World News Roundup: Biden assures Afghan president of continued U.S. support -White House; Russia excludes senior Communist candidate from parliamentary vote and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Biden assures Afghan president of continued U.S. support -White House

With the last U.S. forces on the way out of Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden assured President Ashraf Ghani of U.S. diplomatic and humanitarian support on Friday as Taliban advances piled pressure on the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. In a phone call, Biden and Ghani "agreed that the Taliban’s current offensive is in direct contradiction to the movement’s claim to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict," a White House statement said.

Russia excludes senior Communist candidate from parliamentary vote

Russian electoral authorities on Saturday barred a well-known Communist Party candidate from running in September's parliamentary election, the latest high-profile opposition figure to be disqualified from the vote. Pavel Grudinin, who won 12% of votes when he challenged Vladimir Putin in a 2018 presidential election, was excluded from a candidate list because the Prosecutor's Office had found he held shares in a foreign company, news agencies reported.

Heavy rain in India triggers floods, landslides; at least 125 dead

Rescue teams in India struggled through thick sludge and debris on Saturday to reach dozens of submerged homes as the death toll from landslides and accidents caused by torrential monsoon rain rose to 125. Maharashtra state is being hit by the heaviest rain in July in four decades, experts say. Downpours lasting several days have severely affected the lives of hundreds of thousands, while major rivers are in danger of bursting their banks.

Philippines evacuates thousands as monsoon rains flood Manila, provinces

Philippine authorities moved thousands of residents in the capital, Manila, out of low-lying communities on Saturday as heavy monsoon rains, compounded by a tropical storm, flooded the city and nearby provinces. The national disaster agency said about 15,000 people, most of them from a flood-prone Manila suburb, had moved into evacuation centres.

Thousands to join Budapest Pride march in protest over new anti-LGBT law

Thousands of Hungarians planned to join the annual Budapest Pride march on Saturday in a show of support for LGBT people and to protest against a law banning the use of materials in schools seen as promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment. Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in power since 2010, has grown increasingly radical on social policy in what he portrays as a fight to safeguard traditional Christian values from Western liberalism.

Sydney to get extra vaccines as COVID cases mount

Sydney will get 50,000 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week to battle its worsening COVID outbreak, Canberra said on Saturday, reversing a rebuff by the Australian government and other states the previous day of a plea for more supplies. Australia reported 176 new locally acquired COVID cases on Saturday, a third consecutive daily record with nearly all cases in the state of New South Wales, centred in the country's largest city, Sydney.

China criticises NBC Olympics broadcast for 'incomplete map'

China criticised NBC Universal for showing an "incomplete map" of the country in its broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, after a map displayed during the arrival of Chinese athletes included neither Taiwan nor the South China Sea. The Chinese consulate in New York said the display "hurt the dignity and emotions of the Chinese people", in a post on its official Weibo social media platform on Saturday.

Biden authorizes $100 million in emergency funds for Afghan refugees

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday authorized up to $100 million from an emergency fund to meet "unexpected urgent" refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants, the White House said. Biden also authorized the release of $200 million in services and articles from the inventories of U.S. government agencies to meet the same needs, the White House said.

Indonesia's Bali running out of oxygen as government ponders curbs

The Indonesian island of Bali is running out of oxygen for its COVID-19 patients as infections surge, the chief of its health agency said, as Southeast Asia's biggest country struggles with the region's worst COVID epidemic. Bali, famous for its tourist beaches and temples, along with the main island of Java and 15 other regions are under tight coronavirus restrictions, due to expire on Sunday. The government is debating whether to extend them or not.

China confirms ban on for-profit tutoring in core school subjects - Xinhua

China is barring tutoring for profit in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families that have contributed to low birth rates, a report in the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. The news confirmed a measure contained in a government document widely circulated on Friday and confirmed by Reuters that sent shockwaves through China's vast private education sector, hitting providers' share prices.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)