Pakistani police have arrested a cleric after a video of him in which he threatens Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai over her recent comments about marriage went viral on social media, officials said Thursday.The cleric, Mufti Sardar Ali Haqqani, was arrested in Lakki Marwat, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Wednesday, said Waseem Sajjad, a local police chief.In the video, the cleric threatens to target Malala with a suicide attack when she returns to Pakistan, allegedly because of her comments earlier this month to British Vogue magazine about marriage that he claims insulted Islam.Yousafzai has been living in Britain since 2012, after the Pakistani Taliban shot and seriously wounded her. She was just 15 at the time and had enraged the Taliban with her campaign for girls’ education.At one point in the Vogue interview, Malala says: “I still don’t understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can’t it just be a partnership?”The remark caused a stir on social media in Pakistan and angered Islamists and clerics like Haqqani. Under Islamic laws, couples cannot live together outside marriage.Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, defended her on Twitter, saying her remarks were taken out of context.Malala, now 23, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for working to protect children from slavery, extremism, and child labor. She briefly visited Pakistan in 2018.She remains highly popular in Pakistan but is also widely criticized by Islamists and hard-liners.In February, Malala’s 2012 attacker threatened a second attempt on her life, tweeting that next time, “there would be no mistake.” Twitter subsequently permanently suspended the account with the menacing post.The threat prompted Yousafzai to tweet herself, asking both the Pakistani military and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how the suspect in her shooting, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had escaped from government custody.Ehsan was arrested in 2017 but escaped in January 2020 from a so-called safe house where he was being held by Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The circumstances of both his arrest and escape have been shrouded in mystery and controversy.
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The top of the world got a sunrise special Thursday — a “ring of fire” solar eclipse.  This so-called annular eclipse began at the Canadian province of Ontario, then swept across Greenland, the North Pole and finally Siberia, as the moon passed directly in front of the sun.An annular eclipse occurs when a new moon is around its farthest point from us and appearing smaller, and so it doesn’t completely blot out the sun when it’s dead center.  The upper portions of North America, Europe and Asia enjoyed a partial eclipse, at least where the skies were clear. At those locations, the moon appeared to take a bite out of the sun. The moon is seen blotting out 81 percent of the sun during a solar eclipse in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. (Photo by Diaa Bekheet)It was the first eclipse of the sun visible from North America since August 2017, when a dramatic total solar eclipse crisscrossed the U.S. The next one is coming up in 2024.A total lunar eclipse graced the skies two weeks ago.
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When India was grappling with the pandemic last year, villages perched on Himalayan slopes remained in serene outposts, largely untouched. But the deadly second wave did not spare these far-flung regions.“Entire villages were infected. In fact, the virus reached places at over 2000 meters,” said Rakesh Prajapati, the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra. “Rural centers were badly hit this time.” Kangra is the largest district in the mountainous Himachal Pradesh state.Health experts blame a number of factors for India’s second wave. Among them are a more transmissible variant, super spreader events such as big public gatherings and laxity in following COVID protocols. In Himachal Pradesh too, public health experts have pointed to large wedding functions that were held in the days before infections spiraled.As health facilities were inundated, authorities scrambled to contain the infection. They used some unusual initiatives to spread the message about following COVID protocols — in village lanes, street artists in black costumes enacted the threat posed by the coronavirus if residents did not use masks or follow measures such as sanitizing hands. A strict lockdown was enforced with police handing out penalties to those violating norms such as social distancing.A local artist spreads the message about following COVID protocols in Kangra district in India’s Himachal Pradesh state.The second wave has ebbed in recent days with daily cases reducing significantly.But the severity of infections and death toll was much higher compared to the first wave, according to officials. “This time we got disproportionate number of cases compared to our hospital infrastructure. So, we had to raise the capacity of our hospital beds, from 150 to 1,500 and we also had to increase ventilators, ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds,” said Prajapati.With hospitals stretched to capacity, authorities asked hundreds of infected people to isolate at home. But that was a challenge for many.“If you have one or two rooms and one washroom, how do you isolate,” asked Sudhir Sharma, a resident who set up beds in a house he owns for people stricken with the virus.He launched a helpline called “Shakti” on realizing how tough handling the infection was for patients after his driver tested positive. “When I asked him where he would stay, he told me he would pitch a tent outside his home. That is when I understood the predicament people face in villages.”Meals were cooked and distributed to families where several members were sick, and kits of sanitizers and basic medicines handed to the sick.Meals are cooked for families who could not prepare their own food and kits of basic medicines given to the sick.Sharma’s was one of the countless civil society initiatives in India that have been on the frontlines of providing care and relief to people affected by the deadly second wave that crushed health care systems, even in big cities like Delhi, and left the country’s vast rural areas scrambling for even the most basic healthcare.Himachal Pradesh, which has a better primary healthcare system compared to some other states, fared better. A network of healthcare workers helped distribute food rations to affected families in remote hamlets and monitored sick people. Known as “Asha” workers, they are usually the first point of contact in rural India for health services.“We went from house to house and explained about coronavirus to them. We told sick people to keep up their spirits and the illness will pass away,” said Sanjana Andoria, the head of the local council in Kaliara village. It was not easy when the numbers of infected people were high — there are six healthcare workers in the village of 3,200.While the first wave was followed with widespread complacency that the pandemic had passed away, this time authorities say they are taking no chances even though infections have plummeted. Amid forecasts by government scientists that a third wave will hit India later this year, isolation facilities with oxygen support are being ramped up — reaching oxygen to remote villages had been a challenge.Campaigns to reinforce the need to follow COVID protocols will also continue as public health experts stress that these basic measures remain the most effective way to prevent outbreaks in a country where less than 5% of the population has been inoculated due to vaccine shortages.Amid forecasts by government scientists that a third wave will hit India later this year, isolation facilities with oxygen support are being ramped up.Concerns are higher as studies find that the Delta variant that first emerged in India and was the predominant strain during the second wave in some parts of the country could be 50% more transmissible compared to one found in Britain earlier.“Definitely the second wave will teach a lot of lessons to everybody — to the government, to the system and in fact the public at large. Had we been more careful and disciplined by way of maintaining social distancing, wearing masks etc., sanitization and hygiene, we could have prevented a lot of deaths and a lot of active cases,” Prajapati said.Residents like Sharma say it was “heartbreaking” to witness that devastation in the countryside where he grew up.“So many young people in their twenties in their thirties, they passed away,” Sharma said. “Every morning I got calls about people dying. I have never wept in my life, but I used to cry hearing such news.”Although a sense of calm has returned as fewer infections are reported, fear and nervousness still lurk along Himalayan slopes. 
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A new report finds 160 million children or nearly one child in ten is involved in child labor globally, an increase of 8.4 million since 2016.  AFILE – Children work with relatives to load a brick kiln for firing in Tobati, Paraguay, Sept. 4, 2020.The picture that emerges from this study varies by region.   The report finds child labor is continuing to decrease in Asia and the Pacific, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean.  However, child labor has risen substantially in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.    ILO Director General, Guy Ryder, says in Africa as a whole, 20 million more children are in child labor today than they were four years ago.  Of those, he says 16.6 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.      “So, if you look at that in percentage terms, it means that almost one in five African children are in child labor, one in four in the sub-Saharan sub region.  They are losing out on their education.  They are working at a young age.  They are working too many hours.  They often are working in hazardous occupations,” he said.     Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore expresses concern at the alarming rise in younger children who are toiling in child labor.  She says half of all children in child labor around the world are aged 5 to 11 years.    She says the COVID-19 pandemic is making this terrible situation even worse. “Faced with job losses and rising poverty, families are forced to make heartbreaking decisions.  We estimate that nine million more children could be pushed into child labor by the end of next year, a number that could rise as high as 46 million if social protection coverage falls victim to countries’ austerity measures,” she said.    To reverse the upward trend in child labor, the ILO and UNICEF are calling for adequate social protection for all, including universal child benefits and for quality education and increased spending in getting children back to school.   They say decent work for adults must be promoted so children do not have to be sent out to work to help support their families.  
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At least 11 people, including eight children, died after a Mumbai residential building collapsed on top of another building late on Wednesday, local officials said.    The incident occurred close to midnight in a northern suburb of Mumbai, after heavy monsoon rains flooded several parts of India’s financial and entertainment capital.    Residents joined fire and police officers in rescuing people trapped in the rubble.   Eight people were injured and were taken to nearby hospitals.   Incidents of building collapses become more common in Mumbai during the monsoon season. Wednesday was the first day of heavy rains in the city.  
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Advocates for Americans held hostage overseas are raising concerns that the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan will make it harder to bring home captives from the country.An annual report from the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, released Wednesday, examines the status of U.S. government efforts to secure the release of hostages and unlawful detainees in foreign countries. The report’s findings are based on interviews with former hostages and detainees or their representatives and relatives, as well as current and former government and military officials.The report shows general satisfaction with changes instituted as part of a 2015 hostage policy overhaul, which included the creation of an FBI-led hostage recovery fusion cell and the appointment of a State Department envoy for hostage affairs. But it also raises potential areas for improvement, including more mental health and financial support for hostages and detainees who return from captivity. And it says more may need to be done to make hostage recovery a greater priority.Among the concerns raised by hostage advocates interviewed for the report is that once American troops leave Afghanistan — a process the Biden administration has said will be completed by Sept. 11 — “it will become more difficult to generate the intelligence needed to find Americans and conduct rescue operations for current hostages held in the area.”They include Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Lombard, Illinois, who vanished in January 2020 and is believed held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, and Paul Overby, an American writer who disappeared in Afghanistan in 2014.”They also fear that the further reduction of U.S. physical presence in the country is an erosion of the leverage needed to make progress on resolving these cases,” the report states. “It is perceived by some advocates that securing the release of these hostages was not made a precondition for any settlement during the peace talks in Doha, Qatar with the Taliban.”The departure of all U.S. special operations from Afghanistan will make counterterrorism operations, including the collecting of intelligence on al-Qaida and other extremist groups, more difficult. The administration hopes to be able to compensate through the military’s wide geographic reach, which has only expanded with the advent of armed drones and other technologies.The administration has said it will retain a U.S. Embassy presence, but that will become more difficult if the military’s departure leads to a collapse of Afghan governance.The top U.S. peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, has told Congress that he has repeatedly demanded the release of Frerichs and has “enlisted the support of senior Qatari and Pakistani officials on his behalf.”The foundation behind the report was created by Diane Foley, whose son, James Foley, was killed by Islamic State militants in 2014 while in Syria as a freelance journalist. The deaths of James Foley and other Western hostages at the hands of IS operatives helped prompt the 2015 policy overhaul following complaints by hostage families that government officials had failed to sufficiently communicate with them and had even threatened prosecution if relatives tried to raise a ransom.
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Officials in Afghanistan said Wednesday that gunmen assaulted the office of an international charity clearing land mines in the country, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others. 
 
