KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

Pos   /   Country   /   New Daily cases   /   Total Deaths   /        Daily Deaths /           Active Cases   /           Deaths/1M Pop

               World    4,68,465              /             45,22,017            /             7,016     /             1,85,71,488        /             580.1

1             USA        86,014   /             6,55,667              /             463        /             82,92,249            /             1,967

2             UK          26,476   /             1,32,485              /             48           /             11,98,103            /             1,940

3             Iran        33,780   /             1,07,151              /             669        /             6,78,188              /             1,257

4             Russia    18,325   /             1,82,429              /             792        /             5,56,293              /             1,249

5             Turkey   19,557   /             56,458   /             245        /             4,86,869              /             661

6             Brazil     10,466   /             5,79,574              /             244        /             4,79,809              /             2,704

7             Spain     5,163     /             84,146   /             48           /             4,25,007              /             1,799

8             Mexico  6,837     /             2,58,165              /             259        /             4,07,594              /             1,978

9             France   3,795     /             1,14,308              /             98           /             4,06,676              /             1,747

10           India      30,180   /             4,38,589              /             202        /             3,77,196              /             314

11           Malaysia              19,268   /             16,382   /             295        /             2,65,713              /             499

12           Japan     19,314   /             15,946   /             50           /             2,47,358              /             127

13           Honduras                            /             8,832     /                            /             2,19,969              /             876

14           Vietnam               14,224   /             11,064   /             315        /             2,09,609              /             112

15           Indonesia            5,436     /             1,32,491              /             568        /             2,03,060              /             479

16           Argentina            5,358     /             1,11,607              /             224        /             1,98,178              /             2,443

17           Thailand               15,972   /             11,399   /             256        /             1,76,137              /             163

18           Poland   151        /             75,340   /                            /             1,55,991              /             1,993

19           South Africa       5,644     /             81,830   /             235        /             1,54,789              /             1,360

20           Philippines           22,366   /             33,330   /             222        /             1,48,594              /             300

25           Pakistan               3,800     /             25,670   /             66           /             93,690   /             114

41           Bangladesh         3,724     /             26,109   /             94           /             49,269   /             157

LAST TROOPS EXIT AFGHANISTAN, ENDING AMERICA'S LONGEST WAR; TALIBAN HERALDS “HISTORIC MOMENT”

The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war.

America’s 20-year-old military presence in Afghanistan has ended, President Joe Biden announced, hours after the United States withdrew all of its soldiers from the war-ravaged country.

“Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended,” he said, thanking armed forces for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled -- in the early hours of Tuesday (August 31) – with no further loss of American lives.

The Taliban have proclaimed “full independence” for Afghanistan after the last U.S. soldiers flew out following 20 years of war.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said early Tuesday that “American soldiers left the Kabul airport, and our nation got its full independence.” The US confirmed its last forces withdrew ahead of a Tuesday deadline, ending America's longest war and a frantic two-week evacuation effort.

The closing hours of the evacuation were marked by extraordinary drama. American troops faced the daunting task of getting final evacuees onto planes while also getting themselves and some of their equipment out, even as they monitored repeated threats.

Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official, said he was “proud” to witness “these historic moments”. “We made history again I am very happy that after 20 years of jihad, sacrifices & hardships I have this pride to see these historic moments,” Haqqani tweeted.

AFP reported the sound of small arms and heavier machine gun fire continued 45 minutes after the first announcement and that tracer rounds lit up the sky in s Kabul. In another tweet, Haqqani also urged Taliban fighters to avoid celebratory gunfire so as to make sure no innocent bystanders were hurt.

“All the American troops have left Afghanistan, we are very happy — you can listen to the celebratory fire,” Bilal Karimi, another Taliban spokesperson, told AFP by phone.

General Frank McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, announced the completion of America's longest war and the evacuation effort. McKenzie said the last planes took off from Kabul airport one minute before midnight on Monday in Kabul and that chief US diplomat in Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was on the last C-17 flight out.

The Taliban now control all of Afghanistan except for the Panjshir province, where a few thousand local fighters and remnants of the country's collapsed security forces have pledged to resist them. The Taliban have said they are seeking a peaceful resolution there.

US TROOPS DISABLED 73 AIRCRAFT, WEAPONS SYSTEMS BEFORE LEAVING KABUL

The US troops made their final exit from Afghanistan late on Monday night in a hasty retreat after 20 years of war that turned out to be America’s longest. Before leaving, the US military disabled a number of their choppers and armoured vehicles at the Kabul airport hangar.

A video shared by a journalist on Twitter shows how the Taliban fighters entered the hangar soon after the US forces exited the country in their final flight out of Kabul.

