Sunday, August 22nd, 2021 

Ahmad Massoud, who is leading the Panjshir resistance along with self-proclaimed acting president Amrullah Saleh, refuses to surrender the Panjshir Valley to the Taliban and says that war is “unavoidable” if the Taliban refuse dialogue on the formation of a comprehensive government. (Al-Arabiya English) 

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid says that they will form a new government soon. (The Times) 

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that the U.S. will ensure that all American citizens will be evacuated to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (ABC News) 

Austin also announces that the U.S. Department of Defense will activate the Civil Reserve Air Fleet for the third time and send 18 planes that will be used by the U.S. military to help evacuate American citizens. (Forbes) 

U.S. President Joe Biden says that American troops may remain in Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline. He also announces that 11,000 people were evacuated from the country in the past 36 hours. (NBC News) 

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott announces that the network has evacuated 24 people from Afghanistan, including three Afghan nationals who assisted with the network’s coverage of the war. (Variety) 

The Netherlands increases its military presence in Afghanistan to help evacuate 700 Dutch nationals and Afghan allies. Dutch foreign minister Sigrid Kaag said last Friday that multiple Afghans are eligible for evacuation to the Netherlands. (Reuters) 

During a meeting with Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tehran, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi urged Japan to release $3 billion in Iranian assets frozen in Japan due to international sanctions against Iran. (Reuters) 

The End Monday 

Taliban attempting to control crowds at Kabul airport The situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul reportedly remained chaotic and dangerous on Sunday as many Afghans continue to try to evacuate the country following the Taliban’s takeover of the capital city. No major injuries have been reported on Sunday, even as the Taliban fired in the air and used batons to make people line up in orderly fashion outside the airport gates. But the British defense ministry said seven Afghans were killed in the crush around the airport on Saturday; a NATO official said at least 20 people have died in the past week. Some victims were shot, others were killed in stampedes, witnesses have said, per Reuters. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon has sent signals suggesting U.S. troops, who to this point have remained at the airport, may stage operations beyond the gates to help get American citizens and Afghan civilians who aided the U.S. military out of the country. REUTERS 

Biden administration activates civilian aircraft to aid Afghanistan evacuation The Biden administration on Sunday activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which means commercial airlines in the United States will provide flights to aid evacuation efforts in Afghanistan. Three aircraft each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines will be put into service. These planes won’t fly into Afghanistan, however. Instead, they’ll be used to transport the evacuees who have already left the country and are stranded at U.S. military bases in places like Germany, Qatar, and Bahrain. The CRAF program was created after the 1948-9 Berlin Airlift, an early Cold War crisis during which the Soviet Union blocked access to sectors of the divided city controlled by Western powers. It was previously activated ruing Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990 and 1991, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2002 and 2003. CNBC 

Israel strikes Hamas weapons sites after violent border demonstrations  The Israeli military bombed four Hamas weapons and storage manufacturing sites in the Gaza Strip on Sunday following a demonstration that turned violent at a fortified border fence on Saturday. Hundreds of Palestinians attended the protest, which was organized by Hamas and aimed at drawing attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory. Dozens of the demonstrators approached the fence and threw rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers, the military said. At least 41 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, were injured after Israeli forces returned gunfire, the Gaza health ministry said, and an Israeli Border Police officer was shot and critically injured.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Trump blasts Biden’s Afghanistan exit during Alabama rally Former President Donald Trump held a rally in support of Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who is running for a Senate seat, in Cullman, Alabama, on Saturday. During his speech, Trump again took aim at President Biden for the strategy behind the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, an outcome that he pushed for heavily during his time in the White House. “This will go down as one of the great military defeats of all time and it did not have to happen that way,” Trump told the crowd of his supporters, which reportedly numbered in the thousands. “This was not a withdrawal, this was a total surrender, for no reason.” Trump said the exit makes the U.S. departure from Vietnam look like a “masterclass.” He also defended his administration’s deal with the Taliban — whom he described as “great negotiators” and “tough fighters” — arguing that it was a “conditions-based agreement.”  REUTERS 

