Displaced Afghan families gather to receive food distributed by an Islamabad-based Christian aid group on the outskirts of Chaman, a border town in Pakistan. AP
Displaced Afghan families gather to receive food distributed by an Islamabad-based Christian aid group on the outskirts of Chaman, a border town in Pakistan. AP
Displaced Afghan families gather to receive food distributed by an Islamabad-based Christian aid group on the outskirts of Chaman, a border town in Pakistan. AP
Afghans seeking safe refuge from Taliban rule poured in from all corners of the country to form jostling queues at the doorstep of neighbouring Pakistan, with which Afghanistan shares its longest border.
The vast frontier between the two countries known as the Durand Line stretches for 2,670 kilometres.
Afghan families sit outside their tents in an open area on the outskirts of Chaman, a border town in Pakistan. AP
Tajiks from hundreds of miles to the north of Pakistan, Hazaras from the country's central highlands and the more usual local Pashtun traders from nearby Kandahar and Spin Boldak gathered at border crossings clutching small bags of possessions.
Two weeks after the Taliban's stunning takeover of Afghanistan, and after the end of the international airlift from Kabul's beleaguered airport, the country's land borders offer the only exit.
The last US plane left Afghanistan on Monday and Taliban fighters entered Kabul's airport immediately after, firing tracer rounds into the night sky in celebration.
Traffic at the border crossing at Chaman in Pakistan has risen four-fold, officials told The National, with as many as 20,000 entering the country each day.
People arriving from Afghanistan gather at the Friendship Gate crossing point at the border town of Chaman, Pakistan. Reuters
Pakistan said it would not allow refugees across and those coming insisted they were travelling for weddings or on family business.
"I am coming from Bamyan province, I am going to my relatives in Quetta," said Jawad Hussain, declining to comment on the Taliban takeover or how they were treating people from his Hazara ethnic group.
Afghans crossing at Chaman arrived amid reports of reprisals against their compatriots who might have worked for the government or its foreign backers, as well as a looming economic and humanitarian crisis.
Muhammad Usman, a resident of the eastern city of Jalalabad, would only say there was “uncertainty” in Afghanistan and he had decided to leave.
Pakistan's politicians fear that the country will again experience a large influx of refugees, as it did in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Pakistan has been hosting about 3.5 million Afghan refugees for years and years now. At the height of the war in that country, we had 5 million refugees,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told reporters at the weekend.
“The conflict in Afghanistan actually scares us ... one major reason is that we don't want more people from Afghanistan here in Pakistan. Our economy is not that strong."
Hundreds of kilometres to the north-west of Chaman, the border at Torkham is closed.
The turbaned Taliban border guards exchange friendly chat with the Pakistani officials on the other side, but the wire gates between them remain firmly closed to Afghans who might flee. There are no crowds to be seen and the Taliban guards are keeping people well back from the frontier.
Qaiser Khan Afridi, spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, said about 550,000 Afghans had left their homes so far this year, but that internal displacement had not yet turned into a rush to cross into the country's neighbours.
“The Afghanistan crisis remains overwhelmingly within Afghanistan itself. We haven’t seen any large-scale movement of those Afghans wanting to seek asylum in Pakistan. We are closely observing the trends as the situation in Afghanistan remains fluid and uncertain.”
At Chaman, there is a two-way flow across the border. While more are leaving, there are still significant numbers returning to Afghanistan, officials said.
Abdul Salam, a 27-year-old religious student, for one, said he was returning to Afghanistan to live under the new Taliban government.
“The Islamic emirate is established, I am going back to my country. I am excited to see the return of Sharia law in my country,” he said.
Pakistan has been accused by the US of supporting the Afghan Taliban, as it was one of the few countries to recognise the Taliban government that was taken down by the western alliance war with Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.
Islamabad hasn't yet announced its position towards the change of the political balance in its troubled neighbour nor established any direct contacts with Taliban.
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
