Top 10 world news: US begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, Delhi lockdown extended and more
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Almost 20 years after the 9/11 attacks on US Twin towers in New York, US has started withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan. Meanwhile Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert has advised the Indian government to impose a nationwide lockdown in response to the rapidly rising COVID numbers in India. Given the rise in Coronavirus cases, Indian national capital, New Delhi has decided to extend lockdown by a week. Read this and much more in our Top 10 World News.
The US has begun its pullout from Afghanistan, the 'forever war' that started after the 9/11 attacks on twin towers in New York 20 years ago. The development has elicited mixed reactions as there are widespread fears among the Afghans about possible Taliban takeover of the country.
Fauci also said that “no one likes likes to lock down the country”, while urging Indian authorities to lock down the country for a “few weeks”, which in his opinion would have a considerable impact on the degree of the outbreak.
A group of scientific advisers working for the Indian government reportedly told authorities that minor mutations have been reported in many samples of coronavirus. A leader of the group told Reuters that these mutations could “possible evade immune response” and would require further enquiry.
"Lockdown in Delhi is being extended by one week," Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter. The current lockdown was set to expire in the city on Monday but the cases are currently rising in the city which is home to over 20 million residents.
President Joe Biden’s approach primarily involves “diplomacy” as opposed to looking to make “grand bargains” with the North Korean administration, the White House said on Friday.
The rollout of the Russian vaccine is expected to augment India`s third phase of the vaccination drive which commenced today amid a record rise in COVID-19 cases. India for the first time has reported more than 4 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
The assistance from Boeing will be directed to organisations providing relief, including medical supplies and emergency healthcare for communities and families battling COVID-19, the company said in a statement.
The administration urged people to register themselves for the vaccine and also said that people who are not registered will not be vaccinated. There are around 10 designated centres in Srinagar where the third phase of vaccination has been started by the government.
Vaccine rollout began in the rebel-held part of northern Syria and residents received Covid vaccines on Saturday. Authorities in Idlib and northern Aleppo received an initial batch of 53,800 AstraZeneca Covid-19 jabs on April 21, under the Covax programme for poorer nations.
