ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Air Defences Installed At Kabul Airport As Taliban Gain Ground

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Air Defences Installed At Kabul Airport As Taliban Gain Ground" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/taliban-generic-650_625x300_1530457303276.jpg" title="Air Defences Installed At Kabul Airport As Taliban Gain Ground" /></div>
The insurgents have routed much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks. (File)
</div>
Kabul:
Afghanistan's Kabul airport has been fitted with an air defence system to counter incoming rockets, officials said Sunday, as the Taliban pressed on with a blistering offensive across the country.
Washington and its allies are due to end their military mission in Afghanistan at the end of next month, even as the insurgents say they now control 85 percent of the country -- a claim impossible to independently verify and disputed by the government.
The Islamic fundamentalist group's rapid gains in recent weeks have raised fears about the security of the capital and its airport, with NATO keen to secure a vital exit route to the outside world for foreign diplomats and aid workers.
"The newly installed air defence system has been operational in Kabul since 2:00 am Sunday," the interior ministry said in a statement. "The system has proven useful in the world in repelling rocket and missile attacks."
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told AFP it had been installed at the airport, though officials did not offer details about the type of system or who had installed it.
The Taliban have regularly launched rockets and mortars at government forces across the countryside, with the jihadist Islamic State group (IS) carrying out similar strikes on the capital in 2020.
IS also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack this year at Bagram Air base, the biggest US military facility in the country, which was recently handed over to Afghan forces.
Over the years the US military installed several C-RAMs (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar Systems) across its bases, including at Bagram, to destroy incoming rockets targeting the facilities, a foreign security official and media reports said.
The C-RAMS includes cameras to detect incoming rockets and alert local forces.
- From bad to worse -
Turkey has promised to provide security for Kabul airport once US and NATO troops leave next month.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey and the United States had agreed on the "scope" of how the airport would be managed under the control of Turkish forces.
Taliban militants have waged a rapid offensive across the country, but mostly in the northern and western provinces, since early May, when the final US troops began leaving Afghanistan.
India on Sunday became the latest country to evacuate diplomats as the security situation deteriorates, with its foreign ministry saying it was pulling staff from its consulate in southern Kandahar, where the Taliban are fighting with Afghan forces on the edge of the city.
A security source added that around 50 Indian personnel, including around six diplomats, were brought home.
Last week Russia announced it had closed its consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, while China also evacuated 210 nationals from the country.
The fighting has led some veteran warlords to deploy militiamen to counter any attacks.
In the western province of Herat, where the Taliban this week captured a key border crossing with Iran, veteran warlord Ismail Khan mobilized his fighters in the provincial capital.
Pakistan's envoy to Kabul called on the international community to help strengthen Afghanistan's security forces, warning that deploying militia to fight the Taliban could worsen the situation in the violence-wracked country.
"If things translate into some kind of warfare between militias and Taliban, it will be dangerous," Mansoor Ahmad Khan said in an interview with AFP on Saturday.
"Therefore, it is important that Afghan government's capacity to defend these attacks and these security challenges is strengthened."
The Afghan government has repeatedly dismissed the Taliban's gains as having little strategic value, but the seizure of multiple border crossings and the taxes they generate will likely fill the group's coffers with new revenue.
The insurgents have routed much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, and the government holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be reinforced and resupplied by air.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-air-defences-installed-at-kabul-airport-as-taliban-gain-ground-2484103">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-air-defences-installed-at-kabul-airport-as-taliban-gain-ground-2484103</a>

news world Air Defences Installed At Kabul Airport As Taliban Gain Ground

The insurgents have routed much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks. (File) Kabul: Afghanistan's Kabul airport has been fitted ...

