Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna show a severe drop in efficacy when faced with the Delta variant, according to an American study. The Taliban seizes a tenth Afghan provincial capital and now controls nearly sixty per cent of the country. The fighting's forced hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes, many fleeing to the capital Kabul or abroad. Firefighters and volunteers battle huge wildfires in Russia's Far East where a 'state of emergency' is in force. Smoke and ash have coated huge areas. Our correspondent is in the thick of it.