The U.S. State Department said special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has traveled to Doha, Qatar, for talks with representatives (Axios) from the Taliban and the Afghan government amid a Taliban offensive. He warned the Taliban (AP) today that any group that uses force to come to power won’t be recognized internationally. Khalilzad will also discuss Afghanistan’s security situation (VOA) with envoys from China, Pakistan, and Russia.

The talks come as the Taliban has taken over (NYT) several of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals. The United States carried out air strikes against the group in recent days. It is scheduled to complete its military withdrawal from the country by August 31, though it is unclear (Bloomberg) if and how it could continue to support Afghan forces afterward. The Taliban has said it wants peace talks with the Afghan government, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told his cabinet last month that the group seeks his government’s surrender.  

North Korea did not answer (Yonhap) a daily call on a newly established military hotline with South Korea hours after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, criticized joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.
 
Thailand: At least ten pro-democracy activists were arrested after protests against the monarchy (Al Jazeera) over the weekend. They were denied bail, a human rights lawyer said.

Bangladesh began a drive to vaccinate (Dhaka Tribune) around forty-eight thousand Rohingya aged fifty-five and older in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Reported COVID-19 cases are increasing in the camps, which are home to around 1.1 million people.

The FBI said it is reviewing classified documents (NYT) regarding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with an eye to making some public. The families of some victims have pushed for the release and believe the documents could implicate Saudi Arabia. U.S. President Joe Biden has supported the review.
 
Algeria: Forest fires killed at least seven people (Al Jazeera) in the country amid a heat wave in the Mediterranean, officials said.

Health officials in Guinea confirmed a human case (WaPo) of the disease caused by the Marburg virus, a relative of the Ebola virus that causes hemorrhagic fever. The health ministry ordered 155 people who were potentially exposed to the virus to quarantine.
 
Nigeria: A strike (AFP) in support of a detained separatist leader left businesses in the country’s southeast closed yesterday. Protesters called for the release of Indigenous People of Biafra founder Nnamdi Kanu.
 
CFR’s John Campbell and Nolan Quinn look at the growing separatism in Nigeria.

On the one-year anniversary of a controversial election in Belarus, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom imposed new sanctions (Axios) on the country for human rights violations. The election led to widespread protests and a crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko’s government.
 
On The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich explains the Belarus protests.
 
UK: Virginia Giuffre, an American woman who said Britain’s Prince Andrew sexually abused her as part of a scheme organized by convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sued the prince (Bloomberg) in a U.S. court. Prince Andrew previously denied having sex with Giuffre. 

Canada began allowing nonessential travel (CBC) by U.S. citizens and permanent residents for the first time in sixteen months. They must be fully vaccinated to enter.
 
This In Brief examines the debate over vaccine passports.
 
Brazil: A Brazilian Indigenous peoples’ organization filed a petition at the International Criminal Court asking it to investigate (Al Jazeera) President Jair Bolsonaro for systemic anti-Indigenous policies that they claim amount to genocide and ecocide.

The U.S. military will require service members to be vaccinated (AP) for COVID-19 by mid-September, the Pentagon said in a memo.