Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Germany completes troop withdrawal

Germany has completed its troop pullout from Afghanistan, started in May, the Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday. The departure caps a nearly 20-year deployment there alongside US and other Western forces. The announcement of the pullout of German troops, whose presence there was second only to the US forces, came as the United States aims to complete its own withdrawal by Sept 11. Fifty-nine German soldiers have been killed during service in Afghanistan since 2001.

UNITED STATES

7th day brings fading hopes at Miami site

Rescue crews toiling into a seventh day on Wednesday combed through the shattered ruins of a collapsed Miami-area condominium tower where 12 people were confirmed dead as hope faded for 149 people missing and believed trapped in the rubble. Authorities have left open the possibility that survivors might be found in the debris after a major section of the 12-floor, 136-unit complex caved in on itself early on June 24 as residents slept. Nobody has been pulled alive from the mounds.

FRANCE

Govt adviser warns of virus fourth wave

France is likely to have a fourth wave of COVID-19, due to a resurgence of cases caused by the Delta variant first found in India, the French government's leading scientific adviser, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, said. Nevertheless, Delfraissy added on Wednesday that the rollout of vaccines would help mitigate the effect of a new wave of the virus, which many medical experts think could hit France by September or October.

Agencies Via Xinhua