The Marin County, Calif. elementary school had been conscientious about following covid-19 protocols. Masks were required indoors, desks were spaced six feet apart, and the students kept socially distant. But the delta variant found an opening anyway.

On May 19, one teacher, who was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, began feeling fatigued and had some nasal congestion. She dismissed it as allergies and powered through. While she was usually masked, she made an exception for story time so she could read to the class.

By the time she learned she was positive for the coronavirus two days later, half her class of 24 had been infected - nearly all of them in the two rows closest to her desk - and the outbreak had spread to other classes, siblings and parents, including some who were fully vaccinated.

"The mask was off only momentarily, not an entire day or hours. We want to make the point that this is not the teacher's fault - everyone lets their guard down - but the thing is delta takes advantage of slippage from any kind of protective measures," Tracy Lam-Hine, an epidemiologist for the county, said in an interview.

The case study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and highlighted by CDC director Rochelle Walensky during a briefing on Friday, highlights the potential danger for children under the age of 12 - the only group in the United States ineligible for coronavirus vaccines as a hyper-infectious variant tears across the country.

Just this month in Brevard County, Fla., 1,623 children were infected and more than 8,000 students were quarantined. And in the Atlanta area, thousands of positive cases were confirmed in schools with 23,000 students and staff have been quarantined. The situation has turned the nation's schools into ideological battlegrounds - with one angry parent ripping off a mask from a teacher's face in a Texas school this month, and parents both for and against masks filing lawsuits against their children's school districts.

Without concerted efforts to curb delta's transmission, things are likely to get worse in coming months. A simulation posted this month by a CDC-funded lab predicted that in elementary schools without either masks or regular testing, 75% of children might be infected with the coronavirus in the first three months.

The delta variant-fueled surge has put new pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the vaccine for younger children as soon as possible. It has thrown school reopening plans into disarray, with some officials scrambling to impose vaccines mandates for staff, as well as universal mask mandates. And it has frightened and bewildered many parents, unsure how to protect their kids.

"It's hard to put our heads around this," Julie Swann, an expert in mathematical modeling at North Carolina State University who leads the team that published the school transmission study and a mother to a 10-year-old. "As parents, we are having to wrestle with these really hard notions of expected risk."

Vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 had been widely expected to be available in the early fall, but to the surprise of many, federal regulators asked vaccine companies in late July to double the number of trial participants to include several thousand more children. The FDA is seeking to better understand the vaccines' link to a rare but potentially serious inflammation of the heart muscle known as myocarditis and pericarditis that has predominantly affected younger males, and to learn whether it might affect younger children as well.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and vaccine makers have indicated that the expansion of the pediatric testing means a vaccine for younger children is unlikely before the end of the year, or perhaps even early 2022.

That forecast has spurred alarm among some public officials and health providers, with more than 180,000 new child covid-19 cases confirmed in the week ending Aug. 19 - an up to 20-fold increase over weeks in June when summer breaks began.

This week, Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan called on regulators to expedite approval for 5- to 11-year-olds. "Getting our children vaccinated is critical to giving parents greater peace of mind, but we are being told approval is still months away," he said.

The American Academy of Family Physicians warned that "the risk for severe and long-lasting impacts on health outcomes in unvaccinated children is increasing."

And the American Academy of Pediatrics has urged the FDA to use a two-month follow-up time frame for safety studies rather than six months, which would "significantly hinder the ability to reduce the spread of the hyper infectious covid-19 delta variant among this age group."

"In our view, the rise of the delta variant changes the risk-benefit analysis for authorizing vaccines in children," AAP President Lee Savio Beers wrote in a letter, urging the agency to make the shots available for younger children "as swiftly as possible."

The FDA said it could not comment on its discussions with manufacturers but stressed that it is working to "ensure the number of participants in clinical trials are of adequate size to evaluate a product's safety and effectiveness in the intended population."

- - - 

The fourth wave of the coronavirus is hitting children and families faster and harder than before, raising new questions for doctors and researchers.

In Southern states, pediatric ICUs are at or near capacity with record numbers of severely ill children. They include newborns just weeks or months old and previously healthy children - almost unheard of in previous waves - reinforcing the idea that this is a virus that can strike anyone.

