Afghanistan Financial News

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret US documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions. Two judges at the High Court in London will rule on whether the court is satisfied by US assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a US trial for spying. Assange's legal team say he could be on a plane across the Atlantic within 24 hours of the decision, could be released from jail, or his case could yet again be bogged down in months of legal battles.

Modi on Sunday said that a batch of 300 people has already received citizenship through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and that people of West Bengal will also receive citizenship in the coming days while attacking the Trinamool Congress for opposing the CAA. «CAA is for giving citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christians who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh,» Modi said. «People have lost faith in TMC...Trinamool has raised questions about the character of women in Sandeshkhali. Women will reply through votes and take every revenge against the torture through votes,» Modi said at public rallies in tribal dominated Purulia and Bishnupur today. «Trinamool came to power with the slogan 'Ma, Mati and Manush' (Mother, land and people) and today they are exploiting the Ma, Mati and Manush.»

heavy rains in Afghanistan have triggered flash floods, raising the death toll to 84 in the country’s north following weeks of devastating torrents that had already left hundreds dead and missing, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. The new round of heavy rains and floods hit four districts in Faryab province Saturday night, leaving 66 dead, five injured and eight missing. Another 18 people had died in floods on Friday, said Esmatullah Moradi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Faryab.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) issue at a BJP rally in North-East Delhi on Saturday when he said those demanding its removal had blocked roads and caused riots in the national capital. The INDIA bloc is backing these protesters even as those fulfilling the criteria are getting Indian citizenship, he asserted. Addressing his first rally of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the capital, Modi alleged that the INDI Alliance is playing appeasement politics and is steeped in corruption. “Congress is playing a dangerous game. Its manifesto says they want to give government tenders also on basis of religion. Even the selection of beneficiaries will be on religious lines. When the CAA came into force, the protesters kept Delhi under siege for months… First the roads were blocked and then riots were engineered (referring to the 2020 riots)… The refugees who had come to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are getting citizenship. They are Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis. Most of them are Dalits,” Modi said. He also named some women beneficiaries.

Mint on the impact of climate change in the Asia Pacific region. India accounts for most of the economic and human losses in South Asia region.

Karachi, by mentioning India's moon landing mission. The Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader said that while India is landing on the moon, Karachi is making news of children being killed by falling in open gutters.

Indian citizenship on Wednesday under the newly notified Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. While the first set of 14 people received it in the national capital, the rest were granted nationality digitally in other parts of the country. Some of the applications were cleared even before the notification of the rules in March this year, officials said. Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the certificates to the 14 people in the national capital after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said. Sources said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was intimated regarding the grant of citizenship certificates since the model code of conduct was in force.

Taliban in Kabul, the next UN meeting on Afghanistan, and ways to stop terrorism originating from the Af-Pak and Eurasia regions. Senior Russian diplomat and President's special envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov and JP Singh, JS (Pak-Afghan-Iran) MEA met here to discuss Afghanistan's current situation, Taliban engagement, Daesh/ISIS threats, and narcotics trafficking, according to people familiar with the issue. While Singh visited Kabul sometime ago, Kabulov was there in April to meet the entire Taliban leadership. Kabulov, a former envoy to Kabul, is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on Afghanistan. According to ET, the purpose of the meeting on Wednesday was to discuss the notes from these visits and come to a consensus regarding Afghanistan under Taliban.

health update on former US President Jimmy Carter has been shared by his grandson. While speaking at the Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum on Tuesday, Jason Carter stated that Jimmy Carter “is coming to an end”. According to him, the former president was doing well under the present circumstances but the end was visible.

