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The number of Afghan civilians killed in the country's long-running conflict hit a record high in the first six months of 2018, UN figures showed Sunday, with militant attacks and suicide bombs the leading causes of death. 

The toll of 1,692 fatalities was one percent more than a year earlier and the highest for the period since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began keeping records in 2009. 
Another 3,430 people were wounded in the war, down five percent from the same period last year, the report said. 

Overall civilian casualties -- 5,122 - fell three percent year on year. The record high death toll came despite an unprecedented ceasefire by Afghan security forces and the Taliban last month that was largely respected by both sides, UNAMA said. 

The ceasefire for the first three days of Eid was marked by scenes of jubilation as security forces and Taliban fighters celebrated the Islamic holiday, raising hopes that peace was possible after nearly 17 years of conflict. 

But the suspension of hostilities was marred by two suicide attacks in the eastern province of Nangarhar that killed dozens of people and were claimed by the Islamic State group, which was not part of the ceasefire. 

The Taliban refused a government request to extend the truce, returning to the battlefield and ignoring calls to enter talks with Kabul to end the war. "The brief ceasefire demonstrated that the fighting can be stopped and that Afghan civilians no longer need to bear the brunt of the war," Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, said. "We urge parties to seize all opportunities to find a peaceful settlement -- this is the best way that they can protect all civilians." 

 Air strike casualties up 
Suicide bombs and "complex" attacks that involve several militants accounted for 1,413 casualties -- 427 deaths and 986 injuries -- up 22 percent from a year earlier. If that trend continues, the figure will top the 2017 full-year record of nearly 2,300 casualties. 

UNAMA attributed 52 percent of suicide and complex attacks to IS, mainly in Kabul and Nangarhar where the group established a stronghold after emerging in Afghanistan in 2014. 

The Taliban was responsible for 40 percent of such attacks. While the Taliban is Afghanistan's largest militant group and holds or contests more territory than any other, IS has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to carry out devastating attacks in urban areas. 

The latest report comes almost a year after US President Donald Trump announced his new South Asia strategy that involved ramping up American air strikes against militants. 

Civilians have paid a heavy toll for the intensified aerial bombing campaign, with 353 casualties recorded in the first half of the year, up 52 percent on last year, UNAMA said. 

More than half of the civilian casualties were caused by the Afghan Air Force. One of the worst incidents was in the northern province of Kunduz in April when an Afghan air strike on an outdoor religious gathering killed or wounded 107 people, mostly children, a previous UNAMA report found. 
The government and military said it had targeted a Taliban base where senior members of the group were planning attacks. 

UNAMA also recorded 341 civilian casualties in election-related violence -- a trend that is expected to worsen as the October 20 legislative ballot draws closer. AFP

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 Another 450 migrants on board two Frontex vessels were stranded at sea on Saturday as Italy and Malta locked horns over whose responsibility it was to offer them safe harbour. 

The migrants had initially set sail from Libya in a single wooden vessel which was identified early Friday while passing through waters under Malta's jurisdiction. But Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has authority over the country's ports, on Friday refused to let them dock in his latest show of intransigence over migrants stranded at sea. 

And on Saturday, as those on board were transferred to two vessels belonging to the EU border agency Frontex, he insisted they be instructed to "head south, to Libya or Malta". "We need an act of justice, of respect and of courage to fight against these human traffickers and generate a European intervention," he said in talks with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, his remarks carried by Italian news agencies.

 
Cited by the Italian media, cabinet sources said Conte was going to push for them to be immediately transferred to other European countries, otherwise they would not be allowed to land. In an exchange of messages, emails and phone calls on Friday, Rome had tried to push Valetta to take responsibility for those on board the wooden boat. 

But Malta said the ship was much closer to the Italian island of Lampedusa, and on Saturday, insisted it had respected "all of its obligations under international conventions" concerning those rescued at sea. 

