Russia accuses President Ashraf Ghani of fleeing the country with "four cars and a helicopter full of cash" and that he also left money behind that could not be transported with him. Ghani's whereabouts are still unknown although multiple sources say that he is currently in Tajikistan.
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August 16, 2021 (Monday)
5.2 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Saudi Arabia calls on the Taliban and "all Afghan parties" to "preserve lives and property" and also states that "Saudi Arabia stands with the decision of the Afghan people without interference".
Two people are recorded falling to their deaths from a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III flying over the airport. Local reports say that the stowaways landed on nearby rooftops. In a separate incident, three civilians are run over and killed while clinging to a U.S. jet on the runway.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation following his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. In the address, Biden said that he "stands squarely behind" the decision to withdraw from the country and admits that the government's collapse was "quicker than anticipated".
Uzbekistan shoots down an Afghan Air Force jet that crossed into its airspace. The pilot ejected and survived, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense.
The first Afghan President after the 2001 United States invasion, Hamid Karzai, announces that he and his daughters will remain in Kabul as he appeals to the Taliban to respect his life and the lives of civilians in Afghanistan.
The Taliban sets up a cordon and blocks access to Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport and also fires warning shots as civilians attempt to leave the country.
U.S. troops shoot dead two "armed men" at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport as evacuations of Western diplomats and allied Afghans continue.
The United Kingdom deploys an additional 200 troops to Kabul to help airlift UK nationals and Afghans who worked with British forces during the war.
Four Palestinians are killed and another is seriously injured after an undercover branch of the Israel Border Police raided a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. The raid, which was organized to arrest a suspected Hamas member, resulted in the highest death toll in the area in months.
Gunmen on motorbikes storm the village of Darey-Daye, Niger, openinf fire against civilians while they were tending their fields, killing 37 people, including fourteen children.
Disasters and accidents
Around one thousand people are evacuated in Castile and León, Spain, as a wildfire spreads across the region.
The death toll from the earthquake that struck Haiti two days ago increases to 1,297 people. More than 5,700 others are injured.
Tropical Storm Grace threatens earthquake-hit Haiti as it approaches the island of Hispaniola with sustained winds of 35 mph (56 km/h), and even stronger gusts.
Health and environment
Outgoing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces that healthcare workers in the state will be required to be vaccinated by September 27.
Hong Kong reclassifies 15 countries and territories, including the U.S., France, Malaysia, and Thailand, to the "high-risk" category, which means that beginning on August 20, there will be mandatory 21-day quarantines and tougher boarding requirements for travellers arriving from those countries due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant.
The number of people over the age of 50 who have received a booster COVID-19 vaccine dose in Israel reaches one million.
The Government of Malaysia begins to allow 11 more economic sectors in states under Phase 1 of the national recovery plan to reopen. Operators of businesses in these sectors must ensure that their customers show a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate before entering the business.
France requires shoppers to show their "health pass" in order to enter 126 shopping centres that have a size of more than 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft) in Paris and 12 departments that reached a threshold of 200 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
Washington, D.C. announces that they will require healthcare workers and other health-related professionals to be vaccinated with at least a first dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or a single-dose Janssen vaccine by September 30.
Bangladesh reports its first case of the SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant in the sample of a 49-year-old woman in Dhaka.
The German Standing Committee on Vaccination recommends that all children between the ages of 12 and 17 receive a COVID-19 vaccine due to increased risks posed by the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.
North Macedonia restricts the access of cafés, restaurants and public events to only those who have been vaccinated with at least one dose or who have recovered from COVID-19 within the past 45 days and also limits the capacity of restaurants to 30 people with only outdoor parts of restaurants to be open in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 cases.
A requirement for fully vaccinated people and people under the age of 18 to self-isolate is removed in England and Northern Ireland if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. These people are now advised to take a PCR test despite such tests being voluntary and also wear a face covering while in enclosed spaces.
Ivory Coast begins to vaccinate "healthcare workers, close relatives and contacts of the victim" against Ebola using 5,000 doses of Ebola vaccines donated by Guinea after the first case of the virus since 1994 was reported over the weekend.
Law and crime
The last living Khmer Rouge leader, Khieu Samphan, appears before a court in Phnom Penh in order to appeal his conviction and attempt to overturn it. The 90-year-old's hearing is expected to last for only a few days as analysts say that it is very unlikely that he will succeed in his appeal.
The Speaker of the Tongan Parliament, Lord Fakafanua, introduces the Illicit Drugs Control (Amendment) Bill 2021 for debate in the legislative assembly. The Speaker wants a mandatory death sentence for serious drug offenses. Tonga has a moratorium on the death penalty and has not used it in more than four decades.
In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Uganda strikes down a 2014 law outlawing the distribution of pornography and wearing of "indecent" clothes as unconstitutional. Women's rights groups in the country campaigned against the law since its inception, saying it unfairly singled out women for discrimination.
Politics and elections
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigns from office, as a result of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition government's collapse. Yassin will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa replaces his health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi with Keheliya Rambukwella, who was previously the media minister and government spokesman, with Wanniarachchi becoming the transport minister, amid public criticism over her understating of COVID-19 infections and her endorsement of sorcery and magic potions to combat the virus.
Sports
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Japanese government issue a joint statement indicating that spectators will be banned at Paralympic venues in Tokyo and other prefectures that are currently under a state of emergency due to the spread of COVID-19.
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