Analyst Warns Of Taliban Threat to Central Asia, Covid Deaths Reach New Record High

LOCAL NEWS

• Analyst warns Taliban could pose a major threat to central Asia, not only from refugee flows and cross-border terrorist movement but also due to the enormous amount of sophisticated arms the group captured as a result of the hasty US exit.
  • Russia's Defense Min Shoigu echoed this with hundreds of armoured vehicles, aircraft and helicopters now available to the Taliban
• Russia sees record Covid deaths, despite falling case numbers as major regions lift restrictions imposed over the summer.
  • Russia recorded 820 deaths and 19,630 cases yesterday with experts blaming the high vaccine hesitancy rate for excess deaths. Only 29% have had a first jab and 14% are fully vaccinated

Data/Events:

• 0830BST: Bloomberg Aug Russia Economic Survey
• 0900BST: Money Supply Narrow Def, prior 14.33tn
• Lavrov meets Draghi in Rome