Josef Chavanne (1846-1903)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Summary:

• In just weeks, the Taliban in Afghanistan have managed to take over half of the provincial capitals in the country. 
• On Friday, Afghan Parliament member Gul Ahmad Kamin reported the second largest city Kandahar was taken under siege by the extremists, along with a handful of other cities, as they descended closer to Kabul.
• The Taliban released a statement claiming “Hundreds of weapons, vehicles and ammunition were seized,” after government soldiers surrendered to the rapid advances made.
• No government officials have admitted to the captures, although as of Friday the group controls 18 of the 34 provincial capitals, and more reports of house raids and harassment were perpetrated against Afghans by the group. 
• United Nations (UN) secretary general Antonio Guterres released a message on behalf of the UN committee, stating they are “deeply disturbed by early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions on human rights in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women and journalists,” claiming “prolonged civil war” or “isolation” is threatened. 
• The situation in Afghanistan is currently being monitored hourly by the UN. The United States military has warned that all of Afghanistan has a minimum of 30 days before potential take over by the Taliban. 
• American Senator Mitch McConnal claimed the U.S. should consider airstrikes to avoid security threats, stating “it is not too late to prevent the Taliban from overrunning Kabul. The Administration should move quickly to hammer Taliban advances with air strikes, provide critical support to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) defending the capital, and prevent the seemingly imminent fall of the city.”
• Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all agreed to deploy soldiers to help with evacuations, as the number of Afghans displaced reaches 400,000. 

Sources:

• https://thehill.com/policy/defense/567835-mcconnell-calls-for-us-air-strikes-to-stop-taliban-advance
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/13/afghanistan-taliban-horrifying-human-rights-curbs-un
• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/13/they-sold-us-out-afghans-in-disbelief-over-taliban-gains
• https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/asia/afghanistan-kandahar-falls-taliban-intl-hnk/index.html

Tweets:

Other Headlines

Zambia Faces Social Media Blackout Amidst Elections

• Citizens in Zambia have complained about the shutdown of various social media sites following the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 
• Voter turnout reached an unpredicted high on Thursday, as voters still waited to cast their ballot even as voting came to an end at 6PM local time. 
• A police spokeswoman on national TV stated “Social media may spark a lot of violence… If social media is not responsibly used then it can cause a lot of harm to our country especially at this time when results will be announced.”
• Election results are expected on Friday, but the restrictions raised some concerns about the fairness of the elections. The government has yet to comment on the social media blackout. 

Tweets:

Elon Musk Meets With German Politician About Construction of “Gigafactory”

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• Tesla Founder Elon Musk recently met with a potential German Chancellor Armin Laschet to talk about the “Gigafactory” construction. 
• The Tesla “Gigafactory” to open in Germany will be an electric component factory run by Tesla Inc, previously aimed to start in July before met with multiple environmental group lawsuits. 
• Laschet thanked Musk for his business, as the meet with Musk helped to fuel his campaign as he was met with a sharp decline in the polls.
• The decision to allocate around $10 million to the construction of the factory was met with some backlash, as groups argued it should be allocated towards school or home constructions. 

Tweet:

2 Teachers Plus 2 Educators Lose Their Lives within Days of Coronavirus Infection 

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• Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has been against the mask mandate especially for kids in schools. 
• Broward School District voted to make masks mandatory for students as schools are set to open in a week however, the Governor has threatened to withhold pay for any School District’s employee pay who enforces the mask mandate.
• Delta has been rampantly spreading. Florida has one of the highest death rates from COVID-19 in the US; New Jersey being the highest. 

Tweets:

Another Friday, Another Mosque Attack on the Palestinians 

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• Israeli forces attacked the Ibrahimi Mosque while Muslims performed their sacred Friday prayers. 
• Israeli Defence Ministry claimed that the Friday prayers were blocking the construction at the Mosque which are being undertaken to accommodate Jewish and Muslims visitors to the Mosque. The Mosque is divided with barriers for Muslims and Jewish visitors.
• The site has seen a lot of conflict in its History as in 1994 a Jewish worshipper started shooting at Muslim worshippers casusing the loss of many lives. 

Philippines Puts More Lockdown Restrictions as COVID Cases Rise

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• Healthcare workers are being overworked with the rise of infections in Manila. The country is trying to vaccinate as many people as possible to get the cases under control.
• The work shifts which usually are 8 hours long have been turned into 16 hours without a break as new cases keep pouring in.
• A huge number of children have been admitted to the hospital. There is a chance that the lockdown might be pushed to the 20th of August.