Afghan seeking move to UK told to provide Taliban-stamped documents

Afghan seeking move to UK told to provide Taliban-stamped documents
In Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, many of those seeking to relocate to Britain face significant danger in approaching government ministries for the requisite documents. (AFP)
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Updated 30 March 2023

Afghan seeking move to UK told to provide Taliban-stamped documents

Afghan seeking move to UK told to provide Taliban-stamped documents
  • British government pledged to end practice earlier this month after wave of criticism
  • MP: ‘The Afghan resettlement schemes have been a complete and utter shambles’

LONDON: An Afghan seeking relocation to the UK has been requested to apply for documents from Taliban government ministries despite the British government promising to end the practice earlier this month, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

The applicant, who once worked with the British Council, which promotes cultural relations and education, is in the process of completing paperwork for the UK’s Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

As part of the process, applicants must provide passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates covering themselves and family members.

But in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, many of those seeking to relocate to Britain face significant danger in approaching government ministries for the requisite documents.

Earlier this month, the UK government pledged to change the requirements so that Afghans who formerly worked with British forces and government organizations would no longer require stamped documents in their applications.

But the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the recent applicant: “The marriage certificate should clearly (be) stamped by the local authorities.”

The FCDO told The Guardian that the message was an error that does not reflect its current policy. The applicant will be contacted to “clarify the process,” it added.

A spokesperson said: “This message does not reflect departmental policy. We do not expect Afghans eligible for resettlement under the ACRS to provide every document requested; we only ask they provide the documentation which they are able to.”

The Afghan’s case was publicized after they contacted a British MP. They had originally applied for relocation through the UK’s flagship relocation scheme, the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, but were later told to apply through the ACRS, initially receiving approval.

But later in the process, the UK government informed the applicant that their marriage certificate must be stamped by local Taliban authorities.

The MP in contact with the applicant, Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse, said: “The Afghan resettlement schemes have been a complete and utter shambles. These are truly brave people who risked everything to help us. We are now abandoning them through departmental incompetence and political ignorance.”


Philippines on alert as Mayon volcano spews ash

Philippines on alert as Mayon volcano spews ash
Updated 17 sec ago

Philippines on alert as Mayon volcano spews ash

Philippines on alert as Mayon volcano spews ash
  • Mayon is considered one of the most volatile of the country’s 24 active volcanoes
  • Five years ago, Mayon displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tons of ash, rocks and lava
MANILA: Philippine scientists said that a “hazardous eruption” of a volcano in the archipelago could be days or weeks away, and urged the evacuation of nearby residents from their homes.
Hundreds of families living around Mount Mayon in central Albay province are expected to be moved to safer areas after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alarm.
Mayon, a near-perfect cone located about 330 kilometers southeast of the capital Manila, is considered one of the most volatile of the country’s 24 active volcanoes.
The seismology agency said it observed three fast-moving avalanches of volcanic ash, rock and gases, known as pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), on Mayon’s slopes on Thursday.
There are “increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs... and of potential explosive activity within weeks or even days,” the agency said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five.
“All necessary preparations are being done,” said Eugene Escobar, the Albay provincial disaster management agency’s officer-in-charge.
Rommel Negrete, an officer for the agency, said residents would be evacuated from Anoling village on the volcano’s slopes.
Meanwhile, Taal volcano, located about 50 kilometers south of Manila, has been releasing sulfur dioxide this week, blanketing surrounding areas in smog and prompting warnings for people to stay indoors.
Steam-rich plumes have been recorded rising two kilometers into the sky, the seismology agency said on Thursday. It has left the alert level at one.
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are not uncommon in the Philippines due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide deep below the Earth’s surface.
Five years ago, Mayon displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tons of ash, rocks and lava.
The most powerful explosion in recent decades was the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila, which killed more than 800 people.
It sent out an ash cloud that traveled thousands of kilometers in a matter of days and was blamed for damaging nearly two dozen aircraft.

Swathes of Ukraine’s Kherson region under water after dam destroyed – governor

Swathes of Ukraine’s Kherson region under water after dam destroyed – governor
Updated 9 min 38 sec ago

Swathes of Ukraine’s Kherson region under water after dam destroyed – governor

Swathes of Ukraine’s Kherson region under water after dam destroyed – governor
  • Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam
  • President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community

KYIV: About 600 square kilometers of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine was under water on Thursday following the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, the regional governor said.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said 68 percent of the flooded territory was on the Russian-occupied left bank of the Dnipro River. The “average level of flooding” in the Kherson region on Thursday morning was 5.61 meters, he said.

“We’re already working. We will help everyone that has ended up in trouble,” he said in a video statement of the flooding caused by the collapse of the dam, which is about 60km upstream from Kherson.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Ukraine blame each other for the destruction of the Russian-occupied dam on Tuesday.

“Despite the immense danger and constant Russian shelling, evacuation from zones of flooding is continuing,” Prokudin said.

