Taliban internet cut sparks Afghanistan telecoms blackout

The United Nations called on Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities Monday to immediately restore internet and telecommunications in the country, 24 hours after a nationwide blackout was imposed.The government began shutting down high-speed internet connections to some provinces earlier this month to prevent “vice”, on the orders of shadowy supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.Mobile phone signal and internet service weakened on Monday night until connectivity was less than one percent of ordinary levels.Afghans are unable to contact each other, online businesses and the banking systems have frozen, and diaspoara abroad cannot send crucial remittances to family.All flights were cancelled at Kabul airport on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw.”The cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people, including by threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.”The current blackout also constitutes a further restriction on access to information and freedom of expression in Afghanistan,” it added.It is the first time since the Taliban government won their insurgency in 2021 and imposed a strict version of Islamic law that communications have been shut down in the country.”We are blind without phones and internet,” said 42-year-old shopkeeper Najibullah in Kabul.”All our business relies on mobiles. The deliveries are with mobiles. It’s like a holiday, everyone is at home. The market is totally frozen.”The telecommunications ministry refused to let journalists enter the building in Kabul on Tuesday.Minutes before the shutdown on Monday evening, a government official warned AFP that the fibre optic network would be cut, and affect mobile phone services.”Eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be shut down, he said, adding that the blackout would last “until further notice”.”There isn’t any other way or system to communicate… the banking sector, customs, everything across the country will be affected,” said the official, who asked not to be named.- Radio communications -Diplomatic sources told AFP on Tuesday that mobile networks were mostly shut down.A UN source meanwhile said “operations are severely impacted, falling back to radio communications and limited satellite links”.Telephone services are often routed over the internet, sharing the same fibre optic lines, especially in countries with limited telecoms infrastructure. Over the past weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.On September 16, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said the ban had come from the Taliban leader’s orders.”This measure was taken to prevent vice, and alternative options will be put in place across the country to meet connectivity needs,” he wrote on social media.At the time, AFP correspondents reported the same restrictions in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan in the south.The Taliban leader reportedly ignored warnings from some officials this month about the economic fallout of cutting the internet and ordered authorities to press ahead with a nationwide ban.Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, said the blackout “appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service”.On Tuesday, it said connectivity had flatlined below one percent, with no restoration of service observed.In 2024, Kabul had touted the 9,350-kilometre (5,800-mile) fibre optic network — largely built by former US-backed governments — as a “priority” to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.

Taliban internet cut sparks Afghanistan telecoms blackout

The United Nations called on Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities Monday to immediately restore internet and telecommunications in the country, 24 hours after a nationwide blackout was imposed.The government began shutting down high-speed internet connections to some provinces earlier this month to prevent “vice”, on the orders of shadowy supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.Mobile phone signal and internet service weakened on Monday night until connectivity was less than one percent of ordinary levels.Afghans are unable to contact each other, online businesses and the banking systems have frozen, and diaspoara abroad cannot send crucial remittances to family.All flights were cancelled at Kabul airport on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw.”The cut in access has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people, including by threatening economic stability and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.”The current blackout also constitutes a further restriction on access to information and freedom of expression in Afghanistan,” it added.It is the first time since the Taliban government won their insurgency in 2021 and imposed a strict version of Islamic law that communications have been shut down in the country.”We are blind without phones and internet,” said 42-year-old shopkeeper Najibullah in Kabul.”All our business relies on mobiles. The deliveries are with mobiles. It’s like a holiday, everyone is at home. The market is totally frozen.”The telecommunications ministry refused to let journalists enter the building in Kabul on Tuesday.Minutes before the shutdown on Monday evening, a government official warned AFP that the fibre optic network would be cut, and affect mobile phone services.”Eight to nine thousand telecommunications pillars” would be shut down, he said, adding that the blackout would last “until further notice”.”There isn’t any other way or system to communicate… the banking sector, customs, everything across the country will be affected,” said the official, who asked not to be named.- Radio communications -Diplomatic sources told AFP on Tuesday that mobile networks were mostly shut down.A UN source meanwhile said “operations are severely impacted, falling back to radio communications and limited satellite links”.Telephone services are often routed over the internet, sharing the same fibre optic lines, especially in countries with limited telecoms infrastructure. Over the past weeks, internet connections have been extremely slow or intermittent.On September 16, Balkh provincial spokesman Attaullah Zaid said the ban had come from the Taliban leader’s orders.”This measure was taken to prevent vice, and alternative options will be put in place across the country to meet connectivity needs,” he wrote on social media.At the time, AFP correspondents reported the same restrictions in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, as well as in Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar and Uruzgan in the south.The Taliban leader reportedly ignored warnings from some officials this month about the economic fallout of cutting the internet and ordered authorities to press ahead with a nationwide ban.Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, said the blackout “appears consistent with the intentional disconnection of service”.On Tuesday, it said connectivity had flatlined below one percent, with no restoration of service observed.In 2024, Kabul had touted the 9,350-kilometre (5,800-mile) fibre optic network — largely built by former US-backed governments — as a “priority” to bring the country closer to the rest of the world and lift it out of poverty.

