| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, August 17, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Gorbachev says the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan was doomed from the start, New Zealand is thrown into lockdown over a single COVID case, and China holds assault drills near Taiwan after 'provocations' | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, August 15, 2021 AFGHANISTAN Military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan resumed after the runway at Kabul airport was cleared of thousands of people desperate to flee, a day after chaotic scenes in which U.S. troops fired to disperse crowds and people clung to a plane as it taxied for take-off.
President Joe Biden said he stood "squarely behind" his decision to withdraw U.S. troops and blamed the Taliban's takeover on Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the unwillingness of the U.S.-trained Afghan army to fight. But frustration is growing in Washington over the handling of evacuations.
Jill Stephenson lost her only child Ben Kopp, a 21-year-old U.S. Army Ranger, when he was shot during a 2009 firefight with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. For her, the militant group's takeover of Kabul came as a gut punch.
Now the U.S. is gone for good, China could be sucked into the quagmire the Americans just escaped, says Breakingviews columnist Pete Sweeney.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader who oversaw the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 after Moscow's failed decade-long campaign there, said that NATO's own deployment to the country had been doomed from the start.
We look at how the Taliban's rapid takeover poses a new challenge for social media companies on handling content created by a group considered to be terrorists by some world governments.
|  A man in a face shield and protective mask stands amongst attendees at 'It's Time for Hip Hop in NYC', part of the NYC Homecoming Week concerts, in the Bronx, New York City, August 16, 2021
U.S.
The Biden administration plans to begin administering COVID-19 booster shots to Americans as early as mid or late September, pending authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
New Yorkers interviewed by Reuters largely back the push by the city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, to require proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms and other businesses. The policy is set to launch today as the Delta variant continues to spread.
Strike teams battling a mammoth wildfire displacing thousands of northern California residents are braced for a resurgence of high winds, as the state's largest utility warns widespread precautionary power shutoffs are likely this week. Meanwhile, officials for the first time declared an official water shortage for the massive Lake Mead reservoir, triggering supply cuts to parts of the drought-stricken Southwest.
prosecutors probing the activities of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and others linked to financier Jeffrey Epstein consider Prince Andrew a person of interest in the investigation, a source familiar with the U.S inquiry said.
An unnamed woman has sued folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan alleging he sexually abused her after giving her drugs and alcohol in 1965 when she was 12 years old.
WORLD
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern put New Zealand under strict lockdown after the country's first coronavirus case in six months was reported in the largest city of Auckland. Ardern's "go hard, go early" strategy has helped curb COVID-19 but her announcement left people struggling to stock up on essentials, businesses shutting abruptly and schools and offices making last-minute changes to go online.
Heavy rains lashed Haiti, complicating rescue efforts and drenching thousands left homeless by a devastating earthquake that killed at least 1,419 people, as hopes dimmed for survivors. The earthquake has revived anger over international aid agencies' response to a devastating quake 11 years ago, stirring calls to ensure donations do a better job of reaching the people who need them most.
China carried out assault drills near Taiwan with warships and fighter jets exercising off the southwest and southeast of the island, in what the country's armed forces said was a response to "external interference" and "provocations". Taiwan would not collapse like Afghanistan in the event of an attack, Premier Su Tseng-chang said in an indirect warning to the island's powerful neighbor.
A Thai anti-government protester is in a coma with a bullet lodged in his head, a hospital said, as police denied use of live ammunition to disperse demonstrations against the country's prime minister.
Canada's main opposition Conservative Party set out its election platform, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top rival pledging to bring back jobs lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and to balance the federal budget within 10 years.
| BUSINESS China moved to tighten control of its technology sector, publishing detailed rules aimed at tackling unfair competition and companies' handling of critical data. The Chinese government took a stake and a board seat in a key ByteDance entity this year - a move that raises questions over how much influence Beijing is planning to wield in a tech sector reeling under an onslaught of regulatory action.
Electric car and van startups racing to become the next Tesla all want to avoid Elon Musk's journey through "manufacturing hell." But electric vehicle firms such as Arrival and Fisker are taking very different roads to overcome the challenges of profitable mass production that almost broke Tesla.
The future may belong to electric cars, but for U.S. automakers, trucks will rule for years to come. Automakers in North America plan to build more big pickups and sport utility vehicles than electric vehicles well into the late 2020s.
A South Carolina paper mill, whose foul smell has triggered more than 30,000 complaints, has become one of the dirtiest polluters in the United States since being acquired by an investment group led by Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots football team.
| | | | | | | | | Quote of the day "Afghanistan must never be used to launch terrorist attacks against the West, we've had 20 years of success in that regard" Dominic Raab UK Foreign Secretary Britain's message to the Taliban | | | | Video of the day  "I'm afraid for my life," says Afghan MP Amid the chaos and uncertainty of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Farzana Kochai says she fears for her life first and her freedom next. But she is firm in saying that Afghans will not tolerate a return to the harshest forms of Islamist rule. | | | | And finally… Kenya's golden region seeks new champions after setback  The rugged, hilly county of Elgeyo Marakwet has produced the bulk of Kenya's nine Olympic gold medals in the men's 3,000m steeplechase, an event the country had dominated at the Games since 1984 until Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali snatched the title in Tokyo this month. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
