KABUL — One of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,800, authorities said on Monday, as helicopters ferried the wounded to hospital after they were plucked from the rubble of homes being combed for survivors.

The disaster is set to further stretch the resources of the war-torn nation’s Taliban administration, already grappling with humanitarian crises, from a sharp drop in aid to the pushback of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighboring countries.

Sharafat Zaman, the spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, called for international aid to tackle the devastation from the quake of magnitude 6 that struck around midnight, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

“We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses,” he told Reuters.

The quake killed 812 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, said administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Rescuers were battling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along the Pakistani border, where mudbrick homes dotting the slopes collapsed in the quake.

“All our… teams have been mobilized to accelerate assistance, so that comprehensive and full support can be provided,” said health ministry spokesperson Abdul Maten Qanee, citing efforts in areas from security to food and health.

Reuters Television images showed helicopters ferrying out the affected, while residents helped security forces and medics carry the wounded to ambulances in an area with a long history of earthquakes and floods.

Military rescue teams fanned out across the region, the defense ministry said in a statement, with 40 flights carrying away 420 wounded and dead.

The quake razed three villages in Kunar, with substantial damage in many others, authorities said. At least 610 people were killed in Kunar with 12 dead in Nangarhar, they added.

It was Afghanistan’s third major deadly quake since the Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, triggering a cut to the international funding that formed the bulk of government finances.

Even humanitarian aid, aimed at bypassing political institutions to serve urgent needs, has shrunk to $767 million this year, down from $3.8 billion in 2022.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake that killed 1,000 people in the eastern region that year was the first major natural disaster faced by the Taliban government.

CALLS FOR FUNDING
Humanitarian agencies say they are fighting a forgotten crisis in Afghanistan, where the United Nations (UN) estimates more than half the population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Diplomats and aid officials say crises elsewhere in the world, along with donor frustration over the Taliban’s policies towards women, including curbs on those who are aid workers, have spurred the cuts in funding.

“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a spokesperson of Afghanistan’s foreign office said.

China was ready to provide disaster relief assistance “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity,” a spokesperson of its foreign ministry said later.

In a post on X, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said its mission in Afghanistan was preparing to help those in areas devastated by the quake.

Humanitarian officials and locals say almost two years after a powerful tremor hit the western city of Herat, many villages are still recovering and living in temporary structures.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. — Reuters

INDIA will send teams to monitor a general election in war-torn Myanmar that is scheduled to start in December, Myanmar state media said on Monday, as New Delhi signals support for a vote that has already been derided by critics as a sham.

Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, a rare international engagement for the general who had largely been shunned by foreign leaders since leading a coup in 2021.

“At the meeting, they exchanged views on measures to ensure peace and stability in the border regions of both countries, trade promotion, enhancement of friendship and cooperation,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The military’s ouster of an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 4-1/2-years ago, on a pretext of election fraud, triggered a devastating civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished Southeast Asia nation.

Myanmar plans to hold the initial phase of the first general election since the coup on Dec. 28, as part of voting that a military-backed interim administration is seeking to conduct in more than 300 constituencies nationwide, including areas currently held by opposition armed groups.

In a statement on Sunday, India’s foreign ministry said that Mr. Modi hoped the upcoming elections in Myanmar would be “held in a fair and inclusive manner involving all stakeholders.”

A day earlier, Min Aung Hlaing also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the two leaders discussed Beijing’s support for the preparations for the polls, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.

The planned election would occur amid a raging conflict that may make it difficult to conduct. During a nationwide census last year to create voter rolls, Myanmar’s military-backed authorities managed to survey only 145 of the country’s 330 townships.

So far, nine parties have registered to contest elections nationwide and 55 parties have signed up at the provincial level, having secured approvals from military-backed election authorities, according to state media.

But with parties opposed to the military either excluded or boycotting the polls, western governments and human rights groups see the election as an attempt by the generals to tighten their grip on power by paving the way for proxies to rule. — Reuters

ALTENA, Germany – A decade ago, as Germany was grappling with an influx of more than a million migrants, the small town of Altena saw an opportunity to reverse years of population and economic decline.

