World
US vacates key Afghan base; pullout target now 'late August'
Nearly 20 years after invading Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and hunt down al-Qaida, the U.S. military has vacated its biggest airfield in the country, advancing a final withdrawal that the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August.
President Joe Biden had instructed the Pentagon to complete the military withdrawal by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, but the Pentagon now says it can finish the drawdown a little earlier. In fact, the drawdown is already largely completed and officials had said it could be wrapped up this weekend. But a number of related issues need to be worked out in coming weeks, including a new U.S. military command structure in Kabul and talks with Turkey on an arrangement for maintaining security at the Kabul airport, and so an official end to the pullout will not be announced soon.
READ: US hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans after nearly 20 years
“A safe, orderly drawdown enables us to maintain an ongoing diplomatic presence, support the Afghan people and the government, and prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorists that threatens our homeland,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.
The administration is meanwhile narrowing options for ensuring the safety of thousands of Afghans whose applications for special visas to come to the United States have yet to be approved. The administration has already said it’s willing to evacuate them to third countries pending their visa approvals but has yet to determine where. Officials said Friday that one possibility is to relocate them to neighboring countries in Central Asia where they could be protected from possible retaliation by the Taliban or other groups.
The White House and State Department have declined to comment on the numbers to be relocated or where they might go, but the foreign ministers of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were both in Washington this week and the subject of Afghan security was raised in meetings they held with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Kirby said that Austin on Friday approved a new command structure in Afghanistan to transition the U.S. military mission from warfighting to two new objectives — protecting a continuing U.S. diplomatic presence in Kabul and maintaining liaison with the Afghan military.
Austin’s plan calls for the top commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Scott Miller, to transfer his combat authorities to the Florida-based head of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, before relinquishing his command this month. Also, a two-star Navy admiral will head a U.S. Embassy-based military office, dubbed U.S. Forces Afghanistan-Forward, to oversee the new mission of providing security for the embassy and its diplomats.A satellite military office based in Qatar and headed by a U.S. one-star general will be established to administer U.S. financial support for the Afghan military and police, plus maintenance support provided for Afghan aircraft from outside Afghanistan.
Kirby said Miller, who already is the longest-serving commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in the 20 years of warfare, will remain in command for “a couple of weeks” longer but was not more specific. He said Miller will be preparing for and completing the turnover of his duties to McKenzie and also will be traveling inside and beyond Afghanistan.
Miller met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday and, according to a Dari-language tweet by the presidential palace, the two discussed “continued U.S. assistance and cooperation with Afghanistan, particularly in supporting the defense and security forces.”
READ: Biden vows 'sustained' help as Afghanistan drawdown nears
Bagram Airfield has been the epicenter of the war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. At its peak in and around 2012, Bagram Airfield saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through the massive compound barely an hour’s drive north of Kabul.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s district administrator for Bagram, Darwaish Raufi, said the American departure was done overnight without any coordination with local officials, and as a result early Friday, dozens of local looters stormed through the unprotected gates before Afghan forces regained control.
“They were stopped and some have been arrested and the rest have been cleared from the base,” Raufi told The Associated Press, adding that the looters ransacked several buildings before being arrested and the Afghan forces took control.
However, U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said the handover was an “extensive process” that spanned several weeks and began soon after Biden’s mid-April announcement that America was withdrawing the last of its forces.
“All handovers of Resolute Support bases and facilities, to include Bagram Airfield, have been closely coordinated, both with senior leaders from the government and with our Afghan partners in the security forces, including leadership of the locally based units respective to each base,” said Col. Leggett.
The Taliban welcomed the American withdrawal from Bagram Airfield. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that Friday’s departure was a “positive step,” urging for the “withdrawal of foreign forces from all parts of the country.”
As of this week, most other NATO soldiers have already quietly exited Afghanistan. Announcements from several countries analyzed by the AP show that a majority of European troops has left with little ceremony — a stark contrast to the dramatic and public show of force and unity when NATO allies lined up to back the U.S. invasion in 2001.
READ: Taliban gains drive Afghan government to recruit militias
The U.S. has refused to say when the last American soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns, but also future security and protection for Kabul International Airport is still being negotiated. Turkish and U.S. soldiers are currently protecting the airport, still under Resolute Support Mission, which is the military mission being wound down.
