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  WASHINGTON: Taliban assassinations of Afghan pilots detailed by Reuters  this month mark another "worrisome development" for the Afghan Air Force as it reels from a surge in fighting, a US government watchdog said in a report released on Thursday. At least seven Afghan pilots have been assassinated off base in recent months, two senior Afghan government officials told Reuters , part of what the Taliban says is a campaign to see US-trained Afghan pilots "targeted and eliminated." As the United States prepares to formally end its 20-year military mission in Afghanistan on Aug. 31, Taliban insurgents are quickly seizing territory once controlled by the US-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, raising fears they could eventually try to take the capital Kabul. Read:   US 'deeply troubled' by attacks on civilians as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), in its quarterly report ...

  The world’s first public movie screening was a far cry from today’s red carpet premieres, with just 30 people in attendance for an event that lasted some 20 minutes at a Parisian cafe on December 28, 1895. Now, Sotheby’s is auctioning the poster for that event, held by filmmaker brothers  Auguste Lumière and Louis Jean Lumière . It is likely the first film poster ever made . The design by artist Henri Brispot is one of 164 rare film posters for sale in an online auction  held by Sotheby’s London beginning August 28. The poster, which optimistically predicted a much larger crowd than the premiere actually received, carries a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 to £60,000 ($50,830 to $76,240). The auction house calls it “the ultimate collector’s poster,” adding that “this exceptionally rare piece has only surfaced a few times.” The sale runs through September 4 and also includes rare film posters from the James Bond series,  2001: A Space Odyssey, St...

  Many historians believe that the world’s first swimming pool was The Great Bath found among the ruins of an ancient civilization in Pakistan. This pool was constructed in the 3rd century BC and made of mud bricks and tar. The Great Bath was roughly 40 feet long, 22 feet wide, and about 8 feet deep. Its original use is unclear but many believe it was used for rituals and religious ceremonies. In the centuries that followed, other civilizations like Ancient Greece and Rome created pools for bathing and ceremonies. In these societies, pools were not luxuries designed just for bathing, but for beautification and aesthetics too. These pools were frequently built in sports clubs and used for games and exercises. The development of swimming pools continued on into the 19th century when competitive swim clubs were established in England. These clubs featured indoor swimming pools with diving boards and room for races. In 1856, the first modern Olympic games were held ...

    ISLAMABAD: The United States diplomatic mission in Islamabad has distanced itself from the high-profile murder of Noor Mukaddam , main accused of which is a US citizen – Zahir Jaffer. The murder and beheading of 27-year-old girl has sparked nationwide outrage with thousands of people calling on the authorities to take the case to its logical end. According to the post-mortem report, she was beheaded after being murdered in Islamabad on July 21. Noor was the daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, a former Pakistan ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan. Also read: Zahir confesses to Noor's murder: sources “In a foreign country, US citizens are subject to that country’s laws. When Americans are arrested abroad, the Embassy can check on their well-being and provide a list of lawyers, but cannot provide legal advice, participate in court proceedings or effect [affect] their release,” the US Embassy said in a testament on Tuesday. Zahir, said to be the son of a business tyc...

  When I chose earlier this summer to switch to  iPhone  from using an  Android  phone, I didn't think it was going to matter very much. I have been using Android on my phone for years, making use of the many non-Apple services that are out there to text and video chat friends and family. While I was aware my new phone purchase would provide access to to  iMessage and FaceTime , I considered it to be solely a perk of having an an iOS device. After all, Apple's services like Apple Arcade and Apple Music are often touted as being the best or exclusive to Apple products, but every one of them has rivals that work on both iOS and Android. Surely, I thought, we'd moved past whether someone was a "green bubble" or a "blue bubble" in a text message. But then after I started using my new iPhone, the following messages started coming in from several friends: iMessage is nice, but it shouldn't be vital. ...

  Nearly six years on from the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has finally unveiled the Windows 11 operating system , featuring a cleaner, more Mac-like design and a bunch of new features. Windows 11 will be available as a free download for existing Windows users  during the 2021 holiday season, according to a Microsoft blog post published after the virtual announcement event. However, new clues suggest that the update may actually arrive earlier. (Here's how to download Windows 11 once it's available , and  everything you need to know about Windows 11 .)  The free upgrade will begin to roll out to eligible Windows 10 PCs around the holidays (which would suggest November or December), and will continue into 2022, the post said. No specific date was announced. But it appears that Microsoft and laptop retailers may be hinting at an earlier release time: October.  During the Windows 11 reveal event, a Microsoft Teams message popped up on the demo screen...

 An early preview of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is here. We'll tell you where and how to install the new software for iPhone and iPad. Have you signed up for the  iOS 15 or iPadOS 15  public beta yet? The updates are available for those who are willing and brave enough to install the unfinished software to get an early look at all of the new features coming to Apple's devices later this year. As long as you have a  compatible iPhone or iPad (there's a list at the bottom of this post), you can sign up and install the new software. Just remember, you need to be willing to live with software that may not work 100% of the time . This public beta means you're free to tinker with the iOS 15 preview to your heart's content. The update brings plenty of new features to both devices. For example, there are new  FaceTime features  (allowing  Android and PC users  to take part for the first time) and  iMessage improvements  that make it easier t...

  The superhero-verse is chock-full of neurotic characters, from a guilt-ridden Captain America to an alcoholic Tony Stark to a self-absorbed Dr. Strange. But who nabs the unwanted prize for the most neurotic superhero? For the comic book experts at a San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday, the answer was clear.  Spider-Man, who dealt with guilt and shame after the death of his uncle, has become the "poster boy for the neurotic superhero," according to Travis Langley, a speaker during Neurotic Superheroes and the Writers Who Love Them at SDCC 2021. Langley, author of nonfiction books such as Batman and Psychology, echoed panelist Danny Fingeroth, who said the honor obviously went to Spidey. "Spoiler alert, (it's) Spider-Man, no surprise," said Fingeroth, who was the longtime group editor of Marvel's Spider-Man line of comics. "He had it built into his origin." SDCC went online last year amid the coronavirus pandemic and continued the for...

  he Delta variant of Covid-19 has now been detected in 124 territories worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. It is expected to become the dominant variant globally in the coming months, with the WHO predicting that there could be more than 200 million confirmed cases within a matter of weeks. Infections are rising, particularly in Europe and the western Pacific region. Some Western countries have started to ease restrictions as death rates have dropped. But those without access to vaccines or with a slower vaccine rollout are facing a deadlier threat. Here, BBC journalists around the world give a sense of the toll the Delta variant is taking and what impact its spread could have. Indonesia - Demand for funerals soars By Valdya Baraputri, BBC News Indonesia With more than 1,300 deaths in a day, Indonesia has become Asia's new Covid epicentre. Hundreds of people have died in self-isolation - possibly because they could not get immediate treatment or were t...

  The Afghan government imposed a month-long curfew across almost all of the country on Saturday in a bid to stop the Taliban from invading cities. Apart from the capital Kabul and two other provinces, no movement is allowed from 22:00 to 04:00 (17:30-23:30 GMT). Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces has increased over the past two months as international troops pull out of the country. The militant group is thought to have captured up to half of all territory. It has moved swiftly in the wake of the US withdrawal, retaking border crossings and other land in rural areas. BBC Afghanistan correspondent Secunder Kermani says there are concerns that with peace talks moving slowly, the focus of fighting will increasingly turn to more heavily populated urban centres. The Taliban - a fundamentalist Islamist militia who were pushed out of power by the US invasion nearly 20 years ago - has also seized key roads as it seeks to cut off supply routes. Its fighters...