![Afghan residents inspect the accident site as they stand near the remains of a bus following its collision with a coal truck on a highway between Kabul and southern Kandahar city [Mohammad Faisal Naweed/AFP]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Dozens-killed-in-two-passenger-bus-crashes-in-Afghanistan.jpg)
At least 50 people killed in accidents on the same highway in Ghazni province between Kabul and southern Kandahar city. Two bus crashes in central Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more, according to officials. The accidents took place on the same highway in Ghazni province between the capital, Kabul, and southern Kandahar city late on Wednesday, provincial head of information and culture Hamidullah Nisar said on X on Thursday. In the first, a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker near Shahbaz village in central Ghazni. In the other accident, a bus hit a truck in the eastern district of Andar, Nisar said. Hafiz Omar, a spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, said 50 people were killed in the accidents. Taliban chief government spokesman
Author Archives: The Esbec Team
The newly elected leadership of the Economic Freedom Fighters was elected unopposed at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday. Julius Malema was re-elected president and Godrich Gardee was elected as deputy president replacing Floyd Shivambu. Malema’s re-election means this will be his third term as the party’s leader and he is the only president the EFF has ever had. Voting did not take place and the results were announced immediately because all those nominated, ran unopposed. Shivambu resigned in August to join the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party as the national organiser. He has since been appointed as the party’s secretary-general. This is the position that many EFF members wanted EFF head of political education, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, to fill within the party but the move collapsed before it could reach
Dec
Feeble England blown away by New Zealand Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Captain Ben Stokes was part of England’s collapse of five wickets for nine runs Chief Cricket Reporter in Hamilton Third Test, Hamilton (day two of five) New Zealand 347 (Santner 76; Potts 4-90) & 136-3 (Young 60, Williamson 50*) England 143 (Root 32; Henry 4-48, Santner 3-7, O’Rourke 3-33) New Zealand lead by 340 runs Scorecard England’s hopes of a clean sweep in New Zealand are all but over after a feeble display on the second day of the third Test in Hamilton. Continuing a growing trend of woeful performances in series finales, the tourists were shot out for 143 inside 36 overs in blameless conditions. Overall, England lost their last eight wickets for 66 runs either
Dec
At this stage, no suspects have been arrested, with police “continuing investigative efforts to identify suspects involved in the smuggling.” By ELI ASHKENAZI DECEMBER 15, 2024 09:32 The Lebanese hashish seized by the police in northern Israel. (photo credit: via walla!) Police seized some 7.3 kg. of Lebanese hashish in Israel’s Upper Galilee area, amounting to the sum of NIS 378,000. At this stage, no suspects have been arrested, and the police refrained from making any accusations. Given the recent events on the northern border, there is a possibility that the smugglers may be IDF soldiers. Amal Aazam, a police officer at the Safed police station, said that the operation came as a result of intelligence information, with police “continuing investigative efforts to identify suspects involved in the smuggling.” Lebanese
Dec
Pope Francis’ one-day visit to the French island of Corsica on Sunday, two days before his 88th birthday, will put a dual focus on the Mediterranean, highlighting local traditions of popular piety on the one hand and migrant deaths and wars on the other. The visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, will be one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. It is the first papal visit to the island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768 and is located closer to the Italian mainland than France. Papa Francescu, the pope’s name in Corsican, will address more than 400 participants at the Conference on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean, organised
Dec
An ex-OpenAI engineer has started a new robotics venture with offices reportedly in China and Singapore, joining the race to produce intelligent machines as China moves to boost the industry. Roger Jiang, who left ChatGPT creator OpenAI in June 2023, founded Light Robotics in Singapore in August this year with the goal of building general purpose robots, according to his LinkedIn profile. Jiang contributed to building OpenAI’s GPT-4 in areas including foundational reinforcement learning from human feedback, data and contamination investigations, OpenAI’s website shows. Light Robotics, named Liangyuan Xinchuang in Chinese, will focus on consumer-facing companion robots. It has set up offices in both Shenzhen and Singapore, according to a report by Chinese news outlet 36Kr on Friday. 02:02 Robot in China persuades others to ‘go home’ Robot in China
Dec
Reuters The US has made “direct contact” with the HTS rebels who now control Syria after toppling the Assad regime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. It is the first acknowledgement of direct American contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US currently still designates as a terrorist organisation. Blinken was speaking in Jordan after talks with representatives from several Arab countries, Turkey and Europe to discuss the future of Syria. Officials agreed to support a peaceful transition process in the country, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying that regional powers did not want to see it “descend into chaos”. A joint communique called for an inclusive Syrian government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer a base for “terrorist groups”. The talk both inside and outside
![Robert Kennedy Jr leaves the New York Stock Exchange following a ceremony with President-elect Donald Trump on December 12 [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Outcry-after-RFK-Jr-linked-to-effort-to-nix-US-approval-for-polio-vaccine.jpg)
