Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got under way for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.
The operation to evacuate U.S.-affiliated Afghans and family members comes as the U.S. troop pullout nears completion and government forces struggle to repulse Taliban advances. The first planeload of 200 evacuees arrived at Fort Lee, a military base in Virginia, for final paperwork processing and medical examinations.
‘David vs Goliath’ – Venice ban may not end cruise ship battle
When the first cruise ship since the start of the pandemic sailed through the Venice lagoon last month, hundreds of people rallied on land and small boats in protest.
Popular policeman, Abba Kyari has reacted to being accused by US government of allegedly receiving bribe from Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas a.k.a Hushpuppi to arrest and jail a member of his online fraud gang identified as Chibuzo Vincent.Â
Uriel has come out to clear her name after, many Instagram users claimed the controversial post footballer wife, Sonia Ighalo, shared earlier which she has now deleted, was directed at her.
The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said.
Bicycle riding volunteers deliver medicines in indonesia’s Semarang says reporters.
According reporters Indonesian city of Semarang Arrahman Surya Atmaja stops at a pharmacy to pick up some vitamins before hitting the road again to deliver them to a person isolating at home.
The 35-year-old is part of a small group of volunteer cyclists running errands for people in the city of 3 million, which along with the rest of the country, has been hit hard by the pandemic.
The company behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft was sued last week by the state of California over alleged violations of state workplace protection laws. Female employees described a “frat boy” culture, the lawsuit said.
Activision denied the allegations claiming they were “distorted and in many cases false”. On Tuesday. Activision’s CEO said the initial response had been “tone-deaf. Employees protested outside the company’s campus in Irvine on Wednesday. Some were pictured holding signs that read “women’s voices matter” and “fight bad guys in game. fight bad guys IRL”.
On social media, a number of gamers said they would not login to anything Activision Blizzard during the walkout in solidarity with employees. The allegations against Activision were contained in a legal filing from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) following a two-year investigation.
It included accusations of drunken harassment of female employees by male colleagues or supervisors, a culture of ignoring complaints and retaliation against women who made them, and widespread discrimination against women in areas such as equal pay and promotion opportunity. The lawsuit found that women make up only 20% of Activision’s staff.
More than 2.000 employees have signed an open letter calling for an end to mandatory arbitration in harassment cases, improvements in recruiting practices and ereation of a diversity and equity task force.
Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said on Tuesday that the company will “continue to investigate each and every claim” of sexism at Activision “and will not hesitate to take decisive action”. Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.” he said.
Arthur has covered important topics such as same-sex marriage. The show is based on a series of books by Marc Brown and has also been screened in other countries, including the UK.
The show, which follows the adventures of Arthur the Aardvark. his family and friends is the longest running children’s animated television series in US history US broadcaster PBS confirmed the news adding that the final episode will air next year.
News of Arthur’s cancellation was revealed by one of its writers, Kathy Waugh. Speaking in podcast Finding DW. She said Arthur was no longer in production and the team had already had the show’s wrap party I don’t know if it was a ratings issue or if it felt like it needed to be retired.” she said. PBS contirmed the news in a statement to Variety from the show’s executive producer Carol Greenwald. She said the 25th and final season of Arthur would air next year but the show would still be available on PBS Kids.
The show focused on lessons learned by Arthur and his friends and covered issues such as asthma, cancer and dyslexia. It also taught children lessons about people’s differences including personalities and interests. In 2019, the show introduced its first same-sex wedding. The wedding between Arthur’s teacher.
Mr Ratburn and his partner Patrick drew praise online. But it was also boycotted by Alabama Public Television. Arthur won six Emmy awards and was so popular that it had a number of celebrity guest spots. with Joan Rivers, Matt Damon and US politician John Lewis.
Afghan villagers searched desperately for survivors after flash flood swept down a narrow valley in a Taliban-controlled area, killing at least 40 people and destroying dozens of houses in the early hours of Thursday morning, officials said.
Getting reliable information was difficult, according to Afghan officials, as Kamdesh district in the mountainous eastern province of Nuristan had fallen under the control of Taliban and had poor telecommunications.
“According to the initial information 60 houses are destroyed and around 100 people are missing,” said Samiullah Zarbi, spokesman for the State Ministry of Disaster Management. Villagers had recovered some forty bodies, either from the water or buried beneath the rubble of their homes, Saadullah Payenda Zoy, head of the provincial council said.
The Taliban said they would allow humanitarian agencies safe access to the area. “Unfortunately half of a village, which had more than 100 houses, was washed away by a violent flood last night and sadly more than 100 people are dead or missing, Taliban spokesperson Zaibullah Mujahid told reporters.
He said Taliban fighters were helping villagers look for missing people. Afghanistan has always struggled to provide emergency services in distant, isolated regions like Nuristan.
But, the challenges have become even more acute due to the coronavirus pandemic and mounting violence as Taliban insurgents attack government troops left fighting alone, with the last U.S.-led foreign forces preparing to leave next month.
Three people were found dead as a massive forest fire burned for a second day in southern Turkey on Thursday, the country’s AFAD disaster agency and agriculture minister said, with efforts to rescue others and extinguish the blaze continuing. More than 100 other people had to be evacuated, required medical treatment or suffered damage to property as a result of the fire.
Hot weather and strong winds have caused blazes to spread around the town of Manavgat, 75 km (45 miles) east of the resort city of Antalya, and nearby villages. Several settlement areas were evacuated on Wednesday. Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said on Thursday that an 82-year-old man had been found dead during the evacuation of the district of Kepezbeleni, 16 km (10 miles) northeast of Manavgat.
A group of 10 people were rescued after being stranded on a boat at the nearby Oymapinar dam. Pakdemirli later said two others were found dead in the Degirmenli district of Antalya, some 20 km (12.5 miles) east of Manavgat, adding that efforts to contain the fire continued.
AFAD said 122 people had been impacted by the fires and that 58 were receiving treatment. It said a firefighting plane, a drone, 19 helicopters, some 250 vehicles, and 960 personnel were part of efforts to control the blaze, while Turkey’s Red Crescent sent staff and food kits to the region.
“Houses located in areas that could be impacted by the fire have been evacuated. Several homes, offices, farms, agricultural fields, greenhouses, and vehicles have been damaged by fire,” AFAD said in a statement.
Authorities evacuated 18 villages and districts in Antalya while 16 more villages were evacuated in the neighbouring provinces of Adana and Mersin, where efforts to extinguish separate wildfires were underway, Pakdemirli said. Television footage showed burnt residential buildings and people fleeing across fields as firefighters backed by helicopters battled to extinguish the fires.
Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast, a popular destination for both local and foreign tourists, is known for its scorching summer heat, which often causes wildfires. Officials have said the latest fires are the biggest to date.
Pakdemirli said there had been 41 wildfires in 13 of Turkey’s 81 provinces since Tuesday, of which 31 were under control. Blazes in Osmaniye and Kayseri are still burning. Turkey has battled a series of disasters caused by extreme weather conditions this summer, including flash floods last week that killed six people in the Black Sea region.
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