Gold hits record, dollar drops as US shutdown looms

Gold prices hit another record high, the dollar dropped and stock markets traded mixed Tuesday as traders prepared for a possible US government shutdown that could disrupt the release of key economic data.Congressional Republican and Democratic leaders met President Donald Trump Monday in a bid to find a breakthrough before a midnight Tuesday deadline, but top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer told reporters afterwards that “large differences” remained.Vice President JD Vance accused the Democrats of putting “a gun to the American people’s head” with their funding demands, adding that “I think we’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing”.While shutdowns are not usually painful, Neil Wilson at Saxo markets remained cautious.”Usually, markets ignore shutdowns — most last only a few days and investors seem to take a long-term view of the situation, and the short duration of most incidents has little impact on company profits. The average length of shutdowns is eight days,” he wrote.However, Wilson warned: “It could be different this time. Deep political divisions could see this drag on. A longer shutdown could have serious consequences for stocks. In the 35-day shutdown of 2018-2019 the S&P 500 fell 14 percent.”He pointed to the White House threatening mass firings, extending a recent widespread federal cull, while recent changes to economic policy added to uncertainty and raised the prospect of a potential recession.The prospect of a shutdown and expectations for rate cuts weighed on the dollar, as lower rates make the currency less attractive to investors.Stock markets in Europe fluctuated in midday deals while Asia’s major indexes closed mixed.Gold, a safe haven investment in times of uncertainty, reached yet another peak above $3,871 an ounce.Speculation is growing that it could soon hit $4,000, having piled on almost 50 percent since the turn of the year.”In trading rooms, gold is no longer just a hedge; it’s become the star performer, the undisputed heavyweight,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.”Every desk is watching because when gold is surging, it tends to reveal more about political and policy anxiety than about jewelry demand.”There are concerns that a shutdown could delay this week’s release of government statistics on the labour market.Investors are awaiting the release this week of data on job openings, private hiring and non-farm payrolls, all of which could provide clues about the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates.Recent indicators have supported investor expectations that the US central bank will cut borrowing costs twice more this year, having done so this month for the first time since December.Forecasters predict this week’s figures will show the labour market continuing to slow, giving Fed officials room to loosen monetary policy.Oil prices, meanwhile, extended Monday’s three-percent plunge on fears about a glut amid talk of OPEC+ hiking output again when officials meet on Sunday.Trump’s Gaza peace plan was also “weighing on crude”, said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at traders Scope Markets.- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,302.25 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,853.55Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 23,771.00Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,932.63 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 26,855.56 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,882.78 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 46,316.07 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1742 from $1.1725 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3439 from $1.3434Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.99 yen from 148.68 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.37 pence from 87.28 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $67.53 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $62.95 per barrel

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En Alsace, du béton souterrain pour confiner des déchets toxiques

