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President Joe Biden plans to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, 20 years to the day after the al Qaeda attacks that triggered America’s longest war, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The disclosure of the plan came on the same day that the U.S. intelligence community released a gloomy outlook for Afghanistan, forecasting “low” chances of a peace deal this year and warning that its government would struggle to hold the Taliban insurgency at bay if the U.S.-led coalition withdraws support.

Source: reuters.com

US health agencies have recommended states pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after reports of rare and severe blood clots emerged in six women. More than 6.8m doses have been administered nationally.

Source: theguardian.com

At least 42 migrants have died after a boat they were travelling in from Yemen capsized off the coast of Djibouti, East Africa, during the early hours of Monday morning, the United Nations' International Office for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

Source: cnn.com

China told the United States on Tuesday to stop playing with fire over Taiwan and lodged a complaint after Washington issued guidelines that will enable U.S. officials to meet more freely with officials from the island that China claims as its own. The U.S. State Department’s Friday decision to deepen relations with self-ruled Taiwan came amid stepped-up Chinese military activity around the island, including almost daily air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters they had lodged “stern representations” with the United States.

Source: reuters.com

David Beckham will mentor young grassroots footballers in a new factual series for Disney+. The sports star, who captained England and played for clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid, will return to the east London pitches where he played as a child. His mission is to help a struggling side survive in their amateur league.

Source: bbc.com

A new species of marsupial frog has been discovered in Peru's Amazon jungle, the state service for natural protected areas said on Monday. The new species belongs to the Gastrotheca genus of tailless frogs found in South and Central America.

Source: france24.com

An inhaled drug commonly used for asthma has been shown to shorten the recovery time of Covid-19 sufferers who do not need hospital treatment – a development that has been described as a “significant milestone” in the fight against coronavirus. British scientists from Oxford University have found that budesonide, an anti-inflammatory medicine, can help accelerate recovery in the over-50s by an average of three days.

Source: independent.co.uk

The United States will deploy an additional 500 troops to Germany, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Berlin, marking a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw about 12,000 troops from the NATO country.

Source: reuters.com

The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex have paid tribute to their grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. In separate statements, Prince William described him as an "extraordinary man", while Prince Harry said he was "a man of service, honour and great humour" and the "legend of banter". Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday aged 99.

Source: bbc.com

The University of Kentucky mistakenly sent acceptance emails to 500,000 high school seniors for a program that usually accepts about three dozen students a year. The school followed up with another email less than 24 hours later and apologized for its mistake.

Source: apnews.com

Japan has approved a plan to release more than one million tonnes of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The water will be treated and diluted so radiation levels are below those set for drinking water. But the local fishing industry has strongly opposed the move, as have China and South Korea. Tokyo says work to release water used to cool nuclear fuel will begin in about two years. The final approval comes after years of debate and is expected to take decades to complete.

Source: bbc.com

A store employee called the police who then brought reptile handlers to catch the Godzilla-esque creature. Shoppers got more than they bargained for at a Thailand 7-Eleven store when a giant monitor lizard walked in and climbed store shelves. People can be heard screaming and laughing in the background as the lizard reaches the top of a shelf and sprawls out near an ice machine.

 

The UK is edging towards a new deal with the EU on Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland with the potential for easing border checks on certain goods. Officials in London and Brussels have been involved in intense “technical talks” in the past two weeks over the future checks on food, plants and parcels going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Source: theguardian.com

Aston Villa winger Trezeguet requires knee surgery after suffering an injury at the weekend, the Premier League club said Monday The Egypt attacker was forced off late in Saturday's defeat at Liverpool and a Villa statement said: "Trezeguet will now have an operation before starting his rehabilitation.

Source: france24.com

The family of a model who was left brain-damaged after having a serious allergic reaction to a peanut butter-infused pretzel was awarded the $29.5 million sum Friday when a jury found that the responding ambulance service negligently treated her in 2013. Now 35, Chantel Giacalone is quadriplegic, has to be fed through a tube and can only communicate with her eyes, according to a local report.

Source: foxnews.com

Gig-economy Western “Nomadland” won four prizes including best picture on Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards, which were handed out during a pandemic-curbed ceremony that recognized a diverse array of screen talent. “Nomadland” filmmaker Chloe Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of color, to win the BAFTA for best director, and star Frances McDormand was named best actress. “Nomadland” also took the cinematography prize.

Source: apnews.com

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $1.3 million technical assistance (TA) initiative to support Armenia in developing a digital platform to host standardized data on land ownership and other geographic information to help improve land resources management in the country. The integrated platform will include information on national water resources and forests, special protected natural areas, and historical and cultural monuments to guide development projects, investments, agricultural activities, and tourism development, among others. It will enable areas that are vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters such as earthquakes—of which Armenia is particularly prone—to be mapped.

Source: Asian Development Bank

The measure is part of broader plans to lower carbon emissions.

Source: independent.co.uk