He said almost 2,000 people had left flooded territory as of Thursday morning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address late on Wednesday that it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Russian-occupied areas due to the flooding.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier proposed, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, creating an international commission to probe the destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine, his office reported.
“President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community, including Turkiye, for a detailed investigation into the explosion at Kakhovka dam,” his office said after the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

NATO member Turkiye, which has good ties with Moscow and Kyiv.


37 Chinese warplanes cross into Taiwan’s defense zone

37 Chinese warplanes cross into Taiwan’s defense zone
Updated 08 June 2023

37 Chinese warplanes cross into Taiwan’s defense zone

37 Chinese warplanes cross into Taiwan’s defense zone
  • China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to take it one day – by force if necessary
  • Taiwan’s air defense zone is much larger than its airspace, overlaps with part of China’ own zone

TAIPEIA: More than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone over the course of about six hours, the island’s defense ministry said Thursday, a sharp ramp-up in single-day incursions by China’s military.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to take it one day – by force if necessary.
In recent years, Beijing has intensified aerial incursions into the island’s air defense identification zone – nearly doubling the air sorties in 2022 compared to the year before.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang announced Thursday that from 5 a.m. local time (2100 GMT), “a total of 37 Chinese military aircrafts” entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ.
“Some continued... toward the Western Pacific for long-range reconnaissance training,” Sun said at around 11 a.m.
While not the largest number of incursions this year – that would be 45 sorties on April 9 – Thursday’s surge occurred over a much more compressed time frame.
Taiwan’s ADIZ is much larger than its airspace, overlaps with part of China’s ADIZ and even includes some of the mainland.
Taiwan’s military is “monitoring the situation closely,” the ministry said on Twitter, adding that patrol planes, naval vessels and land-based missile systems have been dispatched in response.
They did not clarify if the incursions were ongoing.
Analysts say China’s increased probing of Taiwan’s defense zone is part of wider “grey-zone” tactics that keep the island pressured.
The incursions came a day after the United States, the Philippines and Japan completed their first-ever joint coast guard drills in the flashpoint South China Sea – which Beijing claims almost entirely.
A surge in warplanes and naval exercises by China’s military around Taiwan usually coincides with Taipei making diplomatic engagements with other countries.
China lashes out at any diplomatic action that appears to treat Taiwan as a sovereign nation and has reacted with growing assertiveness to any joint military exercises around the island or visits by Western politicians.
In April, Beijing conducted three days of military exercises simulating a blockade of the island in response to Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen meeting in California.


Millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires streams south over US

Millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires streams south over US
Updated 08 June 2023

Millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires streams south over US

Millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires streams south over US
  • Smoke from Canadian wildfires is pouring into the US East Coast and Midwest and covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze
  • Canadian officials have expanded evacuation orders and asked other countries for help fighting more than 400 fires nationwide