Saturday, August 21st, 2021 

Seven people are killed during a stampede at the airport in Kabul. (Reuters) 

United States Army major general William D. Taylor announces that the United States has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, in the past few weeks. (CNBC) 

The U.S. and Germany both issue advisories warning nationals not to travel to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul almost a week after the Taliban took control. (Reuters) 

The European Union says that there will be “no recognition, no political talks” with the Taliban. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says that the EU will “measure the Taliban by their deeds and actions” before engaging in any recognition. Von der Leyen also announced an increase in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. (Reuters) 

Afghan-American LGBT rights activist Nemat Sadat says that gay Afghans are facing death under the Taliban, as a 21-year-old man from Balkh Province says that he is trying to seek asylum and thinks that he may never see his boyfriend again. Another gay man from Kabul who worked for the United Nations described the current situation for homosexuals as a “nightmare”. (Yahoo! News) 

Former president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez cuts her arm while in jail in what was allegedly a suicide attempt. (El Comercio) (Reuters) 

Ismail Sabri Yaakob is sworn in as the ninth prime minister of Malaysia. (CNA) 

The End Sunday 

Biden vows to get Americans in Afghanistan home  Speaking from the White House amid the chaos that has unfolded since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Biden said the United States has evacuated about 13,000 people from the country since Aug. 14th amid “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history.” He promised that, “Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” vowing to “mobilize every resource necessary” in this effort. The president also said the United States will be making this “same commitment” to Afghans who assisted in the war effort. Biden said, though, that he “cannot promise what the final outcome” of the “dangerous” evacuation mission will be, or “that it will be without risk of loss,” and he did not commit to the evacuation being completed by the end of August.    THE WEEKCBS NEWS 

FDA reportedly set to grant Pfizer vaccine full approval next week  The Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine next week, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post report, citing people familiar with the planning. The agency previously cleared the two-dose shot for emergency use in December. Public health officials are hopeful removing the emergency tag will convince some Americans who remain hesitant about getting vaccinated to receive their shots, and it’s also expected that the FDA ruling will prompt more businesses and institutions to impose vaccine mandates. Meanwhile, Moderna is still completing rolling data submissions before it files for full approval for its vaccine, while Johnson & Johnson said it plans to file for full approval later this year. 

THE WALL STREET JOURNALTHE WASHINGTON POST 

Hurricane Grace makes landfall in Mexico  Hurricane Grace made landfall on the eastern coast of Mexico early Saturday as a category 3 storm. The National Hurricane Center said strong winds will continue to batter the region through the morning and heavy rainfall — which in some areas reportedly could reach up to a foot — will bring the risk of flash floods and mudslides over the course of the weekend. Grace had already hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula earlier this week before weakening to a tropical storm and restrengthening again. The northeastern United States is also bracing for a potential hurricane as Tropical Storm Henri heads that way — the gale is expected to strengthen before making landfall either in New York’s Long Island or southern New England, the NHC said. THE GUARDIANCNN 

Taliban co-founder arrives in Kabul for government talks Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks on establishing a new government, Agence France-Presse and BBC report. A senior Taliban official told AFP that Baradar, who arrived in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from Qatar last Tuesday after the insurgency had retaken Kabul, will meet with “jihadi leaders and politicians” to discuss “an inclusive government setup.” The Taliban claims its rule will be different from the last time it was in control of most of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. The group, however, has not given many details on what this means, or who else will be included in the government, though Afghan political leaders like Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai remain in Kabul and are talking with Taliban leaders. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEBBC 

California judge rules gig worker measure unconstitutional  A California judge on Friday ruled that Proposition 22, a 2020 ballot measure that exempted ride-share and food delivery drivers from a California labor law requiring more companies to hire workers as employees and provide them benefits, is unconstitutional. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch wrote that Proposition 22 “limits the power of a future legislature to define app-based drivers as workers subject to workers’ compensation law,” making the measure “unenforceable.” Proposition 22 is aimed at cementing drivers for companies like Uber, Lyft, and Doordash as independent contractors rather than employees, though they would still have additional benefits.  CNBCBLOOMBERG 