In the video, the Taliban fighters are seen examining the Chinook helicopters left behind by the US military. However, according to an AFP report, the US military has disabled scores of aircraft and armoured vehicles and a high-tech rocket defence system, before leaving the Kabul airport.

Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie said 73 aircraft that were already at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul were "demilitarized" or rendered useless by the US troops before they wrapped up the two-week evacuation.

"Those aircraft will never fly again... They'll never be able to be operated by anyone," he said and added, "Most of them are non-mission capable to begin with. But certainly, they'll never be able to be flown again."

The weapon systems used just hours earlier to counter Islamic State rockets launched toward the Kabul airport were kept operational until “the very last minute” as the final US military aircraft flew out, said reports. One of the last things US troops did was to make the so-called C-RAMS (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) inoperable.

AFGHAN TV ANCHOR RELAYS TALIBAN'S MESSAGE SURROUNDED BY ARMED FIGHTERS

In a shocking incident, armed Taliban fighters stormed into an Afghan news station on Sunday and held the TV anchor hostage on camera. The incident occurred during a live debate on TV. At least eight Taliban militants barged into the Afghan TV network Peace Studio and stood behind the anchor as he was conducting his regular show 'Pardaz'. The Taliban militants reportedly asked the anchor to interview them and continued to stand behind him in the studio as he conducted his show.

With the Taliban militants breathing down at his neck, the TV anchor addressed the news bulletin, talking about the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani-led government and the formation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Visibly afraid and uncomfortable, the presenter then went on to tell the nation to not be scared of the Taliban. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media and has raised serious questions on the freedom of the press in Afghanistan.

QATAR EMERGES AS KEY PLAYER IN AFGHANISTAN

Qatar played an outsized role in US efforts to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan. Now the tiny Gulf Arab state is being asked to help shape what is next for Afghanistan because of its ties with both Washington and the Taliban, who are in charge in Kabul. Qatar will be among global heavyweights on Monday when US secretary of state Antony Blinken hosts a virtual meeting to discuss a coordinated approach for the days ahead. Qatar has also reportedly been asked by the Taliban to provide civilian technical assistance at Kabul’s international airport, once the US withdrawal is complete on Tuesday. Authorities in Qatar have not commented on the reports. Meanwhile, several UN agencies are asking Qatar for support in delivering aid to Afghanistan.

Qatar’s role was somewhat unexpected. The nation was supposed to be a transit point for a just a few thousand people airlifted from Afghanistan over a timeline of several months. After the swift Taliban takeover of Kabul, the US looked to Qatar to help shoulder the evacuations . In the end, nearly 40% of all evacuees were moved out via Qatar, winning its leadership heaps of praise from Washington.

Qatar’s role in the evacuations reflects its position as host of West Asia’s biggest US military base, but also its decision years ago to host the Taliban’s political leadership in exile, giving it some sway with the militant group. Qatar also hosted US-Taliban peace talks. Assistant foreign minister Lolwa al-Khater rebuffed any suggestion that Qatar’s efforts were purely strategic: “If anyone assumes it’s only about political gains, believe me, there are ways to do PR that are way easier...”

URGED BY U.S., ISRAEL’S GANTZ HOLDS TALKS WITH ABBAS

Israel’s Defence Minister has met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas for a rare high-level meeting, but a source close to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett insisted on Monday his government had no plans to reboot peace talks.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz met Abbas in Ramallah late on Sunday for what were reportedly the first direct talks between an Israeli cabinet member and the 86-year-old Palestinian leader in several years.

The meeting, which Mr. Gantz’s office said focused on “security policy, civilian and economic issues”, came just hours after Mr. Bennett returned from Washington where he met U.S. President Joe Biden.

Mr. Biden had said he would urge Mr. Bennett to find ways “to advance peace and security and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians”.

According to a Defence Ministry statement, Mr. Gantz told Mr. Abbas that Israel “seeks to take measures that will strengthen the PA’s economy.”

“They also discussed shaping the security and economic situations in the West Bank and in Gaza,” and agreed to “continue communicating further,” it added.

A source close to Mr. Bennett said the meeting that he had approved focused on “issues between the defence establishment and the Palestinian Authority.”

“There is no peace process with the Palestinians nor will there be,” under Mr. Bennett’s leadership, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

PAK NSA DENIES WARNING OF ‘2ND 9/11 IF TALIBAN NOT RECOGNISED’

Pakistan national security adviser Moeed Yousuf ’s comment in a recent interview sparked a controversy as it suggested that Western countries would risk a “second 9/ 11” if they do not give recognition to the Taliban. In a statement issued on Sunday, the office of the Pak NSA demanded ‘The Times’ to retract what it called a “frivolous” interpretation of Yusuf ’s interview.