Backlash has been building in the United States following a news report that links one of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet members to an effort to revoke approval for the polio vaccine. On Saturday, The Associated Press news agency published a statement from a spokesperson for Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom Trump has nominated to lead the Health and Human Services Department. In the statement, Kennedy’s camp attempted to distance the nominee from a New York Times report that his lawyer Aaron Siri had petitioned to suspend approval for the life-saving vaccine. “Mr Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,” Katie Miller, Kennedy’s spokesperson, said. But The New York Times article has raised alarm about Kennedy’s nomination to Health and Human
Dec
Britain officially became the 12th member of a trans-Pacific trade pact which includes Japan, Australia, and Canada on Sunday as it seeks to deepen ties in the region and build its global trade links after leaving the European Union. Britain announced last year it would join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in its biggest trade deal since Brexit. The accession means Britain will be able to apply CPTPP trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the 11 existing members from Sunday – Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The agreement enters into force with Australia on December 24, and will apply with the final two members – Canada and Mexico – 60 days after they ratify it. The pact represents Britain’s
Dec
Getty Images François Bayrou has long been a centrist ally of President Macron President Emmanuel Macron has named centrist leader François Bayrou as France’s next prime minister, in a bid to end months of political turmoil. A Macron ally, Bayrou is a mayor from the southwest and leads the MoDem party. Ahead of the announcement, the two men spent almost two hours in talks described as tense by French media. The president’s task is now to ensure Bayrou lasts longer than his predecessor. Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier was ousted by MPs nine days ago. Macron is half-way through his second term as president and Bayrou will be his fourth prime minister this year. French politics has been deadlocked ever since Macron called snap parliamentary elections during the summer. An
![Li Tie, the former coach of China’s male football team, who has been jailed for 20 years on corruption charges, is shown at the Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, in 2021 [Satish Kumar/Reuters]](https://esbecgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/China-sentences-ex-Premier-League-footballer-Li-Tie-to-20-years-in-prison.jpg)
Former national team coach is the biggest name to be netted in China’s sweeping crackdown on corruption in sport. Li Tie, former coach of the Chinese national team who once played for the Everton Football Club in the English Premier League, has been jailed in China for 20 years on bribery charges as part of a crackdown on corruption in sport. He was sentenced at a court in the province of Hubei on Friday, after being found guilty of a string of offences relating to giving and receiving bribes. The court said that the 47-year-old, by far the biggest sporting name netted in the sweeping crackdown, had handled bribes totalling 120 million yuan ($16.5m) between 2015 and 2021, a period including his two-year tenure as national coach. Li submitted a
Dec
One of the men worked for Combs and alleged he was assaulted at a hotel. December 12, 2024, 1:21 PM Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of sexually assaulting three men, including one of his former employees, who he allegedly plied with spiked alcoholic drinks, according to new civil lawsuits filed Thursday in New York. One of the men worked for the rap mogul and alleged his former boss raped him at a hotel. The lawsuits, filed by anonymous accusers, alleged a similar pattern of conduct by Combs. “It was a usual thing. Come for a meeting, have a drink, you get woozy, you wake up to Sean Combs raping you, you get ushered out the door. I was struck by the similarity,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas Giuffra. “I was contacted
Dec
King joins star Raye on Christmas visit to Battersea Power Station PA Media The King met Apple boss Tim Cook and singer Raye on a visit to Apple HQ King Charles got into the festive spirit with an enthusiastically received visit to a Christmas market in Battersea Power Station in south-west London. A community choir was singing the carol We Three Kings as he arrived – and they had at least one real-life King there in person to listen. “You must be frozen. You’ll need a stiff drink,” the King said to the singers, outside in the December drizzle. The King also met Apple chief Tim Cook at the computer firm’s UK headquarters in the huge former power station building, before singer Raye gave them a seasonal serenade of “Holy
Brazilian president is doing well and should be discharged early next week, his medical team says. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has undergone a second surgical procedure after seeking treatment this week for an intracranial haemorrhage, his medical team said. Lula’s personal doctor, Roberto Kalil, said during a news conference on Thursday that the follow-up procedure to block blood flow to the affected area was a “success”. “The president is awake and speaking,” Kalil told reporters at the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo where Lula, 79, is being treated. The president was transported to the hospital from the capital Brasilia earlier this week after he experienced headaches that his doctors linked to a recent fall. Lula, who was sworn in as president in early 2023, had curtailed travel
Dec
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure an indictment against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, sources told ABC News. The DA’s office declined to comment due to the secrecy surrounding grand jury matters. An indictment could strengthen the case for extradition, which Mangione is fighting. The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate remains in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday. “He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday. Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Mangione was apprehended