Supreme Court temporarily halts Trump border policy reinstatement The Supreme Court is temporarily halting a federal judge’s order that would have forced the government to reinstate a Trump administration policy forcing migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico during processing. The Supreme Court’s temporary stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito late Friday night, will remain in effect until Tuesday night while the justices consider filings in the case. President Biden suspended the Trump-era program, commonly known as the “Remain in Mexico”  policy, before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, ordered the White House to reinstate the program earlier this month. The Biden administration filed an emergency interview request before the Supreme Court on Friday after the Fifth Circuit of Appeals declined to pause Kascsmaryk’s order. CBS NEWSUSA TODAY 

Biden nominates veteran diplomat as Beijing ambassador President Biden has nominated veteran United States diplomat Nicholas Burns to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China, the White House said Friday. The move marks a shift for the role, Reuters notes. Over the past decade, former politicians have filled the posting in Beijing, but Burns is a retired career foreign service officer who served as under secretary of state between 2005 and 2008 during the second term of the George W. Bush administration. Before that he was the U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2001 to 2005, and the ambassador to Greece from 1997 to 2001. Burns is not considered a China policy specialist, but if he’s confirmed by the Senate he’ll head to Beijing at a crucial time, as tensions remain high between Washington and Beijing. THE HILLREUTERS 

University of Virginia disenrolls 238 students for failing to comply with vaccine mandate The University of Virginia has disenrolled 238 students for not complying with its COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The students do have one week to comply with the mandate, which was announced in May and applies to all students living, attending classes, and working on campus in the fall. But a spokesman for the university said that only 49 of the students had enrolled in classes for the upcoming semester, so the others likely weren’t planning on returning anyway. All told, only a small number of students have so far failed to comply with the mandate — 99 percent of eligible students have done so, and a few others have religious or medical exemptions, though the latter group will have to undergo testing at least once a week. THE CAVALIER DAILYCNN 

United States Army major general William D. Taylor announces that the United States has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, in the past weeks. (CNBC) 

The U.S. and Germany issues an advisory warning nationals not to travel to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (Reuters) 

Chad recalls half of its 1,200 troops in the tri-border of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The decision informed to the coalition by Chadian military was explained as a part of deploying troops elsewhere, where Chad faces other conflicts. (Reuters) 

Friday,  August 20th, 2021 

An assessment by the United Nations reports that the Taliban is conducting “targeted door-to-door visits” searching for opponents and their families, deepening concerns that the group will seek revenge. (Al Jazeera) 

The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov says that the Panjshir resistance led by Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud is “doomed”. Zhirnov also praises the Taliban and says that the situation in Kabul is better than it was when Ashraf Ghani was governing the country. (Reuters) 

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the United States for a second time this week. During the address, Biden said that the U.S. will evacuate any Americans who want to return to the U.S. He also announces that 18,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past few weeks, and that 5,700 people were evacuated in the past 24 hours. (CBS News) 

Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez and the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg announce that Colombia will temporarily receive up to 4,000 Afghan nationals who are awaiting a Special Immigrant Visa clearance. (Reuters) 

Gunmen open fire against civilians who were praying at a mosque in the village of Theim, in southwestern Niger, killing 16 people. (Reuters) 

A suicide bomber in Gwadar, Pakistan, blows himself up targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals, killing two children who were playing by the roadside. Three other people, including a Chinese citizen, are wounded. The Balochistan Liberation Army claim responsibility for the attack. (Al Jazeera) 

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett receives his third “booster” dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as Israel expands its booster dose campaign eligibility to people over the age of 40. (The Guardian) 

Portugal eases its COVID-19-related restrictions two weeks earlier than planned. Beginning on August 23, the country will allow eight people indoors and 15 people outdoors to sit together in bars and restaurants, and will also allow cultural events, weddings and baptisms to increase their capacity to 75% and permit restaurants, cultural venues and other businesses to remain open until 2:00 a.m. as the vaccination rate surpasses 70%. (Reuters) 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves the country’s first monoclonal antibody cocktail drug (Ronapreve) developed by Regeneron and Roche to treat severe COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom. (Euronews) 

