Reuters World News Summary

11. Tajikistan calls up reservists to bolster border as Afghan troops, fleeing Taliban, seek refuge Tajikistan's president on Monday ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Exclusive-Taliban aim to present written peace plan at talks as soon as next month -spokesman

The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial gains in the breach left by departing foreign forces. Hundreds of Afghan security force members have fled into neighbouring Tajikistan in the face of Taliban advances since the United States vacated its main Afghan base, centrepiece of U.S. and NATO might for almost two decades in the country, as part of a plan to withdraw all foreign troops by Sept. 11.

Tajikistan calls up reservists to bolster border as Afghan troops, fleeing Taliban, seek refuge

Tajikistan's president on Monday ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster the border with Afghanistan after more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the frontier in response to Taliban militant advances. The crossings on Sunday underscored the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where foreign troops near a complete withdrawal after 20 years of war and with peace negotiations stalled.

Some 150 students missing after gunmen raid Nigerian school –parent, administrator

About 150 students are missing after armed men raided a boarding school in Nigeria's Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator said on Monday, and police said they were in hot pursuit alongside military personnel. The attack on the Bethel Baptist High School is the 10th mass school kidnapping since December in northwest Nigeria, which authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments.

Restriction of civic space in Venezuela is worrying, says U.N. human rights chief

Restrictions on civic space in Venezuela remain a cause for concern, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday. Bachelet's office said it documented 97 incidents of "stigmatization, criminalization and threats against dissenting voices, particularly towards civil society, media and members of the opposition" from June 2020 to May 2021.

Protests in Spain against suspected LGBT hate crime

People took to the streets of Spain's biggest cities on Monday evening to express their anger at the death of a man in a suspected homophobic attack at the weekend. Crowds filled a central Madrid square and activists marched down a major street in Barcelona, chanting slogans and waving placards and rainbow-coloured flags.

Return to normal? UK PM Johnson outlines end to England's virus restrictions

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out plans on Monday to end social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England in two weeks' time, a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the highly contagious Delta variant. Johnson confirmed the government aimed to end restrictive measures on July 19, with a final decision to be taken next week. He said the step would eliminate formal limits on social contact, the instruction to work from home, and mandates to wear face masks.

Israel sees drop in Pfizer vaccine protection against infections, still strong in severe illness

Israel reported on Monday a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness. The decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the end of social distancing restrictions in Israel.

Brazil's Bolsonaro implicated in alleged graft scheme as lawmaker, UOL reports

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was involved in a scheme to skim salaries of his aides while a federal deputy, website UOL reported on Monday, citing what it said were audios of his former sister-in-law explaining his role in the alleged racket. The scheme, known locally as rachadinha, involves hiring close associates as employees and then receiving a cut of their public salaries back from them.

Honduran court finds construction exec guilty in activist's murder

A former top executive of a Honduran construction firm was found guilty on Monday of being a collaborator in the 2016 murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres, a judge said in a court ruling. Roberto David Castillo, the former head of Desarrollos Energeticos, or DESA, which ran the $50 million Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project, has said he is innocent of the charges.

Drone shot down near U.S. embassy in Baghdad, no casualties: security sources

A drone was intercepted and shot down near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Monday, without causing casualties, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters. The sources said the drone failed to reach the embassy compound.