"Is it that we have more cases overall and this is a more transmissible virus? Or is it something about delta? It's too early to tell, and if anyone is making assumptions, they are not basing it on rigorous data, as there are not rigorous data," said Adrienne Randolph, a researcher at Boston Children's Hospital who is leading a nationwide study on covid-19 in children. "However my colleagues in ICUs have reported many more severe cases."

Doctors are also speculating about anecdotal reports of unvaccinated young parents getting seriously ill, and what that might say about transmission in families. In Arkansas just outside Little Rock, Tate Ezzi, 44, and his pregnant wife Christine, 39, parents to five young children, have been urging the vaccine-wary to re-evaluate their stance since both were hospitalized and she lost the pregnancy after attending a birthday party at a skating rink. In Texas, Lydia Rodriguez, 42, died this month of covid-19, two weeks after her husband Lawrence's death from the same disease, orphaning their four children. And in Florida, a 52-year-old mother died and the father was still in the hospital as of this week.

A recent technical paper out of Britain suggested the delta variant does not cause more serious illness than its predecessors, but the analysis did not specifically break out children. David Rubin, a researcher at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who has been studying U.S. hospitalization data, said that in recent weeks, 1,200 to 1,400 children were inpatients at the peak, and while those numbers may be large, the rate of hospitalization remains the same as in the past at 0.8 to 0.9 percent.

"What you are seeing is many more kids are getting covid now because our country is open, and they are being exposed," he said.

What is indisputable is that the virus can spread like wildfire in settings where children are unmasked and unvaccinated, such as schools and homes. And there are fresh worries about the impact the initial dose of exposure may play in disease severity for parents and caregivers, who may be more vulnerable to severe illness.

One early paper, published in August 2020 in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that the viral load of some children in the first two days of symptoms could be higher than in severely ill adults, implying a high degree of potential infectiousness. Another found that the virus was detectable for a mean of 6.7 days in infected children - whether or not they had symptoms. More recently, researchers found that people are testing positive for the delta variant at a peak of 3.71 days after exposure, as compared with five to six days for previous variants - showing the illness can hit very quickly.

An important new study published in JAMA Pediatrics on Aug. 16 found that infants and young children appeared to spread the coronavirus more aggressively than those in their early teens - likely because of how they and their caretakers interact.

Researchers note that babies cannot cover coughs or wash their hands themselves, and they require more touching. Preschoolers and early elementary children may be more likely to be in close contact with each other, whether it's whispering during circle time, holding hands in the hallways or wrestling at recess.

"Our interactions with young children are physically very different than [with] others, even in the same family," Randolph said. "You hold them and cuddle them, and they are usually not masked."

- - - 

Swann, the North Carolina mom and scientist, set out to try to simulate what could happen with so many children mixing in one building breathing the same air. As part of one of six CDC-funded simulation groups that are designed to help local school officials make decisions, she teamed up with Pinar Keskinocak, a systems engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology and others to look at transmission over time.

Many of the assumptions they made were conservative based on the extent of spread in many parts of the United States today. They assumed that when school began, there were already a few kids and teachers with asymptomatic infections, that masking might drop the infections by 50%, and that in elementary schools, most of the children were vulnerable to the virus. Each week, they imported one new case, which they imagined might come from a sibling, or perhaps from a student who had been at soccer practice, church or with another community group.

They used a transmission rate of four - which means that each infected person would spread it to four others, a number that is lower than the six to seven some studies have estimated for the delta variant, but which they felt was reasonable given that children are only in school for part of the day.

The models showed that more than 75% of susceptible students - meaning those who were not vaccinated, or who had previous immunity due to natural infection - would become infected within three months. With masking, the infection rate would decrease to 50% for elementary schools, 35% for middle schools and 24% for high schools, based on average vaccination rates. Testing further drops infections to 22%, 16%, and 13%.

"Parents in California are freaking out that my model shows that, even with masks, there would be a lot of infections," Swann said.

But she also emphasizes that "we have an incomplete picture of what's happening," and different communities have widely different levels of susceptibility based on vaccination rates and levels of natural immunity. She also said she has had to remind herself that the relative risk of coronavirus complications in children is low.

- - - 

With more than 80 million children and adolescents in the United States, public health officials and researchers believe the pandemic will not end until coronavirus vaccines are approved for all ages.