In the article, titled “Work with the Taliban or Repeat the Horror of the 1990s, West Told”, published on August 28, Yusuf was quoted as saying: “Mark my words. If the mistakes of the 90s are made again and Afghanistan (is) abandoned, the outcome will be absolutely the same — a security vacuum filled by undesirable elements who will threaten everyone, Pakistan and the West.”

Pakistan NSA’s office termed the UK daily’s story a “gross mischaracterisation” of the conversation that took place between Yousuf and the journalist. “At no point did he state that the West should ‘immediately recognise’ the Taliban, as the article states. Nor was there any “warning” of a second 9/11,” the statement said.

CHINA TO US : NECESSARY FOR ALL PARTIES TO CONTACT TALIBAN

China has told the US that the Afghanistan situation has undergone fundamental changes and it is necessary for “all parties” to make contact with the Taliban and “guide it actively”, reiterating that America’s troop withdrawal may provide an opportunity for the resurgence of terrorist groups.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, discussed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan amid chaotic airlifts of Afghan civilians and diplomats by the US and NATO countries before the August 31 deadline.

Wang and Blinken also discussed bilateral ties which were riddled with tensions over a host of issues.

The Chinese Foreign Minister said the situation in Afghanistan had undergone fundamental changes and it is necessary for “all parties” to make contact with the Taliban and “guide it actively”, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

“The US, in particular, needs to work with the international community to provide Afghanistan with urgently needed economic, livelihood and humanitarian assistance, help the new Afghan political structure maintain normal operation of government institutions, maintain social security and stability,” Wang said.

NEW ZEALAND REPORTS FIRST DEATH LINKED TO VACCINE

New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to US drugmaker Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, the Health Ministry said on Monday, after a woman suffered a rare side-effect leading to inflammation of the heart muscle.

The report comes as the country battles an outbreak of the Delta variant after nearly six months of being virus-free. It followed a review by an independent panel monitoring the safety of the vaccines.

“This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer Covid vaccine,” the ministry said in a statement, without giving the woman’s age.

The vaccine monitoring panel attributed the death to myocarditis, a rare, but known, side-effect of the Pfizer vaccine, the ministry added.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ’s ability to pump blood and can cause changes in the heartbeat rhythms. Pfizer said it recognised there could be rare reports of myocarditis after vaccinations, but such side-effects were rare.

APPLE, GOOGLE MOBILE DOMINANCE FACES TOUGH TEST IN SOUTH KOREA

South Korea is expected to become the first country to pass a law ending Apple and Google’s domination of payments on their mobile platforms, setting a potentially radical precedent for their lucrative app store operations everywhere from India to the US.

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, the effective duopoly controlling most of the world’s smartphones, face a raft of legislative measures in the US rebuking their “gatekeeper control” and urging a curb on their power to dictate terms on app marketplaces. Both charge a fee of typically 30% on purchases made through their stores and exclude alternative payment handlers, arguing this protects users from fraud and privacy invasion.

Now, South Korean government is taking direct action to end that dominance. The Telecommunications Business Act would mandate giving users a free choice of app payment providers. The bill, which is almost certain to pass an assembly vote given the ruling party’s super-majority, opens the door for companies like Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc to transact directly with users and bypass the platform owner’s charges. Epic has taken the iOS and Android owners to court in various jurisdictions arguing their fees are unfair.

The bill, originally slated for a vote Monday, was delayed by other legislation and will now go before lawmakers at a future plenary session to be determined.

“This could presage similar actions elsewhere,” said Omdia analyst Guillermo Escofet, who specialises in digital consumer platforms. “Regulators, lawmakers and litigators in North America and Europe are also scrutinizing app-store billing rules, and the overriding political mood has become hostile to the power concentrated in the hands of the tech giants.”

Korean lawmakers are making their move ahead of plans by Google to introduce its 30% commission fee in October. Its announcement last year it would make its payment system mandatory for non-gaming apps is widely seen as the trigger for the new legislation — dubbed locally the anti-Google law.

CHINA CUTS TIME MINORS CAN SPEND ON ONLINE GAMES

Chinese regulators on Monday slashed the amount of time players under the age of 18 can spend on online games to an hour of gameplay on Fridays, weekends and holidays, in response to growing concern over gaming addiction, State media reported.

The rules, published by the National Press and Publication Administration, said users under the age of 18 will only be able to play games from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time on those days, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Online gaming companies will be barred from providing gaming services to them in any form outside those hours and need to ensure they have put real name verification systems in place, said the regulator, which oversees the country's video games market.

Previously, China limited the total length of time minors could access online games to three hours on holiday or 1.5 hours on other days.