A day that that grew steadily warmer and started in a leisurely way for me updating my contemporary monthly journal summary and then working on my moorings, flailing the long grass and trimming back boundary hedge growth. England and Wales won their football matches and England have been left needing 291 more runs to win against India. We had our first ‘tentative’ offer for Lady Martina today.
Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a pregnant policewoman Banu Negar home in front of relatives in Firozkoh and Boris Johnson defended his handling of the Afghanistan crisis in the Commons
The weather had started to turn warmer as the onshore humid breeze dropped and the skies cleared to provide some sunshine for a change. Being based back at Heronshaw for the time being, I was working on publishing my journal, which had become overdue, and then went across later to flail the long grass in my moorings plot and then start cutting back the overgrown hedges with my long chain saw tool. I had got on well with this when I had to stop and return to watch more of the England football match, which they duly won. I had broken off watching the Wales match due to lack of time and then noted later that Gareth Bale scored a hattrick and saved the match against Belarus that they had been losing. Scotland had edged a 1-1 draw, scoring later after going behind and then England eventually won 4-0. We had our first tentative offer for Lady Martina today at £85K and I gave our other potential purchasers the chance to bid before accepting this offer.
Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a policewoman in a provincial city, witnesses have said. The woman, named in local media as Banu Negar, was killed at the family home in front of relatives in Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province. The killing comes amid increasing reports of escalating repression of women in Afghanistan.
The Taliban told the BBC they had no involvement in Negar's death and are investigating the incident. Spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said: "We are aware of the incident and I am confirming that the Taliban have not killed her, our investigation is ongoing." He added that the Taliban had already announced an amnesty for people who worked for the previous administration and put Negar's murder down to "personal enmity or something else". Details of the incident are still sketchy as many in Firozkoh fear retribution if they speak out.
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But three sources have said that the Taliban beat and shot Negar dead in front of her husband and children on Saturday. Relatives supplied graphic images showing blood spattered on a wall in the corner of a room and a body, the face heavily disfigured. The family say Negar, who worked at the local prison, was eight months pregnant. Three gunmen arrived at the house on Saturday and searched it before tying members of the family up, relatives say.
Boris Johnson will defend his handling of the Afghanistan crisis in the Commons as he reiterates his vow to use "every economic, political and diplomatic lever" to help Afghans. Both he and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have faced criticism over the UK's response to the Taliban takeover. The prime minister will make a statement in the House later on Monday. It comes after the UK's top general said "everybody got it wrong" on how quickly the Taliban would gain control. Labour has been among those warning that the UK could face a heightened terror threat if extremism is allowed to flourish in Afghanistan. The last British and US troops left Afghanistan at the end of August, bringing their 20-year military campaign in the country to an end. There has been criticism of the way the West withdrew, with questions over how the Taliban was able to seize control of the country at such speed.
And there is also concern that many Afghans who were eligible to come to the UK -many of whom worked with the British armed forces or government - have been left behind.