The overnight deadly attack on Britain-based HALO Trust’s camp occurred in the embattled northern Baghlan province, the scene of fierce fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents. A provincial police spokesman told VOA the victims were all Afghan citizens who work at the de-mining camp, alleging that insurgents gathered them in a room before spraying them with bullets. 
 
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied its involvement, saying the Baghlan-e-Markazi district where the “horrifying” assault took place late Tuesday was not controlled by the insurgents.  
 
“We condemn attacks on the defenseless & view it as brutality. We have normal relations with NGOs, our Mujahidin will never carry out such brutal acts,” Mujahid wrote on Twitter.  
 
The HALO Trust denounced the attack, saying more than 100 de-miners from local communities were undertaking humanitarian missions in the area.  “The (armed) group entered the camp and opened fire. Around 110 men, from local communities in northern Afghanistan, were in the camp having finished their work on nearby minefields,” the charity said in a statement it posted on Twitter.pic.twitter.com/clGGimjqN8— The HALO Trust (@TheHALOTrust) June 9, 2021The United Nations demanded a full investigation into the incident, in order to bring those responsible to account.  
 
“It is repugnant that an organization that works to clear landmines and other explosives and better the lives of vulnerable people could be targeted,” lamented Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Kabul.  
 
The HALO Trust launched its Afghan operations in 1988 when the country was still under the decade long occupation of the then Soviet Union army, which ended in 1989. The organization has operations in parts of the world where there is a need to remove post-war residues like removing land mines including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.  
 
The British-based charity says on its website it helps countries recover after conflict and clearing landmines is at the heart of its work. The group notes its completely Afghan-led program, with a workforce of 2,600 staff, has made safe almost 80% of the country’s recorded minefields and battlefields over the past 30 years.  
 
The deadly attack on Afghan de-miners came as the Taliban have intensified battlefield operations across the country and captured more than 14 districts since the United States and its NATO allies began pulling out their troops from Afghanistan on May 1.  
 
The violence has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and Afghan civilians in recent weeks.  
 
The foreign troop drawdown is expected to be completed by September 11; a deadline set by U.S. President Joe Biden in April to end nearly 20 years of U.S. involvement in the Afghan war.  
 
On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced it had completed more than half of the retrograde process.  
 
The drawdown stems from the February 2020 agreement Washington negotiated with the Taliban in return for counterterrorism guarantees.  
 