Cuba grants the emergency use approval for its second homegrown Soberana 2 vaccine. (Reuters) 

On her last official trip as Chancellor, Angela Merkel urges Russian President Vladimir Putin to release jailed activist Alexei Navalny. The Russian government rebuffed Merkel, saying that Navalny is in prison due to reasons not linked to politics. (Reuters) 

Ismail Sabri Yaakob is appointed as the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia, following the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin amid the collapse of the government. (Malaysiakini) (The Independent) (DW) 

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 

A Taliban militant is stabbed by protestors in Asadabad while celebrating Independence Day. Fellow Taliban militants open fire on the crowd after the stabbing, killing two people and wounding eight others. Additionally, two people are injured during a protest in Jalalabad. (Al Jazeera) 

More incidents are reported at the airport in Kabul, as civilians try to escape the country. A total of 12 people have been confirmed to have been killed at the airport since the fall of the city, primarily due to stampedes and gun incidents. (Business Insider) 

Ahmad Massoud, the 32-year-old son of anti-Soviet mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, vows to resist a potential assault of the Taliban on Panjshir. Massoud, who is allied with self-proclaimed acting president Amrullah Saleh, says that the Taliban will face a “staunch resistance” if they attack. (Reuters) 

U.S. President Joe Biden says that the Taliban “must decide if it wants international recognition”, but that the group had not changed its priorities during the past 20 years. (RTE) 

The Pentagon announces that 7,000 civilians have been evacuated since August 14. (Axios) 

The Taliban declares the formation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. (Forbes) 

Toyota reduces its production quota for next month by 40% due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in Asia severely impacting the company’s supply chains, especially those involved in chip production. Up to this point, the company was one of the only major car manufacturers to avoid scaling back production during the pandemic. Volkswagen warns that it might also have to reduce its production quotas for similar reasons. (BBC) 

Content subscription service OnlyFans announces that it will ban sexually explicit material beginning in October. The policy changes, according to UK-based company, are “to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers”. (Variety) 

The number of people over the age of 16 who have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Australia surpasses 50%, with a record 309,010 doses administered yesterday. (ABC News Australia) 

Prime Minister Jacinda Arden‘s Cabinet grants approval for children between the ages of 12 and 15 to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine beginning on September 1. (Newshub) 

Hong Kong and Singapore abandon plans to resume a “travel bubble” for quarantine-free travel between the two cities due to differing COVID-19 policies. (The Straits Times) 

The U.S. Supreme Court Building, the headquarters of the Republican National Committee, and other locations in Washington, D.C.‘s Capitol Hill area are evacuated after a man parked his truck in front of the Library of Congress and threatened to detonate a bomb while making anti-government statements. The man surrendered to the police several hours after he began his standoff. (CNBC) 

Rain falls on the summit of Greenland for the first time in recorded history. The rain shower dumped more than 7 billion tonnes of water on the ice sheet. (CNN) 

The End Sun Aug 29^th Post 

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 

A Taliban militant is stabbed by protestors in Asadabad while celebrating the Independence Day. Fellow Taliban militants open fire on the crowd after the stabbing, killing two people and wounding eight more. In Jalalabad, two people are also injured during a protest. (Al Jazeera) 

More incidents are reported at the airport in Kabul, as civilians are trying to escape. A total of 12 people have been confirmed killed at the airport since the fall of the city, during stampedes and gun incidents. (Business Insider) 

Ahmad Massoud, the 32-year-old son of late anti-Soviet mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, vows to resist a potential assault of the Taliban on Panjshir. Massoud, who is allied with self-proclaimed acting president Amrullah Saleh, says that the Taliban will face a “staunch resistance” if they attack. (Reuters) 

U.S. President Joe Biden says that the Taliban “must decide if it wants international recognition”, but that the group had not changed it’s priorities in the past 20 years. (RTE) 

The death toll of the earthquake in Haiti reaches 2,189. (Associated Press) 

Iran surpasses 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Radio France Internationale) 