Until a new agreement for the airport is struck by Turkey and the Afghan government, and possibly the United States, it appears the Resolute Support mission would to have to continue to be in charge of the facility.
Fewer people missing in collapse; nearby tower is evacuated
The number of people missing in the Florida condominium collapse fell Friday following a new review, but fears of another potentially catastrophic failure deepened after engineers found unsafe conditions in a different tower and ordered the entire building evacuated.
The nearby city of North Miami Beach announced that an audit prompted by the deadly collapse of Champlain Towers found the 156-unit Crestview Towers building structurally and electrically unsafe.
READ: Collapse survivors escaped with their lives, but little else
“In an abundance of caution, the City ordered the building closed immediately and the residents evacuated for their protection, while a full structural assessment is conducted and next steps are determined,” City Manager Arthur H. Sorey III said a news release.
The evacuation comes as municipal officials in South Florida and statewide are scrutinizing older high-rises in the wake of the collapse to ensure that serious structural problems are not being ignored.
Crestview Towers residents could be seen Friday evening hauling suitcases and packing items into cars outside the building, which was constructed in 1972. City officials were trying to help residents find places to go.
Meanwhile, authorities in Surfside said four more bodies had emerged from the rubble, including the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter, bringing the confirmed death toll to 22.
But there was also relief. Closer inspection of missing persons list reduced the number from 145 to 126 after duplicate names were eliminated and some residents reported missing turned up safe, officials said.
“So this is very, very good news,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. She said the numbers were expected to keep changing because detectives are continually reviewing the list and verifying reports.
In some cases, when detectives were able to contact people who had been reported as potentially missing, they found that not only were they safe, but other members of their families were safe too. That pushed the list of people who have been accounted for up to 188 and cut the number of missing, she said.
Detectives have worked around the clock to contact relatives and others. In some cases, English and Hebrew names have been offered for the same missing relative, officials have said.
The 7-year-old who perished in the collapse was “a member of our fire family,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said.
The discovery of the girl’s remains was especially hard on rescuers, Levine Cava said.
“It was truly different and more difficult for our first responders. These men and woman are paying an enormous human toll each and every day, and I ask that all of you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers,” she said at a news conference.
The mayor also said she signed an emergency order to demolish the remaining part of the building once engineers have signed off on it. She said the order was signed now so that the demolition can move quickly once a date is set. It will likely be weeks before the demolition is scheduled, officials said.
“Our top priority is search and rescue. We will take no action that will jeopardize our search-and-rescue efforts,” Levine Cava said. “The building poses a threat to public health and safety.”
No one has been rescued since the first hours after the June 24 collapse.
During a meeting Friday with relatives of the missing, Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said that only one voice has been heard during the entire search. A woman’s voice was detected until about 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. on the morning of the collapse, which happened around 1:30 a.m. Rescuers were unable to reach her, and he said no other voices or human sounds have been heard since.
READ: Latest victims in condo tower collapse include 2 children
“Most of the victims have been deceased in their bedroom indicating they were asleep,” he said.
Jadallah also prepared the families for a possible suspension of the search if Hurricane Elsa — now in the eastern Caribbean — brings strong winds to South Florida that would make the work too dangerous. Search efforts have been stopped briefly several times because of inclement weather.
“We will try to go as long as we can, but you can see from different periods of inclement weather we’ve had, we have stopped,” Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said.
Some rescue workers who are now staying in tents will be moved to cruise ships, which can stay safe during a tropical storm, Jadallah said.
About 600 first responders will stay on the Royal Caribbean ship Explorer of the Seas, the cruise line said. The ship, which can accommodate more than 3,000 passengers, began housing rescue teams Thursday and likely will continue for the next month.
Friday’s announcements came the day after concerns about the structure’s instability prompted a 15-hour halt to the search for survivors. Crews noticed widening cracks and up to a foot of movement in a large column.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation. A 2018 engineering report found that the building’s ground-floor pool deck was resting on a concrete slab that had “major structural damage” and needed extensive repairs. The report also found “abundant cracking” of concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.
