Prime Morning

  Afghan Crisis: Evacuations at the Kabul airport continue as the August 31 deadline looms. Paris:  The approach is filled with danger. The conditions on the ground are chaotic, but precise organisation and timing are needed. And the passengers are exhausted and tense. For pilots in charge of the planes evacuating foreign nationals and Afghans from Taliban-controlled Kabul, the flights in and out of the Afghanistan capital have been a journey like no other. Pilots must deal with the already complex location of the airport at high altitude and surrounded by mountains, with intense air traffic like that of a major travel hub with military planes and evacuation flights, relying on their on board Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) to avert crashes. As Western nations prepare to wind down one of the most complex evacuations of civilians since World War II, several pilots shared with AFP their experiences of landing and then taking off from Kabul airport as chaos gripped the ...

  A file photo of members of an Afghan all-female robotics team working on an open-source and low-cost ventilator in Herat, before Taliban days (Pic: Reuters)   Mexico City: Five members of an all-girl Afghan robotics team arrived in Mexico on Tuesday (August 25) evening, fleeing an uncertain future at home after the recent collapse of the US-backed government and takeover by the Taliban militant group. "We give you the warmest welcome to Mexico," Martha Delgado Undersecretary for Multilateral and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the women as she greeted them during a news conference at Mexico City's airport. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last week as the United States and its allies withdrew troops from the country. The White House and US allies are racing to complete the evacuation of all foreigners and vulnerable Afghans before the expiry of an August 31 deadline agreed with the Taliban, US President Joe Biden said this week. The t...

  Coronavirus Vaccine: France recommended Covid booster jab for people aged over 65. (File) Paris:  France's health watchdog on Tuesday recommended a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for people aged over 65 or considered at risk of developing serious forms of the disease. The advice from the HAS watchdog was for people who had already received two vaccine doses, who will now be offered an mRNA vaccine such as the ones produced by Pfizer or Moderna, which France has ample supply of. Last month, the French health ministry announced a booster shot for around five million of the most vulnerable people, including those in retirement homes. In its statement, the HAS suggested widening the criteria for those eligible for a third shot while adding that the "priority for the next few weeks is to increase vaccination coverage in particular in the 80+ age group where vaccination coverage remains insufficient (at 79.9 percent)." France is averaging around 20,000 new Covid-19 cases ...

  On August 14 the US military deployed thousands of troops to take control of Kabul's airport. 1 Washington, United States:  US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he aims to have all US forces out of Afghanistan by August 31, ending a massive two-week airlift from the country at the risk of leaving potential evacuees behind. How was August 31 set? Former President Donald Trump set an agreement with the Taliban insurgents in February 2020 that all US forces would withdraw from Afghanistan by May 1 this year. Biden ordered a review when he came into office in January. On April 14 he announced a four-month postponement of Trump's deadline, saying US and NATO troops "will be out of Afghanistan before we mark the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11th." The focus was to evacuate the remaining 2,500 US troops, several thousand NATO soldiers, and some 16,000 civilian contractors who remained in the country. Critics said the conjunction of the US pullou...