Here’s what else is happening

👩‍💻 A virtual summit could endanger the WTO. Already postponed by several months, there are concerns Covid-19 could once again prevent an in-person conference from taking place in Geneva in November.
Bloomberg (EN)
💉 WHO starts to monitor Covid-19’s Mu variant, which may be able to infect people who have developed immunity to other Covid-19 variants, the organisation has warned. The variant is now found in 39 countries.
Le Temps (FR)
🔬 No Ebola in Côte d’Ivoire after all. The case, widely reported in mid-August as Ebola’s first appearance in the country since 1994, is likely not Ebola, according to a new test by the Institut Pasteur in Lyon, France.
Africanews (EN)
🏦 Less than half the world’s population has social protection, according to a new ILO report. Covid-19 has worsened the divide between the rich and poor, despite investment in social protection during the pandemic.
Deutsche Welle (EN)
🌏 No way out for resistance forces, says Taliban. Several thousand Afghan fighters loyal to the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan are entrenched in Panjshir valley. They are led by Ahmad Massoud, the former minister of defense. The Taliban says they have them surrounded.
Reuters (EN)

Good morning, this is Irene. Today we’re covering the surge in natural disasters caused by extreme weather events over the last 50 years. We’re also looking at what it means if the November World Trade Organization summit needs to go virtual, and what we know about the Covid-19 Mu variant.