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Taliban fighters have allegedly killed the relative of a Deutsche Welle journalist in Afghanistan, the German state broadcaster said, as the Islamist militants intensified their hunt for reporters, dissidents and people associated with western forces or the former government.
Deutsche Welle said that the Taliban conducted a house-to-house search for the journalist, who was not identified and is based in Germany, according to the broadcaster. The Islamist insurgents shot dead one of his relatives and “seriously injured” another. The outlet added that the militants have raided the homes of at least three more of its journalists.
The allegations seriously undermined the Taliban’s claims that it would not retaliate against perceived dissidents and those who worked for US, Nato and Afghan armed forces and President Ashraf Ghani’s erstwhile government.
The militants’ efforts to present a more moderate image since they swept into power on Sunday have been contradicted by repeated reports of beatings and killings at the hands of victorious fighters.
More on Afghanistan:
Deaths reported as Taliban faces growing dissent in Afghan cities
Graveyard of empires: A history of failed foreign occupations of Afghanistan.
The Taliban now faces the challenge of paying government salaries and keeping the state running.
Washington’s decision to withdraw troops has exposed faultlines in the UK-US special relationship.
Is the 2015 refugee crisis that engulfed Europe and poisoned its politics for years about to repeat itself?
“I am inclined to believe that there is and was ‘no good time to withdraw’. The two decades of denial of fuelling corruption and the false allegiance it fostered did not help.” — Chris Sandford, FirstFT Europe/Africa reader
Thank you for your questions and comments on the Taliban’s rise to power. Follow the latest news on Afghanistan at FT.com.
Five more stories in the news
1. US renews ‘buy or bury’ charges against Facebook The Federal Trade Commission has refiled its antitrust complaint against Facebook, accusing the social media group of maintaining monopoly power and using a “buy or bury” strategy to neutralise competitors.
Going virtual: This week, Facebook launched Horizon Workrooms, its vision of virtual reality workspaces.
2. Brazil’s new environment minister faces huge Amazon challenge Activists hope the appointment of Joaquim Pereira Leite signals a change of direction for a government that has downplayed climate change and presided over a massive increase in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
3. Coinbase forges deal in effort to tap Japanese market The US cryptocurrency exchange has struck a deal with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, betting the Japanese bank will help it secure a foothold in a global centre for digital asset trading. But efforts to underline crypto trading’s security faltered hours later when Japanese exchange Liquid confirmed it had been hacked.
4. Gold miners lose their lustre as price of precious metal drops Big US-listed gold miners have shed one-fifth of their market value this year as a strengthening dollar and a rise in bond yields from 2020 lows dented the price of the precious metal.
5. European stocks slip on China growth fears European stocks were under further pressure in morning trade on Friday after a new tough data privacy law in China hit domestic tech stocks and investors fretted over the impact of coronavirus Delta variant on the global economy.
Coronavirus digest
US stock investors are coming around to the view that the Delta variant will damp the global economic recovery, threatening a record-breaking rally.
Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to reap electoral benefits from pandemic stimulus policies before the economic bill comes due.
Carmakers Toyota and Ford announced disruptions to their assembly lines from outbreaks in south-east Asia. Alphaville has more on the chip shortage that weeks ago seemed on the verge of easing.
Tim Harford asks: will all these Covid certificates join passports and income tax as emergency measures that lasted?
Follow our live blog for the latest coronavirus news and sign up for our Coronavirus Business Update newsletter.
The day ahead
Merkel-Putin meeting The German chancellor is set to meet Russia’s president in Moscow today. The leaders are expected to discuss the turmoil in Afghanistan and the situation in eastern Ukraine. They may also address US officials in Berlin who have been struck by “Havana syndrome” symptoms.
Join us today at 4pm BST on Twitter Spaces to delve deeper into the failings of Afghanistan’s banking system and its attempted transition into a digital payment-based economy.
What else we’re reading
Wall Street has reason to worry about homeworking Big US bankers like to play it cool in public. But executives have more reasons to worry than they let on: working at home with trillions of dollars of other people’s money is a risky experiment, writes Gary Silverman.
Investing in the menopause Growing awareness of women’s health issues could lead some companies to higher returns. The global femtech sector, specialising in products and services designed to meet women’s often-neglected healthcare needs, is expected to boom to $60bn by 2027 from $19bn in 2019.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s climate plan What does it feel like to live on the brink of a vast historical change? It feels like now. Humanity stands on the brink of disaster. But with creative thinking and collective will, we may still have time to avert catastrophe.
It’s down to us: Human actions are behind the vast majority of Europe’s blazes.
The rescue dogs teaching children to be kind A new “compassionate curriculum” from the Wild At Heart Foundation and Manolo Blahnik helps to understand emotions through the eyes of a dog. By teaching children how to interact with dogs, the hope is to inspire kindness, compassion and understanding.
How I topped Duolingo’s Danish charts A lockdown habit led Isabel Berwick to become ranked in the top 2 per cent of the language learning app’s 40m active global users. Here’s what she learned jumping into a language with which she has no family, work or romantic connection.
Travel
Five water adventures Jaguar spotting on the Peruvian Amazon, heli-skiing in Greenland, extreme fly fishing in Patagonia, or just chilling off Paxos: wherever you do it, do it from a boat.
Source: Economy - ft.com