The FDA's rollout of the vaccines for adults occurred in record time, but there are additional steps involved for children, and for good reason. Younger children's immune systems tend to be more robust and vary greatly in size - think of a 5-year old versus a 15-year-old.

Medical historians point to cautionary tales about rushed approvals: In the 1960s, thousands of children in the United States who got a vaccine developed atypical measles, which resulted in lung inflammation that often sent them to the hospital. That vaccine was later recalled. And several years ago in the Philippines, a school-based program for dengue fever had to be stopped after the drugmaker discovered it could lead to more severe illness in some children.

Clinical trials typically involve looking separately at children in various age groups, moving from oldest to youngest - ages 16 and up, 12 to 15, 5 to11, and under 5. Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine is currently available for those 12 and above], and the Moderna vaccine, for those 16 and older.

Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics and population health at Stanford who heads the AAP committee on infectious diseases, said one big challenge for the 5-to-11-year-old group right now has to do with titrating down the dose. This isn't necessary for all vaccines, she said, but it is something that is being studied for the messenger-RNA shots.

The cardiac complication in some adolescents and young adults after receiving the second shot has been well publicized. But Maldonado, an investigator on the Pfizer vaccine trials for children, said the issue is so rare that adding a few thousand more children to the studies is unlikely to provide insight, and that you'd probably need to add millions to be able to identify those patients with the reaction. She said researchers have not seen signals of other concerning side effects, and she and her colleagues were not informed the FDA's authorization might be delayed - until they heard it from the media.

"If there had been a valid reason to slow down the authorization, we want to understand that," she said. "But based on what we've seen and heard there's no specific other issue."

Julie Morita, a vaccine expert who was on the Biden transition team on covid and a former member of the Advisory Council on Infection Protocols for the CDC, said that as the delta variant has surged, the calculus for public health officials should change.

"If delta wasn't making children sick and hospitalizing them, it might make sense to take more time to look at the safety profile," said Morita, executive vice president for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "But when you have a virus that is surging, expediency may become more important."

The outbreak at the school in Marin County is the first delta case in young children published by the CDC in the United States. Epidemiologist Lam-Hine remembers that as the cases mounted, he and his colleagues commented how "this strain is really different" - even before they had confirmed it was delta.

Among the most puzzling aspects, he said, is how the virus jumped from the initial class to a second class three grades apart, where six children also tested positive. The school, which has 205 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, had taken multiple measures to combat viral spread. All the classrooms contained portable air filters, and doors and windows were kept open. The two rooms in question were separated by a large courtyard, which had been blocked by lunch tables with yellow tape on them.

The students in the two classes did not seem to share siblings, carpools, sports teams, or other extracurricular activities, he said. Yet sequencing showed their virus was genetically indistinguishable. Perhaps, Lam-Hine speculated, the kids had passed each other in the hallway, or had some other close contact.

The contact tracing team also found five additional people in the community who had infections with the same virus, but were unable to find a link with the school cases.

The findings included some good news: While more than 80 percent of the infected children, or 22 out of 27, had symptoms such as fevers, coughs, headaches and sore throats, none was hospitalized. And the county saw no obvious further spread. Lam-Hine speculated the county's mask compliance and vaccination rate - the highest in the state - made the difference.

"This is not a story about a teacher and her class," he said. "It's about the need for all of us to be super vigilant."/WP

Ethiopia's 10-month civil war has come at a huge human cost, with thousands killed, millions displaced and many in desperate need of assistance.

But that's not the only damage being done to Africa's second most populous nation - the war has incurred a huge economic cost, too, that could take years to repair.

In the capital Addis Ababa, 26-year-old Tigist, who didn't want her full name to be used, says her monthly expenses have doubled for two reasons: the war that broke out in the northern region of Tigray in November and the coronavirus pandemic.

"Before Covid and the conflict, I would pay 1,000 birr [about $22; £16] each month for groceries. Now I spend 2,000 birr," she says. "Things are more expensive now - phones, food and clothes."

Official statistics show the cost of basic consumer goods has indeed gone up in Ethiopia -they were on average around a quarter more expensive in July than a year earlier.

Tigist is working as a supermarket cashier to support her family. She's responsible for the food shopping while her brother covers the rent.

"Also, the dollar exchange has not been good," she adds. "Last year, for $1 you would get 35 birr, now you get 45."

