IAN LEE:
00:00:17
Good morning, Ann-Marie. Yeah, what we're seeing right now is a shift in the Taliban's offensive. Up until recently, the Islamist group has been taking large parts of the countryside, but now they're targeting cities. Three regional capitals in the northern part of the country are the militants' latest prizes. And that brings their total now up to five capitals captured. The Afghan government said its forces were fighting to retake key installations, but currently, several larger cities are also under siege, including the country's second largest of Kandahar. And this offensive spiked once international forces began their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Yesterday, a spokesman for the Taliban warned the US against further intervention in the country. We are moving on to Greece where wildfires have forced people to flee their homes on the island of Evia. Local officials say they just aren't getting enough help to fight the fires. More than 2,000 people have already been evacuated. The country is currently experiencing its most extreme heat wave in 30 years as temperatures soar above 110 degrees. And that's fueled a number of wildfires around the region. Next we're in China where the tech giant Alibaba is firing a manager accused of rape. Police are looking into the allegations made by a female worker against her boss, and she says he raped her in a hotel room while she was unconscious after a night of drinking. In a company wide memo, the chief executive said the manager had admitted there were intimate acts while she was, quote, "inebriated." The memo went on to say two other bosses who failed to act on these allegations have resigned. Finally, we're in Russia where Paul Whelan has been released from solitary confinement. The American has since been able to speak to his family about his condition. The former Marine's brother told CNN he was able to survive. No worse for the wear, but that he was wary on the phone. Last Friday, the US embassy said the Russian government has not responded to their request for updates about Whelan's condition. He was arrested in 2018 on accusations of being a spy and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Anne-Marie, Paul Whelan denies the accusations against him. He's been serving his sentence in a labor camp several hundred miles outside of Moscow. When President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last June, he brought up the case later saying he would not walk away from it. ANNE-MARIE GREEN: Well, that is good news. That sounds like-- it's a very tough sentence, so hopefully, we can see his release at some point. Thank you so much, Ian.