NEW YORK: Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the US East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports, postponing Major League Baseball games and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks.
Canadian officials asked other countries for additional help fighting more than 400 blazes nationwide that already have displaced 20,000 people. Air with hazardous levels of pollution extended into the New York metropolitan area, central New York state and parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Massive tongues of unhealthy air extended as far as North Carolina and Indiana, affecting millions of people.
“I can taste the air,” Dr. Ken Strumpf said in a Facebook post from Syracuse, New York, which was enveloped in an amber pall. The smoke, he later said by phone, even made him a bit dizzy.
The air quality index, a US Environmental Protection Agency metric for air pollution, exceeded a staggering 400 at times in Syracuse, New York City and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. A level of 50 or under is considered good; anything over 300 is considered “hazardous,” when even healthy people are advised to curtail outdoor physical activity.
In Baltimore, Debbie Funk sported a blue surgical mask as she and husband, Jack Hughes, took their daily walk around Fort McHenry, a national monument overlooking the Patapsco River. The air hung thick over the water, obscuring the horizon.
“I walked outside this morning, and it was like a waft of smoke,” said Funk.
Canadian officials say this is shaping up to be the nation’s worst wildfire season ever. It started early on drier-than-usual ground and accelerated very quickly, exhausting firefighting resources across the country, fire and environmental officials said.
Smoke from the blazes in various parts of the country has been lapping into the US since last month but intensified with recent fires in Quebec, where about 100 were considered out of control Wednesday — which, unsettlingly, was national Clean Air Day in Canada.
The smoke was so thick in downtown Ottawa, Canada’s capital, that office towers just across the Ottawa River were barely visible. In Toronto, Yili Ma said her hiking plans were canceled and she was forgoing restaurant patios, a beloved Canadian summer tradition.
“I put my mask away for over a year, and now I’m putting on my mask since yesterday,” the 31-year-old lamented.
Quebec Premier François Legault said the province currently has the capacity to fight about 40 fires — and the usual reinforcements from other provinces have been strained by conflagrations in Nova Scotia and elsewhere.
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center spokesperson Jennifer Kamau said more than 950 firefighters and other personnel have arrived from the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and more are due soon.
In Washington, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has sent more than 600 firefighters and equipment to Canada. His administration has contacted some US governors and local officials about providing assistance, she said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he spoke by phone with Biden and “thanked him for all the help Americans are providing as we continue to fight these devastating wildfires.”
The largest town in Northern Quebec — Chibougamau, population about 7,500 — was evacuated Tuesday, and Legault said the roughly 4,000 residents of the northern Cree town of Mistissini would likely have to leave Wednesday. But later in the day, Mistissini Chief Michael Petawabano said his community remains safe and asked residents to wait for instructions from Cree officials.
Eastern Quebec got some rain Wednesday, but Montreal-based Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said no significant rain is expected for days in the remote areas of central Quebec where the wildfires are more intense.
US National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Taylor said the current weather pattern in the central and eastern US is essentially funneling in the smoke. Some rain should help clear the air somewhat in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this weekend or early next week, though more thorough relief will come from containing or extinguishing the fires, he said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said 1 million N95 masks would be available at state facilities. New York City closed beaches, and Mayor Eric Adams told residents to stay indoors as much as possible as smoke smudged out the skyline. Zoos in the Bronx and Central Park closed early and brought their animals inside.
The Federal Aviation Administration paused some flights bound for LaGuardia Airport and slowed planes to Newark Liberty and Philadelphia because the smoke was limiting visibility. It also contributed to delayed arrivals at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, where a heavy haze shrouded the Washington Monument and forced the cancelation of outdoor tours.
Major League Baseball put off games in New York and Philadelphia, and even an indoor WNBA game in Brooklyn was called off.
On Broadway, “Killing Eve” star Jodie Comer had difficulty breathing and left the matinee of “Prima Facie” after 10 minutes; the show restarted with an understudy, show publicists said. “Hamilton” and “Camelot” canceled Wednesday evening performances, with “Hamilton” publicists saying the the deteriorating air quality “made it impossible for a number of our artists to perform.” In Central Park, the popular outdoor Shakespeare in the Park performances were put off through Friday.
Schools in multiple states canceled sports and other outdoor activities, shifting recess inside. Live horse racing was canceled Wednesday and Thursday at Delaware Park in Wilmington. Organizers of Global Running Day, a virtual 5K, advised participants to adjust their plans according to air quality.
New Jersey closed state offices early, and some political demonstrations in spots from Manhattan to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were moved indoors or postponed. Striking Hollywood writers were pulled off picket lines in the New York metropolitan area.
The smoke exacerbated health problems for people such as Vicki Burnett, 67, who has asthma and has had serious bouts with bronchitis.
After taking her dogs out Wednesday morning in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Burnett said, “I came in and started coughing and hopped back into bed.”
Still, she stressed that she’s concerned for Canadians, not just herself.
“It’s unfortunate, and I’m having some problems for it, but there should be help for them,” she said.
Gillies reported from Toronto. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Randall Chase in Dover, Delaware; Michael Hill in Albany, New York; David Koenig in Dallas; Aamer Madhani in Washington; Brooke Schultz in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Lea Skene in Baltimore; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Ron Todt in Philadelphia; Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan; and Ron Blum, Mark Kennedy, Jake Offenhartz, Karen Matthews and Julie Walker in New York.


Australia plans to ban swastikas and other Nazi symbols in legislation coming next week

Australia plans to ban swastikas and other Nazi symbols in legislation coming next week
Updated 08 June 2023

Australia plans to ban swastikas and other Nazi symbols in legislation coming next week

Australia plans to ban swastikas and other Nazi symbols in legislation coming next week
  • Law would include a penalty for people displaying Nazi symbols of up to a year in prison
  • Displaying symbols for religious, educational or artistic purposes would be among a range of exclusions from the ban

CANBERRA: Australia’s government plans legislation to ban swastikas and other Nazi symbols nationwide due to an increase in far-right activity, attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Thursday.
While most Australian states already ban such Nazi symbols, the federal law would go further by also banning the trade in such material, Dreyfus said.
“There’s been a rise in this kind of violent far right activity. We think it’s time for there to be a federal law which I’ll be bringing to the Parliament next week,” Dreyfus told Nine Network television.
We’ve got responsibility for import and export. We want to see an end to trading in this kind of memorabilia or any items which bear those Nazi symbols,” Dreyfus said. “There’s no place in Australia for spreading of hatred and violence.”
The Labour Party government controls the House of Representatives but not the Senate, and it’s unclear when a ban might pass or take effect. The law would include a penalty for people displaying Nazi symbols of up to a year in prison.
Displaying symbols for religious, educational or artistic purposes would be among a range of exclusions from the ban. It will not affect the use of the swastika for people observing Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Dreyfus, who is Jewish, said the number of neo-Nazis was small, but the main domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, had raised concerns about their activity in the past three years.
“This is a very small number of people. I’m hoping it’s getting small and it will eventually disappear,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.