Tuesday Briefing: Taliban celebrate victory as last U.S. troops leave Afghanistan

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

by Linda Noakes

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A U.S. general's ghostly image books a place in history, South Africa detects a new coronavirus variant, and play time's over for China's young video gamers

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U.S. Army Major General Chris Donahue steps on board a transport plane in Kabul, August 30, 2021 in a photograph using night vision optics

AFGHANISTAN

Celebratory gunfire resounded across Kabul as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn, following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist militia stronger than it was in 2001.

Carrying his rifle down by his side, Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the storied 82nd Airborne Division, became the last U.S. soldier to board the final flight out of Afghanistan a minute before midnight.

Less than 40% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden's handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and three quarters wanted U.S. forces to remain in the country until all American civilians could get out, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

Even before the last U.S. flight left Kabul, many of the bright and garish sights and sounds of city life in Afghanistan were changing as those left behind tried to fit in with the austere tone of their new Taliban rulers.

So what happens now? Read our explainer.

Theophilus Charles, 70, sits inside his house which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana, August 30, 2021

U.S.


Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, knocked out power to over 1 million homes in Louisiana and prompted rescue operations in flooded communities around New Orleans. We spoke to one man who rode out the storm in his destroyed home, and visited a post-Hurricane Katrina refuge that has been rocked by Ida.

The U.S. Department of Education is opening civil rights investigations to determine whether five states that have banned schools from requiring masks are discriminating against students with disabilities. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Education said it has withheld funds from two school districts that made masks mandatory in classrooms this fall.

The number of hate crimes in the United States rose last year to the highest level in more than a decade, driven by a rise in assaults targeting Black victims and victims of Asian descent, the FBI reported. Georgia prosecutors affirmed their intention to seek the death penalty in Atlanta's Fulton County for the suspect accused of murdering four people at two Asian-run day spas there, characterizing the shootings as hate crimes.

Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an Ohio man accused of striking a police officer during the deadly January 6 Capitol riot and then trying to grab his gas mask as another rioter fired bear spray at police. The congressional committee probing the attack told 35 telephone, email and social media companies to preserve records which could be relevant to its investigation.

WORLD

South African scientists have detected a new coronavirus variant with multiple mutations but are yet to establish whether it is more contagious or able to overcome the immunity provided by vaccines or prior infection.

Thai lawmakers began a censure debate against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, as opponents threatened to intensify street protests fueled by frustration at his government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal is set to rule on whether the country's constitution or European Union treaties take precedence, a judgment that could further strain Warsaw's already troubled relationship with the bloc.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plunged back into campaigning after unusually vocal protesters disrupted his election rallies and forced him to cancel an event.

BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford has left Russia after Moscow abruptly refused to extend her permission to work in a tit-for-tat row with Britain over the treatment of foreign media.

BUSINESS

The Biden administration plans to make federal lands cheaper to access for solar and wind power developers after the clean power industry argued in a lobbying push this year that lease rates and fees are too high to draw investment and could torpedo the president's climate change agenda.

Young Chinese gamers took to social media to express their outrage at new rules that limit their gaming time to just three hours per week, while investors fretted about the long-term impact on the industry. President Xi Jinping wants to reshape Chinese family time at the private sector’s expense, says Breakingviews columnist Robyn Mak.

Euro zone inflation surged to a 10-year-high this month with further rises still likely to come, challenging the European Central Bank's benign view on price growth and its commitment to look past what it deems a transient increase.

Shares of Robinhood Markets, a popular gateway for trading meme stocks, tumbled nearly 7% on news that PayPal may start an online brokerage and a report saying regulators were looking at a possible ban on a practice that accounts for the bulk of the company's revenue.

Zoom Video Communications posted its first billion-dollar revenue quarter but signaled a faster-than-expected easing in demand for its video-conferencing service after a pandemic-driven boom, sending its shares tumbling 11%.


Quote of the day

"We advise investors to position for reopening and recovery"

Mark Haefele

Chief Investment Officer, UBS Global Wealth Management

Stocks set new records as August ends in buoyant mood

Video of the day

Caldor fire encroaches on heavily populated areas

Residents and tourists in communities near Lake Tahoe fled as a fierce, two-week-old wildfire roared closer to the popular resort destination through drought-parched forests in northern California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

And finally…

Murray's victory hopes go down the toilet

Stefanos Tsitsipas used his bathroom break when nature called at the U.S. Open but opponent Andy Murray fumed about the lengthy disruption as his hopes of scoring an opening round upset were flushed away.

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