Israel Offers Pfizer Vaccine Booster Shots To Adults At Risk Of Covid

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Israel Offers Pfizer Vaccine Booster Shots To Adults At Risk Of Covid" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/d0u4a3ek_israel-covid-vaccine_625x300_11_July_21.jpg" title="Israel Offers Pfizer Vaccine Booster Shots To Adults At Risk Of Covid" /></div>
Israel has almost exclusively administered Pfizer shots to around 60% of its 9.3 million population.
</div>
Jerusalem:
Israel said on Sunday it will begin offering a booster shot of Pfizer Inc's vaccine to adults with weak immune systems but it was still weighing whether a third round of shots should be given to the general public.
The rapid spread of the Delta variant has sent vaccination rates in Israel back up as new infections have risen over the past month from single digits to around 450 a day.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said that effective immediately, adults with impaired immune systems who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine could get a booster shot, with a decision pending on wider distribution.
Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE, the main suppliers in a swift Israeli vaccination rollout that began in December, said on Thursday they will ask US and European regulators within weeks to authorize booster shots.
The two companies cited an increased risk of infection after six months in seeking permission for a third shot.
Drawing criticism from some scientists and officials, the companies did not share the data showing that risk, but said it would soon be made public.
"We are examining this issue and we still do not have a final answer," Horowitz, speaking on Kan public radio, said about a booster for the general population in Israel.
"In any case we are administering as of now a third shot to people suffering from immunodeficiency. These are for instance people who have undergone organ transplants or suffer from a medical condition which causes a drop in immunity."
About half of the 46 patients presently hospitalised in Israel in severe condition are vaccinated, according to health ministry data. Israel's coronavirus pandemic response coordinator, Nachman Ash, said on Wednesday the overwhelming majority of them are from risk groups, over the age of 60 and have prior health problems.
Horowitz said that separately, the health ministry would plug a Pfizer supply gap for ongoing two-dose inoculations of the general adult population by using Moderna Inc vaccines already in stock.
Israel has almost exclusively administered Pfizer shots to around 60% of its 9.3 million population. But a batch of 700,000 doses due to expire at the end of July was sent to South Korea, as a recent slowdown in the pace of vaccinations would likely have seen the doses go to waste.
Under the swap deal, Seoul will return the same number of shots, already on order from Pfizer, in September and October.
"We have Moderna vaccines and adults who want to vaccinate can do so from this morning, or maybe tomorrow, with the Moderna vaccines," Horowitz said.
"As for youths, we are vaccinating them with Pfizer and we are making efforts to bring forward Pfizer deliveries," he said.
Israel hopes earlier deliveries will enable more youngsters to be vaccinated before the start of the school year in September.
Under health ministry regulations, Israeli youths can receive Pfizer shots but not yet those produced by Moderna.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-offers-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shots-to-adults-at-risk-2484072">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-offers-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shots-to-adults-at-risk-2484072</a>

news world Israel Offers Pfizer Vaccine Booster Shots To Adults At Risk Of Covid

Israel has almost exclusively administered Pfizer shots to around 60% of its 9.3 million population. Jerusalem: Israel said on Sunday i...

Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson Ready For Space Launch Aboard Rocket Plane

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson Ready For Space Launch Aboard Rocket Plane" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/f1ckmjn8_richard-branson_625x300_11_July_21.jpg" title="Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson Ready For Space Launch Aboard Rocket Plane" /></div>
Richard Branson's official role is to "evaluate the private astronaut experience."
</div>
Las Cruces:
British billionaire Richard Branson was due on Sunday to climb into his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane and soar more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert in the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space.
Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc employees strapping in for the ride, has touted the flight as a precursor to a new era of space tourism, with the company he founded poised to begin commercial operations next year.
A discount travel service it is not. But demand is apparently strong, with several hundred wealthy would-be citizen astronauts already having booked reservations, priced at around $250,000 per ticket.
The Swiss-based investment bank UBS has estimated the potential value of the space tourism market reaching $3 billion annually by 2030.
Proving rocket travel safe for the general public is key, given the inherent dangers of spaceflight.
An earlier prototype of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane crashed during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert in 2014, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another.
Branson's participation in Sunday's flight, announced just over a week ago, is in keeping with his persona as the daredevil executive whose Virgin brands - from airlines to music companies - have long been associated with ocean-crossing exploits in sailboats and hot-air balloons.
His ride-along also upstages rival astro-tourism venture Blue Origin and its founder, Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos, in what has been popularized as the "billionaire space race." Bezos has been planning to fly aboard his own suborbital rocketship, the New Shepard, later this month.
Branson, a week away from his 71st birthday, has insisted he and Bezos are friendly rivals and not engaged in a personal contest to beat one another into space.
A third player, fellow billionaire proprietor Elon Musk's SpaceX, plans to send its first all-civilian crew (without Musk) into orbit in September, after having already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
The launch of Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity rocket plane on Sunday will mark the company's 22nd test flight of its SpaceShipTwo system, and its fourth crewed mission beyond Earth's atmosphere. But it will be the first to carry a full compliment of space travelers - two pilots and four "mission specialists," Branson among them.
Weather permitting, the gleaming white spaceplane will take off at around 0900 ET (1300 GMT) on Sunday attached to the underside of the twin-fuselage carrier jet VMS Eve - named for Branson's mother - from Spaceport America near the aptly named New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences. Virgin Galactic occupies a large section of that facility, about 75 miles (120 km) north of Las Cruces.
Separating from the carrier jet at an altitude of 50,000 feet, Unity's pilots will ignite its rocket engine to send the spaceplane streaking in a near-vertical climb to the blackness of space some 55 miles high, where the crew will experience about 4 minutes of microgravity.
The vehicle's engine will then be shut down, and the craft will be shifted into re-entry mode and make a gliding descent to a runway at the spaceport. The entire flight, from takeoff to landing, should take about 90 minutes.
Branson's official role is to "evaluate the private astronaut experience," and his observations will be used to "enhance the journey for all future astronaut customers," according to Virgin's press materials.
The spaceplane's two pilots, Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, will control the ignition and shutoff of the ship's rocket engine, and activate the vehicle's "feathered" tail maneuver for re-entry.
The three other mission specialists are Beth Moses, the company's chief astronaut instructor; Virgin Galactic's lead operations engineer Colin Bennett; and Sirisha Bandla, a research operations and government affairs vice president.
Assuming the mission goes well, Virgin has plans for two further test flights of the spaceplane before beginning commercial service in 2022.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/virgin-galactic-richard-branson-ready-for-space-launch-aboard-rocket-plane-2484046">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/virgin-galactic-richard-branson-ready-for-space-launch-aboard-rocket-plane-2484046</a>

