AFP, Kabul
New Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada on Saturday called on the United States to end its “occupation” of Afghanistan in his first message since being appointed the militant group’s chief in May.
“Admit the realities instead of useless use of force and muscle… and put an end to the occupation,” Akhundzada said in a speech on the eve of Eidul Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
US traffic deaths jump 7.7 pc in 2015 to 35,200
Reuters, Washington
US traffic deaths rose 7.7 per cent in 2015 to 35,200 — the highest number of people killed on US roads since 2008, the government’s preliminary estimate reviewed by Reuters shows.
The report submitted to Congress and set to be made public today shows that percentage increase in traffic deaths in 2015 is the highest annual jump since 1966.
Ukraine will join EU within 10 years
AP, Berlin
Ukraine will join the EU within the next decade, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said Friday, adding that his country still believed strongly in the bloc despite Britain’s vote to leave. Groysman told Germany’s Funke media group that Ukraine saw its future in the West and hailed an association agreement with the EU as a “driving force” behind reforms in Kiev.
“I am convinced that Ukraine will be in the EU in 10 years,” he said.
