International News
Afghanistan Earthquake: Death Toll Rises To More Than 800 — Taliban Authorities
A massive rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan on Monday, after a strong earthquake collapsed homes onto sleeping families in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people with the toll expected to rise, Taliban authorities said.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck just before midnight, rattling buildings from Kabul to neighbouring Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
Casualties and destruction swept across at least five provinces and rescuers were still pulling people from destroyed homes and evacuating the injured by helicopter as evening approached.
“The search operation is still going on. Many people are stuck under the rubble of their roofs,” the disaster management head in eastern Kunar province, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP, warning the death toll could rise.
Around 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar alone, near the epicentre, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Another 12 people were killed and 255 injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province, while 58 people were injured in Laghman province.
In Wadir village in Kunar’s Nurgal district, dozens of residents of the surrounding area helped rescuers to pull people from the rubble of flattened homes, sometimes with their bare hands, AFP journalists saw.
Many injured were transported to hospitals in Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province, such as 22-year-old Zafar Khan Gojar, who was evacuated from Nurgal along with his brother whose leg was broken.
“The rooms and walls collapsed… killing some children and injuring others,” he told AFP.
The earthquake epicentre was about 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Jalalabad, according to the USGS, which said it struck about eight kilometres below the Earth’s surface.
‘Fear and tension’
Relatively shallow quakes can cause more damage, especially since the majority of Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick homes vulnerable to collapse.
Some of the most severely impacted villages in Kunar “remain inaccessible due to road blockages”, the UN migration agency warned in a statement to AFP.
Roads remained blocked nearly 20 hours after the earthquake, despite resident efforts to clear the way.
“There is a lot of fear and tension… Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives,” a member of the agricultural department in Nurgal Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad told AFP.
He said that many living in quake-hit villages were among the more than four million Afghans who have returned to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years.
“They wanted to build their homes here.”
Nangarhar and Kunar provinces border Pakistan, with the Torkham crossing the site of many waves of Afghan returnees deported or forced to leave, often with no work and nowhere to go.
UN chief Antonio Guterres added his condolences to those shared by the Taliban government and several nations.
“I stand in full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier today,” he said.
In a post shared by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened by the significant loss of life caused by the earthquake in the area of eastern Afghanistan”.
Frequent quakes
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasia and India tectonic plates.
Since 1900, there have been 12 earthquakes with magnitudes greater than seven in northeast Afghanistan, according to Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey.
“This scale of the seismic activity, the potential for multi-hazard events and the construction of structures in the region can combine to create significant loss of life in such events,” he said.
In October 2023, western Herat province was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes.
A 5.9-magnitude quake struck the eastern province of Paktika in June 2022, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Ravaged by four decades of war, Afghanistan is already contending with a series of humanitarian crises.
Since the return of the Taliban in 2021, foreign aid to Afghanistan has been slashed, undermining the impoverished nation’s already hamstrung ability to respond to disasters.
Around 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar a day, according to the UN Development Programme.
AFP
June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.
Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million
Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million
Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million
Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million
Kounde decreased by 5 million to 60 million
Balde decreased by 5 million to 50 million
De Jong decreased by 10 million to 35 million
Casado decreased by 2 million to 18 million
Christensen decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Cancelo decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Lewandowski decreased by 1 million to 7 million
Szczesny decreased by 100,000 to 800,000
Unchanged (Euros)
Yamal 200 million
Pedri 150 million
Fermin 100 million
Cubarsi 80 million
Olmo 60 million
Ferran Torres 50 million
Rashford 40 million
Gavi 30 million
Bernal 30 million
Araujo 20 million
Bardghji 15 million
Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.
The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.
The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.
AFP
Man City are considering taking legal action after a Real Madrid presedential candidate said he would sign Erling Haaland, if elected.
What actually happened?
Real presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme, who faces current president Florentino Perez in Sunday’s vote, claimed on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero on Wednesday night that Haaland had a release clause and wants to move to the Bernabeu. He also held up a Real shirt with ‘Haaland 9’ on the back.
Riquelme, who also promised to sign Haaland’s City team-mate Rodri, said: “If I break my promises regarding either of these players, I’ve signed a guarantee where I’d pay 100 per cent of membership costs for next season.
“Haaland has a release clause, and he wants to come to Madrid.”
What was City’s response?
However, Manchester City have moved quickly to refute those claims, saying in a statement that there is “no chance” Haaland will be leaving the Etihad Stadium any time soon. The Premier League club also said they are considering legal action over the shirt stunt.
A City spokesperson said in a statement: “The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue.
“There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it.
“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”
Haaland is under contract at the Etihad until the summer of 2034 and Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta and his father Alfie Haaland laughed off suggestions the 25-year-old could soon be heading to the Spanish capital.
A joint-statement released in the early hours of Thursday morning said: “All very entertaining but not true. We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
What was Perez’s response?
Meanwhile, current Real president Florentino Perez made his own election pledge on Wednesday night, seemingly confirming Jose Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid as manager, if he wins next Sunday’s presidential election.
Perez posted a video on X in which Mourinho features in a Real shirt saying: “Yes”, while the only other words to accompany it say: “Meanwhile, on TV, they just keep talking and talking and talking. So much history to be made.”
The video was posted in response to Riquelme’s TV apperaance promoting his rival bid.
Perez has made no secret of his intention to name Mourinho as head coach should he win the vote and remain for an eighth term in the role, but his social media post appears to have made it official.
Mourinho is widely expected to agree a three-year-deal to return to the Bernabeu Stadium and replace Alvaro Arbeloa, who was appointed in January after Xabi Alonso’s departure.
Benfica have yet to confirm Mourinho’s departure, while speculation has been mounting that Marco Silva is being lined up as his successor after the Portuguese announced he will leave Fulham when his contract expires in June.
Real Madrid’s presidential election on Sunday will be decided by the club’s members. It is the first contested election since 2006 as club members will choose between incumbent Perez, 79, and businessman Riquelme, 37.
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