news world Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson Ready For Space Launch Aboard Rocket Plane

Richard Branson's official role is to "evaluate the private astronaut experience." Las Cruces: British billionaire Richar...

US "Very Concerned" Covid Variants Could Risk Recovery: Top Official

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US 'Very Concerned' Covid Variants Could Risk Recovery: Top Official" src="https://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2016-08/janet-yellen_650x400_81472226683.jpg" title="US 'Very Concerned' Covid Variants Could Risk Recovery: Top Official" /></div>
What happens in any part of the world affects all other countries, Janet Yellen said. (File)
</div>
Venice:
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday she was "very concerned" about the risk that new variants of coronavirus could pose to the global economic recovery from the pandemic.
"We are very concerned about the Delta variant and other variants that could emerge and threaten recovery," she told reporters following a G20 meeting in Venice, Italy.
"We are a connected global economy, what happens in any part of the world affects all other countries."
In their final statement issued late Saturday, G20 finance ministers warned that the spread of new variants was a "downside risk" to the economic recovery, while also warning of the dangers of differing paces of vaccination campaigns.
"We recognise the importance of working together to speed the process of vaccination and have the goal of wanting to vaccinate 70 percent of the world's population next year," Yellen said.
She said "a lot has been done" to finance the purchase of vaccines by developing countries, but said the world needed to "do something more and to be more effective" with respect to responding to outbreaks around the world, such as sending therapeutics and protective equipment.
The G20 on Friday heard from a specially commissioned panel of experts who warned the world must invest much more -- at least $75 billion over the next five years -- to prepare for and try to avert the next pandemic.
"While we're focused on the medium- and long-term... we certainly realise we also need to do more in the near term," Yellen said.
The World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Health Organization "have formed a taskforce to work on this and we've asked that we have regular monthly reports on how that work is going and that we address this issue more fully in October" at the G20 ministers' next meeting.
"But certainly variants represent a threat to the entire globe," Yellen said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-very-concerned-covid-variants-could-risk-recovery-us-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-2484030">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-very-concerned-covid-variants-could-risk-recovery-us-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-2484030</a>

news world US "Very Concerned" Covid Variants Could Risk Recovery: Top Official

What happens in any part of the world affects all other countries, Janet Yellen said. (File) Venice: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen...

This Is What Jeff Bezos Had To Say To Richard Branson Ahead Of Today's Space Flight

