As UK and US continue to face mounting criticism over their inability to predict the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan, UK foreign minister Dominic Raab on Wednesday clarified that they had credible intelligence reports indicating that the fall of Kabul government was unlikely this year. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s former interpreter has made a fervent appeal to the authorities to rescue him from Kabul after he failed to join the evacuation operations. The interpreter was working regularly for the US Army at the time, taking part in combat missions, In COVID-related news, Japan has decided to put on hold inoculation plans in Kanagawa Prefecture after a pharmacist saw black particles in one vial of the vaccine.

Click on headlines to read more

Intelligence said Kabul will not fall this year; UK’s Raab defends handling of Afghan evacuation

Raab said that Britain’s intelligence services had assessed that the Taliban would only consolidate their control of Afghanistan in months after western countries had evacuated their troops

‘Don’t forget me here’: Biden’s former interpreter left in Afghanistan

Mohammed (a name used by Wall Street Journal to protect his identity) had helped rescue Biden in a 2008 Afghan snowstorm. Back then, Biden was a senator who was stuck with two other lawmakers while visiting Afghanistan

Hate crimes in US spiked 6% in 2020, highest in 12 years: FBI report

Attacks against Asian Americans surged 70 per cent in 2020—a trend that has been linked to the rhetoric that blames Asian people for the spread of Covid-19

We want good relations with India and won’t interfere in Kashmir: Taliban’s Anas Haqqani

Anas Haqqani, the Taliban leader and scion of Afghanistan’s feared Haqqani Network, has called for an amicable relationship with India and pledged not to interfere in the Kashmir issue

Japan firm asks staff not to smoke cigarettes even if working from home

The company said it would not discipline its employees because the rules will be based on mutual trust

In call before his govt’s collapse, Ghani warned Biden of thousands of terrorists from Pakistan entering Afghanistan

Biden purportedly offered aid to Ghani on the condition that if he could publicly project that he had a plan to control the situation in Afghanistan

Al Qaeda ‘congratulates’ Taliban; mentions Kashmir, Palestine in letter

Al Qaeda congratulated the Taliban for defeating the Americans and asked it liberate Kashmir from the “clutches of the enemy”

Fact Check: Was Jallianwala Bagh memorial tampered with in restoration?

A point-by-point fact that seeks to dispel the notion that the restoration works tampered with Jallianwala Bagh memorial site

With guest, Ivory Coast TV channel’s presenter simulates rape, sparks outcry

A TV channel in Ivory Coast has earned ire of people after it tried to demonstrate a rape with the help of a male guest

WHO warns against a new Covid variant that may be resistant to vaccines

The WHO has warned that a new coronavirus varaint dubbed as Mu, which was found in Columbia in January, may evade the anti-bodies created by the vaccines