The insurgents also pledged to negotiate a political settlement with other Afghan rivals to end four decades of war in the country.Taliban Pledge No Retaliation Against Afghans Who Worked for Foreign TroopsPledge comes as thousands of Afghans employed by US and allied countries fear insurgent retaliation  But the intra-Afghan dialogue process, which started last September, has met with little success amid fears the Taliban would intensify their campaign to regain power once all U.S. and NATO troops are out of Afghanistan.  
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Pakistan has formally conveyed to the United States that Islamabad will not provide military bases to Washington for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan after all international troops exit the war-torn country, and the U.S. side has stopped raising the issue, senior Pakistani officials said.Several top Pakistani government officials, privy to a flurry of recent high-level bilateral talks, shared some details Tuesday of the discussions with VOA on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly engage with media.“Yes, they [U.S. officials] have had conversations and we have told them we don’t want any terrorism whatsoever, but no bases possible. They have stopped raising bases issue with us,” said a Pakistani official, who deals with national security matters.Since U.S. President Joe Biden announced in mid-April that all American troops will be out of Afghanistan by September 11, his national security team has been reaching out to regional allies to arrange for military facilities needed to gather intelligence and carry out counterterrorism strikes if the turmoil-hit nation descends into another round of civil war after U.S. and NATO troops pull out. Pakistan Rules Out Military Bases for US Anti-Terror Afghan Operations ‘The government of Pakistan has categorically said that we will not allow kinetic use of drones nor are we interested in the surveillance of your drones’  
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns made a previously unannounced visit to Pakistan in late April, where he is said to have spent an entire day meeting with his Pakistani counterpart and the country’s military chief, General Qamar Javed, Pakistani officials confirmed Tuesday to VOA.A security official with knowledge of the visit said that in meetings with the CIA chief, there was “no mention at all” of hosting American bases in Pakistan, “because it is next to impossible for us.”The official said both sides discussed counterterrorism cooperation, however, and the Americans sought “our help, but we told them Pakistan would like to fight terrorism “in its own way.”U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also  repeatedly have spoken to Bajwa by phone, while National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held a meeting late last month in Geneva with his Pakistani counterpart, Moeed Yusuf.Negotiating regional helpBoth sides have released few details of their high-level interactions, raising speculation about the nature of the talks and the fate of future bilateral ties. Some media reports have even asserted that Washington and Islamabad were on the verge of reaching a deal on military bases-related cooperation.During Monday’s White House press briefing, VOA asked Sullivan about the engagements with Pakistan, but he declined to get into the details of the negotiations.“We have had constructive discussions in the military, intelligence, and diplomatic channels with Pakistan about the future of America’s capabilities to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a base from which al-Qaida or ISIS, or any other terrorist group can attack the United States,” said Sullivan, using an acronym for the Islamic State terror group.The U.S, national security adviser stressed, though, that Pakistan was not the only country the Biden administration was engaging with on the subject.“What I will say is that we are talking to a wide range of countries about how to build effective over-the-horizon capacity, both from an intelligence and from a defense perspective to be able to suppress the terrorism threat in Afghanistan on a going-forward basis,” Sullivan said in response to VOA’s query.U.S. officials also have discussed having bases in one of the Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan, but Russia already has voiced opposition, saying those nations have assured Moscow they have no plans to allow such activities from their soil.Fate of US-Pakistan tiesOfficials in Islamabad dismiss suggestions their traditionally uneasy relationship with Washington could face another round of tensions over the issue of military bases.“We believe in furthering our bilateral relationship based on mutual trust and understanding,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri told VOA, when asked about the ongoing dialogue with Washington.He said the Pakistani and the U.S. national security advisers in their Geneva meeting reiterated the need to further bilateral cooperation between the two countries.“This cooperation is rooted in shared values and convergence of interest on regional and strategic issues including on the Afghan peace process and post-withdrawal development in Afghanistan,” said Chaudhri.FILE – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks during a joint news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (not pictured) at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 19, 2020. 
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who took office some three years ago, has maintained his government will not become part of any future U.S. war but would rather assist in finding a negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict.While in opposition, Khan was among a few Pakistani politicians who vehemently opposed and even led protest rallies against the U.S.-led military invasion of Afghanistan 20 years ago. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi last month issued a policy statement in the parliament, refuting reports of another bilateral military arrangement with the United States.“Let this house and the Pakistani nation be a witness to my testimony that with [Prime Minister] Imran Khan around there will be no American base built on Pakistani soil. Forget about the past,” Qureshi said. “The government of Pakistan has categorically said that we will not allow kinetic use of drones, nor are we interested in the surveillance of your drones.”The United States has for years used Pakistani ground routes and air space to ferry supplies to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The fate of what are known as GLOCS and ALOCS (ground lines of communications and air lines of communications) also is unclear once foreign troops withdraw from the region.“There is a demand building within Pakistan that we should now discontinue the GLOCS and ALOCS because once the troop withdrawal is complete, this facility will become redundant,” said a close political aide to the prime minister.Pakistan-China tiesSeparately, China has cemented its ties with close ally Pakistan in recent years, investing billions of dollars in building roads, ports and power plants as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing also has provided substantial financial relief to Pakistan to help the country overcome its balance-of-payment crisis.Allowing any U.S. combat activity from Pakistani soil would be “detrimental” to Islamabad’s relations with Beijing, said Khan’s aide.“We have very close relations with China, and we would definitely not like to antagonize them, and Pakistan cannot afford that,” the aide told VOA on condition of anonymity.Prime Minister Khan repeatedly has stated Pakistan’s economic future is “now connected to China.” That does not mean Islamabad is saying goodbye to any country, however, and nor do they want that, his aides say.One Pakistani official insisted they are looking for “enhanced business and trade” partnership with U.S. counterparts.“We are engaging with them on the basis of what do we want of each other rather than discussing or digging into the past. We are not going to accept financial assistance with strings,” the official asserted.White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman contributed to this report.
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The U.S. military estimates that it has completed more than half of its pullout from Afghanistan, a pace that appears far ahead of the September 11 deadline set by President Joe Biden in April.“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) estimates that we have completed greater than 50% of the entire retrograde process,” the command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan, said Tuesday.CENTCOM also said it had removed the equivalent of approximately 500 C-17 planeloads of material from Afghanistan and had turned over more than 13,000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for disposition.U.S. President Joe Biden ordered American troops to leave Afghanistan by September 11, after nearly 20 years of military involvement in the war-torn country.At the time of Biden’s announcement in April, at least 2,500 U.S. troops made up part of NATO’s Afghanistan mission, which includes less than 10,000 troops.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted Monday at an Atlantic Council event that the decision to leave Afghanistan “entails risk,” but added that NATO built and trained Afghan security forces to take responsibility for security in their own country.
 