A 524 mètres sous terre, une rivière de béton liquide inonde les cavités creusées dans le sel: en dépit des controverses, les salariés se relaient jour et nuit sur le site de Stocamine, en Alsace, pour confiner définitivement 42.000 mètres cubes de déchets toxiques, et empêcher une pollution en surface.Ce chantier titanesque, prévu jusque fin 2027, consiste à ériger 12 barrages souterrains de 500 m3 de béton chacun aux entrées de la zone de stockage, et à combler des kilomètres de galerie.  En tout, 100.000 m3 de béton doivent être injectés depuis la surface, puis malaxés et coulés dans les galeries. Celles-ci ont été creusées à la fin des années 1990 afin d’entreposer des déchets industriels hautement toxiques dans cette couche souterraine de sel, quelques mètres sous les gisements de potasse exploités ici au siècle dernier.Dans l’obscurité, que trouent seulement les lampes frontales et les phares des véhicules arpentant les tunnels, quelque 150 travailleurs des profondeurs bravent l’exiguïté, le bruit et la poussière de sel. Ils s’affairent par endroits à quelques mètres des fûts et sacs emplis de cyanure, d’amiante ou d’arsenic, entreposés ici entre 1999 et 2002, date à laquelle un incendie a mis fin au processus. Des déchets toutefois invisibles et inaccessibles: des bâches, puis des murs en parpaings, ont été installés pour isoler les zones de stockage des galeries de circulation.Ces déchets “inertes” ne dégagent aucune émanation toxique, assure Régis Fischer, directeur technique adjoint des Mines de potasse d’Alsace (MPDA), l’entreprise publique qui gère le projet. “S’il y avait un risque (…) pour le personnel qui travaille à proximité, on n’enverrait personne”, insiste le responsable.Pour les opposants au projet toutefois, c’est surtout l’impact de ce stockage souterrain sur la nappe phréatique, 500 mètres plus haut, qui cristallise les inquiétudes. Les “anti-Stocamine” craignent que l’eau de ruissellement s’infiltre en profondeur jusqu’aux déchets, et provoque ensuite, en remontant à la surface, une “pollution irréversible” de la nappe. – Affaissement naturel -Associations écologistes, riverains et collectivités locales ont mené une longue bataille devant la justice administrative. Ils plaident pour que les déchets soient retirés des profondeurs – seuls l’ont été 2.000 m3 de matériaux contenant du mercure, entre 2014 et 2017 – ou au moins qu’ils ne soient pas confinés.La justice leur a cependant donné tort: d’abord lors d’une procédure en urgence, puis sur le fond, dans une décision rendue en première instance, en juin. Les opposants ont fait appel, mais celui-ci n’est pas suspensif.Pour les responsables de Stocamine, le déstockage total des matériaux toxiques n’est de toute façon plus possible, du fait de l’affaissement naturel des cavités: sous le poids des couches géologiques supérieures, les galeries “se referment naturellement, et à très long terme vont finir par disparaître”, emprisonnant ainsi définitivement les déchets, explique M. Fischer, ingénieur géologue de formation. Cet affaissement a d’ailleurs pu être constaté par l’AFP dans certaines galeries, où le niveau du sol a bougé de plus d’un mètre en quelques années.Entamé en 2019, interrompu plusieurs fois, puis repris en continu depuis mars 2024, le chantier de confinement a été conçu sur la base de nombreuses expertises, et des hypothèses les plus pessimistes quant à la progression éventuelle des eaux de ruissellement, insiste la direction de Stocamine.Des arguments qui ne convainquent pas les opposants. Pour Yann Flory, du collectif “Déstocamine”, la remontée vers la surface des eaux polluées “ira bien plus vite que ce disent les experts”. L’efficacité et l’étanchéité des barrages en béton, “on n’y croit pas, c’est de la folie”, assène le militant. Pour l’heure, sur les 12 barrages prévus, quatre ont été réalisés, trois sont en chantier, et cinq restent à construire. Un kilomètre de galeries a été en outre obstrué, sur une dizaine au total.Le coût total du projet, financé par l’Etat, est évalué à 70 millions d’euros. Auxquels il faut ajouter, selon la Cour des comptes, 226 millions supplémentaires dus aux retards successifs du chantier depuis 2013, du fait des contestations. 

