Friday, September 10, 2021

*)UN: Afghanistan on brink of “universal poverty” The UN Security Council says the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is getting worse in the country's rural regions. The body met amid reports of rights abuse in the country since the Taliban took control. Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai says it will take more than statements to ensure the Taliban respects the rights of women and girls. *) US marks 20 years since 9/11 attacks Saturday will mark 20 years since two planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City, killing nearly 3,000 people. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, causing a partial collapse of the building. The 9/11 attacks led to a drastic change in American foreign policy. The US retaliation included bringing about regime change in Afghanistan and Iraq. But critics say the US approach has increased global instability. *) US Biden and China's Xi hold first call in seven months US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have spoken for the first time in nearly seven months. Chinese media described the call as “candid” while the White House says the pair spoke about managing competition and avoiding conflict. Relations between Washington and Beijing have been at their lowest point in decades. *) Turkey administers more than 100M Covid-19 vaccine doses The number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in Turkey has now passed 100 million. Turkey started its inoculation programme in January and it has been using the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and the Chinese company Sinovac. The health minister says this is a milestone in the country's fight against the virus. And finally... *) Raducanu to face Fernandez in all-teen US Open final British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu has become the first qualifier to ever reach a Grand Slam final by defeating Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 at the US Open on Thursday. Raducanu, ranked 150th, became the youngest Grand Slam finalist since 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won at Wimbledon in 2