Tuesday, July 6 2021

*) Taliban to present its own peace deal to Afghan government The Taliban says it will present its own peace deal to the Afghanistan government next month, as it continues to gain more territory across the country. The militant group has taken control of over 150 districts since launching a mass offensive in May. Afghan troops have also lost key battles in the country's north to the Taliban since the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from the region. Many government forces have fled to neighbouring Tajikistan while others have surrendered. *) Hackers demand ransom in biggest cyberattack on record A Russian-linked cybergang is demanding a $70m Bitcoin ransom after stealing data from hundreds of companies around the world. The ransomware attack targeted US IT firm Kaseya, whose CEO says up to 1,500 companies are affected. Among them are small businesses, schools and supermarkets. *) Another mass student kidnapping in Nigeria At least 26 Nigerian students have been rescued by police tactical teams. They were among 140 who were kidnapped on Sunday night from a boarding school in the country's north west. It's the fourth mass school kidnapping in Kaduna state since December. *) Drone downed near US embassy in Baghdad A drone laden with explosives has been intercepted and shot down by American forces near the US embassy in Baghdad. The drone failed to reach the embassy compound, and no casualties were reported. US interests in Iraq have been targeted 47 times by Iranian-backed militia groups since the start of the year. And finally ... *) England to lift Covid-19 restrictions, including mask wearing British PM Boris Johnson has announced that most Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted from July 19 and that mask-wearing will become voluntary in England. Over the past week, countries under the UK have had a combined average of just over 25,000 new infections a day, with almost all being the highly contagious Delta variant. Johnson's announcement applies to England only and Scotland, Wales and Nor