An assessment by the United Nations reports that the Taliban is conducting "targeted door-to-door visits" searching for opponents and their families, deepening concerns that the group will seek revenge.
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August 20, 2021 (Friday)
2.8 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov says that the Panjshir resistance led by Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud is "doomed". Zhirnov also praises the Taliban and says that the situation in Kabul is better than it was when Ashraf Ghani was governing the country.
A suicide bomber in Gwadar, Pakistan, blows himself up targeting a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals, killing two children who were playing by the roadside. Three other people, including a Chinese citizen, are wounded. The Balochistan Liberation Army claim responsibility for the attack.
U.S. president Joe Biden addresses the United States for a second time this week. During the address, Biden said that the U.S. will evacuate any Americans who want to return to the U.S. He also announces that 18,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past few weeks, and that 5,700 people were evacuated in the past 24 hours.
Colombian president Iván Duque Márquez and the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg announce that Colombia will temporarily receive up to 4,000 Afghan nationals who are awaiting a Special Immigrant Visa clearance.
Health and environment
Thailand surpasses one million cases of COVID-19.
The Indian government approves the emergency use of the ZyCoV-D vaccine made by Cadila Healthcare, which is the world's first three-dose DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett receives his third "booster" dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as Israel expands its booster dose campaign eligibility to people over the age of 40.
The Philippines reports a record 17,231 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.8 million.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposes a ten-day nationwide lockdown in Sri Lanka in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves the country's first monoclonal antibody cocktail drug (Ronapreve) developed by Regeneron and Roche to treat severe COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom.
South Africa expands the country's vaccine age eligibility to all adults over the age of 18 in order to increase the vaccination rate as the country deals with an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant.
Portugal eases its COVID-19-related restrictions two weeks earlier than planned. Beginning on August 23, the country will allow eight people indoors and 15 people outdoors to sit together in bars and restaurants, and will also allow cultural events, weddings and baptisms to increase their capacity to 75% and permit restaurants, cultural venues and other businesses to remain open until 2:00 a.m. as the vaccination rate surpasses 70%.
The number of adults who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Croatia surpasses 50%.
Los Angeles County begins mandating face masks for all people who attend outdoor "mega-events" of more than 10,000 people such as open-air concert and sporting events regardless of their vaccination status.
International relations
On her last official trip as Chancellor, Angela Merkel urges Russian president Vladimir Putin to release jailed activist Alexei Navalny. The Russian government rebuffed Merkel, saying that Navalny is in prison due to reasons not linked to politics.
Politics and elections
Ismail Sabri Yaakob is appointed as the 9th prime minister of Malaysia, following the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin amid the collapse of the government.
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