US warned of a “potential risk of sanctions" following India's 10-year agreement to operate the Chabahar Port in Iran, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar highlighted that the project will “benefit the entire region".

sanctions" after India inked a 10-year agreement for running the Chabahar Port in Iran, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that the project will benefit the entire region and people should not take a «narrow view» of it. He also pointed out that the US itself had appreciated the larger relevance of Chabahar in the past. The EAM was speaking at an interaction after the launch of the Bangla edition of his book 'Why Bharat Matters' in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Mint takes a closer look at what it means for India. India and Iran signed a long-term contract for the development of Chabahar Port during shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s visit to Iran. Signed by Indian Ports Global Limited (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organisation of Iran, the agreement allows the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar Port to operate for 10 years.

will give a boost to regional connectivity and India's linkages with Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia," the Ministry of External Affairs said on May 13. According to Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the deal will give India 10-year access to use the port, located close to Iran's southeastern border with Pakistan.

With AAP pitting 'Kejriwal ki guarantee' against 'Modi ki guarantee', 'Congress ki guarantee' is caught between the two. Congress believes that the patent for coining pre-poll 'guarantees' rests with it as it first chanted the mantra during Karnataka elections and then in Telangana polls. Congress spokespersons maintain that BJP and PM aped the party's word play by coining 'Modi ki guarantee', but it finds itself in a piquant situation with 'Kejriwal ki guarantee' as AAP is a sensitive ally. It can't endorse it either as it risks eclipsing Congress' own 'guarantees'. While some Delhi Congress leaders are wondering how to streamline the alliance with AAP and the two, yet competing, guarantees, a little bird says at least two Congress LS candidates in Delhi are raring to chant 'Kejriwal ki guarantee'. Experiencing Choppy Ride

ANI reported. In response to a question over India’s deal with Iran on the strategic Chabahar port, Vedant Patel said that US sanctions on Iran remain in place and the US will continue to enforce them.

India signed an agreement to operate the Chabahar Port in Iran for 10 years, the United States has warned that «anyone» considering business deals with Tehran needs to be aware of the «potential risk of sanctions.» The US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel, however, also said that it will let the Indian government speak on its foreign policy goals. «We are aware of these reports that Iran and India have signed a deal concerning the Chabahar Port, I would let the government of India speak to its own foreign policy goals, vis-a-vis the Chabahar Port as well as its own bilateral relationship with Iran,» Vedant Patel said in the press briefing on Monday (local time).

India and Iran signed a 10-year contract on Monday for the management of Chabahar port, putting the seal on what’s envisaged as a gamechanger in regional connectivity, rivalling China’s Belt and Road Initiative and being an alternative to Gwadar port in Pakistan. Shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal travelled to Tehran for the signing of the new 10-year contract between India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) and Ports & Maritime Organisation of Iran (PMO). ET was the first to report on the new Chabahar contract in its May 13 edition. Under the contract, IPGL will equip and operate the port for the duration of the contract. At the end of the 10-year period, both sides will extend their cooperation in Chabahar. IPGL will invest about $120 million in equipping the port, officials said. India has also offered a rupee credit window equivalent to $250 million for mutually identified projects aimed at improving Chabahar-related infrastructure, they said.

seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left over 300 people dead and thousands of houses destroyed, most of them in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday, the United Nations food agency estimated. Among at least 240 people dead are 51 children, according to UNICEF, one of several global aid groups that are sending relief teams, medicines, blankets and other supplies. The World Health Organization said it delivered 7 tons of medicines and emergency kits.

authorities declaring a state of emergency. Described the devastating floods as a “major humanitarian emergency", aid agencies have warned of widening havoc, news agency Reuters reported. Afghan authorities have reported several people missing after heavy rains on Friday that sent roaring rivers of water and mud crashing through villages and across agricultural land in several provinces, causing damage to healthcare facilities and vital infrastructure besides thousands of homes and livestock wiped out.

ALSO READ: The Taliban warn journalists and experts against cooperating with Afghanistan International TV The World Food Agency said it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan over the last few weeks. In Baghlani Jadid alone, over 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed, and more than 100 people died, Mohammad Fahim Safie, the National Programme Officer leading IOM's emergency response, said, citing government figures.

Prince Harry for wounded military veterans. Prince Harry and Meghan attended the inauguration of a mental health initiative at a school in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Welcomed by a traditional Igbo drum and dance ensemble, the couple made their way to Lightway Academy, where they were enthusiastically greeted by the students.