Inside the escape from Kabul

Introducing your newly designed Daily Briefing newsletter [View online]( August 24, 2021 [Morning Headlines]( 1 / [Inside the UK operation to evacuate allied Afghans: ‘We are here to stand by those who stood by us’]( At the British base inside Kabul International Airport, Kim Sengupta meets the Afghans escaping with their whole lives in a single piece of hand luggage, and the UK soldiers who face a race against time to extract as many people as they can. The first passenger to board RAF Flight 65YT strode purposefully on to the aircraft in front of his family, leading a long line of people seeking to escape the dark shadow of the Taliban for a new life in Britain. The parents of that passenger, nine-year-old Mujtaba, had achieved something thousands of others desperately craved, the chance to get away from a shattered country with a deeply uncertain future. “We are so happy that we are actually on this plane, but even now we are nervous that something will happen until we take off,” said the boy’s father with a nervous laugh, before adding: “I am sure it’ll be alright.” Safi Abdullah Hidaytullah, a 67-year-old retired academic who was listening to the conversation from a nearby seat, leant forward: “He is a young boy and one day he will be able to return and see his country again. But me, I am too old, I don’t think I’ll be able to see Afghanistan again in my lifetime.” 2 / [‘Best club in London’: Extinction Rebellion closes streets as it launches latest mass protest]( Hundreds marched and gathered underneath the group’s newly launched giant pink crisis-talks table 3 / [Boris Johnson facing corruption legal battle over £4.8bn ‘levelling-up fund’ that sent cash to Tory areas]( High Court agrees to hear ‘arguable’ case 4 / [Climate crisis made severe rains behind Europe’s 2021 floods ‘up to nine times’ more likely]( Last month’s disaster killed at least 220 people in Belgium and Germany 5 / [Three dead after ‘serious’ collision on M25 motorway involving lorry, minibus and car]( Section will remain closed anti-clockwise between junction 27 for the M11 and junction 26 for Waltham Abbey The Big Question Who are the Hazara people of Afghanistan? The Hazaras are an ethnic minority native to the impoverished, mountainous Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan. They are thought to be descendants of the Mongol warlord Ghengis Khan - whose conquering army swept through the country in the 13th century - and speak Hazaragi, a Farsi dialect. They account for approximately nine per cent of the country’s 38m population but consider themselves routinely discriminated against - a situation that briefly appeared to be improving when Hamid Karzai appointed six Hazara members to a recent cabinet but which now looks as bleak as ever with the return of Taliban rule. The militants have already tortured and killed several Hazaras this summer - according to Amnesty International - as they swept through the country to take power in Kabul, but why are the minority being targeted once again? [Read the full story >]( Watch / [Terrifying video shows scene inside Caldor wildfire, California]( NUMBER OF THE DAY 279 billion The number of tons of ice Greenland lost per year between 1993 and 2019, while Antarctica lost about 148 billion tons of ice per year. (NASA) QUOTE OF THE DAY “This doesn’t need to be defeat but at the moment it damn well feels like it.” – Former soldier-turned-Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who served as an officer in Afghanistan Other stories you might like [More than 4,000 cases could be linked to Cornwall music festival]( [McDonald’s runs out of milkshakes and bottled drinks due to supply chain disruption]( [Derbyshire: Teenager dies after trying to ‘help friend’ in canal]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's Morning Headlines newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's Morning Headlines newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Headlines_Masterlist_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This e-mail was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.