LAST UPDATE | 25 Aug 2021

Shutterstock / artem evdokimov Shutterstock / artem evdokimov / artem evdokimov

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Afghanistan

1. Afghans face an increasingly desperate race to escape life under the Taliban after President Joe Biden confirmed US-led evacuations will end next Tuesday.

Biden said yesterday that the United States would stick to his 31 August deadline to completely withdraw its troops – despite warnings from European allies that not all vulnerable Afghans would able to leave by then.

2. It’s amid all this that the nine-member strong Irish Army Ranger Wing team are being deployed to Kabul with an aim of evacuating 36 Irish citizens in Afghanistan. Security expert Tom Clonan has a profile this morning of how dangerous the environment is, and how skilled the deployed Defence Forces team is:

“These personnel are highly trained in close protection and carry small arms for this purpose. They are also trained snipers who will be in a position to cover Irish personnel – or citizens – as they arrive at and enter the febrile airport perimeter.”

3. In more positive news on the Afghanistan humanitarian crisis, charities have said they have received significant support from the Irish public for emergency Afghanistan aid appeals following the recent Talbian takeover.

“The response from the public has just been extraordinary,” said Executive Director of Amnesty International in Ireland Colm O’Gorman.

Back to Covid-19

4. The protection provided by two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines starts to wane within six months, new research suggests.

The Pfizer jab was 88% effective at preventing Covid-19 infection a month after the second dose. But after five to six months the protection decreased to 74%, suggesting protection fell 14 percentage points in four months, the UK’s Zoe Covid study indicated.

With the AstraZeneca vaccine, there was a protection against infection of 77% one month after the second dose. After four to five months protection decreased to 67%.

Winter blackouts

5. The cost of interruptions to electricity supply in Ireland would be “huge”, economics professor and energy expert John Fitzgerald has warned.

It comes after concerns were raised that blackouts could hit Ireland this winter, and will face increased threats to the electricity grid into the future as demand rises.

Events: A live issue

6. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that he was “concerned” at footage from after the GAA hurling final at Croke Park on Sunday, but added that there will be no additional restrictions for those attending upcoming GAA finals.

He urged people who were in “higher risk environments” after the match, such as being too close to people for too long, to get a PCR test.

The comments come after the Government was criticised for allowing 40,000 at Croke Park to watch the All-Ireland hurling final on Sunday, without a requirement to be vaccinated, tested, or contact traced, while live events are not yet permitted.

7. In related news, live events industry representatives will meet with Arts Minister Catherine Martin today amid ongoing backlash against the government for the slow pace of easing restrictions for the entertainment sector.

Advocates within the sector have been pleading for a specific roadmap for some time but nothing so far has been signed off; Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said yesterday that clarity will be given “within days” as theCabinet is due to meet next week. 

Zero Covid in New Zealand

8. New Zealand’s Covid response minister says the country will not “throw in the towel” with its elimination strategy, as the strategy was questioned amid rising Covid-19 cases.

The Guardian reports that New Zealand announced 63 new cases of Covid-19 on today, bringing the total to 210 cases. It is the largest single-day jump since the outbreak began last week, and 12 people are hospitalised with the virus.

At the Paralympic Games

9. Over at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Irish athletes Nicole Turner and Róisín Ní Riain will be swimming for medals later this morning following impressive performances in the pool overnight. Both clocked personal bests as Turner finished fifth in her 50m freestyle (S6) heat with a time of 35.47.

Her final takes place at 10.46am. Ní Riain’s medal event gets underway at 11.38am.