Faisal Roble, a US-based analyst who specialises in the Horn of Africa, says that spending on the war effort "has really negatively impacted Ethiopia's capacity to access dollars", and has caused the exchange rate to deteriorate.

It is not clear how much the war has cost but Trading Economics forecasts military expenditure will reach $502m (£365m) by the end of the year, up from $460m last year.

Last week, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said the conflict had "drained over a billion dollars from the country's coffers".

Prior to the global pandemic and the war, Ethiopia's economy was one of the fastest-growing in the region, expanding by an average of 10% a year in the decade to 2019, according to the World Bank.

The cost of living has risen sharply

While Tigist is referring to the official rate available in banks, the birr has fallen even further in the informal market, Mr Roble says, and has now reached 67 birr against the dollar.

He adds that business owners in the country are nervous about the worsening security situation as the war spreads beyond Tigray and into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.

Many are draining their accounts and taking their cash to money traders on the border with the self-declared republic of Somaliland, and that's forcing the birr's value to drop even lower, Mr Roble says.

Banks shut in Tigray

The civil war started when the party in power in Tigray, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked federal military bases in November, amidst an escalating feud with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed over the dissolution of the ruling coalition and the postponement of elections.

Since then, Ethiopia's military - as well as its Eritrean allies, state police forces and local militias - have fought a bloody war against Tigrayan fighters.

Both sides have been accused of committing atrocities, including rape and mass civilian killings.

Tigray has been without basic services, including telecommunications and banks, since the federal government instigated a blockade on it in June, after the rebels recaptured the regional capital Mekelle.

War has led to the destruction of many schools and health centres in Tigray

More than 400,000 people in Tigray are already living in famine-like conditions, while aid distribution has been stifled and electricity and fuel supplies are dwindling, pushing prices up.

Mekelle resident Filmon Berhane told BBC Tigrinya that food and rent have recently skyrocketed.

"There is no money as all the banks are closed and government offices are not paying salaries," he said.

Mobile phone auction hit

Internationally, the war is having a huge impact on Ethiopia's reputation as a place to invest, says economist Irmgard Erasmus from the NKC African Economics consultancy group.

"If your consumers are under severe pressure from high inflation, you don't see consumer-driven growth as we see in the US or the Eurozone," she says.

"Generally, that leaves foreign investment to really drive growth, and it's exactly this that's being attacked by reputational risk."

Ms Erasmus points to the recent liberalisation of Ethiopia's telecoms sector, which originally attracted interest from a number of providers, including South African telecoms giant MTN.

In the end though, only one company successfully bid for either of the two telecoms licences on offer, a consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom which pledged $850m.

While rules that initially restricted new license holders from operating a mobile money system dampened investor interest, industry sources say the Tigray conflict also weighed heavily on investors' minds.

Pressure to end war

Ethiopia's overall economic growth for this year is forecast to slow significantly from 6% in 2020 to just 2% in 2021 - the lowest level in almost two decades, according to the IMF.

The country imports about $14bn of goods per year, while it exports just $3.4bn.

Also worrying economic observers is Ethiopia's national debt, which some expect to reach $60bn this year, or nearly 70% of GDP.

"This is a conservative estimate," says Ms Erasmus, adding Ethiopia's military spend could be higher than forecast, and it has taken on unreported debt in the past.

Ethiopians gather at Meskel square, a central road , in Addis Ababa to condemn the Tigray People's Liberation Front fighting for a comeback after it was deposed in 2018 through three years of antigovernment protests in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on August 8, 2021More

While the US has imposed some visa restrictions on Ethiopians involved in the war, and withheld some spending, so far, the international community has been reluctant to exert maximum economic pressure on the government, or cut generous aid programmes. Around a quarter of the population live below the national poverty line, and the average yearly income is just $850 per person.

"There is clearly scope for ratcheting up the sanctions if Prime Minister Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 2019, does not deescalate the conflict," says Witney Schneidman a non-resident fellow with the Brookings think-tank in Washington.

The Biden administration's dilemma, says Mr Schneidman, is to put enough pressure on Mr Abiy to end the war without isolating Ethiopia completely.

"All tools are on the table, but you've got 110m people, you can't make the nation a pariah, it's too important, too strategic," he says.

