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THE BIG STORY
Taliban celebrates departure of US troops
Celebratory gunfire resounded across the Afghan capital yesterday as the Taliban took control of Kabul airport following the withdrawal of the last United States troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist group stronger than it was in 2001. "It is a historical day and a historical moment," a Taliban spokesman said.
Ethical hackers who discover and report security vulnerabilities in critical government systems such as Singpass will be offered up to US$150,000 ($202,000) in cash rewards under a new programme launched by the Government Technology Agency. The Vulnerability Rewards Programme was announced yesterday.
He had just broken his own national record, but a smiling Toh Wei Soong was in fact celebrating a fellow competitor's silver-medal achievement in the S7 50m freestyle final at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Singaporean swimmer clocked 28.65sec, finishing seventh. The event was won by Ukraine's Andrii Trusov in 27.43sec, while Colombian Carlos Daniel Serrano Zarate took silver.
Changi Airport sank into the red for the first time in the financial year ended March 31, with only 1.1 million passengers passing through its gates as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on air travel. It represented a 98 per cent drop in passenger traffic from the previous year.
E-commerce sales in Singapore are expected to grow to US$10 billion (S$13.4 billion) by the end of 2026, according to a report by Facebook and Bain & Company. The country joins the rest of the region in the online economy boom fuelled by the pandemic-induced digital shift and as hybrid work arrangements look set to become the norm.
Sales of coconut water have surged here, as some consumers believe that the beverage can ease side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine, but doctors say there is no scientific evidence for this. Importer and distributor Siam Coconut saw a 140 per cent spike in sales of the Cocoloco drink in July, compared with June.