US VP Harris Continues Southeast Asia Tour

Kamala Harris has become the first US Vice President to visit Vietnam. She arrived in the country on Tuesday evening a three-hour delay in leaving Singapore. Washington says unnamed officials in the Vietnamese capital had come down with the mysterious Havana syndrome, which causes dizziness, nausea, migraines and memory loss. It wasn’t until it had been determined there was no threat to the Vice President that she was allowed to take off. Harris arrived in Hanoi after a three-day visit to Singapore, where she used a speech to slam China for what she called its attempts to lay claim to the South China Sea, seen as critical to US security:

"Our vision includes freedom of navigation, which is vital to us all. The livelihood of millions of people depend on the billions of dollars in trade that flow through these sea lanes each day. And yet, in the South China Sea, we know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea….And Beijing's actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations. The United States stands with our allies and partners in the face of these threats."

The Biden Administration has called its rivalry with China "the biggest geopolitical test" of the century.

Chaos Continues at Kabul Airport

More than 20 people have been killed and dozens of others injured in shootings and stampedes near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Tens of thousands of Afghans are swarming the area hoping to board an evacuation flight. Most are not holding passports or identity documents. Even those with the right paperwork are being prevented from entering the airport because of the chaos. The Taliban says there will be no further evacuation flights allowed after 31 August. At the same time, pressure is mounting on the group to start delivering on its promise of a better future. Kabul residents are calling for jobs, peace and lower prices. Even before the Taliban swept into the city on 15 August, conditions had been getting worse, with their rapid advance on the capital sending the value of the local currency plunging against the dollar, pushing prices of basic foodstuffs ever higher.

Rolling Stones Drummer Dies

And, time appears to be finally catching up on the Rolling Stones. Their drummer, Charlie Watts, widely regarded as one of the coolest men in rock, having spent nearly 60 years with the band, has died at the age of 80. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital surrounded by his family. Watts played drums on all of the group's 30 albums and on every tour, until he pulled out of the 13-date "No Filter" US tour due to start this September. He joined the Rolling Stones way back in 1963.