US soldiers shot and killed civilians in a panic after last week’s deadly blast by Daesh/ISIS-K near Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital Kabul, said a spokesman for the Taliban, which captured the city and most of Afghanistan earlier this month.

“A report we got indicated that the US soldiers opened fire on the crowd following the attack at Kabul airport. There were many people. Therefore, civilians -- including women and children -- lost their lives,” Zabihullah Mujahid told Anadolu Agency.

Stating that no organization will have any excuse left to fight after the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from the country and the establishment of the new government, Mujahid noted that those operating under Daesh/ISIS in the country did not come from Iraq or Syria but are Afghans with the terrorist group’s mentality.

He added that members of the Taliban are successfully providing security and can tackle groups such as Daesh/ISIS.

Leaving a 20-year war behind, the Taliban is capable of gathering precise and accurate intelligence, Mujahid said, adding they do not need the support of any country in their fight against Daesh/ISIS.

- Afghanistan wants Turkey’s support to continue

Mujahid said the Taliban wants to have “very good” relations with Turkey.

“The Turkish public and state are our friends. There are several reasons why this friendship should continue,” he said.

Noting that the Taliban has special forces to provide security at Kabul airport, Mujahid said it will not be difficult to accomplish this while doing it for all of Afghanistan, including the capital.

On logistic and technical needs at Hamid Karzai International Airport, he said: "We had talks with Turkey. We assured it that there would be no security problems, that we will deal with the needs after we have taken care of the airport completely. If necessary, we may ask for these needs from Turkey or another country.”

Seeking Turkey’s continued support on Afghanistan, Mujahid said: “We want to have economic relations with Turkey too. We need Turkey’s support in the field of education, just as before. We want their aid to continue on this issue. We want the Turkish public and state to maintain friendly relations because there is a deep historical bond between the Afghan and Turkish peoples.”

- ‘Money blocked abroad will be reclaimed’

Mujahid said financial problems, which are short-term problems, will be resolved gradually once the government is formed.

“Afghanistan already has its own income. Besides, we will demand the return of the money belonging to Afghanistan, which was blocked [in the US and Switzerland] after the formation of the government,” he said.

Underlining the Taliban’s desire for aid from the World Bank and various international sources to continue, Mujahid said the Afghan public needs their help in every field, especially in terms of humanitarian and medical aid.

-Taliban leader Akhundzada in Kandahar

When asked about the whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, who had been in hiding for years and did not share any visual or audio recordings, Mujahid said he is in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.

“The name of our leader is not on the international blacklist. Therefore, there is no danger to him. Hibatullah Akhundzada is currently holding some meetings in Kandahar,” he said.

It marked the first time that the Taliban confirmed their leader’s location in Afghanistan.

-‘We can capture Panjshir in short order’

Mujahid said negotiations are continuing with Tajik leader Ahmad Massoud, who resisted handing over Afghanistan's Panjshir province to the Taliban.

Saying they do not want a conflict in Panjshir, he added: "We don’t want to fight. We are in favor of negotiations. If negotiations fail, the area around Panjshir is already surrounded by Taliban forces. If we want, we can seize it in a very short time."

He also said that efforts are ongoing to establish an inclusive government.

“Everyone's rights will be taken into account in this government,” he noted./aa

Turkey has risen to the world’s top three in combat drone technology, the Turkish president said on Sunday.

“With our unmanned combat aerial vehicle Akinci, Turkey has become one of the three most advanced countries in the world in this technology,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the delivery ceremony for the Baykar Akinci combat drone in the northwestern Tekirdag province.

Erdogan expressed hope that the Akinci will strengthen Turkey’s “sincere efforts” to establish trust, peace, and justice in both the region and the world.

Underlining that Turkey is determined to become the leading country in combat drones, Erdogan said Turkey has to develop new technologies.

The nation’s goal is to develop armed drones that can take off and land on aircraft carriers with short runways for use in missions abroad, he added.

Erdogan also praised Turkey’s extensive use of home-sourced defense products, which in recent years leaped from 20% to about 80%.

Defense success for humanity

The level Turkey has reached in unmanned aerial vehicle technology shows the success of its capabilities in the defense industry, a feat recognized by the whole world, Erdogan said.

He added that Turkey’s principle is to present every technology that it develops for the benefit of all humanity.