READ: Florida officials pledge multiple probes into condo collapse
Just two months before the building came down, the president of its board wrote a letter to residents saying that structural problems identified in the 2018 inspection had “gotten significantly worse” and that major repairs would cost at least $15.5 million. With bids for the work still pending, the building suddenly collapsed last Thursday.
'Dangerous period' with delta variant: WHO
The head of the World Health Organization says the world is in “a very dangerous period” of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the more contagious delta variant is identified in nearly 100 countries.
At a press briefing on Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the delta variant, first found in India, is continuing to evolve and mutate, and it is becoming the predominant COVID-19 virus in many countries.
Also read: Delta variant exploits low vaccine rates, easing of rules
“I have already urged leaders across the world to ensure that by this time next year, 70% of all people in every country are vaccinated,” he said, adding that would effectively end the acute phase of the pandemic.
He noted 3 billion doses of vaccine have already been distributed and, “it’s within the collective power of a few countries to step up and ensure that vaccines are shared.”
Also read: What should I know about the delta variant?
Of the vaccine doses given globally, fewer than 2% have been in poorer countries. Although rich countries including Britain, the U.S., France and Canada have pledged to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines, WHO estimates 11 billion doses are needed to immunize the world.
Zydus seeks nod for world’s first plasmid DNA Covid vaccine
Homegrown healthcare and pharmaceutical major Zydus Cadila has applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) to the office of the Drug Controller General of India for ZyCoV-D, its plasmid DNA vaccine against Covid-19.
"As the first-ever plasmid DNA vaccine for human use, ZyCoV-D has proven its safety and efficacy profile in our fight against Covid-19. The vaccine, when approved, will help not only adults but also adolescents in the 12-to-18-years age group," said Dr Sharvil Patel, MD, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, the flagship of the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Group.
Read: Vaccine maker Serum seeks indemnity protection in India
ZyCoV-D is a plasmid DNA vaccine which, when injected, produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response mediated by the cellular and humoral arms of the human immune system, which play a vital role in protection from the disease as well as viral clearance.
ZyCoV-D has also been tested on adolescents between 12 and 18 years in India. Around 1,000 subjects in this age group were enrolled and the vaccine was found to be safe and very well tolerated. The tolerability profile was similar to that seen in the adult population.
Zydus is currently setting up a new facility to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccine. "Once the facility is commissioned by the end of this month, we can produce around one crore doses of the vaccine," added Patel, who refrained from giving a specific time line for the launch of the vaccine but stated that it can be done aggressively within 45-60 days once it gets regulatory approval.
Zydus Cadila has so far invested up to Rs 500 crore in the development of this vaccine, including the cost of establishing a new manufacturing facility.
According to Zydus, the plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based is ideally suited for dealing with Covid-19 as it can be easily adapted to deal with virus mutations.
The company has also evaluated a two-dose regimen for ZyCoV-D using a 3mg dose per visit. The immunogenicity results had been found to be equivalent to the current three-dose regimen.
"This will further help in reducing the full course duration of vaccination while maintaining the high safety profile of the vaccine in the future," Patel added.
This article was first published in The Times of India
India's digital economy to grow 10x to $800 bn by 2030
India’s consumer digital economy which was pegged at $85-90 billion in calendar year 2020, is expected to become a $800 billion market by 2030, according to reports released by consulting firm RedSeer at its flagship event Ground Zero 5.0.
The digital economy includes 60 per cent of travel, 40 per cent non-grocery retail, 30 per cent of education, 25 per cent of food and beverages services and 6 per cent of pharma/grocery going through digital channels by calendar year 2030.
Read: Indian economy, hit by COVID-19, shrinks by 7.3% in 2020-21
The Ground Zero 5.0 event was attended by Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Ayog along with TV Mohandas Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education Services and Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder, Info Edge along with other stalwarts of the startup industry.
“Over the last one decade, entrepreneurs have dedicated themselves to solve for the specific needs and pain areas of Indian consumers.
Read: Indian businesses urged to explore opportunities in Bangladesh
"Today, more than 50 per cent customers say they use online services because of convenience," said Anil Kumar, founder and CEO of RedSeer.
"Few years back almost over 70 per cent used to say the key reason is discounting but with the hit of Covid, digital services have undoubtedly served the customers very well, which is evident in high customer satisfaction and customers willingness to keep using the digital as a key channel to fulfill their needs.