The industrial town in Western Germany made national headlines in 2015 when it volunteered to take in 100 more migrants than required, becoming a model of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s pledge: “Wir schaffen das” – “We can do this.”

But while there have been benefits for both sides, three current and former town officials told Reuters migration wasn’t a panacea.

With the help of residents who mobilized to support the newcomers, many found homes and started contributing to the local economy, they told Reuters. But some moved on to bigger cities, which offer more work and education opportunities.

Others struggled to overcome language and cultural barriers, adding to rising welfare costs in a town with an aging population, officials said.

Now some local residents complain that the number of refugees and asylum seekers is getting too high. Recent election results show growing support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, fuelled by frustration over rising living costs, strained public finances and crumbling infrastructure.

“The glass is half full and half empty,” said Thomas Liebig, a migration researcher who contributed to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report in 2018 on Altena’s efforts to integrate refugees. “Many refugees found jobs, but social cohesion still lags behind.”

WARM WELCOME
Nestled amid scenic wooded hills, Altena has been an industrial hub since the middle ages.

The riverside town describes itself as the birthplace of wire production. But local ironworks struggled to stay competitive in recent decades, wiping out a third of its jobs, the former mayor, Andreas Hollstein, told Reuters. Only the heavily automated steel wire sector survived.

By 2015, Altena was one of the fastest dwindling towns in western Germany with a population of around 17,000, just over half what it was in the 1970s, according to the World Bank.

The reduced tax base hurt the town’s finances, making it difficult to keep basic amenities open, officials said. Schools closed because there weren’t enough students to fill the classrooms.

When Hollstein suggested taking in more refugees and asylum seekers than the town’s allotment of 270 in 2015, there was broad support from local council members.

“Taking in families meant we could fill empty housing, reopen classrooms and bring new life to the town,” said Anette Wesemann, Altena’s integration commissioner. “It was a win-win.”

The town had already absorbed waves of migrant workers, including Italians and Turks recruited in the 1960s to staff its factories. So locals were accustomed to living alongside neighbours with different cultures and languages, Hollstein said.

Each refugee family or individual was paired with a local “kuemmerer”, or caregiver, to show them the ropes. Many residents volunteered to help, raising donations for care packages, furnishing homes for the new arrivals, accompanying them to medical appointments and helping with paperwork.

Leveraging the high vacancy rate, the town placed newcomers in apartments rather than a shelter. This helped integrate them into neighbourhoods, the OECD report said.

“For the children, we put dolls there,” recalled Dorothee Isenbeck, 81, one of the original volunteers. “There was a group of elderly men who decorated the apartments so beautifully, so they felt they were welcome.”

Data on the program is sketchy. Officials said they did not track how many migrants have come since 2015 or how they faired.

But by 2024, roughly half of the 100 additional arrivals that year were still living in Altena, Wesemann said. Most of the rest had moved to bigger cities, while a few Iraqis decided to return home, she said.

Among those who stayed is Humam al-Gburi, a 34-year-old Iraqi refugee who arrived by bus in October 2015. He said he had no idea what to expect, but the warm welcome eased his fears.

Lasting bonds were forged through the town’s integration program. A translator introduced him to Ursula Panke, an 85-year-old retired nurse he refers to as his “omi”, or grandmother.

Their friendship began when Gburi helped her set up an art exhibition. “He hung everything so precisely, so carefully,” she recalled, smiling.

She became a mentor, encouraging him to try different vocational courses until he found his calling. He now works as a nurse himself at a nearby orthopaedics and trauma clinic.

“In a big city, you’re just a number. Here, people know me. Uschi is my family,” Gburi said, using Panke’s nickname. “Family doesn’t mean blood — it’s the people who listen, who help, who stand by you.”

AfD’s RISE
Not everyone was so welcoming. Shortly after the first arrivals in 2015, a local firefighter set a building housing refugees on fire. No one was hurt in the arson attack.

Two years later, mayor Hollstein survived a knife attack by a man who cited his refugee policy as the motive.

With more migrants arriving every year, the mood among some residents started to sour.

“Hardly any German is spoken anymore. It’s all foreigners here,” Hannelore Wendler said outside a grocery store. “I have nothing against foreigners; they’re all people. But it’s too much.”

