| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Thursday, August 26, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Afghanistan's banks brace for bedlam, Sydney hospitals erect emergency tents, and a judge disciplines pro-Trump lawyers over "profound abuse" | | | | | Today's biggest stories  People who have been evacuated from Afghanistan arrive at Melsbroek military airport, Melsbroek, Belgium, August 25, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron FLEEING AFGHANISTAN The United States and allies have urged people to move away from Kabul airport due to the threat of a terror attack by Islamic State militants as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many people as possible before an August 31 deadline.
There are still about 1,500 U.S. citizens in Afghanistan and the U.S. government is working to either contact them or has already given them instructions on how to get to Kabul airport, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
European nations are starting to wind down operations. Hungary and Belgium have ended evacuations, the last Dutch flight is expected today, and France is set to stop evacuations from tomorrow evening. The UK says it has evacuated more than 11,000 people and the process will run as long as the security situation allows.
From mattresses to halal food, U.S. refugee groups are racing to aid thousands of arriving Afghans. Meanwhile several dozen schoolchildren and adult relatives, all Afghan refugees newly resettled in California, have ended up stranded after traveling back to their homeland over the summer to visit loved ones.
The Taliban stopped an Afghan United Nations staff member as he tried to reach Kabul airport on Sunday. They searched his vehicle and found his U.N. identification. Then they beat him. Read our exclusive report.
Afghanistan's banks, critical to the country's recovery from crisis, are facing an uncertain future say its bankers, with doubts over everything from liquidity to employment of female staff. There has been scant evidence so far of a reopening or of banking services returning to normal, with large crowds thronging the streets outside banks in Kabul.
|  A policeman wearing a protective mask stands guard in front of a venue of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, August 25, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon BATTLING DELTA IN ASIA
Japan suspended the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, more than a week after the domestic distributor received reports of contaminants in some vials.
Australia's new daily cases of COVID-19 topped 1,000 for the first time since the global pandemic began, as two major hospitals in Sydney set up emergency outdoor tents to help deal with a rise in patients. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the strict nationwide lockdown was helping limit the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, even as the number of new cases rose.
South Korea reported 20 COVID-19 deaths for Wednesday, the highest daily count this year, as the number of severe cases more than doubled since the current and worst wave of infections began in July. Vietnam will deploy troops to industrial Binh Duong province, a major manufacturing hub in the Southeast Asian country, to help contain an expected 50,000 additional infections there over the next two weeks.
Vilified by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party for its high cases, Kerala's apparent poor record may actually hold crucial lessons for the country in containing the outbreak as authorities brace for a possible third wave of infections.
| U.S.
A congressional committee investigating the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol issued its first demands for documents from government agencies, including communications involving some of former President Donald Trump's closest advisers and family. Trump called the committee's request "a partisan sham and waste of taxpayer dollars."
Prosecutors have proposed a plea bargain to a Virginia man accused of attacking police with a large stick during the Capitol riot, lawyers for the government and defendant told a court hearing.
A judge sanctioned Sidney Powell and other lawyers who sued in Michigan to overturn Biden's election victory, and suggested they might deserve to lose their law licenses.
Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates pressed Biden to take new steps to end an immigration policy begun by Trump after the top U.S. court ordered that the "remain in Mexico" program be reinstated.
BUSINESS
World shares tapped the brakes as China troubles struck again, while Europe's bond markets steadied after confident-sounding ECB policymakers had caused their sharpest selloff in six months. The blistering rally in global stocks is nearly over, any further gains will be limited and a correction is likely by the end of the year, a Reuters poll of analysts has found.
China's push to wean property developers from excessive borrowing is spilling over into loan losses at banks and pain in credit markets as cash-strapped builders fall into distress, raising the risk of fallout rippling across the economy. Growth in China's home prices is expected to slow more than initially expected this year, a Reuters poll shows.
Western Digital is in advanced talks for a possible $20 billion stock merger with Japanese chipmaker and partner Kioxia, a move that would create a NAND memory giant to rival Samsung Electronics. NAND chips don't need power to retain data and are used in smartphones, TVs, data center servers and public announcement display panels.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Deutsche Bank's asset manager DWS over how it used sustainable investing criteria to manage its assets. The asset management industry has rapidly amassed billions of dollars of assets that are supposed to have an environmental or social profile, but is facing growing scrutiny over how firms define and apply standards.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  'Notes to God' cleared from Jerusalem's Western Wall Cleaners equipped with long sticks clear out tens of thousands of written prayers and wishes crammed into the crevices of Judaism's Western Wall in Jerusalem by worshippers and visitors, making room for fresh ones. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