"The next wave of entrepreneurs will create innovations which will make the Indian model successful globally."
According to the data released by RedSeer, 88 per cent of online shoppers that will be added between 2020-2030 will be from Tier-2, 3,4 cities.
Further, cumulatove incremntal online transactions are expected to be added worth $7 billion from tier-2-plus city customers over CY 20-30.
Overall, more than about $150 billion cumulative incremental online retail GMV is expected to be added from Tier-2-plus city customers over CY 20-30.
Additionally, kiranas are expected to achieve approximately achieve a $1.5 trillion sales by CY30.
The growth will be driven by platforms that are enabling these kiranas technologically and digitally, cashless payments, book keeping.
RedSeer further said that new-age logistics players created an opportunity of 500,000 employment for gig workers in 2020.
E-Logistics in India has become the fastest growing market globally with over 3 billion shipments in 2020, it said.
India traditionally had an inefficient supply chain with a slow and undemocratic access.
Today over 90 per cent of the orders fulfilled by the online commerce get done by the new age logistics, an industry which has come up only in the last one decade and has solved for the above challenges through technology and customer centric mindset.
Further, three out of the top 10 logistics players in India are today the new age (e- logistics) players.
The new age logistics players are expected to deliver 2.5 billion D2C shipments by 2030.
With the rise of e-commerce, the need for specialized delivery service emerged, which led to the overall growth of the logistics segment.
Emergence of this sector created 500,000 employment for gig workers in 2021.
New age logistics players have reduced the average time of delivery by 2/3rd in last seven years, have covered nearly all the pin codes across India through enabled deep tech solutions to serve the different type of customer needs and requirements like same day delivery, hyperlocal, service enabled etc.
Other sectors in the new-age economy have also been strongly impacted by the pandemic.
A number of new trends are emerging in these various sectors which will shape the ecosystem going forward.
According to RedSeer research, shared mobility saw a sharp decline due to the second Covid wave-led lockdowns in the last two months.
Although the autos segment recovered the fastest, the overall sector merely clocked 18 million rides, a drop from 113 million rides in January last year.
However, while the shared mobility is dipping, personal mobility space is riding on a wave of strong traction seen since last year.
While auto OEMs have responded with relevant offerings to democratize access to cars, tech platforms are also accelerating focus on digitizing the car ownership journey.
Online used car transaction penetration is expected to grow almost nine times in the next nearly 10 years.
Another category that is ripe for digital disruption is the car service and repairs market which is still a highly fragmented market which faces challenges like inefficiencies, bloated pricing and poor experience for both consumers and service workshops.
This segment is expected to penetrate about 15 per cent of this highly fragmented market by CY30.
This article was first published in Rediff.com
High Court raps Bengal govt again for post-poll violence
For the second time in a fortnight, a higher court in Kolkata on Friday came down heavily on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government for the post-poll violence in the eastern state of West Bengal that claimed a number of lives.
"The state is in denial mode. The administration has been caught on the wrong foot," said a five-judge bench of the High Court in Kolkata, led by acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal.
The High Court's observations came in the wake of an interim report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the complaints of attacks on supporters of the state's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP has welcomed the ruling and demanded a probe by an independent agency. "FIR must be filed outside Bengal and the probe should continue. Things will be clear then," he told the media.
Also read: Indian court orders probe into post-poll violence in Bengal
On June 19, the same bench slammed the Bengal government for its alleged failure to prevent post-poll violence in the state and ordered the top human rights body to probe all such complaints in the state and submit a report to the court.
The court had also asked the state government to provide all logistical support to the NHRC team "wherever and whenever they wish to visit any place". "Any obstruction will be viewed seriously, which may entail action under the Contempt of Courts Act, besides others."
UNB had earlier reported about as many as 16 deaths in post-poll violence in Bengal, which prompted the Indian Home Ministry to seek a report from the state administration.
In fact, on May 6, a day after she was sworn in as the chief minister of Bengal for the third time, Mamata announced a compensation of Rs two lakh each for the families of 16 people killed in post-poll violence in the state.
Also read: Two top Bengal Ministers sent to jail in cash-for-favours scam
"At least 16 persons -- mostly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool -- died in post-poll violence. We will pay a compensation of Rs two lakh to their family members," she had said.
