The lighting speed with which the Taliban gained territory and the Afghan army retired and ceded land shocked many. 

How much has the Afghanistan conflict cost to America and its allies?

Was it worth all the resources, the lives, and the time spent in Afghanistan? And for what?

Images of a helicopter evacuating people from the American embassy in Kabul last Sunday flooded social media as the United States continues its withdrawal from the Afghan capital. For many it is a déjà vu and recalls the humiliating departure from Saigon, Vietnam, in 1975 when American personnel were climbing on a rooftop trying to escape. 

The first case of Covid-19 in six months in New Zealand is the Delta variant as the genome sequence shows and it’s linked to the outbreak in neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said. 

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown after the country confirmed one coronavirus case - the first locally transmitted since February. 

Amid a rise in case numbers in the United States, people count on federal health officials to recommend vaccine booster shots for all Americans who have taken their second dose. Perhaps before the winter starts. 

The recommendation is expected to be announced in the coming days. But the FDA stills needs to approve the vaccines formally. 

The World Health Organisation has urged China to share the raw data from the earliest cases of the coronavirus in Wuhan, asserting it was ‘vitally important’ to understand the virus’s origins to prevent a future pandemic. 

Why is the information not shared?

For the second day in a row, the death toll has soared as a third wave of infections continues despite the efforts to boost vaccinations. 

Australia’s New South Wales into lockdown as Covid-19 cases continue to rise. 

New South Wales increases fines for people breaking the rules in the state, fining them up to $3,700 on the spot. 

The theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan is gaining prominence once more.

The head of the World Health Organisation mission, who investigated the origins of the pandemic, said it may have started with a Wuhan lab staffer becoming infected.