 Jumping overboard 

On Saturday morning, as the two Frontex vessels approached the wooden boat, several migrants threw themselves overboard, prompting immediate efforts to rescue them from the water, Italian sources said. 
Eight women and children were taken to Lampedusa for medical treatment. 

The new standoff kicked in just hours after 67 migrants were allowed to disembark from an Italian coast guard ship in Sicily late on Thursday. 

Salvini, who took office when Italy's new populist government came to power on June 1, wants to block any further migrant arrivals by boat and has banned charity rescue ships from docking in Italian ports, accusing them of aiding human traffickers. 

Last month, the French rescue ship Aquarius and the German boat Lifeline, who between them were carrying hundreds of migrants, were forced to divert to Spain and Malta respectively after Italy turned them away. 

Italy, Greece and Spain have been on the front line of the migrant crisis, with Europe deeply divided over how to share the burden of the massive influx of people seeking to create a new life in Europe. AFP

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France v Croatia: 3 key World Cup final battles

France are favorites to win the World Cup for a second time in Moscow on Sunday when they take on a Croatia side forced to go through three periods of extra-time to make their first ever final. 

By contrast, Didier Deschamps's side have seen off Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium, all in 90 minutes, and enjoyed a day's extra rest to prepare after their semi-final on Tuesday as they look to make amends for defeat in the Euro 2016 final to Portugal. 

As the smallest country to reach a World Cup final for 68 years, Croatia cannot call on the same resources as the French but have shown incredible mental strength to battle back from falling behind in each of their three knockout games. 

AFP Sport looks at three key battles that could decide who are crowned champions of the world: 
Luka Modric v Paul Pogba 
Modric has been widely hailed as the world's best midfielder for his performances in Russia and has emerged as a Ballon d'Or contender after also winning his fourth Champions League in five years at Real Madrid. 

That is a status Pogba aspires to, but the one-time world's most expensive player has sacrificed some of his creative talents for the good of the team in Russia. 

Manchester United's Pogba has formed a formidable partnership with N'Golo Kante at the heart of the French midfield that has helped snuff out the threat of Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard. 
Should Pogba and Kante also prevent Modric from taking control of the midfield as he did despite tired legs in the second half of Croatia's semi-final against England, it will take France a long way towards a first World Cup in 20 years. 

Mario Mandzukic v Raphael Varane 
Mandzukic often saves his best for the big occasion, most recently shrugging off a knee injury to strike the winner against England in the semi-final. 

The Juventus forward also has a great record when facing Varane. Mandzukic scored a stunning overhead kick in the 2017 Champions League final, netted twice as the Italians beat Real Madrid 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in April and grabbed the winner for Atletico Madrid in the 2014 Spanish Super Cup. 

Mandzukic will be used as a focal point to try and bring Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic into the game, but Varane has arguably been the best centre-back at the World Cup and has the speed, height and power to nullify Croatia's biggest goal threat. 

Marcelo Brozovic v Antoine Griezmann 

Recalled by Zlatko Dalic for the semi-final, Inter Milan midfielder Brozovic freed up Modric and Rakitic from defensive duties at the base of the midfield and always provided an out ball for his centre-backs as Croatia dominated possession. 

Griezmann has not shone as brightly as at Euro 2016, when he won the Golden Boot. His three goals have come from two penalties and a goalkeeping mistake by Uruguay's Fernando Muslera. 

However, the Atletico Madrid star has improved as the tournament has progressed and has been France's main playmaker, providing the assists for Varane's and Samuel Umtiti's goals in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. 

