More than eighteen thousand people have been evacuated (Reuters) from Afghanistan since the Taliban took over Kabul, according to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) official. But the process is reportedly lagging (Axios) due to delays in approving people for evacuation and challenges getting to the Kabul airport, among other factors. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak today about evacuation efforts as he faces criticism that the United States did not act quickly enough to ensure safe departures of Americans and Afghans. Some ten thousand U.S. citizens are believed to still be in Afghanistan.
 
Throughout the country, the Taliban has tightened its grip, cracking down on protests (NYT) and killing the family member (Politico) of a Deutsche Welle journalist who left Afghanistan. A new report by Amnesty International found that Taliban fighters killed nine ethnic Hazara men (BBC) in July; the rights group described the killings as a “horrifying indicator” of Taliban rule.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris departs today (Straits Times) for Singapore and Vietnam for a trip that will stress the importance of U.S. partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. It is her second trip abroad since taking office.
 
This Backgrounder examines U.S. vice presidents’ roles in foreign policy.
 
China: Authorities passed a data privacy law (Reuters) that requires companies to get user consent to collect personal data and says handling of such data should be limited, local media reported. It is believed to resemble privacy frameworks (WSJ) by other governments, such as the European Union, but its full text has yet to be released and the Chinese government is expected to maintain access to data.

Last year’s death toll for Rohingya refugees attempting to depart Bangladesh and Myanmar by sea was eight times higher (Al Jazeera) than the toll in 2019, the UN refugee agency said. An estimated 218 people died or went missing in 2020. The agency noted that potential receiving countries pushed back incoming refugee vessels.

Israel, Qatar, and the United Nations reached an agreement (Haaretz) that will allow funds for the Gaza Strip to be transferred through Qatar. The aid transfer had been stalled (Al Jazeera) in part over concerns that funds could reach Hamas, the armed group that rules Gaza.
 
This Backgrounder offers a fresh look at Hamas.
 
Israel: Most fully vaccinated Israelis who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are over the age of sixty and have chronic illnesses, Reuters reported. Earlier this week, Israel’s health ministry said that the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to have dropped from 90 percent to 55 percent for people over the age of sixty-five who got their second dose in January.
 
For Think Global Health, CFR’s Luciana Borio, Céline Gounder, and John P. Moore discuss why decisions on when to give COVID-19 booster shots are complicated.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is in the South Sudanese capital of Juba (VOA) today for talks aimed at shoring up a coalition government in South Sudan. A rift in one faction of the unity government has led to deadly clashes (NYT) in recent weeks.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Comfort Ero and Alan Boswell look at the state of disrepair in South Sudan.
 
Kenya: A Kenyan court is due to rule today (AFP) on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s bid to alter the constitution so that top political power is more distributed, creating a new position of prime minister. Kenyatta said the changes will ease election-related unrest.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow today (AP) as Merkel nears the end of her sixteen-year leadership of Germany. They are expected to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
 
Germany: A union representing train drivers called a two-day strike (DW) over a stalled pay increase. Freight train drivers are expected to strike starting tomorrow and passenger train drivers starting on Monday. Last week, a similar strike brought many of Germany’s trains to a standstill.

Workers at a General Motors (GM) truck plant in Mexico voted to cancel their current union contract (Reuters) in a vote spurred by a dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The United States had complained about irregularities in a previous vote.
 
Mexico: Hurricane Grace made landfall (USA Today) in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, lashing it with rain and knocking out power for tens of thousands of people.

The Federal Trade Commission resubmitted a lawsuit (NYT) claiming Facebook violated monopoly laws after the judge overseeing the case dismissed it for insufficient evidence in June. The updated suit is twice as long.