Afghans in Kabul are this week under total Taliban rule after the terrorist organisation stormed the country’s capital on Sunday in the absence of western armed forces.
The Taliban swept into Kabul unopposed and seized the presidential palace after the government in Afghanistan collapsed, and their US-backed president had fled, bringing a swift end to almost two decades of British and US protection in the region.
Many Afghans are now fearing for their lives as they face the realisation that a brutal regime is about to be actioned by Taliban leaders and their foot soldiers.
In the last 24 hours, videos and images of locals attempting to flee the country have circulated on social media – with much of this content being too graphic, or distressing, to show or even put into words.
Afghan people attempt to flee Kabul as a US Air Force cargo plane takes off
Currently, the UK and US governments are scrambling to evacuate their own nationals, while hundreds of thousands of Afghans are either stranded or attempting to flee their homeland, putting their lives at risk in the process.
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If what is happening is affecting you and you want to help, here are numerous charities and causes you can support to help in Afghanistan:
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a not-for-profit organisation helps those facing the worst humanitarian crises. They estimate more than 18 million people need aid this year in Afghanistan and have been doing exactly that since 1988.
3. Call on the UK gov to reverse aid cuts, increase funding, push for a ceasefire, and welcome Afghan #refugees. https://t.co/DGWNQiVCkN
— International Rescue Committee – UK (@RESCUE_UK) August 17, 2021
In the last few days, the charity has urged world leaders to show support for civilians and humanitarian workers delivering aid – and have launched a £10 million appeal to raise funds so that their teams can deliver life-saving aid and provide emergency cash and protection for those displaced.
The one-off donations tell you what your money could go towards, including £40 to provide four tents for those displaced.
Mercy Corps is an active charity in over 40 countries worldwide. They work with people living in poverty, disaster and in the midst of violent conflict, and have been working in Afghanistan since the mid-1980s. They are currently urging the US government to continue aiding humanitarian work.
Afghanistan is on the brink of a massive humanitarian catastrophe. We are working quickly to get clean water and sanitation supplies to those families who recently fled to Kabul, and we will stay as long as we safely can. https://t.co/p0FvFG0l7j
The charity is currently working to provide clean water and sanitation for those fleeing Kabul, and will stay in Afghanistan as long as they possibly can.
Turquoise Mountain, set up by the Prince of Wales in Scotland back in 2006, is a charity focused on training artisans in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan with an aim of reviving historic areas and traditional crafts.
Like many, I’m feeling horrified & helpless at the situation in #Afghanistan – but one thing I can do is support financially. The Turquoise Mountain Trust has been working in Afghanistan for 15 yrs & can provide swift & vital support during this emergency: https://t.co/UfTI0xwYBa
The foundation, which works to protect heritage and communities at risk around the world, has been treating thousands of patients at its health clinic in Kabul. Over the weekend, a Crowdfunder campaign has been set up to raise money for their artists, staff, students and all those who visit their health clinic.
Women for Afghan Women, also known as WAW, is the largest non-government Afghan women’s rights organization in the world, founded in April 2001. It is dedicated to protecting the rights of Afghan women and girls. The staff are mostly Afghans and WAW adopts a community-based approach.
Women and girls are said to be those who will be affected most by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Before the conflict in the last week, the charity provided education to boys and girls and provided family counselling and vocational training for women and families.
@WAWHumanRights has been working 24/7 over the past few weeks to keep our clients, staff, and families alive and safe. We not only ask for your prayers but also your support to get us through this crisis.
However, in the last few weeks, they have been working to keep their clients, staff and families safe by evacuating shelters and providing resources and aid to women and their families.
The UN’s refugee agency is there to help refugees by raising funds to ensure humanitarian aid for displaced families. The charity’s team is already on the ground providing aid but still need supplies.
As part of their donation scheme, the charity lets you know what your money will provide; £35 could provide five sanitary kits. They are also trying to provide PPE to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Afghan Aid is responding with emergency assistance where needed and supporting families who have lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the conflict.
Islamic relief: Afghanistan is assisting families forced to flee their homes as Afghanistan sits on the brink of famine. This June, Afghanistan officially fell into drought, making rough conditions even worse.
Enabled Children Initiative runs Window of Hope private care home in Kabul, which provides care to Afghan children and youths with disabilities from around the country
Write to your MP and use social media
If you can’t afford to donate, you can still enact change by writing to your MP. You can also use your social media profiles to call on the UK gov to reverse aid cuts, increase funding, push for a ceasefire, and welcome Afghan refugees.
Internet signals reportedly ‘100x faster on the moon’ than on some UK trains
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: according to a recent study, internet signals on some UK trains are currently estimated to be 100x slower than they would be on… wait for it: the actual MOON.
Give us strength – and by that we mean signal strength.
As per new analysis carried out by Good Business Travel (GBT), research into some of the worst-connected train routes across Great Britain has delivered a rather depressing evaluation of our telecommunications systems and railways.
While some may certainly be better than others, it’s fair to say that we’ve all been there; you’re trying to have a call or use even a crumb of your data on a train before you ultimately give up and start arbitrarily looking through your photo library.
Put a man on the moon ✅ Cure diseases ✅
Get wifi on a fucking train. ABSOLUTELY NOT. NOOOO WAYYYYYY.
As damning and hyperbolic a claim as it might sound, GBT have indeed found that when compared against Ofcom’s benchmark for reliable internet performance (5Mbit/s), not a single train journey consistently meets the regulator’s standard.
Anyone who’s ever done Manchester to London and vice versa will know all too well how frustrating it can be to get a steady signal during your journey.
