Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. The attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, Afghan and U.S. officials said.

The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation said the attacks would not stop the United States from evacuating Americans and others, and flights out were continuing.

Kerala is the worst COVID-19 affected state in the country. In the past 24 hours, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the state has jumped nearly 30% to over 31,000 and 215 deaths. The state government is blaming the Onam festival for this jump and termed it the Onam spike'.

On Wednesday, Kerala reported 31,445 new cases, taking the total infection tally to 38,83,429 and fatalities to 19,972. The highest number was recorded in Ernakulam district with 4,048 new cases, followed by Thrissur which reported 3,865 new cases. The state recorded a test positivity rate of 19.03%.

The Union home ministry on Wednesday announced that all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa in view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan. The decision comes days after the government introduced a new category of visa called "e-Emergency X-Misc visa" for the Afghan nationals after the Taliban captured power in that country.

Owing to the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan and streamlining of the visa process by introduction of the 'e-Emergency X-Misc visa', it has been decided that all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa, a home ministry statement said.

The Taliban have come out and claimed that Osama Bin Laden was not involved in the September 11 terror attacks on the United States and it was used as an excuse by the Americans to wage war on Afghanistan.

The Taliban spokesperson Zabibullah Mujahid has stated that there is no evidence of Osama's involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks. Speaking to NBC News, he said, Even after 20 years of war, there is no evidence of his (Osama bin Laden) involvement (in the September 11, 2001 attacks). There was no justification for this war, it was used as an excuse by the Americans for war.

Google-owned YouTube has removed 1 million videos related to dangerous Covid-19 misinformation, like false cures or claims of a hoax, since February 2020.

According to YouTube's Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan, if we only focus on what we remove, we're missing the massive amount of content that people actually see.

Nine new judges, including three women, were on Thursday appointed to the Supreme Court with President Ram Nath Kovind signing their warrants of appointment, sources in the government said.

A formal notification would be issued shortly, they said.

Shares of CarTrade Tech were trading lower for the third straight day, down 2.4 per cent at Rs 1,441.60 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, in an otherwise firm market. The stock was quoting at its lowest level since its listing on Friday, August 20, 2021. With the past three days' 8.7 per cent fall, the market price of CarTrade Tech has declined 11 per cent from its issue price of Rs 1,618 per share.

CarTrade Tech, a company that operates online platforms for buying and selling of vehicles, had made a weak debut on the bourses as the company’s shares ended at Rs 1,500, a 7 per cent discount to its issue price on the BSE on day of listing.

The Indian rupee appreciated 13 paise to 74.11 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, tracking a positive trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.22 against the dollar, then surged higher to 74.11, up 13 paise over its previous close.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said its board will meet on August 29 to consider various capital raising options, including equity and debt.

The fundraising options entail equity or equity-linked or debt instruments, the company said in a regulatory filing but did not divulge into the quantum of capital raising under consideration.

For over two decades, the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile has been portrayed as a triumph of Indo-Russian co-development and co-manufacture. Even the missile’s name — BrahMos — is derived from combining the names of a major river from each country: India’s Brahmaputra and Russia’s Moskva.

Numerous analysts have expressed scepticism that India has played a role in designing the BrahMos. They say the missile is based entirely on Russian technology, while India merely manufactures the missile from blueprints provided by Russia.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.