The withdrawal of the U.S.-led NATO force has sparked fears that Afghanistan’s civil war could intensify and spiral out of control.Afghan civilians have been killed in a string of attacks since May 1, when the United States formally began its withdrawal, and the Taliban has made territorial gains across the country, including in Baghlan province in the north, Helmand province in the south, Farah province in the west and Laghman in the east.It is still unclear whether the Taliban will keep its commitment made as part of a deal signed with the U.S. in February 2020 to remove ties with terrorist groups, including al-Qaida. The terror group was responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed some 3,000 people on American soil.A U.N. report released last week warned the Taliban is strengthening its military posture in Afghanistan and, as a result of the U.S. agreement to withdraw, have been “emboldened to sustain attacks for longer periods while also exercising greater freedom of movement.” It added that the Taliban has, despite its words saying otherwise, shown no actions to indicate it will break ties with al-Qaida.U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida who orchestrated the 2001 attacks, during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011.VOA National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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The death toll from Monday’s collision of two trains in southern Pakistan rose to 63 on Tuesday. The number of fatalities increased from 51 after rescue crews recovered 12 more bodies from the wreckage of mangled train cars in the Ghotki district in Sindh province. The deadly, early morning collision occurred when the Millat Express was traveling between the southern port city Karachi to Sarghodha when it derailed, leaving many cars full of sleeping passengers scattered over the tracks. Minutes later, the Sir Syed Express heading in the opposite direction rammed the derailed Millat Express.  Officials said more than 1,100 people were on board both the trains. Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a statement it is premature to say whether the accident occurred due to a technical error, negligence, or sabotage but all aspects were being investigated.  Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked by the horrific” train accident and ordered a “comprehensive investigation into railway safety fault lines,” on a Twitter post shortly after the collusion on Monday.Shocked by the horrific train accident at Ghotki early this morning leaving 30 passengers dead. Have asked Railway Minister to reach site & ensure medical assistance to injured & support for families of the dead. Ordering comprehensive investigation into railway safety faultlines— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 7, 2021Pakistan army and paramilitary troops were on the site and assisting civilian rescue and relief efforts. Rescue efforts which began Monday continued overnight and into Tuesday, according to local reports.  Train accidents are rare in Pakistan, whose antiquated railways have seen little to no maintenance or investment in decades. 
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The German Defense Ministry said Monday it had been forced to deal with an unexpected problem regarding their troops in Afghanistan — a surplus of beer. At a news briefing in Berlin on Monday, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Christina Routsi explained that Germany’s troops in Afghanistan had been permitted to consume alcohol at times and in limited quantities. Soldiers were allowed two cans of beer — or the equivalent in other beverages — per day. But Germany’s commander of its armed forces in Afghanistan, citing a high enemy threat level, banned all consumption of alcohol. Routsi said this created a problem for the German military, as there was already a large quantity of alcohol in the country for the troops. She said under the stationing agreement between Germany and Afghanistan, the import of alcohol into the country is prohibited, with the exception of Camp Marmal, the German base in Afghanistan. Alcohol cannot be sold in Afghanistan, due to local religious restrictions, or destroyed for environmental reasons. Routsi said the military had to hire a civilian contractor to take the 22,600 liters of alcohol — including almost 60,000 cans of beer — out of the country ahead of the German troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan as the NATO mission in the country ends in the coming months. The German army said the contractor will sell the beer elsewhere, which should cover the cost of transporting it out of Afghanistan.  
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There is no guarantee that Afghanistan’s government and security forces will succeed, or even survive, once the last U.S. and coalition troops leave the country, according to a blunt assessment from NATO’s top official.
 
“We have to face the reality there is, of course, a lot of uncertainty. The decision to leave entails risks,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a virtual audience Monday before meetings at the Pentagon and the White House.  
 
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American troops in the Middle East and South Asia, the U.S. withdrawal is nearing the halfway point, with the last U.S. forces, civilian contractors and equipment set to be out of Afghanistan by early September at the latest.NEW: “We’ve completed about half of the retrograde process” per @CENTCOM Commander Gen Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie briefing reporters— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 7, 2021NATO’s own drawdown, involving approximately another 7,000 troops, is also “on track,” Stoltenberg said, defending the decision to send troops home after nearly two decades of battling the Taliban and terrorist groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State.
 
“You have to remember that in one way, this is a gradual development,” Stoltenberg said. “Not too many years ago, we had more than 100,000 troops in a big combat operation.”
 
“Over these years, we have been able to build, train Afghan security forces so they are now responsible for security in their own country,” he added.
 
Yet doubts about the ability of the Afghan security forces to function without substantial, on-the-ground support from U.S. and NATO forces persist.
 
Since U.S. troops began pulling out last month, Taliban forces have seized at least seven districts, taking some without meeting any resistance.
 
And a report issued last week by the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team for Afghanistan warned that Taliban commanders have increasingly positioned their forces to take by force what they cannot get through negotiations “when levels of departing foreign troops are no longer able to effectively respond.”UN Report Warns of Impending Taliban Power PlayThe Taliban appear poised to take by force what they do not get through negotiations once U.S. and coalition troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a new assessment based on intelligence from United Nations member states.Top. U.S. military commanders have also voiced concern about “the ability of the Afghan military to hold on” once U.S forces and contractors leave.US General Warns Afghan Forces Facing Possible FailureThe commander of US forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan tells lawmakers that Afghan forces may not be able to ‘hold on’ against the Taliban without help from US, NATO troops on the groundStill, NATO’s secretary general emphasized Monday that even though NATO forces are departing Afghanistan, the alliance will continue to provide financial support and will also maintain a civilian presence in Kabul to advise Afghan security forces and help them build their capacity.
 
“We are not ending our support for the Afghans,” Stoltenberg said, adding that NATO is also continuing to explore ways to provide additional training for the Afghan special operation forces.
 
“We can train Afghan forces in other countries, and we are looking into how we can provide that kind of support,” he said.
 
But those plans are short on specifics, with much still to be worked out.
 
“We are now looking into the details and consulting closely on our next steps,” a NATO official told VOA when pressed for details.FILE – NATO soldiers inspect near the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 25, 2020.Other plans, to maintain the U.S. and coalition’s ability to launch counterterrorism strikes, if needed, also remain unclear.
 
“We have had constructive discussions in the military, intelligence and diplomatic channels about the future of America’s capabilities,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday, when asked about the possibility of opening bases for U.S. drones in Pakistan.
 
“In terms of the specifics of what that will look like, that will have to remain in those private channels as we work through them,” Sullivan said, adding the U.S. is talking to “a wide range of countries about how we build effective over-the-horizon capacity, both from an intelligence and from a defense perspective.”
 
The U.S. has also pledged to continue to provide Afghanistan’s security forces with financial support.
 
U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed fiscal year 2022 budget calls for $3.3 billion in aid for Afghan forces — a slight increase over current funding levels.
 