Anger over Merkel’s open-door policy toward migrants, many of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, helped propel the rise of the AfD, which is now the country’s main opposition party.

Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where Altena is located, is less conservative than eastern regions. But the AfD has been making inroads in the state’s small towns and rural areas, said Manfred Guellner, who heads the Forsa Institute for Social Research and Statistical Analysis, a leading German polling company.

Migration is not the main concern in NRW, he said, but rather rising inflation, job losses in the auto industry and a sense of economic decline.

“Only about half of AfD supporters even believe the party could govern better. People vote for it out of frustration with the others,” Guellner said.

The party won nearly 24% of the vote in Altena during February’s federal election, up from around 10% in 2017 and 2021.

“Altena is a prime example of failed integration and failed politics,” said Klaus Laatsch, the AfD parliamentary group leader in the Maerkischer Kreis district council, which includes Altena.

“All around us … it’s going downhill,” he said, citing rising energy costs, shuttered businesses, trash-strewn streets and inadequate transportation services. “Citizens experience these problems every day, and they see that past promises were never fulfilled.”

Still, the party has little visible presence in Altena. It has no office and is not fielding candidates in the town for the state’s municipal elections on Sept. 14.

Altena’s contributions toward the assimilation of refugees in Germany were recognised in 2017 with an award from the federal government.

But the population has continued to decline. By the end of 2024, there were just over 16,600 residents, 4% less than in 2015, according to figures from the state statistics office.

The town’s finances improved, though Hollstein said that had more to do with spending cuts, tax increases and a rebound in local steel processing than the relatively small number of migrants who chose to remain.

But even as some leave, others continue to arrive, officials said.

They are drawn by the town’s affordable housing and welcoming reputation, said a Syrian supermarket owner and two of her customers, who did not want their names published for fear of drawing unwanted attention.

After years of effort, some early volunteers are now stepping back, and finding replacements is becoming harder, Hollstein said.

But the town remains relatively unchanged, he said. “That’s positive. The newcomers live among us; their kids are in school; life goes on.”

Looking back, he remains convinced that Merkel was right.

“We can do this,” he said. “But critics are right too — Germany can’t absorb those numbers indefinitely.” — Reuters

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is continuing its talks with trading partners despite a US appeals court ruling that most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday.

“Our trading partners, they continue to work very closely with us on negotiations,” he said in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program. “People are moving forward with their deals, regardless of what this court may say in the interim.”

Greer did not say which countries the United States was still in talks with, but said he had spoken with one trade minister on Saturday morning.

The ruling threatens what has become a pillar of Trump’s foreign policy since starting his second term in the White House in January. He has used the levies imposed on imported goods to exert political pressure and renegotiate trade deals even as the tariffs have increased volatility in financial markets.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington’s 7-4 decision on Friday said while Congress gave the president significant authority to act in response to a national emergency, lawmakers did not “explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax.”

The decision addressed the legality of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs set in April as well as tariffs imposed against China, Canada and Mexico in February, but does not impact those issued under other legal authority.

Trump on Friday blasted the decision and vowed to take the case to the US Supreme Court. The appeals court said his tariffs can remain in effect through October 14 to allow for appeals.

Trade experts said the Trump administration had been bracing for the ruling and preparing alternative plans to be able to proceed with its tariffs.

“If other countries are looking at this and thinking they’re going to get tariff relief, they’re in for a unpleasant surprise. There are backup options upon backup options, even if the Supreme Court ends up agreeing with the appeals court,” said Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council think tank.

He said one option would be to turn to Section 338 of a 1930 trade law that allows the president to impose duties of up to 50% against imports from countries that are found to discriminate against US commerce.

Trump weighed in again on Saturday in a social media post, saying “A big year ahead for the USA, maybe the BEST EVER, if the Tariffs are finally approved by the Courts!!!”

The president headed to his Virginia golf club on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s Labor Day holiday celebrating US workers.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” that the administration was optimistic the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court would back Trump’s tariffs.

Fellow Republican US Senator James Lankford said companies he has talked to want the issue settled.

“Every time there’s a new court hearing, every time there’s a new change, it’s destabilizing for every one of our businesses. So let’s get all these things resolved as quickly as we possibly can,” he told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” — Reuters