Griezmann's energy and intelligence will see him find space to feed Giroud and Kylian Mbappe if Croatia's energy levels run low. It'll be Brozovic's job to make sure he does not. AFP
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Fiction/Thriller

SACRED GAMES

Vikram Chandra

Language: English

Published: 2006

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Pages: 947, Paperback

Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games is an immensely demanding novel. At nearly a thousand pages, you would be better off pick­ing it up only when you have lots of free time. A fair bit of understanding of politics and various religious prac­tices in India wouldn’t hurt either. If you have all that covered, reading Sacred Games will prove to be a thrilling ride. If not, you will have to take to Google on occasions to understand the references it makes to various places and events because of the author’s blatant refusal to let outsiders completely in on a city that isn’t theirs.Sacred Games, a vivid portrayal of modern India, focusing mostly on Bombay, introduces us to a Sikh policeman named Sartaj Singh who carries the weight of a broken mar­riage, and can’t seem to climb up the ranks like his more ambitious colleagues. When Singh had an afflu­ent wife, he didn’t take bribes but he no longer has that option. A tip-off leads him into the hideout of a famous gangster, Ganesh Gaitonde. At the impregnable white cube with green windows, which resembles a bunker-like structure and is fitted with security cameras all over, a voice, through the intercom, tells Singh that he will never get through.

It is apparently Gaitonde himself. And that is how Singh begins a con­versation with him. After declining to surrender, Gaitonde starts telling Singh his life story. He talks about the first murder that he committed that gave him enough money to build a criminal empire. The narra­tive is interrupted when a bulldozer arrives and the police force their way in, only to find Gaitonde has shot himself. But Gaitonde’s death isn’t the end of it as Singh is told to further investigate the gangster’s last few days in a top-secret manner. The plot moves forward in parallel nar­ratives that also include Gaitonde’s posthumous confessions.

Seven years in the making and with a seven-figure advance, Sacred Games was indeed an ambitious undertaking that could have gone horribly wrong. But Chandra man­ages to establish his two main char­acters and the city, with its many labyrinths, in such a relatable way that you simply won’t be able to get the book out of your head, while you are reading it, and long after you are done. We won’t say reading it is going to be easy but one of the charms of the book lies in the fact that it constantly challenges you to discover new things through a little bit of hard work.

Sacred Games is now an Indian web television series on Netflix starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte.

Four police personnel and at least 88 militants have been killed in clashes in two Afghan provinces, authorities said Thursday. 

In eastern Paktia province, 51 Taliban militants were killed and several others wounded during a clash and ensuing airstrike in Band-e-Michalgho area of Ahmad Abad district at wee hours of Thursday, provincial police spokesman, Sardar Wali Tabasam told Xinhua. 

The clashes occurred after dozens of militants stormed security checkpoints in the area and four policemen were also killed and six others wounded during the clashes. 

In northern Jawzjan province, 28 Islamic State (IS) militants and nine militants of Taliban group were killed and 16 IS militants and 11 Taliban wounded after the two groups of militants clashed in Darzab district on Wednesday, the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

The two rival armed groups often fight over expanding territory in parts of the conflict-hit Afghanistan. Xinhua

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Speaking on July 11, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa reiterated the government commitment to remove transport cartels. “There is a conspiracy to restore transport cartels but the government won’t allow that,” he thun­dered. On the same day, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli instructed Minister for Transport Raghubir Mahaseth to take every possible measure to once and for all end the reign of these cartels. Yet there are reasons to doubt their sincerity.

When the Oli government had first announced the cancellation of registration of transport cartels three months ago, we were enthused. The ramshackle buses they ran inconvenienced passengers. Often, the aging buses were deadly. In the fiscal 2016-17, there were an average of 28 road accidents, and six deaths, in the country every single day, partly because these cartels would not allow other businessmen to operate new, safer buses on the routes they controlled.

But the anti-cartel drive soon ran into roadblocks. The Director General of the Department of Trans­port Rup Narayan Bhattari, who was spearheading the drive, was suspiciously transferred to the Ministry of Transport, on direct orders of Minister Mahaseth. Also, Home Minister Thapa and Transport Minister Mahaseth clearly don’t see eye to eye on the issue. Instead of cooperating to make the lives of Nepalis eas­ier, the ministers of this powerful government seem to be working at cross purposes.