On Sunday, an Afghan government spokesman said the U.S. has promised to sustain that level of funding through at least fiscal year 2023.White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman contributed to this report. 
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Indian capital New Delhi and the financial hub Mumbai reopened businesses two months after a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of India. The surge in infections and deaths crushed India’s health care system and dealt a blow to hopes of an economic revival in a country that had largely returned to business as usual earlier this year.But even as markets lifted shutters and shop owners spruced up their stores, not many ventured out in cities that remain fearful after a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus struck with far greater ferocity than last year.Besides the country’s two largest cities, restrictions were also eased in several other states that have witnessed declining cases.“We have to save ourselves from infection but also bring the economy back on track,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter. In recent days, cases of COVID-19 in the city have plummeted sharply to fewer than 500 in recent days. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.The reopening of cities is gradual – business hours have been restricted and the metro in the Indian capital will operate with fewer commuters. But the buzz seen outside metro stations earlier this year was missing as people remained cautious about using public transport.The usual buzz outside metro stations in the Indian capital is missing as people remains cautious about using public transport, June 7, 2021. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)Mumbai’s huge rail network remains shut although offices could open with half their staff. Restaurants, gyms and salons have been allowed to open.In an address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the relaxations should not make people think COVID-19 has ended. “We must continue to follow protocols to win this battle,” he said.Public health experts have said that the second wave swept through the country after policy makers, top leaders and the public largely abandoned COVID protocols as cases dipped earlier this year.In Delhi Monday, police patrolled markets to ensure that people adhered to social distancing norms and wore masks.“Hopefully people will be more vigilant and careful. I think everyone has been affected in one way or the other by COVID, so we cannot revert back to life as normal again,” said Rajni Malhotra, owner of one of the city’s oldest bookstores, Bahrisons Booksellers.  “Not all the staff has been called back to work as yet and we will not allow more than five customers. You have to watch your back.”Police patrol markets in New Delhi, June 7, 2021, to ensure that people adhered to social distancing norms. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)It is the second time cities like New Delhi and Mumbai are reopening since the pandemic – they opened last summer after a stringent lockdown only to shut down in April as the virus ravaged India once again.The Indian capital was among the cities worst affected by the second wave – tens of thousands were infected daily for several weeks, critically sick people died outside overwhelmed hospitals or at home waiting for beds, medical oxygen supplies ran scarce and funeral pyres burnt through the night. Fearing the more infectious variant that has driven the second wave, many people did not venture out for weeks.The health crisis in most cities has eased. Cases of COVID-19 have declined by a quarter from the peak — compared to more than 400,000 cases a day logged in early May. On Monday, 100,636 new cases were reported nationwide. But while most urban centers are counting fewer infections, the country’s vast rural areas are now epicenters of the pandemic.Family members of Vijay Raju, who died due to the COVID-19, mourn before his cremation at a crematorium ground in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2021.The reopening of cities like Delhi and Mumbai, the country’s economic engines, also brought hope to millions of migrant workers who come from rural areas to work in cities.Twenty-four-year-old Monu Kumar, who returned to his village after the food stall at Delhi airport where he worked shut down, is hoping that he is recalled soon. “After the pandemic Iast year, I only got a job in February and then in just three months everything shut down again,” he said. “It is very hard for us.”Public health experts caution that even a limited reopening in usually crowded cities poses risks in a country where less than 5 percent of the people are fully vaccinated and have urged authorities to speed up inoculations. But the country is grappling with a severe vaccine shortage.People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus wait at a bus stop in Mumbai, India, June 7, 2021.In his address, Prime Minister Modi said the federal government will provide vaccines free of charge to all adults above 18 – so far free shots have only been given to health care and frontline workers and those above the age of 45. The policy had been widely criticized.He also said that vaccine supplies will improve as domestic companies ramp up production and the government negotiates with foreign vaccine makers for shots.The prolonged lockdown in most parts of the country during the last two months will hit prospects of restoring millions of lost jobs and the economy, which shrank by more than 7 percent last year.A study by Aziz Premji University in India says that the pandemic has pushed 230 million Indians into poverty. 
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The Taliban have urged Afghans who worked for departing U.S. and NATO militaries in Afghanistan over the years not to “desert” their war-ravaged nation for fear of retribution by the insurgent group. 
 
Monday’s Taliban pledge comes as thousands of Afghans employed, mostly as interpreters, by the United States and allied countries during their almost two-decade long stay in the country fear insurgent retaliation and are eager to get visas to the U.S. 
 
“The Islamic Emirate [the Taliban] will not perturb them but calls them to return to their normal lives and if they do have expertise in any field, to serve their country,” the Taliban said in a statement sent to journalists and published on the group’s official website Monday. “They shall not be in any danger on our part.” 
 
The United States and allied nations are expected to completely pullout their remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11. Washington negotiated an agreement with the Taliban in February 2020 to end what has been the longest American war in history.  FILE – U.S. Marines watch during a change of command ceremony at Task Force Southwest military field, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2018. The final phase of ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan began May 1, 2021.
The U.S. military said last week it had completed nearly half of the withdrawal process.  
 
An estimated 18,000 Afghans are awaiting word on special immigrant visas (SIV) to the U.S. amid concerns President Joe Biden’s administration might not be able to process them all in time. Biden has come under increasing pressure at home to move quickly to save lives of Afghans who risked their lives working with the American military.  
 
The Taliban asserted in the statement that Afghans who worked for the foreign “occupation” forces were “misled” and they “should show remorse” for their past actions, saying they amounted to “treason” against Islam and Afghanistan. 
 
“We viewed them as our foes when they were directly standing in the ranks of our enemies, but when they abandon enemy ranks and opt to live as ordinary Afghans in their homeland, they will not face any issues,” the statement said.  
 
However, it added, if the Afghans in question are using retribution “as an excuse to bolster their fake asylum case then that is their own problem” and not that of the Taliban.  FILE – US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price holds a news briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Feb. 17, 2021.State Department spokesman Ned Price said last Thursday the U.S. has “a special commitment and a special responsibility to these brave Afghans.” 
 
“We are always seeking ways to improve the SIV process while ensuring the integrity of the program and safeguarding our national security and affording opportunities to these Afghans,” Price explained to reporters. 
He added that the administration has approved a temporary increase in consular staffing at the U.S. embassy in Kabul to conduct interviews and to process visa applications, allowing the diplomatic mission to address cases that were delayed due to COVID-19 staffing reductions and related closures. 
 
Price said the administration has also requested funding for an additional 8,000 Special Immigrant Visas from Congress. 
 War intensifies 
 
U.S. efforts to seek a negotiated settlement to the conflict between the Taliban and the Afghan government have so far met little success nor have deadly battlefield hostilities between the two Afghan adversaries eased.  
 
The insurgents, who control or hotly contest more than half of Afghan territory, have captured at least 12 districts since the international forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1. The conflict has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and many Afghan civilians.  FILE – Afghan journalists film the site of a bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 3, 2021.Islamic State militants also have stepped up bombings and other attacks against civilians who have borne the brunt of years of fighting. 
 
The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated and signed the deal with the Taliban, met with Afghan government leaders and other politicians in Kabul on Sunday to discuss bilateral cooperation after foreign troops leave the country. Official: US Pledges $3.3 Billion in Funding for Afghan Forces  The US peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, met Sunday with leaders in Kabul to discuss bilateral cooperation after American and coalition troops leave the country by a Sept. 11 deadline Khalilzad told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Washington will annually provide $3.3 billion to Kabul over the next two years to support Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, according to an Afghan government spokesman.  
 
Mohammad Amiri said that more U.S. facilities and equipment, including aircraft to strengthen the Afghan air force, will be among the main topics of bilateral talks in coming days. 
 
