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Taliban Marks Two Years Since Return To Power In Afghanistan
The Afghan Taliban declared a public holiday to commemorate the second anniversary of their return to power and to honor their seizure of Kabul and the implementation of what they called an “Islamic system” of national security.
“On the second anniversary of the conquest of Kabul, we would like to congratulate the mujahid [holy warrior] nation of Afghanistan and ask them to thank Almighty Allah for this great victory,” the Taliban’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The country’s complete security is now guaranteed, a single authority governs its entire area, an Islamic system is in place, and everything is explained from the perspective of Sharia (Islamic law), according to Mujahid.
Soldiers increased checks, and security was tight on Tuesday in the capital, Kabul.
Their convoys gathered close to the demolished US embassy in Massoud Square. While songs played and boys sold the movement’s white flag bearing the Islamic confession of faith, some men brandished their weapons while others took photographs.
“Death to the Europeans, death to the Westerners, long live the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, death to the Americans,” screamed a gathering of Taliban supporters in the western city of Herat.
The Afghan Taliban declared a public holiday to commemorate the second anniversary of their return.
In Kandahar, the Taliban movement’s birthplace, where their reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada exercises absolute power, a military parade was canceled. According to provincial officials, Akhunzada canceled the procession to avoid upsetting the populace.
Still, no nation has formally acknowledged their rule. The international community still debates whether and how to interact with the Taliban leadership.
On August 15, 2021, when US-backed president Ashraf Ghani left and the Afghan security forces, established with years of Western support, crumbled, the Taliban captured the city following a quick onslaught as US-led foreign forces were departing after 20 years of fruitless war.
Although the United Nations reports scores of attacks on civilians, some of which the armed group ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for, Afghanistan is currently experiencing a state of peace not seen in decades.
The Taliban, which claims to uphold human rights by its interpretation of Islamic law, has also prohibited most Afghan women from working for humanitarian organizations, shut down beauty parlors, prohibited women from entering parks, and restricted their ability to travel when no male guardian is present.
The Afghan Taliban declared a public holiday to commemorate the second anniversary of their return.
Since the organization retook power, girls beyond 12 have been largely barred from attending classes. The ban is a significant barrier for many Western governments trying to formally recognize the Taliban authority.
Nevertheless, most Muslim-dominated nations and Islamic scholars reject the Taliban’s position on women’s rights. Some Taliban commanders support women’s education, with one senior leader asserting that Islam gives women the right to education and employment.
The organization expects progress to lead to international recognition, the easing of sanctions, and the return of almost $7 billion in central bank assets that were frozen at the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2021 when the Taliban took control and were later split in half and transferred to a Swiss trust.
The UN special representative claims that corruption has decreased after it exploded for years after the Taliban were overthrown in 2001 as Western funding flowed in.
The Afghan Taliban declared a public holiday to commemorate the second anniversary of their return.
Additionally, there are indications that their ban on drug cultivation has significantly decreased poppy production in what was once the world’s largest opium producer.
However, a group of UN experts criticized their promises of a milder rule than during its first term in power from 1996 to 2001 on Monday.
The experts said in a statement that “despite assurances from the Taliban de facto authorities that any restrictions, particularly in terms of access to education, would be temporary, the facts on the ground have demonstrated an accelerated, systematic, and all-encompassing system of segregation, marginalization, and persecution.”
The de facto Afghan government’s words and actions have been increasingly at odds, and the notion of a “reformed” Taliban has been disproved, they continued.
SOURCE – (AJ)
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Canadian Man Arrested for TikTok Video That Threatened Trudeau
A TikTok video that went live earlier this week has led to a Toronto man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Andrew Marshall, 61, is facing two counts of uttering threats.
On Friday afternoon, the Ontario Court of Justice granted him bail with a surety and restrictions after the RCMP charged him on Wednesday.
Following Monday’s upload to TikTok, CBC Toronto conducted its own independent investigation of the video. Marshall vehemently opposes what he perceives as restrictions on free expression in Canada in it.
“I get them taken down all the time— I make videos — or all my comments, that are just simple comments,” Marsh says in the TikTok. “It’s just getting ridiculous, Marshall said.”
According to the CBC more and more people are threatening politicians. The commissioner of the RCMP has hinted that further measures may be necessary to ensure their safety.
In the TikTok video, Marshall explains in great detail how he would brutally assassinate Trudeau and Freeland “if it was up to him.”
Marshall attacks multiple groups throughout the roughly 11-minute TikTok video, including the media, Muslims, migrants, and the police who defend the government.