There are vested interests in the ruling Nepal Com­munist Party (NCP) that would like to see the contin­uation of the transport cartels, and they seem to have an upper hand now. After initially announcing that the registration of all cartels would be cancelled from the new fiscal that starts next week, the government now says there is not enough time for all erstwhile cartels to register as private companies. This is disingenuous.

Had the government been serious, it could have forced the transport cartels to register as private com­panies in the past three months. But it chose to do nothing in this time and it would now have us believe there is not enough time. What is actually happening is that vested interests in the NCP have been allowed to prevail. The prime minister seems either uninterested or unable to take on these cartels, thereby adding to the growing suspicion that he is all talk and no action. Nepalis are starting to lose their trust in the govern­ment they so enthusiastically elected not long ago.

The district of Bhaktapur in Kathmandu valley is one of the most concentrated human settlements in South Asia, packing in over 12,000 residents every square kilometer. And the population continues to swell, as the area absorbs more and more people lured by land prices that are comparably cheaper to what they would have to fork out inside the ring road. More people means more buildings and less open space. With the building codes lax, the human set­tlements in Bhaktapur had been getting progressively closer to the catchment areas of its three main rivers: Hanumante, Khasyangkhusung and Manohara. As a result, whenever there is a heavy rainfall, at least some areas in Bhaktapur are badly inundated by overflow­ing rivers. But the flooding on July 12 was the worst in years. Three members of the same family perished in Changu­narayan municipality when their tin hut was swept away in floods following 12 hours of non-stop rainfall. Temporary camps of earthquake victims at Jagati and Barahisthan were submerged; the landless squatters’ settlement at Jadibuti completely inundated. Similarly, settlements at Radhe Radhe and the Kamerotar land pooling project in Madhyapur Thimi were under water. Thousands of people were trapped inside their own watery homes.

This monsoon has already taken a heavy toll. Nearly 300 people have died in floods and landslides in the past three months, according to Home Ministry. “We have been unable to reduce damages despite our many programs to reduce the risk of natural disasters,” says Kedar Neupane, the chief of the ministry’s disaster management unit.

It is not clear better forecasting could have prevented the latest Bhaktapur inundation either. There was no cloudburst, nor was one predicted. Nor were there any blockades in the three main rivers, which are otherwise fast turning into dumping grounds. The culprit rather was the sheer volume of water that fell.

The only way to mitigate future damages will be to keep the settlements at a safe distance from the main water arteries. But any such effort will be met with tough resistance, espe­cially by the squatters and those displaced by recent earth­quakes. There are in fact no easy fixes. More effective would be progressive tightening of the building codes, building resettlement homes for the landless—the Dhurmus-Suntali foundation has already shown the way on cheap mass-scale housing—and greater awareness on the ever-present dangers of living so close to the unruly rivers.

 China has cracked down on online football gambling during the World Cup, arresting more than 540 suspected of participating in schemes involving more than $1.5 billion, state media said. 

The suspects were "associated with more than 20 gangs", and their servers, computers, mobile phones and bank cards were confiscated, police in China's southern province of Guangdong told the official Xinhua news agency. 

Some 70 mobile apps and websites as well as 250 online chat groups have also been shuttered, Xinhua said Wednesday without providing further detail. In May, police honed in on an online gambling platform which accepted bitcoin and had grown to 330,000 members in just eight months. 

Authorities arrested six of its key organizers, froze assets of over 5 million yuan ($750,000), and confiscated virtual currency worth over $1.5 million, Xinhua said, without giving specific dates of the raid. 
Although all gambling is technically illegal in China, it is permitted in the country's hundreds of thousands of "lottery shops". 

These are run by China's Sports Administration, with part of the proceeds ploughed back into sport ranging from financing stadiums to training the next generation of Chinese athletes. 

However, the government remains vigilant and dozens of unauthorised "lottery ticket" apps, which enable punters to place a bet with a single click, were closed down in the first week of the World Cup. AFP

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