Foreign air support has until now played a crucial rule in assisting local forces to keep the insurgents from threatening urban centers. There are fears that the absence of U.S. military support in post-withdrawal Afghanistan may enable the Taliban to regain power, though Afghan leaders dismiss those concerns.  
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China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations this week amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.      Chinese state media said the meeting Tuesday in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing will cover issues from restoring tourism and other economic exchanges battered by COVID-19, to more coordinated efforts in fighting the pandemic and the feasibility of creating a vaccine passport to allow freer travel among them.      Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also expected to meet separately with each of his counterparts on the sidelines of the conference.    Beijing has been building influence with the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, despite frictions with some of them over rival territorial claims in South China Sea.The Philippines has complained repeatedly over the presence of Chinese boats moored at a reef that it claims and Malaysia last week protested over an intrusion by 16 Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, calling the incident a “serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety.”      Chinese economic and diplomatic heft have helped override such concerns, however, while the bloc has been unable to form a unified stand in the face of opposition from Chinese allies within, primarily Cambodia.      “Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN cooperation has grown in leaps and bounds, becoming the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Sunday in announcing the meeting.      “The fact that the two sides agreed to hold a face-to-face special foreign ministers’ meeting despite the ongoing grim COVID-19 situation reflects how countries attach great importance to and hold high expectations of China-ASEAN relations under the new circumstances,” Wang said.      FILE – U.S. Navy sailors move aircraft from an elevator into the hangar bay of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in South China Sea, Apr. 8, 2018. (US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Hogan/Handout via Reuters)The U.S., which maintains an active naval presence in the South China Sea and strong relations with the region, has expressed concerns over China’s growing presence, particularly its impact on security and Beijing’s political influence over fragile democracies.      In a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman focused on China’s construction of new facilities at Ream Naval Base and urged Cambodia’s leadership to maintain an independent and balanced foreign policy, “in the best interests of the Cambodian people.”     China, meanwhile, calls the U.S. naval presence the biggest threat to security in the region, particularly its insistence on sailing close to Chinese-held features in what are termed freedom of navigation operations.      Beijing also strongly objects to strengthened relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by China, which threatens to use military force to bring it under its control.      Washington sent a strong message of support on Sunday when three senators flew to Taipei on an Air Force transport plane to announce the U.S. will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine after the island complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure vaccines as it battles an outbreak.Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Chris Coons (D-DE) in Taipei, Taiwan, June 6, 2021. (Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via Reuters)Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who made a three-hour stop in Taiwan with fellow Democrat Christopher Coons of Delaware and Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska, said their visit underscores bipartisan U.S. backing for the democratic island.  
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Pakistani officials say two trains collided in southern Pakistan Monday, killing and injuring dozens of people. Authorities say the Millat Express, a passenger train operated daily by Pakistan Railways, derailed and slid onto the track of the oncoming Sir Syed Express near Dharki, a city in the Ghotki District of upper Sindh. A police official says that more than 30 people were killed in the accident and at least 50 injured. The death toll is expected to rise. Media reports say emergency workers are having trouble rescuing people from the overturned train cars.  Ghotki Deputy Commissioner Usman Abdullah told Geo News the rescue operation is “a challenging task” and that “It will take time” using heavy machinery to free people who remain trapped.  
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The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, along with a high-level delegation, met Sunday with leaders in Kabul to discuss bilateral cooperation after U.S. and coalition troops leave the country by a Sept. 11 deadline. 
 
The discussions come as Taliban insurgents have intensified battlefield attacks against government forces, capturing nine Afghan districts, including six in the past week, since the foreign military withdrawal began a month ago. Hundreds of combatants on both sides and Afghan civilians have also been killed. 
 
A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday the talks with Khalilzad’s team focused on three sectors, including defense, economy and humanitarian assistance. 
 
Mohammad Amiri said the U.S. envoy told Ghani that Washington will annually provide $3.3 billion to Kabul over the next two years to support Afghan security forces battling the Taliban. 
 
Amiri noted that more U.S. facilities and equipment, including aircraft, to strengthen the Afghan Air Force, will be among the main topics of bilateral talks in coming days.  
 
There has been no response from the U.S. embassy in Kabul regarding Khalilzad’s discussions with Afghan officials.  
 
The Afghan government has long relied on close U.S. air support in battling the Taliban. Afghan officials dismiss concerns their forces may not be able to take on the insurgents in the absence of foreign military support.  
 
Khalilzad and his delegation also held a meeting with Abdullah Abdullah, who oversees Kabul’s peace process with the insurgents.  
 
The two sides discussed the Afghan peace process and “the new chapter of corporation” between two countries, Abdullah, who heads the High Council for National Reconciliation, wrote on Twitter.  
 
“We reiterated our commitment for a just & durable peace with (the) Taliban through negotiations using the available opportunity,” Abdullah added.  
 
A U.S. statement issued Saturday prior to Khalilzad’s visit said his delegation would include representatives from the Department of Defense, the National Security Council and USAID. 
 
It said the inter-agency delegation would underscore enduring U.S. support for Afghanistan’s development and a political settlement that will end the war. 
 
The statement added that Khalilzad will also travel to Doha, Qatar, to encourage the Taliban and Afghan government peace negotiators “to make tangible progress towards of a political settlement that protects the gains of the last two decades.” 
 
Taliban and Kabul negotiators have held multiple rounds of peace talks in the Qatari capital since last September, but the slow-moving process has mostly been deadlocked, with each side blaming the other for stalling it.  
 
The U.S. military withdrawal, along with NATO allies, and the ensuing peace talks between the two Afghan advisories stemmed from an agreement Washington negotiated with the Taliban in February 2020 to end nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.  
 
Khalilzad negotiated and signed the landmark deal.  
 
Last week, the U.S. announced more than $266 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, where an estimated 18 million people are in need of it.  
 
The money, an official statement said, will provide lifesaving protection, shelter, livelihoods opportunities, essential health care, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services. 
 