Never mind, eh? You know, they’re only two of the most modern and digitally-driven cities in the entire country – foolish of us to expect the key North-South link would carry over to internet connection.
Regarding train WiFi, hit and miss is putting it mildly, and even if you’re lucky enough to be on one that actually has a decent signal, it’s only a matter of time before the carriages fill up and throttle everyone’s connection, and it becomes patchy at best.
In what might be one of the slightest consolations ever, you’ll be glad to hear the LDN-MCR speeds are only the seventh worst in the nation, managing just 16% when it came to the average mobile network ‘Good Performance’ by Ofcom standards. You can see the unwanted top 10 leaderboard in full below.
The worst UK train journeys for mobile connectivity
Rank
Route
Average mobile network Good Performance (Ofcom)
1
Basingstoke to Coventry
6%
2
Sheffield to Doncaster
12%
3
Taunton to Leeds
13%
4
London to Edinburgh
14%
5
London to East Midlands Parkway
14%
6
Bedford to London St Pancras Peak
15%
7
London to Manchester
16%
8
London to Glasgow
18%
9
London to Plymouth
24%
10
London to Bournemouth
25%
Put simply, a staggering number of domestic train journeys fail the litmus test for what would be considered even a decent connection.
It’s got to the point now that there are even people starting nationwide campaigns to help generate awareness around upgrading telecoms infrastructure across the UK, with trains being one of the biggest challenges in this country.
Speaking on the report, Good Business Travel’s Client Experience Director, Natasha Inglis, said in a statement: “Millions of people travel by train every week expecting to work, stream, message friends or simply stay connected.
“Instead, they’re met with frozen video calls, emails that won’t send and endless buffering. While improvements to Britain’s rail connectivity have been promised by the government, passengers still have to deal with unreliable coverage every day. There are a few tricks that can help in the meantime.
“Many people don’t realise that sitting on the side of the train facing nearby towns or major roads can improve your signal because you’re closer to mobile masts. It’s also worth switching your phone to 4G instead of allowing it to constantly search for weak 5G signals, which often makes connectivity even less reliable on moving trains.”
But hey, things are slowly getting better if reports are to be believed, with satellite-enabled mobile services gradually being rolled out, meaning traditional ‘deadzones’/signal blackspots may not be as big of a problem as they once were. Touch wood.
For now, we’re just going to keep making sure we’ve got a decent book with us and enjoy taking a break from endless screentime.
Thomas Tuchel quote from early interview as England manager comes back to haunt him
Danny Jones
A quote from one of Thomas Tuchel’s first interviews as England boss looks to have come back to haunt him online after his squad limped out of the 2026 World Cup following their semi-final defeat to Argentina.
Ironic seems to be the word being thrown around the most…
The Three Lions fell at the penultimate hurdle against the genius of Lionel Messi and their old foes in ‘La Albiceleste’, despite grabbing the opening goal and looking the more dangerous on the counter-attack for large parts of the match.
Conversely, many have been quick to criticise Tuchel for his tactics and decision to go more defensive after taking the lead, not only sitting back but taking off some more advanced players who could have provided. Cue what some have called a “damning” clip rearing its head on social media…
👀🏴 Thomas Tuchel on England's Euro 2024 campaign: "They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament than having the excitement and hunger to win it"
While it might still be a valid point in relation to why previous manager Gareth Southgate’s couldn’t cross the finish line not only at the last Euros but in Euro 2020 as well (the latter of which we also scored first in), it now feels rather hypocritical to many given how lots of fans believe he tried to see out the tie.
There’s plenty of fair comments about England’s style and gameplan(s)/lack thereof – even at times this past few weeks – but they nevertheless managed to make it yet another semi-final.
It’s worth noting, by the way, that this is the third time they’ve reached this point in the knockout stages across the previous quartet of major competitions, just for a little worthwhile perspective on how far the national team setup has come over the best part of the last decade.
And that’s not including a quarter-final finish in the 2019 Nations League, either.
Of course, we also made it through to the last four at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the team bowed out to a ruthless France side by arguably playing too open, but they still showed attacking intent and tried to win the game back then.
It’s that distinction in approach, it would seem, that has left the vast majority of supporters, pundits and English people who were watching on last night so frustrated, as much like his remarks above back in March 2025, it looked as though the idea was to sit back and hang on to their slim advantage.
As evidenced by the comment and numerous reposts, countless people couldn’t agree more with reporter Tim Vickery’s analysis of what went wrong, or rather what changed, which then led to letting Argentina gain the ascendancy and our downfall.
To put it into numbers, between the 67th and 92nd minute, the players had little more than 7% possession, with only a few touches in the opposition box; in fact, Harry Kane didn’t manage to receive the ball even once inside the penalty area.
Now THAT, we would agree, can be seen as ‘damning’ statistics and stuff to hear, especially when the German coach has already claimed that England have been guilty of being too scared to lose in big fixtures in the past. Here’s what he had to say this time around:
Do you agree with his post-match thoughts?
Credit where credit is due, he didn’t mince his words when it came to accountability and certainly hasn’t shied away from being brutally honest through this tournament.
You only have to look at his words after a narrow victory in the quarters against Norway – which star man Jude Bellingham took umbrage with last week – to know he takes responsibility and his own standards very seriously.
Who knows whether the issues came from the technical area, or the players themselves simply struggled to keep their confidence to stick to the task; all we know is we’re gutted not only with the result but by the manner in which we lost. What did you make of the
It might not come as any real consolation, but in case you missed the news, Lionel Scaloni’s side do look like they are due to be punished for a provocative, politically-charged statement after full-time.
The Manc -
17th August 2021 