Appealing for calm, Mamata had also asked her supporters not to indulge in any violence. "Bengal is a peace-loving place. During the elections, there has been some heat and dust and calm. The BJP did a lot of torture. But I appeal to all for calm."
Bucking anti-incumbency, Mamata scripted history on May 2 by single-handedly pulling off an astounding victory in the assembly election, staving off a massive challenge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP but also decimated the Left Front.
Bengal had witnessed the most high-profile contest in India's recently held state elections. While Mamata harped on being Bengal’s daughter, the BJP asked people to vote for "change and socio-economic development" after 50 years of Communist and Trinamool rule.
Experts question if WHO should lead pandemic origins probe
As the World Health Organization draws up plans for the next phase of its probe of how the coronavirus pandemic started, an increasing number of scientists say the U.N. agency it isn’t up to the task and shouldn’t be the one to investigate.
Numerous experts, some with strong ties to WHO, say that political tensions between the U.S. and China make it impossible for an investigation by the agency to find credible answers.
They say what’s needed is a broad, independent analysis closer to what happened in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The first part of a joint WHO-China study of how COVID-19 started concluded in March that the virus probably jumped to humans from animals and that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.” The next phase might try to examine the first human cases in more detail or pinpoint the animals responsible — possibly bats, perhaps by way of some intermediate creature.
Read:UK health minister resigns after breaching coronavirus rules
But the idea that the pandemic somehow started in a laboratory — and perhaps involved an engineered virus — has gained traction recently, with President Joe Biden ordering a review of U.S. intelligence within 90 days to assess the possibility.
Earlier this month, WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said that the agency was working out the final details of the next phase of its probe and that because WHO works “by persuasion,” it lacks the power to compel China to cooperate.
Some said that is precisely why a WHO-led examination is doomed to fail.
“We will never find the origins relying on the World Health Organization,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University. “For a year and a half, they have been stonewalled by China, and it’s very clear they won’t get to the bottom of it.”
Gostin said the U.S. and other countries can either try to piece together what intelligence they have, revise international health laws to give WHO the powers it needs, or create some new entity to investigate.
Read:UK to donate 100 mn coronavirus vaccine doses
The first phase of WHO’s mission required getting China’s approval not only for the experts who traveled there but for their entire agenda and the report they ultimately produced.
Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, called it a “farce” and said that determining whether the virus jumped from animals or escaped from a lab is more than a scientific question and has political dimensions beyond WHO’s expertise.
The closest genetic relative to COVID-19 was previously discovered in a 2012 outbreak, after six miners fell sick with pneumonia after being exposed to infected bats in China’s Mojiang mine. In the past year, however, Chinese authorities sealed off the mine and confiscated samples from scientists while ordering locals not to talk to visiting journalists.
Although China initially pushed hard to look for the coronavirus’s origins, it pulled back abruptly in early 2020 as the virus overtook the globe. An Associated Press investigation last December found Beijing imposed restrictions on the publication of COVID-19 research, including mandatory review by central government officials.
Read:Rise in UK coronavirus cases stoke concerns over 3rd wave
Jamie Metzl, who sits on a WHO advisory group, has suggested along with colleagues the possibility of an alternative investigation set up by the Group of Seven industrialized nations.
Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, said the U.S. must be willing to subject its own scientists to a rigorous examination and recognize that they might be just as culpable as China.
“The U.S. was deeply involved in research at the laboratories in Wuhan,” Sachs said, referring to U.S. funding of controversial experiments and the search for animal viruses capable of triggering outbreaks.
“The idea that China was behaving badly is already the wrong premise for this investigation to start,” he said. “If lab work was somehow responsible (for the pandemic), the likelihood that it was both the U.S. and China working together on a scientific initiative is very high.”
US hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans after nearly 20 years
After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday.
The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.
One of the officials also said the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.”
Afghanistan’s district administrator for Bagram, Darwaish Raufi, said the American departure was done overnight without any coordination with local officials, and as a result early Friday dozens of local looters stormed through the unprotected gates before Afghan forces regained control.
Read:Biden vows 'sustained' help as Afghanistan drawdown nears
“They were stopped and some have been arrested and the rest have been cleared from the base,” Raufi told The Associated Press, adding that the looters ransacked several buildings before being arrested and the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) took control.