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At least 11 civilians, including children, were killed when their vehicle set off a landmine in northern Afghanistan, local government officials said on Sunday, accusing Taliban insurgents for planting the mines.No militant group, including the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred on Saturday, hours before senior Taliban leaders and UN officials met in Qatar to discuss the Afghan peace process, security for diplomats and people working for humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan.A Taliban spokesperson said in statement on Twitter that Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the deputy head of the Taliban’s political office “reiterated strong commitment to the Afghan peace process in the meeting” with UN officials.While the Taliban delegation assured security to all relevant UN agencies staff and other diplomats based in Afghanistan, Afghan officials accused the Taliban of incessant violence against government forces and civilians in a bid to seize complete territorial control over several provinces.Husamudim Shams, the governor of the northern province of Badgis, said 11 passengers, including three children, traveling to the city of Qala-e-Naw were killed in the blast on Saturday.Roadside bombs, small magnetic bombs attached under vehicles and other attacks have targeted members of security forces, judges, government officials, civil society activists and journalists in recent months in Afghanistan.Nearly 1,800 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first three months of 2021 during fighting between government forces and Taliban insurgents despite efforts to find peace, the United Nations said in April this year.
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A black box from a ship loaded with chemical and plastic that is sinking off Sri Lanka has been located, officials said Sunday, as investigators probe what caused the vessel to catch fire.The Voyage Data Recorder, also known as a maritime “black box,” enables investigators to review procedures and instructions ahead of an accident.Sri Lankan authorities said they hope it will provide details of the ship’s movements and its communications with the harbor in the capital Colombo, where it had been due to dock.”The navy facilitated technicians to remove the VDR from the bridge which is still above the waterline,” navy spokesperson Indika de Silva told AFP.The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been slowly sinking into the Indian Ocean since Wednesday after a fire that raged for nearly two weeks within sight of the coast.The ship, carrying 25 tons of nitric acid and a huge amount of plastic raw materials, was heading to Colombo from Gujarat, India.Sri Lankan officials have said an acid leak since May 11 may have sparked the blaze. Ports in Qatar and India had refused to offload the leaking nitric acid, they added.Police on the island nation launched a criminal investigation, interviewing the vessel’s skipper and chief engineer — both Russians — and its chief officer, an Indian, and seizing their passports.Authorities are bracing for a possible oil spill after the stern submerged. There has been no sign of any leaks so far, they added.Tons of microplastic granules from the ship swamped an 80-kilometer stretch of beach declared off-limits for residents. Fishing in the area was also banned.Sri Lankan environmentalists on Friday sued the government and the ship’s operators for allegedly failing to prevent what they called the “worst marine disaster” in the country’s history.
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Pakistan’s top diplomat on Saturday publicly stated for the first time that his ministry had severed ties with Afghanistan’s national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, over incendiary remarks about its southern neighbor that undermined regional peace efforts.Shah Mehmood Qureshi made the disclosure a week after a highly placed Pakistani official told VOA that Islamabad had conveyed to Kabul “through informal channels” it would no longer conduct official engagements with Mohib.FILE – Pakistan army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa addresses the Islamabad Security Dialogue conference, March 18, 2021. (Courtesy PTV)Diplomatic sources told VOA that during a recent visit to Kabul, Pakistan’s military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, raised concerns about Mohib’s “undignified remarks” in his meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the presence of General Nick Carter, the head of Britain’s military and key player in peace negotiations ahead of the U.S.-NATO troop withdrawal.A senior Pakistani official privy to the matter told VOA on condition of anonymity his government had lodged a strong protest with the Afghan side and had conveyed “deep resentment” in Pakistan over Mohib’s “undignified” remarks.Washington also had stopped meetings with the Afghan national security adviser over controversial remarks he made on a visit to the U.S. two years ago, though contact with him has since resumed.Mohib had accused Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, of undercutting the Kabul government in U.S.-Taliban peace negotiations.Accord set stage for drawdownKhalilzad was leading the talks that culminated in an agreement with the insurgents in February 2020, setting the stage for the foreign troop drawdown from the war-torn nation, which began May 1 and is expected to be completed by September 11.While Afghan leaders accuse Pakistan of being behind the Taliban’s violent campaign in their country, U.S. officials, including Khalilzad, have persistently praised Islamabad for bringing the insurgents to the negotiating table to discuss a peace arrangement with the Afghan government to end the war.The controversy stemming from Mohib’s remarks again has highlighted political tensions and historic mistrust plaguing relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which share a nearly 2,600-kilometer border.
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Lakpa Sherpa has climbed Everest seven times. But he says this year’s season, which ended this week and was marked by the coronavirus, cyclones and misinformation, was the most challenging of his career.The pandemic forced a shutdown of Nepal’s mountaineering industry in 2020, dealing a harsh blow to the tiny Himalayan country’s tourism-dependent economy.This spring, the allure of the highest peak in the world brought climbers rushing back.As China’s side of the mountain remained closed, Nepal issued a record 408 permits to ascend Everest, worth about $4.2 million.Quarantine restrictions were eased to promote the climbing rebound, but there were also no clear plans to test for, isolate or control an outbreak.Summiting the mountain has always been deadly. This year, it became even more dangerous.Just weeks after the peak reopened, a Norwegian climber, Erlend Ness, confirmed that he fell sick at base camp and then tested positive in Kathmandu after he was evacuated. Other cases followed.Still, Sherpa decided he had to persevere with the expeditions his Pioneer Adventure had booked for 23 clients.”This season was very difficult. We were already working under pressure because of COVID, and then the weather also betrayed us,” he told AFP.The warmer window that usually ushers in safer conditions for scaling Everest and other Himalayan peaks coincided with a deadly second wave of virus infections in Nepal, with reports of more than 9,000 daily cases in May.This photo taken May 17, 2021, shows mountaineer’s tents lit up at night at Camp 2 of Mount Everest, in Nepal. (Lakpa Sherpa)”There used to be coughs, common colds and a risk of getting into avalanches and crevasses in the past. But this year, the danger was if we got infected from COVID we would not be able to climb up because it makes breathing difficult and causes fatigue,” said guide Mingma Dorji Sherpa.’Very sick’Despite precautions that teams tried to take, including masking, sanitizing and isolating, virus cases began to spread.Pilots in PPE suits arrived to evacuate dozens of suspected COVID-19 patients from the area, and at least two companies canceled expeditions after team members tested positive.Many climbers confirmed their diagnoses on social media and blogs, including some who had reached the summit.When Icelandic duo Sigurdur Sveinsson and Heimir Hallgrimsson began coughing as they reached around 7,000 meters, they suspected they had caught the virus. Still, they made it to the summit 8,849 meters above sea level.Their symptoms became stronger as they descended.”In camp 2, we were both very sick from coughing, headaches and other fatigue. We suspected that not everything was perfect, and we needed to get down as fast as possible,” they said in a recent statement.They said they both tested positive when they reached the base camp and isolated in their tents.Yet authorities in Nepal have not acknowledged a single case at the mountain.This photo taken May 12, 2021, shows mountaineers climbing during their ascent to summit Mount Everest, in Nepal. (Pemba Dorje Sherpa)The stakes were high after last year’s shutdown, which cost one of Asia’s poorest countries millions in lost revenue. Porters and guides for well-heeled foreign climbers were left without income.It was the third time in the last decade that Everest’s summit sat empty. Climbers abandoned the mountain after a 2015 earthquake triggered an avalanche, killing 18 people.In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides on the infamous Khumbu icefall, forcing organizers to cancel expeditions.Lukas Furtenbach, who was the first to call off his expedition because of COVID-19 outbreaks, said the government should extend the validity of the $11,000 license his clients purchased to climb Everest.”Nepal invited foreign expeditions to come and assured us of COVID safety. … And my clients did not feel safe at the base camp,” he said.Expedition organizers have also self-censored, leaving no way to estimate the actual number of cases among Everest climbers and guides.”There is no excuse for the blatant lies, denials and cover-ups committed by the [government] this season,” mountaineering blogger Alan Arnette wrote Friday. “Do they understand that their actions only undermine the very credibility they need to effectively manage their resources?”‘Coming back’Those willing to risk coronavirus infections faced a curtailed window to climb. The government put limits on the number of climbers who could scale at any given time to avoid a traffic jam on the peak, and two cyclones that hit India in May further restricted the three-month season.When the second of those cyclones hit eastern India last week, it caused a huge snowstorm on Everest, burying the tents of the last lot of climbers waiting to summit.Final numbers have yet to be announced, but the tourism department estimates that 400 climbers reached the summit this year, far fewer than the 644 in 2019 when fewer permits were issued.German climber Billi Bierling, who manages a database that records summits, said that the events of this year were unlikely to dim interest in Everest: “Maybe we will think about it and reflect on what happened in 2021, but once this is over, expedition operators and climbers will be coming back.”
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Two Azerbaijani journalists and a local government official reportedly were killed Friday in a land mine explosion.The three died when their car ran over an anti-tank mine in Azerbaijan’s Kalbacar district. Four other people were reportedly injured.Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry identified the journalists killed as Sirac Abisov of state-run AzTV and Maharram Ibrahimov of state news agency AzerTag.The ministry blamed the deaths on Armenia and accused it of violating the Geneva Conventions by using land mines. Armenia has not responded.Tensions again have flared in recent weeks as each side accuses the other of making incursions.A six-week war between the two sides erupted last year over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Nearly 7,000 are believed to have died in the conflict.A Russia-brokered cease-fire in November saw Armenia return territory controlled by Armenians for decades, including Kalbacar.
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The Taliban seized a district in southern Afghanistan Friday without facing any resistance from Afghan government security forces, bringing to seven the number of districts the insurgents have overrun since the United States and its NATO allies began withdrawing their troops from the country a month ago.Separately, an overnight roadside bombing of a vehicle in the national capital, Kabul, killed a young female Afghan television anchor and her mother, and wounded her sister. Mina Khairi was working for the Ariana News channel for the past three years, her employer said.The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee said, “AJSC is deeply saddened to hear Mina Khairi, TV presenter at Ariana News and her mother are among the victims of yesterday’s blast in district 6 of Kabul city. We strongly condemn the attack & call on the government to seriously investigate the case.”   #Afghanistan: 4th woman journalist murdered in the country this year! Mina Kheiri & her mother were killed in an IED explosion in Kabul. Pulling out troops doesn’t end association with the violence that the country was exposed to. #CFWIJ demands the global community take notice! pic.twitter.com/gvjwREqMZQ— #WomenInJournalism (@CFWIJ) June 4, 2021
 
