GOOD MORNING.

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

Afghanistan

1. Suicide bomb threats hang over the final phase of the US military’s airlift operation from Kabul, with US President Joe Biden warning another attack was highly likely before the evacuations end.

It comes as the final UK troops and diplomatic staff were airlifted from Kabul, drawing to a close Britain’s 20-year engagement in Afghanistan.

Pets saved, people left behind

2. An ethical row has broken out in the UK over the evacuation effort carried out by the UK, after almost 200 cats and dogs were rescued from the Afghan capital, while the people who cared for them and other Afghan citizens were left behind.

Marine ‘Pen’ Farthing, who had been campaigning to get the animals at the Kabul shelter evacuated ahead of the 31 August deadline, was airlifted out with the animals yesterday.

But Government officials and politicians have been quietly questioning this decision when so many people left behind face persecution.

In the i newspaper today, they carry an interview with the boyfriend of a 24-year-old man who was reportedly killed by the Taliban for his sexuality.

Then he himself received a call: “I know you are gay, before capturing Kabul we knew everything about you, you have three or four friends who are gay, you have a boyfriend. Once we settle here in Kabul we will not let you live. If we find you, we will kill you.”

Emergency for ambulances

3. In our main story this morning, Garreth MacNamee reports that a large numbers of emergency calls in Dublin in recent days have put pressure on the ambulance service, with paramedics having to be diverted from other parts of the country under a system which has been widely criticised.

The system for dispatching paramedics to emergencies has been called “mind-boggling” and union leaders have warned that changes must be implemented immediately to ensure the safety of those who call for life-saving care.

A new ICHH chair

4. Dublin City Councillor Burke has temporarily taken up the role as chairman of the board of homeless charity Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH), after David Hall resigned from the role on Friday.

Hall told the Irish Independent and the Irish Times that he resigned due to threats he had received in recent days.

A statement from ICHH said that Burke would take up the role for “a short period of time”, and that there would be an EGM held “in the near future and further updates will follow from that meeting”.

Booster vaccines

5. Immunocompromised people across the country look set to receive additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines within the next few weeks, and officials are already looking at the possibility that other patient groups could follow.

No timeline has been set out for the administration of boosters, but Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he expects a campaign this autumn. Here’s what we know.

Hurricane Ida

6. Owners were boarding up their shops and evacuations were underway as Hurricane Ida was on a path to hit New Orleans 16 years to the day the southern US city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Ida is due to make landfall today, with people fearing a similar devastation as was inflicted by Katrina, which flooded 80% of New Orleans, left 1,800 people dead and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Tainted Moderna batches

7. Japan’s Okinawa region suspended the use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine after another contamination was spotted, the local government said.

It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men aged in their 30s who received shots from tainted Moderna batches – though the cause of their death is unknown.

The space A-Z

8. From Black Holes to SpaceX, The Good Information Project has done a good job of demystifying some of the commonly-used terms about the 21st century space race – read it here. 

Meanwhile, in Tokyo…

9. The fastest Paralympian on the planet Irishman Jason Smyth cruised through to the T13 100m Final with a time of 10.74 seconds. The visually impaired sprinter will be aiming to add to his five Paralympic titles later today on the track in Toyko.