Monday, September 6, 2021

*) Taliban says it takes Panjshir, last holdout Afghan province Taliban says it has taken control of Panjshir province north of Kabul, the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in the country. "With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war," chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declared in a press conference. But the anti-Taliban force has vowed to carry on fighting, saying its retreat was a battle tactic. The Panjshir Valley is famed for being the site of resistance to Soviet forces in the 1980s and the Taliban in the late 1990s. *) Shaky calm in Guinea after Conde's apparent ouster Uneasy calm has returned to the streets of Guinea's capital Conakry, as its citizens await the announcement of a new government after the apparent overthrow of President Alpha Conde by an elite army unit which drew global condemnation. The special forces summoned Conde's ministers and heads of government institutions to a meeting, warning that failure to attend would be considered a "rebellion". The takeover in the West African nation that holds the world's largest bauxite reserves, an ore used to produce aluminium, sent prices of the metal skyrocketing to a 10-year high over fears of further supply disruption in the downstream market. There was no indication of such disruption yet. *) Ida's death count rises while 600,000 still lack power Hurricane Ida's death toll continues to rise, with many in the US northeast holding out hope for people missing in the floodwaters. Nearly 600,000 customers in Louisiana still lack power a week after the storm made landfall. Ida slammed into Louisiana on August 29 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 240 kmph. *) Several Palestinians escape from high-security Israeli jail Six Palestinian resistance fighters have broken out of a high-security Israeli prison in what Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called a grave incident. Israeli police and the military have started a search after the escape from Gilboa prison in northern Israel. Five of the es