Sharif Hassanyar, the head of Ariana news, said in a video statement: ‘While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Mena Khairi, Ariana News will not back away from freedom of the press and will continue its work for the freedom of the press in Afghanistan.” He says freedom of the press is a red line for his channel.Afghan Second Vice President Sarwar Danish said Friday the security agencies and those directly responsible for providing security in the government are obliged to act as soon as possible and be accountable for the repeated killings and “genocides” west of Kabul city.
 
The Thursday night blast killed a total of four people and injured several others, including Khairi’s sister. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.  Map showing Zabul province, Afghanistan 
A security official in southern Zabul province told VOA on condition of anonymity that Taliban fighters entered the embattled Shinkay district early Friday morning after government forces retreated from there to a nearby Afghan National Army base.
 
Provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Wait Samemi would not confirm the alleged retreat, telling VOA that Afghan forces were still inside the district and fighting was ongoing.
 
Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi said in a statement its fighters also captured security personnel, but he would not say how many, nor could his claim immediately be verified from independent sources.  
 
Pro-insurgent social media outlets published photos of the Shinkay district center, with Taliban fighters marching in the streets.  
 
Deadly clashes continued elsewhere in Afghanistan amid concerns the foreign military drawdown would fuel chaos and violence.  
 
U.S. President Joe Biden directed the remaining about 2,500 American and roughly 7,000 NATO troops in mid-April to leave the country by September 11. The decision stemmed from the February 2020 agreement Washington negotiated with the Taliban to end the U.S. involvement in nearly 20 years of Afghan war.
 
The U.S. military announced earlier this week that almost half of its troops and equipment had been sent home or destroyed since the drawdown formally began on May 1.    
 
Friday’s insurgent advances came a day after the United Nations warned that the Taliban appeared poised to take by force what they do not get through negotiations once foreign troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan.  
 
The U.N. sanctions monitoring team for Afghanistan issued its assessment Thursday, noting the Taliban are still technically in compliance with the terms of their agreement with the United States.  
 
But the insurgents, it said, have tightened their grip on power, exercising direct control over more than half of the country’s district administrative centers, while contesting or controlling up to 70% of Afghan territory outside of urban areas.
 
“Taliban rhetoric and reports of active Taliban preparations for the spring fighting season indicate the group is likely to increase military operations for 2021, whether or not a spring offensive is announced,” the U.N. report said.The U.S.-Taliban pact also opened direct peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government in Qatar last September, but the process mostly has  stalled.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored Friday the need for both of the Afghan adversaries to engage in productive talks.  
 
“We urge Afghan leaders and the Taliban to accelerate progress toward a negotiated political settlement and permanent and comprehensive cease-fire to bring an end to over 40 years of conflict and create the conditions that will allow refugees to return to their homes safely,” Blinken said.  
 
He also announced more than $266 million in new humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, bringing total U.S. humanitarian aid to the country to nearly $3.9 billion since 2002. The assistance will help international humanitarian partners of the U.S to provide support to some of the estimated 18 million people in need in Afghanistan, including more than 4.8 million Afghans who have been internally displaced.
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The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan has made many Afghans fearful of the Taliban’s return to power, prompting the country’s last remaining Jew to make plans to leave as soon as possible.“God willing, I cannot say seven to eight months, but I will definitely leave by the time the Taliban come,” said Zebulon Simentov, 62, who lives in Kabul.The Taliban have increased their attacks on government-controlled areas in recent weeks, just as the United States and its NATO allies started withdrawing their remaining forces from the country.The U.S. announced Tuesday that it had pulled out between 30% and 44% of its 2,500 troops in the South Asian country. A complete withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO forces is expected to take place by September 11.Simentov has been the caretaker of Kabul’s only synagogue for decades and lives in the synagogue complex. He hopes the government can hire a replacement when he moves to Israel, to which his wife and two daughters moved in the 1990s because of the civil war in Afghanistan. He has visited once, for two months in 1998, he said.“They know that I am working on it, getting my passport and leaving. They can have a watchman, and then, let’s see what happens,” he said.Once a thriving community in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan Jews have left for Israel and Western countries.The migration started in the 1950s after the creation of Israel, though many left after the Soviet invasion in 1979.Tolerant societyAccording to Hamayon Ahmadi, a conservator and restorer in Herat, more than 1,000 Jews coexisted with other residents of Herat City before the start of the war in 1978.“They were living together with others in a peaceful environment in Herat,” Ahmadi said, adding that the city once housed four synagogues.He said some Afghan Jews who left the country have visited the cemetery south of Herat’s Old City.Simentov has been the only Jew living in Afghanistan, he said, since Isaac Levi, another Jew living in Kabul, died in 2005.Other than being the synagogue caretaker, Simentov is jobless, though he said he ran a restaurant a few years ago and, he said, his family at one time had a carpet business that allowed him to travel the world.FILE – This photo from Aug. 29, 2009, shows Zebulon Simentov, the last known Jew living in Afghanistan, at his dining room table during Shabbat in his Kabul home, as Shirgul Amiri, right, a local Muslim friend, prays toward Mecca.Fear of violenceLal Gul, chairman of the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization, said the country is undergoing a transformation that can have a lasting impact on minority rights. He warned that minorities can become particularly vulnerable if the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government fail.“God forbid, if peace talks do not succeed, there would be another civil war in the country that will have [a] negative impact on everyone, particularly Afghan minority groups,” Gul said.No progress has been reported in the peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government that began September 12 in Doha, Qatar.Meanwhile, violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months. In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said women and minorities are the two main targets of the increased violence.At least 10 people were killed Tuesday in two explosions that targeted buses west of Kabul City, where mainly Hazara Shiite Muslims live.Last month, a bomb attack outside a high school in the same area of Kabul killed at least 80 people, mostly schoolgirls, and injured 150 others.No group took responsibility for the school attack. The Afghan government blamed the Taliban, but the group rejected any involvement in the attack.Little changeIn a report published in June 2020, HRW said the Taliban have not changed much from the 1990s when they were in power, despite the militant leadership’s claim to have walked away from some of their extremist ideologies and practices. The report stated that the Taliban had a record of “systematic violations” of human rights during their rule.In its latest report published in April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said the Taliban “continue to exclude religious minorities and punish residents in areas under their control in accordance with their extreme interpretation of Islamic law.”USCIRF recommended to the U.S. State Department “to continue designating the Taliban as an ‘entity of particular concern.’ ”
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