Stressing that all the drones produced by Turkish defense companies are in high demand worldwide, he said new export agreements were signed with more than 10 countries, including NATO member Poland.

Several countries are waiting in line to buy Turkish drones, he said. “It is important that our national technologies contribute to the security of allied countries, but we make our decisions according to our own strategic priorities,” he added.

Pointing to a new drone test and evaluation center in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said they have taken national production competencies in this sector to the next level.

"Thanks to all these investments, our defense industry continues to grow. But now it’s time to step up in the technologies of the future, especially in defense industry projects," he added.

"Besides many defense industry products, Turkey is a country that has proven itself, especially in unmanned vehicle technologies. Today, the whole world is talking about the new combat doctrine that we applied in Syria, Libya, and Azerbaijan through our unmanned aerial vehicles," he added.

The delivery ceremony was also attended by Vice President Fuat Oktay, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler, and Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar and Chief Technology Officer Selcuk Bayraktar.

After observing Akinci’s taxiing, takeoff, and low flight maneuvering, Erdogan toured the aircraft control center.

Turkey can build national unmanned warplane

Selcuk Bayraktar told reporters after the ceremony that with the experience they gained, they also worked on an unmanned warplane. He said producing unmanned warplanes has been their dream for about 10 years.

Noting that serial production of the Akinci drone continues, he said they have produced the ninth aerial vehicle, but not all of them were mass-produced.

Contracts for exports of Turkey’s domestically produced Bayraktar TB2 drones have been signed for more than 10 countries, he said, adding that it has flown in four countries besides Turkey.

“Since Akinci is of course a much more strategic platform, it attracted much more attention when we first started designing it and in the later stages. First of all, we said that we would evaluate those demands by completing our own production, perfecting the aircraft, and making it ready for mass production,” he said.

“There is also a serious demand for the Akinci since it is a very rare aircraft in a higher class,” he added.

Underlining that the Akinci will be used in more strategic missions, he said: "It can carry a much wider range of ammunition. It can carry all ammunition including air-to-ground, cruise missiles, air-to-air. Its mission capacity is very high.”

On July 8, the Bayraktar Akinci made Turkish aviation history by climbing to 38,039 feet (11,594 meters) – a new record – in a flight that lasted for 25 hours and 46 minutes.

The Akinci, which to date has made 874 sorties in test and training flights, hit its targets with full accuracy in a July 5 firing test with warhead ammunition developed by Turkish rocket maker Roketsan./aa

The US took responsibility Sunday for a loud explosion in the Afghan capital Kabul near the airport, saying it was an airstrike at the terror group behind last week's attack that killed and injured hundreds.

The US Central Command said the blast was an “over-the-horizon airstrike to hit a vehicle” which posed an “imminent” threat to Hamid Karzai International Airport from ISIS-K, the Deash/ISIS terror affiliate behind last Thursday’s attack which killed some 170 people, including 13 US soldiers.

“We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material,” said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command.

“We are assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time. We remain vigilant for potential future threats,” he added.

According to local Ariana News, six people, including four children, were killed and four others wounded in Sunday's US strike.

US President Joe Biden had warned an attack around the airport was “very likely,” as the clock is ticking for the full withdrawal of US forces by the Tuesday deadline set by the Taliban, which took control of Kabul on Aug. 15./aa

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday warned of health risks for most Iraqi children as they have no access to safe and drinkable water.

"Nearly 3 out of 5 children in Iraq have no access to safely managed water services," UNICEF said in a statement.

The UN agency said that less than half of all schools in the country have access to basic water.

“In Iraq, the level of water scarcity is alarming, children cannot develop and thrive to their full potential without water,” said Sheema SenGupta, UNICEF Representative in Iraq. “It is time to take action on climate change and guarantee access to safe water for every child.”

According to UNICEF, the 2020-2021 rainfall season in Iraq was the second driest in the last 40 years, a situation that caused severe reduction of water flow in Tigris and Euphrates by 29% and 73%, respectively.

Official Iraqi figures estimate the number of children under 14 years old at 16.2 million based on a recent census by the Iraqi Planning Ministry in January 2021.

Iraq depends on water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which flow from Turkey and Iran, but in recent years, the water flow decreased in both rivers due to low rainfall./aa