“Unfortunately the Americans left without any coordination with Bagram district officials or the governor’s office,” Raufi said. “Right now our Afghan security forces are in control both inside and outside of the base.”
The deputy spokesman for the defense minister, Fawad Aman, said nothing of the early morning looting. He said only the base has been handed over and the “ANDSF will protect the base and use it to combat terrorism.”
The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.
It was clear soon after the mid-April announcement that the U.S. was ending its “forever war,” that the departure of U.S. soldiers and their estimated 7,000 NATO allies would be nearer to July 4, when America celebrates its Independence Day.
Most NATO soldiers have already quietly exited as of this week. Announcements from several countries analyzed by The Associated Press show that a majority of European troops has now left with little ceremony — a stark contrast to the dramatic and public show of force and unity when NATO allies lined up to back the U.S. invasion in 2001.
The U.S. has refused to say when the last U.S. soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns, but also the protection of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport is still being negotiated. Turkish and U.S. soldiers currently are protecting the airport. That protection is currently covered under the Resolute Support Mission, which is the military mission being wound down.
Read:Taliban gains drive Afghan government to recruit militias
Until a new agreement for the airport’s protection is negotiated between Turkey and the Afghan government, and possibly the United States, the Resolute Support mission would appear to have to continue in order to give international troops the legal authority.
The U.S. will also have about 650 troops in Afghanistan to protect its sprawling embassy in the capital. Their presence it is understood will be covered in a bilateral agreement with the Afghan government.
The U.S. and NATO leaving comes as Taliban insurgents make strides in several parts of the country, overrunning dozens of districts and overwhelming beleaguered Afghan security Forces.
In a worrying development, the government has resurrected militias with a history of brutal violence to assist the Afghan security forces. At what had all the hallmarks of a final press conference, Gen. Miller this week warned that continued violence risked a civil war in Afghanistan that should have the world worried.
At its peak around 2012, Bagram Airfield saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through its sprawling compound barely an hour’s drive north of the Afghan capital Kabul.
The departure is rife with symbolism. Not least, it’s the second time that an invader of Afghanistan has come and gone through Bagram.
Read: US to keep about 650 troops in Afghanistan after withdrawal
The Soviet Union built the airfield in the 1950s. When it invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to back a communist government, it turned it into its main base from which it would defend its occupation of the country. For 10 years, the Soviets fought the U.S.-backed mujahedeen, dubbed freedom fighters by President Ronald Reagan, who saw them as a front-line force in one of the last Cold War battles.
When the U.S. and NATO inherited Bagram in 2001, they found it in ruins, a collection of crumbling buildings, gouged by rockets and shells, most of its perimeter fence wrecked. It had been abandoned after being battered in the battles between the Taliban and rival mujahedeen warlords fleeing to their northern enclaves.
The enormous base has two runways. The most recent, at 12,000 feet long, was built in 2006 at a cost of $96 million. There are 110 revetments, which are basically parking spots for aircraft, protected by blast walls. GlobalSecurity, a security think tank, says Bagram includes three large hangars, a control tower and numerous support buildings. The base has a 50-bed hospital with a trauma bay, three operating theaters and a modern dental clinic. Another section houses a prison, notorious and feared among Afghans.
There was no immediate comment from Afghan officials as to the final withdrawal from Bagram Airfield by the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Delta variant exploits low vaccine rates, easing of rules
The latest alarming coronavirus variant is exploiting low global vaccination rates and a rush to ease pandemic restrictions, adding new urgency to the drive to get more shots in arms and slow its supercharged spread.
The vaccines most used in Western countries still appear to offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, first identified in India and now spreading in more than 90 other countries.
But the World Health Organization warned this week that the trifecta of easier-to-spread strains, insufficiently immunized populations and a drop in mask use and other public health measures before the virus is better contained will “delay the end of the pandemic.”
READ: Cattle smuggling on amid concern about Indian Delta variant
The delta variant is positioned to take full advantage of those weaknesses.
