< Portal:Current events

Portal:Current events/2021 August 17

August 17, 2021 (2021-08-17) (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

  • War in Afghanistan
    • Taliban insurgency
      • 2021 Taliban offensive
        • Operation Allies Refuge
        • Taliban member of the cultural commission Enamullah Samangani announces an amnesty across Afghanistan and urges women to join their government in the first mention of women's rights by the group since seizing Kabul: while Samangani did not specify what he meant by "amnesty", he said that "the Islamic Emirate doesn't want women to be victims" and that "they should be in the government structure according to sharia law". (Kyodo News) (KSTP-TV)
        • The Taliban says that they will respect women's rights and security under the Islamic Emirate, having encouraged women to return to work and allowed girls to return to school. (Associated Press)
        • Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid says that the Taliban will hold their first news conference this afternoon in a media center in Kabul previously used by the former Afghan government. (Reuters)
        • U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says that the Taliban is prepared to provide safe passage to civilians who are attempting to leave Kabul. (CNBC)
        • U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) announces that the U.S. Senate Committee will hold hearings into the Biden administration's execution of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, as well as the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban. (Axios)
      • Panjshir conflict
        • Amrullah Saleh, who served as First Vice President under former president Ashraf Ghani, claims on Twitter that he is now caretaker president, and that he refuses to surrender to the Taliban. Saleh is recorded travelling to Panjshir Province with Ahmad Massoud, who has declared his opposition to the Taliban and also called for anti-Taliban militia to assemble in Panjshir. (Hindustan Times) (Yahoo! Finance)
        • Russian intelligence sources reported that Panjshir resistance forces loyal to Amrullah Saleh had managed to re-capture Charikar and the surrounding areas of Parwan Province from the Taliban. (RIA Novosti)

Disasters and accidents

  • The eight people who went missing after their helicopter crashed into Kurile Lake in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, six days ago, are all found dead. Eight more people were on board but survived. (Wral)
  • A boat capsizes off the coast of Mauritania with 47 people on board presumed dead. The Mauritanian Coast Guard rescues several people from the sea. The boat had departed from Western Sahara and was travelling to the Canary Islands, Spain. (Reuters)

Health and environment

Politics and elections

Science and technology

  • Researchers at the Graubuenden University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland announce that they have calculated pi to 62.8 trillion digits, a new world record. (The Guardian)
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