Madagascar, a history marked by deadly violenceTue, 30 Sep 2025 11:25:45 GMT

Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries despite the island’s natural resources in farming, forestry, fishing and minerals. Its recent history is marked with sociopolitical unrest — often deadly for citizens and occasionally fatal to the ruling power.- March 29, 1947 -A nationalist insurrection is repressed by French colonial forces, causing tens of thousands …

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Arthur sort un livre sur “la solitude” et “la peur” des Français juifs

L’animateur et producteur télé Arthur sort mercredi son premier livre, pour dire “la solitude”, le “sentiment d’abandon” et la “peur” des Français juifs face à “la montée de l’antisémitisme”, dans le contexte de la guerre à Gaza, a-t-il déclaré mardi sur France Inter.”Je pense que les Français ne sont pas conscients de la peur et de l’angoisse dans laquelle vit la communauté juive”, a déclaré Arthur, lui-même “français et juif”, avant la sortie de “J’ai perdu un Bédouin dans Paris” (Grasset).Ecrit à la première personne et signé Arthur Essebag (son nom de famille), ce livre raconte comment l’animateur-producteur a vécu l’attaque du Hamas contre Israël le 7 octobre 2023 et les deux ans qui ont suivi.”Mon livre est sur la solitude des juifs après le 7 octobre, sur ce sentiment d’abandon, sur cette peur croissante et sur la montée de l’antisémitisme”, a-t-il dit.”J’ai des amis qui, pour prendre un taxi, changent leur nom (…). Les étudiants juifs cachent leur étoile de David quand ils vont à la fac. Les femmes, quand elles vont à la boucherie casher, elles se retournent trois fois en sortant”, a-t-il insisté.Il assure avoir l’impression d’être “réduit à (sa) judaïté” depuis le 7 octobre.”Ce qui m’a le plus bouleversé, c’est qu’à chaque fois que des artistes proches ou des gens que je connaissais, qui venaient régulièrement dans mes émissions télé, postaient un truc terrible contre Israël (sur les réseaux sociaux), ils m’envoyaient un texto +Mais ça n’a rien à voir avec toi+. Comme si j’étais l’ambassadeur d’Israël”, a-t-il développé.”On peut aimer Israël et ne pas être en accord avec le gouvernement israélien, comme on peut critiquer le Hamas et avoir de l’empathie pour les Palestiniens qui souffrent”, a-t-il fait valoir.Arthur estime par ailleurs que la communauté juive de France s’est progressivement “refermée comme une huître” face à Emmanuel Macron en raison d'”une succession de déclarations du président”.Parmi elles, la déclaration de M. Macron devant l’ONU fin septembre pour reconnaître l’Etat de Palestine: “On a trouvé que c’était un blanc-seing donné aux terroristes”.L’animateur-producteur a conclu en disant son espoir dans l’aboutissement d’un plan de paix: “J’espère qu’on va arriver à (…) cette fin, qui est libérer les otages, que la paix revienne et que les souffrances du peuple palestinien s’arrêtent”.

Madagascar protesters undeterred despite sacking of governmentTue, 30 Sep 2025 09:52:00 GMT

Protesters in Madagascar gathered for new demonstrations Tuesday, a day after President Andry Rajoelina sacked his government in a bid to quell days of unrest that has left 22 people dead, according to the UN. Inspired by “Gen Z” protests in Indonesia and Nepal, the youth-led movement has taken aim at ingrained misgovernance, fuelled by anger …

Madagascar protesters undeterred despite sacking of governmentTue, 30 Sep 2025 09:52:00 GMT Read More »