Taliban commander says Afghanistan returning to Sharia law A high-ranking Taliban commander, Waheedullah Hashimi, confirmed Wednesday that the Islamist group was likely to rule Afghanistan under a system like one it used the last time it was in power two decades ago. “There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country,” Hashimi said, adding that the country would be run under Sharia law. The United States is conducting talks with the Taliban to ensure safe passage for Americans and others trying to get to the Kabul airport to leave. Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled after the Taliban seized Kabul on Sunday, surfaced in the United Arab Emirates, and denied allegations that he fled Afghanistan with a large amount of cash. CNN 

Biden administration to offer coronavirus booster shots The United States plans to start an effort to distribute Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 booster shots the week of Sept. 20 in response to new data indicating that immunity from the vaccines gradually drops, leading U.S. public health authorities announced Wednesday. “We are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” said a joint statement by the officials, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, and White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. Boosters can help shore up immunity, “especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout,” the officials said. CNBC 

Haiti hospitals overwhelmed as earthquake victims await aid Hospitals in Haiti on Wednesday struggled to treat as many of the more than 12,200 people injured in Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake as they could. At least 2,189 people have been confirmed dead, but authorities feared the toll could rise as search crews reach remote areas. Heavy rains have delayed rescue efforts on parts of the Caribbean nation’s devastated southwestern peninsula. At least 75,000 homes have been confirmed damaged or destroyed. Dozens of people awaited treatment at the main hospital in the city of Jeremie. Doctors said that unless the most severely injured patients could be evacuated to better-equipped facilities, at least a third could die or lose limbs. Tensions have risen as frustrated victims await aid. CNN 

Jared Kushner friend pardoned by Trump faces state cyberstalking charges Ken Kurson, the former editor-in-chief of the New York Observer, was charged in New York state criminal court on Wednesday on felony charges of eavesdropping and computer trespass. Kurson is a close friend of former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and was pardoned by Trump seven months ago after federal prosecutors charged him with cyberstalking and harassing three people. Those allegations emerged during a routine background check after the Trump administration nominated him for a spot on the National Endowment for the Humanities board. The new, state charges involved the alleged use of spyware to monitor the computer use of Kurson’s wife at The Observer‘s Manhattan offices. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Education Department to counter state efforts to prevent mask mandates The Biden administration will use the Education Department’s civil rights enforcement authority to prevent states from banning mask mandates in public schools, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Wednesday. The plan escalates the administration’s clash with Republican-led states, including Texas and Florida, that have ordered school districts and other local jurisdictions not to require face coverings to curb coronavirus infections, even in areas where the highly infectious Delta variant is rampant. Biden said he directed Cardona “to take additional steps to protect our children” as some governors set “a dangerous tone” by threatening to penalize school officials who require masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that everyone wear face coverings in the classroom. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

‘Unprecedented’ Caldor Fire explodes in California The Caldor Fire continued its explosive growth in California’s El Dorado County on Wednesday, expanding to nearly 63,000 acres. The blaze has destroyed a school, a church, and many other buildings, and forced thousands of people to flee rural homes. The fire just started last weekend. Caldor fire response spokesperson Chris Vestal said its behavior has been “unprecedented,” with unusually high flame lengths and rapid expansion as it ripped through steep terrain, fueled by what Cal Fire described as “large amounts of dry vegetation.” The massive Dixie Fire, which has burned more than 635,000 acres, also continued to burn on Wednesday, threatening the communities of Janesville and Susanville in Lassen County.  LOS ANGELES TIMES 

Fed minutes show officials considering reducing stimulus Federal Reserve policy makers are considering dialing back their efforts to boost the economy later this year, according to minutes from the Fed’s late-July meeting that were released on Wednesday. Fed leaders are nearing a consensus on trimming the central bank’s $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage securities at one of their remaining three 2021 policy meetings, the July minutes indicated. “Most participants noted that, provided that the economy were to evolve broadly as they anticipated, they judged that it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year,” the minutes said. Some officials were more cautious, suggesting the Fed should wait until next year to make sure the job market has fully recovered from the damage of the coronavirus pandemic. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Biden says U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan until evacuation complete President Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. would leave troops in Afghanistan beyond an Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline if necessary to evacuate all Americans following the Taliban’s takeover of the country. “We’re going to stay until we get them all out,” Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. The U.S. is running a massive evacuation effort from the Kabul airport, working on getting out as many as 2,000 people per day. About 10,000 to 15,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan, as do tens of thousands of Afghan allies the Biden administration is trying to evacuate. “The commitment holds to get everyone out that in fact we can get out and everyone who should come out,” Biden said. “And I think we’ll get there.” USA TODAY 

