“Turkey has arrested several hundred illegal migrants heading from Afghanistan towards Europe in the past few days as a fresh exodus of people fleeing the advancing Taliban gathers pace,” the Times of London reports.

“The European Union passed the U.S. in Covid-19 vaccinations, with the continent inoculating people at a sustained pace and America struggling to persuade vaccine holdouts to get a shot to slow the spread of the Delta variant,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo “said some tariffs on imported goods can be effective, citing the steel levies enacted by the Trump administration as helping to counter an oversupply of the product from China,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Raimondo: “If China is not going to play by the rules, then there’s a place for tariffs. Sometimes tariffs can be very effective.”

Associated Press: “President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated Julissa Reynoso, the chief of staff to first lady Jill Biden and a former ambassador, to serve as his ambassador to Spain and Andorra.”

“Tokyo saw a sharp rise in its number of coronavirus infections after officials reported 2,848 new cases Tuesday — the city’s highest ever daily count — as it struggles to contain a record-breaking resurgence just days after the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” the Japan Times reports,

A new Gallup poll finds that as the U.S. military continues its drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, Americans are evenly divided in their views — 47% to 46% — on whether it was a mistake for the U.S. to send troops into the country nearly 20 years ago.

New York Times: “In the barren desert 1,200 miles west of Beijing, the Chinese government is digging a new field of what appears to be 110 silos for launching nuclear missiles. It is the second such field discovered by analysts studying commercial satellite images in recent weeks.”

“It may signify a vast expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal — the cravings of an economic and technological superpower to show that, after decades of restraint, it is ready to wield an arsenal the size of Washington’s, or Moscow’s. Or, it may simply be a creative, if costly, negotiating ploy. The new silos are clearly being built to be discovered.”

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have hit record highs amid the U.S. troop withdrawal from the country, Axios reports.

“President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi are planning to announce an agreement Monday that will detail a timetable for the drawdown of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq,” NBC News reports.

“Iraq’s prime minister says his country no longer requires American combat troops to fight the Islamic State group, but a formal time frame for their redeployment will depend on the outcome of talks with U.S. officials this week,” the AP reports.

“The Afghan government imposed a month-long curfew across almost all of the country on Saturday in a bid to stop the Taliban from invading cities,” the BBC reports.

Washington Post: Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan puts key cities at risk of being overtaken.

NBC News: “Thousands of Afghans who are eligible for a U.S. evacuation out of the country now face one final life-and-death hurdle — getting to Kabul without being captured or killed by the Taliban.”

“The Biden administration this week emailed hundreds of Afghans who worked for the U.S. government telling them to prepare for evacuation to the U.S. in coming days… But the Afghans have to make their way to the capital of Kabul on their own in order to be evacuated.”

“Reeling from a surge in battlefield losses, Afghanistan’s military is overhauling its war strategy against the Taliban to concentrate forces around the most critical areas like Kabul and other cities, border crossings and vital infrastructure,” Reuters reports.

“The politically perilous strategy will inevitably cede territory to Taliban insurgents. But officials say it appears to be a military necessity as over-stretched Afghan troops try to prevent the loss of provincial capitals, which could deeply fracture the country.”

Times of London: “The Taliban have massed on the outskirts of Kandahar in preparation for an all-out assault to recapture a city that was once the movement’s capital and spiritual home.”

Wall Street Journal: “Top Iraqi and U.S. officials plan to issue a statement calling for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by year-end, both nations’ officials said, but would reaffirm the need for a U.S. military presence to help Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State.”

“North Korea’s food shortages have reached crisis levels, and inequalities have sharply widened ever since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the country to close its borders in January last year,” Nikkei Asia reports.

“The reclusive nation will be short by about 860,000 tons of food this year, or about two months of normal demand.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki accused China of “stonewalling” a World Health Organization investigation into origins of the coronavirus, including the possibility it escaped a Chinese lab, after Beijing said it wouldn’t participate, Bloomberg reports.

Said Psaki: “Their position is irresponsible and, frankly, dangerous.”