“Any suffering or death from COVID-19 is tragic. With vaccines available across the country, the suffering and loss we are now seeing is nearly entirely avoidable,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday in urging more Americans to roll up their sleeves ahead of the mutant’s spread.Amid concerns about the variant, parts of Europe have reinstated travel quarantines, several Australian cities are in outbreak-sparked lockdowns — and just as Japan readies for the Olympics, some visiting athletes are infected. The mutation is causing worry even in countries with relatively successful immunization campaigns that nonetheless haven’t reached enough people to snuff out the virus.
For instance, the mutant has forced Britain, where nearly half the population is fully vaccinated, to postpone for a month its long-anticipated lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, as cases are doubling about every nine days.
In the U.S., “we’re still vulnerable for these flare-ups and rebounds,” said Dr. Hilary Babcock of Washington University at St. Louis.
The variants “are able to find any gaps in our protection,” she said, pointing to how hospital beds and intensive care units in Missouri’s least-vaccinated southwestern counties suddenly are filling — mostly with adults under 40 who never got the shots.
With nearly half the U.S. population immunized, CDC’s Walensky said about 1,000 counties, mostly in the Midwest and Southeast, with vaccination rates below 30% “are our most vulnerable.”
But the variant poses the most danger in countries where vaccinations are sparse. Africa is seeing cases rise faster than ever before, partially driven by the mutation, the WHO said Thursday, while areas in Bangladesh that border India are also seeing a variant-fueled surge. Fiji, which got through the first year of the pandemic without just two virus deaths, is now experiencing a significant outbreak blamed on the strain, and Afghanistan is desperately seeking oxygen supplies because of it.
The delta variant remains far from the only version of the coronavirus that’s spreading — and you don’t want to catch any kind. Here’s what scientists know so far:
EASIER SPREAD IS THE CHIEF THREAT
Scientists believe the delta variant is about 50% more transmissible than other types. Researchers are just beginning to tease apart why. But there are early clues that some mutations may ease a key step in how the virus slips inside human cells, said Priyamvada Acharya, a structural biologist at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.
Still, it’s not clear if higher contagion is the whole reason the variant is spreading so quickly. In Britain, its rise followed a loosening of restrictions in May, when restaurants, gyms and other businesses reopened, and thousands of fans have attended sports events.
IS IT MORE DANGEROUS?
It’s harder to tell if the delta variant makes people sicker. British experts have said there are some preliminary signs it may increase hospitalization, but there’s no evidence it is more lethal.
It fueled a devastating COVID-19 surge in India in February, and “this time around we had a lot more people who were very sick compared to before,” said Dr. Jacob John of Christian Medical College at Vellore. But he cautioned that the “explosion” of cases didn’t necessarily mean this version was more dangerous, as more cases usually mean more hospitalizations.
READ: AstraZeneca, Pfizer vaccines effective against Delta Covid-19 variants: Study
THE BEST PROTECTION IS FULL VACCINATION
British researchers found two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the AstraZeneca one were only slightly less effective at blocking symptomatic illness from the delta variant than from earlier mutations — and importantly, remain hugely protective at preventing hospitalization.
But there’s an important catch: Just one dose proved far less effective against the delta variant than against earlier versions of the virus. That has prompted Britain, which originally extended the gap between doses, to speed up second shots.
There’s little information on whether the delta variant can escape other vaccines, such as ones developed in China or Russia.
Experts say the Moderna vaccine, the same type as Pfizer’s, should be similarly protective.
Johnson & Johnson announced late Thursday that its one-dose shot also protects against the delta variant, citing lab tests of vaccine recipients’ blood. In a news release, the company said the immune response lasts eight months and counting. The information comes as some people immunized with J&J’s single shot have wondered whether they’d need a booster against the new mutated virus.
WHAT ABOUT MASKS?
The WHO has urged governments not to lift pandemic restrictions too quickly — including saying everyone, even the vaccinated, should continue to wear masks given that the delta variant spreads more easily and no vaccine is 100% effective.
In the U.S., the CDC maintains it still is safe for the fully vaccinated to go mask-free. But there’s no way to know if maskless people really are vaccinated and local governments can set tighter guidelines. This week, with the delta variant spreading locally, health officials in Los Angeles County said they still recommend masks indoors in public places for everyone.
If that’s confusing, consider that the more the virus is spreading in a particular area, the more risk even the vaccinated have of getting a mild or asymptomatic infection they could spread to someone not protected — such as children too young to qualify for the shots.