Judge blocks permits for Alaska oil project U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason on Wednesday blocked permits approved by the Trump administration and backed by the Biden administration for ConocoPhillips’ Willow project to extract oil from Alaska’s North Slope. Gleason — an Obama appointee — found that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to adequately assess the project’s climate impact and other environmental factors, including how it could harm polar bears, a threatened species. The decision marked a significant setback for the project, which could produce up to 160,000 barrels of oil per day west of Prudhoe Bay in the Alaskan Arctic. Environmental activists praised the decision, which ConocoPhillips said it would review as it evaluates potential changes to the project. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021 

Three people are killed and 12 more are wounded during a shootout as civilians protest in Jalalabad against the Taliban banner replacing Afghanistan’s national flag. (Reuters) 

The United Arab Emirates confirms through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs that former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has been welcomed into the country along with his family on humanitarian grounds. (Reuters) 

The Afghan embassy in Tajikistan issues a request to INTERPOL to arrest former President Ghani on the accusation that Ghani stole from the country’s treasury when he left Afghanistan. (Forbes) 

Former President Ghani says that he left the country to avoid being lynched. He also denies reports that he left the country with cash and says that he is in talks to return to Afghanistan. (The New York Times) 

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that 15 more citizens of Kyrgyzstan have evacuated out of Afghanistan. (Kabar) 

During an interview with ABC News reporter George Stephanopoulos, U.S. President Joe Biden says that the U.S. is committed to getting every American out of Afghanistan, even if it means extending the mission past the August 31 withdrawal deadline. (ABC News) 

Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces in a statement that Oregon will accept refugees from Afghanistan, becoming the latest U.S. state to do so. (The Hill) 

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that American troops will evacuate as many Americans and allied Afghan interpreters as they can, but also admits that the Pentagon lacks the capacity to do so. Austin also announces that around 5,000 people have already been evacuated. (Stars and Stripes) (NBC News) 

Two people are killed by wildfires that are affecting Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France, mostly near the city of Saint-Tropez. (The Guardian) 

Israel begins to require people over the age of 3 to show their vaccination certificate, a negative test result, or proof that they have recovered from COVID-19 in order to enter indoor places other than malls and stores. Additionally, there will be crowd size restrictions at large events and malls and stores will be required to limit their capacity to no more than one person per 7 square metres (75 sq ft). (Haaretz) 

Japan reports a record 23,917 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, with new records also being reported in 27 prefectures. (The Japan Times) 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces a snap lockdown, stating that the country’s first community infection of COVID-19 in six months, reported yesterday, is suspected of being a Delta variant case. The lockdown will last for seven days in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, and for three days in the rest of the country. (ABC News Australia) (Times of Oman) 

New Zealand announces that the country’s first community infection of COVID-19 in six months is also the country’s first confirmed case of the Delta variant, and that the total number of cases associated with the current outbreak has increased to 10. (9 News) (Japan Today) 

The Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk issues an emergency use authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (El Financiero) 

The Biden administration announces that, beginning on September 20, the U.S. will begin administering booster shoots of the Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines for most people who received their second dose at least eight months ago. (Business Insider) 

Fox News will require their employees to disclose their vaccination status into the company’s personnel records. (New York Daily News) 

Bulgaria reports an outbreak of African swine fever at an industrial farm with 13,000 pigs in the village of Apriltsi. (Reuters) 

Formula One announces that this year’s Japanese Grand Prix scheduled for October 8–10 has been cancelled due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Japan. (BBC Sport) 

The End Thursday