 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines? Rights Lawyers Call for ICC Probe Into War Crimes by Saudi Red Coalition in Yemen Thai prime minister faces no confidence vote as police crack down on protests Taliban take over Kabul airport after US withdrawal from Afghanistan And in our video section we take a look at the COVID-19 Delta variant and the efficacy of existing vaccines In our first story, the International Criminal Court has been urged to investigate war crimes committed by the Saudi Red Coalition in Yemen The British Bar Association of Laws, or Guernica 37, submitted evidence to the court on August 30th The lawyers represent hundreds of survivors and families of victims in Yemen The group has asked that the ICC investigate three incidents including the 2018 Dahiyaan air strike The Saudi Red attack killed 51 people including 40 children in a school bus Guernica 37 is also referred to a missile strike on a funeral home in Sanaa in October 2016 155 people were killed in over 500 were injured The coalition later stated that the attack had been based on incorrect information The third issue is related to the alleged torched-head murder of civilians being held in prisons in South Yemen Since 2015, the Saudi Red Coalition has carried out nearly 66,000 strikes on Yemen Almost one third of these have been non-military targets, including hospitals, schools, etc. The ongoing war has killed around 233,000 people According to the UN, 5 million people are only one step away from famine Crucial imports, including food, fuel and medicines, are restricted due to the Saudi air and naval blockade Guernica 37 has also asked the ICC to investigate coalition members including Jordan, Senegal and the Maldives It has also asked the court to investigate citizens of Colombia, El Salvador, Panama and Chile They were hired as mercenaries by a US-based contractor on behalf of the UAE In our next story, Thai Prime Minister Prayud Chanochha and Thai Ministers are facing a no-confidence motion in parliament The measure was tabled for debate on Tuesday with a vote in the lower house set for September 4th The debate will cover several issues including the state's pandemic response and corruption This follows months of protests demanding the Prime Minister's resignation Rallies were held across at least five provinces on Sunday with caravans of cars and motorcycles On August 30th, Thailand had recorded 256 deaths in over 15,900 new cases in 24 hours People are demanding better access to vaccines, government funds for pandemic response, etc. Protesters have also raised a long-standing demand for democratic reforms These protests have been met with an increasingly violent crackdown by police Security officials have targeted not only protesters but also journalists and bystanders Routine use of tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets has also been reported Foreign Asia and Human Rights Lawyers Alliance have argued that this is unjustifiable under international law Prachatai reported that at least one protestor had been blinded in one eye A 15-year-old is in critical condition after reportedly being shot with live ammunition Amnesty has also reported at least two other cases of children with gunshot wounds The violent crackdown on protests has been accompanied by the arrest of dozens of protest leaders We read July 2020 and August 2021 at least 800 people have faced criminal charges According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights 374 lawsuits have been filed for joining peaceful protests The charges include sedition, deformation of oil, deformation and violation of emergency provisions Our next story is from Afghanistan where the United States officially withdrew its troops on the night of August 30th This marks an end to the military invasion and occupation of the country after 20 years The withdrawal was completed in compliance with the deadline set under the Doha Agreement The Taliban have now taken control of the Taip Lehput Meanwhile, at least seven Taliban fighters were reportedly killed in the Panjshir province on Monday Members of local militias announced on Tuesday that fighting had occurred at the valley's western entrance Thousands of militia fighters inform army and special forces members are present in Panjshir They are being led by Ahmad Masood who is the son of Muzaedin commander Ahmad Shah Masood The Taliban has been in negotiations with Masood and his allies for two weeks However, as per local reports, phones and internet services to Panjshir have been cut TOLO News reported that the Taliban had also blocked roads leading to the province Taliban has not announced what form the new government will take There have been concerns about the freedom of press amid several reports of journalists being attacked Uncertainty also remains about the rights of marginalized groups including women Meanwhile, one third of the country's population is facing hunger The fighting has also displaced over 570,000 Afghans And for our final story, we take a look at the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic Concerns have grown surrounding the Delta variant which is considered highly transmissible The virus has been detected in at least 132 countries so far According to the WHO, it has spiked low global infections by 80% in four weeks With less than 3% of people vaccinated, deaths surged by 89% in Africa Emerging studies have also shown that the variant can infect fully vaccinated people Here is Dr. Satyajidrat to talk more about the Delta variant and the efficacy of existing vaccines The broad lesson still remains the following All the vaccines which were based on last year's strains still provide excellent protection Against serious illness and death for COVID-19 I am not going to say hospitalization because again the criteria for hospitalization vary But certainly, all the vaccines based on last year's strains Protect against serious illness and death even by this year's Delta-like strains So that is promising What we also know is that the protection against mild illness, infection and transmission Provided by the vaccines appears to be lower for this year's Delta-based strains Compared to that against last year's strains Let us keep in mind that protection against transmission is a quantitative idea It is not a yes no idea So vaccines brought down the transmission efficiency of last year's strains quite a lot Vaccines have brought down the transmission efficiency of this year's Delta-based strains But not by as much as last year's strains So that is the first thing Which means that Delta will spread more slowly amongst vaccinated people Than amongst unvaccinated people But it will still spread at a reasonably fast rate That's the first point The second point is because the increased efficiency of transmission of Delta from person to person Is higher based on the fact that the virus can get into cells more efficiently We can imagine that just as it's easier for the Delta strains To be more transmissible from person to person They're also more transmissible from cell to cell within the same person And if that happens then the likelihood is that the ability of Delta-based strains To cause severe disease is going to be a little bit higher And that's what everybody's finding But it's not that therefore Delta is a lethal virus It's not It's just that instead of say 10% people becoming severely ill 17% people become severely ill So that's the second point And that's where Delta is causing increases but not huge ones In both rates of transmission and likelihood of causing severe disease That's all we have time for today We'll be back tomorrow with more news from around the world Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch