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Taliban advance
Taliban militants say they have captured Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. A security source has confirmed the news, saying military and government officials had evacuated Lashkar Gah after striking a deal with the Taliban. The militants have seized over a dozen provincial capitals since last Friday, as they press ahead with their offensive across Afghanistan. The group is estimated to be in control of nearly two-thirds of the country. The capital Kabul remains in the hands of the government. Thousands of civilians have already fled there, as the Taliban have taken key cities one by one. Meanwhile, the US and UK say they are deploying thousands of troops to help evacuate their nationals and diplomats leaving Afghanistan.
Coronavirus probe
China has rejected the World Health Organization's calls for a renewed probe into the origins of Covid-19. Beijing says the calls are politically-motivated. On Thursday, the WHO urged China to share raw data from the earliest Covid cases to revive its probe into the origins of the disease. The organization carried out a first investigation in January when its team visited the Chinese city of Wuhan. That’s where the first global infections emerged. In its report, the WHO said it was “extremely unlikely” that a lab leak caused the pandemic. But, it failed to conclude how the virus began. Now, China says, that same report should be the basis of a future global traceability work.
Japan on alert
Japan has issued the highest risk alerts in the western prefecture of Hiroshima due to torrential rains. The country’s meteorological agency has cited unprecedented rains as well as imminent risk of floods and other disasters. Non-compulsory evacuation orders have been issued to nearly 70,000 people in Hiroshima prefecture. Hundreds of thousands have also been urged to evacuate in another western prefecture, Nagasaki, as well as parts of Kyushu Island. Local officials say at least one person has died in Unzen city in Nagasaki, after a landslide hit two houses there. Heavy downpours are forecast to continue for several days.
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