designated as terrorist by US
IANS -
In 2011, Mike Mullen, then top US military officer, had told the Congress that the Haqqani network was a "veritable arm" of the ISI, Pakistan's main intelligence service, NBC reported. The Taliban group was never designated by the US government as a terrorist organisation, but the Haqqani network, which has close ties to al-Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence, has long held that distinction.
Islamist terrorists among evacuees leaving Kabul?
IANS -
There is growing concern among the western allies that Islamist terrorists may have successfully infiltrated the thousands of Afghans and other foreigners, and some of them may have actually boarded planes for Europe and the US. The concern is sourced from Pentagon, and no less than US President Joe Biden remarked on Sunday that "terrorists may seek to exploit the situation and target innocent Afghans or American troops".
Armed men start leaving Syria's Daraa under new deal
IANS -
A total of 45 armed men and some of their family members left by buses for northern Syria on Thursday after they refused to reconcile with the Syrian authorities in Daraa, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying. The evacuation is part of a deal to restore security in Daraa, the report said. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the armed men who were evacuated on Thursday were the second batch.
4 dead, dozens injured in Kazakhstan ammunition depot blast
IANS -
At a press briefing here, Defence Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev said that several people were also reported missing, reports Xinhua news agency. There are no civilians among the dead and injured, he noted. The depot of the engineering and sapper brigade of the Ministry is located in the village of Kainar.
Gunman killed by police after injuring 2 in California
IANS -
The incident occurred on Wednesday night at the Redondo Beach Pier in Redondo Beach, a coastal city in Los Angeles County, said the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in a statement on Thursday. Detectives learned that officers assigned to the Redondo Beach Police Department responded to the location regarding a gunshot victim call and an active shooter.
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