Friday, August, 20 2021

*) Over 18,000 people evacuated since Sunday from Kabul airport More than 18,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul airport since the Taliban took over the Afghan capital, a Nato official said, declining to be identified. At the airport, military evacuation flights continued but access remained difficult for many, with the US struggling to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations. On Thursday, Taliban insurgents fired into the air to try to control the crowds gathered at the airport’s blast walls. *) Brazil's Bolsonaro blocking critics on social media Human Rights Watch has accused Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of violating the right to free speech by blocking critics on social media. The group reported that at least 176 journalists, lawmakers, influencers, ordinary citizens and others deemed critical of the president have had their access to his accounts blocked, mostly on Twitter. Bolsonaro, who has built his political brand largely around his fiery social media screeds, has around seven million followers on Twitter. *) Two killed, five injured in Mogadishu suicide bombing At least two people have been killed and five wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device inside a cafe in Somalia's capital. The suicide bomber targeted a tea shop near a crowded junction in northern Mogadishu which was reportedly frequented by members of the Somali security forces as well as civilians. The Al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabab claimed the attack through their news agency, according to the US monitoring group SITE. *) Grace weakens to tropical storm after lashing Mexican Caribbean Hurricane Grace grounded flights and forced tourists to spend the night in shelters on part of Mexico's Caribbean coastline before weakening to a tropical storm. Grace made landfall before dawn as a Category One hurricane on the Yucatan Peninsula near the town of Tulum, famed for its Mayan temples. The governor of southeastern Quintana Roo state said hundreds were evacuated and the storm passed the R