<div class="ins_instory_dv">
<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="This Is What Jeff Bezos Had To Say To Richard Branson Ahead Of Today's Space Flight" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-07/uoneoaro_virgin-galactic-space-crew-instagram_625x300_03_July_21.jpg" title="This Is What Jeff Bezos Had To Say To Richard Branson Ahead Of Today's Space Flight" /></div>
Richard Branson's trip comes just nine days before Jeff Bezos' own flight to space with his brother.
</div>
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wished billionaire Richard Branson a "successful and safe flight" ahead of his journey to space scheduled to take place today. Mr Branson's trip comes just nine days before Mr Bezos' own flight to space with his brother.
Mr Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, will fly to space aboard the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane. The spaceship will fly to an altitude of 55 miles (approximately 88.51 kms), after which the pilots will cut the engines, allowing it to drift for 5 minutes. In those few minutes, the crew members will feel weightless. Through the windows of the spaceship, the passengers can see the Earth's curvature.
In an Instagram post, Mr Bezos wished Mr Branson and "the whole team a successful and safe flight".
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRKHsLENB-n/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"></blockquote>
The <a href="https://www.virgingalactic.com/">Virgin Galactic</a> website also features a timer set to mark the "launch of a new space age". It quotes Mr Branson as saying, "We are at the vanguard of a new industry determined to pioneer twenty-first century spacecraft, which will open space to everybody — and change the world for good."
About the experience, the website states that the "spaceship and mothership" will "climb together to just below 50,000 feet" following which the pilot will release the spaceship from the mothership. "The spaceship's rocket ignites, sending the craft up to space a little over Mach 3. The colours outside the window change from blue to indigo to midnight black as you reach space and the rocket motor switches off," adds the description on the website.
Then through the spaceship's 17 windows the passengers can "see home (Earth) for the first time". Inside the cabin, 16 cameras will record "every moment of the experience in HD".
On today's space flight, Mr Branson will be accompanied by Dave Mackay, chief pilot, Michael Masucci, pilot, Sirisha Bandla, vice-president of government affairs and research operations, Colin Bennett, lead operations engineer, and Beth Moses, chief astronaut instructor.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
2 days until <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Unity22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Unity22</a>! Watch the launch live this Sunday at 6am PT | 9am ET | 2pm BST with <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenAtHome</a><a href="https://twitter.com/thegreatkhalid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thegreatkhalid</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Cmdr_Hadfield</a><a href="https://twitter.com/kelliegerardi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KellieGerardi</a><a href="https://twitter.com/virgingalactic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@virgingalactic</a><a href="https://t.co/tpjIqeVE0L">pic.twitter.com/tpjIqeVE0L</a>
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) <a href="https://twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1413683716027686918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2021</a></blockquote>
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, too, wished Mr Branson ahead of the trip, and said, "Will see you there", implying that he could be present at the launch.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
Will see you there to wish you the best
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1413736778658459649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2021</a></blockquote>
Last month, in an Instagram post, Mr Bezos shared a clip, telling his followers why he decided to fly to space. "Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend." He also posted the hashtag 'GradatimFerociter' — the motto of Blue Origin, which means “step by step, ferociously”.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CP0MSOqnYEo/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"></blockquote>
Mr Branson had founded Virgin Galactic in 2004. Previously, he had crossed the Pacific in a hot-air balloon. The 70-year-old had also kitesurfed across the English Channel.
On the other hand, Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. His New Shepard will launch on July 20. It is estimated to reach Karman line — the recognised boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space — at 100-km mean sea level. Following that, it will descend back to Earth within 10 minutes.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/this-is-what-jeff-bezos-had-to-say-to-richard-branson-before-today-s-space-flight-2483951">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/this-is-what-jeff-bezos-had-to-say-to-richard-branson-before-today-s-space-flight-2483951</a>

news world This Is What Jeff Bezos Had To Say To Richard Branson Ahead Of Today's Space Flight

Richard Branson's trip comes just nine days before Jeff Bezos' own flight to space with his brother. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos w...

Emergency Saturday Broadcast! Biden Contact Tracers Planning Forceful Entry Into American Homes Under “Strike Force” Plan

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2021/07/ajshow24981248712858.jpg" /></div>
On this packed Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by America First firebrand Nick Fuentes, columnist Michael Malice, Gab founder Andrew Torba, and others to discuss America’s descent into cultural and political hell as Joe Biden slams the gas on the medical tyranny with door-to-door vaccine “strike force” groups.
The Big Tech purge is here! Follow <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/the-big-tech-crackdown-is-accelerating-follow-infowars-on-these-growing-alternative-platforms/">Infowars and Alex Jones on other growing platforms</a> now to stay informed as the information blackout accelerates.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/emergency-saturday-broadcast-biden-contact-tracers-planning-forceful-entry-into-american-homes-under-strike-force-plan">https://www.infowars.com/posts/emergency-saturday-broadcast-biden-contact-tracers-planning-forceful-entry-into-american-homes-under-strike-force-plan</a>

news Emergency Saturday Broadcast! Biden Contact Tracers Planning Forceful Entry Into American Homes Under “Strike Force” Plan

On this packed Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by America First firebrand Nick Fuentes, columnist Michael Malice, Gab founder A...