Afghanistan's President flees the country as the Taliban returns to Kabul, and the NZ Government takes a wait-and-see approach to Covid vaccine boosters.
Nearly 20 years after US forces drove them out of Kabul, Taliban fighters are on the brink of taking back full control of Afghanistan.
President Ashraf Ghani fled the country overnight as the Taliban returned to the capital, sparking panicked scenes.
All commercial flights out of Kabul have now been suspended with only military aircraft allowed to operate. The move comes as Western countries scramble to evacuate their own citizens from Afghanistan.
Cabinet is meeting this morning to discuss providing support to New Zealanders currently there. Seventeen Kiwis are registered as living in the country , but the Government admits there could be more who are not registered.
The Taliban has shocked many with its swift nationwide offensive, taking large parts of Afghanistan in just over a week. But as the New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson writes, their comeback has been 20 years in the making and is “a classic example of a successful guerrilla war of attrition”.
Sign up to get the Morning Briefing delivered direct to your inbox – here.
Wait-and-see approach to boosters
The Government is waiting on more evidence before ordering booster shots of the Pfizer Covid vaccine - but National says New Zealand risks major delays next year if additional shots aren’t purchased now.
Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall told Q+A authorities are looking closely at evidence, explaining that a whole new vaccine may be required for new variants , rather than booster shots.
However, National’s Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop told the show ordering booster shots is the obvious thing to do.
Meanwhile, an Australian-based epidemiologist says New Zealand needs to get its vaccine coverage “north of 70 per cent” before it begins to relax border controls.
Professor Tony Blakely told Q+A Australia’s experience with the Delta variant shows “how hard it is to control Delta if it gets a little bit out of control - so don’t even let it get in".
His comments come as the Australian Government reveals it’s secured an extra million doses of the Pfizer vaccine which were due to arrive last night. More than half of those vaccines will be sent to Sydney, so that 20- to 39-year-olds in the city’s hot spots can be vaccinated this week.
New South Wales reported another 415 cases of Covid-19 and another four deaths yesterday after the entire state entered lockdown on Saturday evening.
Masks get new lease of life
Face masks may be an essential tool in keeping Covid at bay, however thousands of them wind up filling our landfills or scattered around streets and waterways.
But one Kiwi company is tackling that issue by recycling them into fence posts .
Future Post will be collecting used masks from airports, with an immediate capacity to take five million a month. The company already recycles 21 tonnes of plastic a day into fence posts and has found a way to add masks to that recipe. They’re hoping to further expand those operations.
The fence posts are already popular in the farming community and for other businesses like vineyards.
Film industry's fears for workers
The local film industry is worried skilled workers will head overseas now that further seasons of Amazon's Lord of the Rings series will be made in the UK .
Thousands of people were employed directly and indirectly on season one of the show and Screen Industry Guild president Brendon Durey says those Kiwi workers will likely now head offshore.
He told RNZ the most pressing problem for the film industry is the MIQ situation , with new overseas productions unable to secure spots in managed isolation.
Haiti death toll soars
More than 700 people are now confirmed dead following a powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti.
At least 2,800 people have been injured in the quake, while an unknown number of people are still missing.
There are also concerns the approaching Tropical Storm Grace will make matters much worse for the country in the coming days.
It’s another blow for the struggling nation following the assassination of its president last month.
Other news of note this morning:
- Britain's police watchdog has launched an investigation into why a man who killed five people in southwestern England last week was recently given back his confiscated gun and gun licence.
- Nearly two million people have been told to evacuate amid heavy rainfall in Japan.
- Christchurch police are asking those who attended a party where a teenager was fatally stabbed to contact them.
- Hurricanes co-owner Troy Bowker has revealed he’s exiting his shareholding , a week after his race comments controversy.
- There are concerns New Zealand is on track for a record number of motorcyclist deaths after a boom in sales last year.
- Exporters at the top of the South Island say they’re struggling to fill international orders due to container ships regularly skipping Nelson’s port .
- And the whitebait season has opened with new rules introduced across the country.
And finally...
1 NEWS' Good Sorts series this week celebrates Sophie Weenink.
The Nelson teenager was swimming at the beach a few summers ago when she spotted a chip packet in the water. It might sound like a simple find, but it’s inspired Sophie to tackle much bigger issues.
Now, this 15-year-old’s decided she’s not waiting on politicians to save the world and is taking it upon herself to make a difference...
SHARE ME