BitGou: Thursday Briefing: Several killed in flag-waving protests against Taliban

Thursday, August 19, 2021

by Linda Noakes

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

U.S. troops may stay in Afghanistan past an August 31 deadline, the battle over masks escalates in Florida, and Toyota slashes its output amid a chip crunch

Today's biggest stories

People wait to cross into Afghanistan at the Friendship Gate crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, August 19, 2021. REUTERS/Saeed Ali Achakzai

AFGHANISTAN

Flag-waving protesters took to several Afghan cities and several people were killed when Taliban fighters fired on a crowd, a witness said, in the first popular opposition to the militants since they seized the capital.

U.S. troops may stay in Afghanistan past an August 31 deadline to evacuate Americans, President Joe Biden said, and the Pentagon said the U.S. military does not currently have the ability to reach people beyond the Kabul airport.

Afghanistan may be governed by a ruling council now that the Taliban has taken over, while the Islamist militant movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, is likely to remain in overall charge, a senior member of the group has told Reuters.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, speaking from exile in the United Arab Emirates, said that he left Kabul to prevent bloodshed and denied reports he took large sums of money with him as he departed the presidential palace.

The fate of Afghanistan means that the West's resolve is now perceived as weak by major adversaries such as Russia, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Students wearing protective masks queue up outside classrooms at St. Lawrence Catholic School in North Miami Beach, Florida, August 18, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello

U.S.

Florida's largest school district imposed a mask mandate in defiance of the state's governor, the latest chapter in the coronavirus political battle in the southern United States where new infections are highest.

Biden said his administration will require employees at nursing homes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of the facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid government healthcare programs.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas law effectively banning the most common abortion procedure for terminating second-trimester pregnancies, reversing a ruling last year by a three-judge panel of the same court.

An incendiary mix of strong, shifting winds and drought-parched vegetation stoked two of California's largest wildfires, with thousands of people chased from their foothill and forest homes in the Sierra Nevada range.

WORLD

Australia reported its biggest one-day rise in coronavirus infections, as authorities began doling out emergency supplies of vaccine in the Sydney suburbs worst hit by an outbreak of the fast-moving Delta strain. A British public health study has found that protection from either of the two most commonly used vaccines against the Delta variant weakens within three months.

Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob moved closer to forming the next government after securing a parliamentary majority from the same coalition that collapsed earlier this week.

A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, who had been detained in mainland China after trying to flee the city by boat, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country in a national security case. Andy Li was among a group of 12 people intercepted by mainland authorities in August 2020 on a boat believed to be en route to Taiwan.

Dozens of people were killed in northern Burkina Faso when Islamist militants raided a civilian convoy that was being escorted by military police, the latest in a spate of attacks across West Africa's Sahel region this month.

BUSINESS

Oil dropped to $66 a barrel, its lowest since May, pressured by concerns about weaker demand as COVID-19 cases rise, a stronger U.S. dollar and a surprise increase in U.S. gasoline inventories. Stocks stumbled, global bond yields fell and the dollar hit a nine-month peak.

Federal Reserve officials felt their employment benchmark for decreasing support for the economy "could be reached this year," but appeared to disagree on other key aspects of where monetary policy should turn next in the transition from the pandemic crisis, according to minutes from last month's policy meeting.

Toyota said it will slash global production for September by 40% from its previous plan, becoming the last major automaker to cut output due to critical shortages of semiconductors.

Goldman Sachs is to buy Dutch insurer NN Group's asset management arm for $1.98 billion in the biggest acquisition by the U.S. company since David Solomon became chief executive in 2018.

If you want to invest in a fund branded as sustainable under new European Union rules, you're spoilt for choice. But you may end up owning shares in oil companies, mining conglomerates or tobacco firms. We look at how EU sustainable fund rules muddy the waters.

Quote of the day

"Today I'm calling them and telling them, take down their names, remove their identities, take down their photos for their safety"

Khalida Popal

Former Afghan women's soccer captain tells players to burn kits and delete photos

Video of the day

Nigeria's 'hyena man' culture clashes with conservation

In northern Nigeria some men keep hyenas as pets or perform with them at festivals - but one traditional leader says the culture is dying as it clashes with modern ideas about animal welfare.