“Dear Mr President, the land of Farah has no more capacity to build cemeteries for our youth,” Afghan journalist Javid Noori, 27, wrote on his Facebook page in November, frustrated at the rising number of civilian casualties in his home province in western Afghanistan.
“We would thank you to provide us land for graveyards to bury 20 people at a time,” he wrote, along with updates on civilian casualties of Afghanistan's long-running insurgency by the Taliban.
A few weeks later, the radio show host became a victim himself.
Noori was travelling with relatives on Saturday when their vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint set up by Taliban insurgents in Nadarabad district. Upon being identified as a journalist, Noori was taken aside by the militants and executed, becoming the first Afghan media worker to be killed in 2019 after a particularly deadly year for the profession.
"The Taliban had a checkpoint on the main road and had stopped our cars. They took about 50 to 60 male passengers and took us far away from the main road. I was walking right behind Mr Noori and his relatives," a witness told The National.
“I noticed that they recognised Noori and his [relatives] and were asking them questions,” he said. The Taliban eventually let some of the passengers go, but took Noori and his family aside.
“Noori tried to join the group of passengers who were being released but he was captured again, and I did not see him after that.”
The witness suspects that Noori was perhaps set up to be killed. “We were all very scared and we thought we might get killed, but the Taliban only killed him. It seemed to us that they were expecting him,” he said.
At least 15 journalists were assassinated or killed in the line of duty during 2018, making Afghanistan the most dangerous country for journalists last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In April, a suicide bomber posing as a journalist detonated a bomb hidden in a camera among a crowd of news photographers and camera crew, killing nine. Journalists were targeted across the country in other attacks, especially during campaigning and voting for the parliamentary elections held in October.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Noori's "summary execution is the first death of a journalist in 2019 to be registered on RSF’s barometer”.
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“There is an urgent need to end such practices. We reiterate our appeal to the international community to condition the start of any talks with the Taliban on their giving an explicit undertaking to respect international humanitarian law’s basic treaties, starting with the Geneva Conventions,” Reza Moini, head of RSF's Afghanistan-Iran desk, said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Noori was an "extremely calm person and very passionate about his work", his supervisor at Radio Nishat, Hamidullah Hamidi, told The National.
"He joined the radio station two years ago and often worked without pay,” Hamidi said.
Noori often focused social issues in his shows and was outspoken critic of the insurgency as well as the government, he said. Many of his posts focused on the victims of terrorism, wanting to give a face and voice to the statistics. “He had also started to host a show on mental health, after he graduated in psychology from Kabul University.”
The Taliban admitted executing Noori, referring him as a “hireling officer” — a term used for government employees. Noori also worked in the Farah regional government's human resources department.
Hamidi said the government had been asked to investigate his killing "because we are not certain if the armed men who killed him were indeed Taliban or another insurgency or criminals”.
While the Taliban says it attacks only security forces and government targets, thousands of civilians are killed each year. The militants have continued their attacks while holding several rounds of peace talks with the US and regional players over the past few months.
On Thursday, the Taliban launched a series of attacks on security checkpoints in four Afghan provinces, killing 32 members of the security forces and pro-government militias, provincial officials said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants captured a large amount of weapons and ammunition during the attacks in the northern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan and Takhar, and in Badghis in the west.
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: India, chose to bat
India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)
Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
What is double taxation?
- Americans living abroad file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, which can cost hundreds of dollars to complete even though about 60 per cent do not owe taxes, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Those obligations apply to millions of Americans residing overseas – estimates range from 3.9 million to 5.5 million – including so-called "accidental Americans" who are unaware they hold dual citizenship
- The double taxation policy has been a contentious issue for decades, with many overseas Americans feeling that it punishes them for pursuing opportunities abroad
- Unlike most countries, the US follows a citizenship-based taxation system, meaning that Americans must file taxes annually, even if they do not earn any income in the US.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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