Among Marshall’s bail terms are the following: he must not communicate with Trudeau or Freeland; he must not use the internet to make social media posts or comments; he must not own any weapons; and he must not apply for a firearms permit.
During the bail hearing, the prosecution provided all of the evidence that is often not published.
Nate Jackson, Marshall’s attorney, stressed his client’s liberties and privileges as a Canadian in an email message.
“He has the right to freedom of speech, the right to reasonable bail and the right to a fair trial,” he said. “Having secured his release from custody, we will continue to defend Mr. Marshall’s Charter rights as his case proceeds.”
Neither Freeland’s nor the prime minister’s office would comment on the allegations, according to the CBC.
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Canada’s Unemployment Rate Hits its Highest Point Since 2017
As the job market remains dismal, the national unemployment rate in Canada has risen to its highest point since 2017. This has led some analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada should be reducing interest rates more quickly.
In spite of a net gain of 22,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% the previous month. The rise was due to an uptick in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment.
Outside of the pandemic years, the national unemployment rate has reached its highest position since May 2017, according to StatCan.
Rapid population expansion in Canada has increased the overall labour pool, but the country’s unemployment rate has persisted in rising.
The summer job market was especially tough for students, according to StatCan. Not including the pandemic, the unemployment rate among students going back to school in the autumn was 16.7 percent, which is the highest level since 2012.
Two days after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates for the third time in a row, reducing borrowing costs to alleviate economic pressure, the most recent reading of the Canadian job market follows suit.
According to TD Bank economist Leslie Preston, who wrote a note on Friday, the central bank is “giving the OK” to keep dropping rates due to the bad August jobs report. Preston predicts two more quarter-point decreases at the remaining decisions this year.
According to CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham, there are indications that the labour market is quickly contracting more than initially thought, since the unemployment rate is nearly two percentage points greater than the record low of 4.9% in June 2022.
“Due to this, we believe the Bank should be contemplating a quicker rate of reductions in order to bring interest rates to less restrictive levels,” he informed clients in a letter on Friday morning.
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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates
Last month, job growth in the United States was weaker than predicted, prompting concerns that the world’s largest economy is beginning to struggle under the weight of increased interest rates.
The Labour Department said that employers added 142,000 jobs in August, which was less than the nearly 160,000 economists predicted. It also stated that job gains over the preceding two months were weaker than expected.
However, the jobless rate went down to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July.
The report is one of the most important indicators of the US economy and arrives at a vital time, as voters consider presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank contemplates its first interest rate decrease in four years.
Analysts said the latest statistics kept the Federal Reserve on pace for a rate drop at its meeting this month, but did little to answer worries about the trajectory of the US economy or how much of a cut it should make.
“There has rarely been such a make-or-break number; unfortunately, today’s jobs report does not completely resolve the recession debate,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Soaring prices in 2022 caused the Federal Reserve to hike its key lending rate to 5.3%, a nearly 20-year high.
Faced with increased borrowing costs for homes, vehicles, and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to alleviate pressures that were boosting inflation but exacerbating market concerns.
As inflation has fallen to 2.9% in July, the Fed is under pressure to decrease interest rates to prevent additional economic deceleration.
Although job increases in August fell short of expectations, they were greater than in July, when a slowdown aroused anxieties and triggered several days of stock market volatility.
Last month, construction and health-care firms hired the most, while manufacturing and retailers laid off employees.
Ms Shah stated that the data in Friday’s report was mixed, but provided enough concerning indicators that the Fed should make a larger cut.
“On balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,” she told reporters.
Others, however, felt the advances were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point decrease, as markets had long projected – though this could signal more cuts than expected in the coming months.
Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics’ senior North America economist, predicted that the Fed’s decision will be “close run.”
“The labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,” he said, adding that the new statistics were “overall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession”.
Concerns about the economy are a major issue in the US election.
According to polls, a majority of Americans feel the US is in a recession, despite healthy 2.5% growth last year.
Donald Trump has declared that the economy is headed for a “crash,” and his team instantly latched on the latest data to criticise Vice President Kamala Harris, publishing a press release titled “warning lights flash as Kamala’s economy continues to weaken.”
Democrats have defended their performance, claiming that the United States survived the pandemic and inflation better than many other countries.
They believe the slowdown is a sign that the economy is returning to a more sustainable rate of growth following the post-pandemic boom.
“Although hiring has slowed, the US job market continues to generate solid job gains and wage growth that is consistently beating inflation,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in a blog.
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