In Missouri, fully vaccinated Babcock makes sure she has a mask to pop on quickly if she runs into a crowd: “I feel like my new normal is holding a mask in my hand, ready to put it on if I need it.”
Collapse survivors escaped with their lives, but little else
Susana Alvarez fled her home on the 10th floor of Champlain Towers South, escaping with her life and almost nothing else.
“I don’t have anything,” said the 62-year-old survivor of the condominium building collapse just outside Miami. “I walked out with my pajamas and my phone.”
The disaster that killed at least 18 people, with more than 140 still missing, also rendered dozens of people homeless. Many lost cars, too, buried in the building’s underground parking garage.
Though most who managed to flee to safety lived in parts of the building that remain standing, they have little hope of returning to reclaim clothing, computers, jewelry and sentimental possessions they left behind.
Read:Devastated condo community looks to Biden visit for comfort
Officials said Thursday they’re making plans for the likely demolition of all parts of the building that didn’t collapse. The announcement came after search and rescue operations were paused for hours because of growing signs the structure was dangerously unstable.
Alvarez is still dealing with the trauma. She hasn’t slept in a bed since the collapse a week ago. Instead she’s been sleeping in a chair, constantly thinking of the victims who couldn’t escape. She still hears the screams from that night.
“I lost everything,” Alvarez said, “and it doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Still, friends and even complete strangers have been helping replace what she’s lost. Friends she’s staying with outfitted her with new clothes and a computer. An eyeglass store refilled her prescription, even though she never called it in. And she got the last condo in a 16-unit building that was opened up rent-free to Surfside survivors for the month of July.
It’s unclear exactly how many residents have been displaced, but those with insurance policies should recoup at least a portion of their losses.
Victims also appear likely to get some money from the liability insurer for Champlain Towers South’s condominium association, which has at least four lawsuits pending related to the collapse.
An attorney for James River Insurance Company wrote to the judge in one case this week that it plans to “voluntarily tender its entire limit” from the association’s policy toward resolving claims. An attached copy of the policy showed limits between $1 million and $2 million.
Michael Capponi, the president of a Miami-area nonprofit that for the past decade has helped victims of disasters from hurricanes to wildfires in the U.S. and abroad, said he has personally dealt with 50 people who lost homes in the building.
Read:Latest victims in condo tower collapse include 2 children
Capponi’s organization, Global Empowerment Mission, has distributed roughly $75,000 in gift cards among surfside survivors, and he’s also working with hotel and condo owners to find places they can live for the next two months.
Most people who have contacted his nonprofit for help lived in the part that is still standing but assume their homes and anything inside are a complete loss.
“They are going to basically have to start all over again,” Capponi said. “Some of them don’t have insurance, and they’ve lost everything they worked all their lives for.”
Raysa Rodriguez, a retired postal worker who lived at Champlain Towers South for 17 years and was close to paying off her mortgage, described in a lawsuit she filed against the condominium association how crashing sounds roused her from bed the night of the collapse.
“The building swayed like a sheet of paper. ... I ran to the balcony. I (opened) the doors and a wall of dust hit me,” she said in the filing.
Rodriguez helped neighbors escape to a second-floor balcony where firefighters helped them to the ground. Now she has moved in with family members and assumes what’s left of the building will be torn down with no chance to recover belongings.
“She lived there for a long time,” said Adam Schwartzbaum, her attorney, “and she was planning to live there for the rest of her life.”
Ryan Logan, the American Red Cross’ regional disaster officer for south Florida, said the organization has been helping about 18 families, and some of them have been looking for ways they can help other victims.
Read:Florida officials pledge multiple probes into condo collapse
“These folks that we are serving, who we know they are having the worst experience of their lives, are turning around and asking you what can they do to serve,” Logan said. “It’s nothing short of amazing.”
Gabriel Nir narrowly escaped a first-floor apartment with his mother and 15-year-old sister. The family had just moved in six months ago. Nir, a recent college graduate, was living there while he looked for a job and considered medical school.
For now they are staying at a nearby hotel, the floor of their room cluttered with items donated by friends and strangers. They have no luggage. Their car was destroyed in the building’s garage. But all the material possessions they lost can be replaced, he said.
“I’m just grateful I made it out alive with my family,” Nir said.