Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of peace talks with the Afghan government in the Qatari capital Doha on September 12, 2020. AFP
Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of peace talks with the Afghan government in the Qatari capital Doha on September 12, 2020. AFP
Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of peace talks with the Afghan government in the Qatari capital Doha on September 12, 2020. AFP
Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of peace talks with the Afghan government in the Qatari capital Doha on September 12, 2020. AFP

Afghan Taliban step up attacks despite start of peace talks


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Afghanistan witnessed a significant increase in Taliban attacks since the first ever direct peace negotiations between the insurgents and the government began in Doha on Saturday, according to an Afghan security report.

The Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that the Taliban carried out attacks in 19 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces in the previous 24 hours. “There has been no reduction in violence by the Taliban,” it said. “Afghanistan's defence and security forces are defending their lives within the framework of active defence and responding to enemy attacks.”

"With the start of intra-Afghan talks we were expecting the Taliban to reduce the number of their attacks, but unfortunately their attacks are still going in high numbers," Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry, said.

The increase in violence was noted by the government negotiating team in Doha, with the head of  the delegation, Abdullah Abdullah, repeating his plea from the first day of the talks and calling on the Taliban to implement a ceasefire.

“There should be a significant reduction in violence before anything,” Dr Abdullah, the chairperson of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Sunday.

“We need to see a humanitarian ceasefire and then a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan. Victory through war is not possible, but with negotiation, both sides can be winners and there will be no loser.”

No meeting between the two has been reported by either side in Doha on Sunday, but Qatar's state news agency said teams led by Taliban's political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Dr Abdullah had met the Qatari emir.

An Afghan intelligence official attributed the increase in violence to the peace talks.

"The Taliban wants an upper hand in the negotiation table. They also want to put further pressure on the government," the official at Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security told The National.

“They also want to display their capacity [for attack] to the international community. They want to show that they control a large part of the county by attacking different parts because they have been claiming they hold 70 per cent of the country,” he said.

The talks are being held as part of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban that included the exchange of prisoners between the government and insurgents and a gradual withdrawal of US and other foreign troops assisting Afghan forces.

Despite agreeing to the peace talks, the Taliban stepped up their attacks after the deal was signed on February 29. Afghanistan's northern provinces, which were previously considered relatively safe, have seen a big increase in attacks.

"The violence from Taliban has been on a steady rise since they signed a deal with the US," Munir Farhad, spokesman for the governor of Balkh, told The National. The province has been seeing four attacks a day on average in recent months, compared with one a day previously, he said.

“Seven of the 14 districts of Balkh are under high alert. Every night there is one incident on Afghan forces by the Taliban.”

Mr Farhad said he suspected that many of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners released by the government had resumed fighting. “They haven’t kept their promise,” he said.

Semi-final fixtures

Portugal v Chile, 7pm, today

Germany v Mexico, 7pm, tomorrow

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How to turn your property into a holiday home
  1. Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
  2. Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
  3. Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
  4. Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
  5. Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
Results

Stage seven

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
 

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.

The biog

From: Upper Egypt

Age: 78

Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila

Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace

Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace

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Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

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Mobile phone packages comparison
What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Kamindu Mendis bio

Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis

Born: September 30, 1998

Age: 20 years and 26 days

Nationality: Sri Lankan

Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team

Batting style: Left-hander

Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.