Afghan LGBT rights activist Hamid Zaher reports that a young Afghan man seeking support on social media to leave the country was tricked by Taliban members who raped and beat him. Zaher says that this violence was already common under the governments of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani and that the Taliban will use the same tactics to persecute homosexuals. Zaher also expressed concern that many other gay men in the country could be similarly deceived by the Taliban. (Business Insider)
Washington's vaccine mandate will move forward following an agreement between the Washington Federation of State Employees union agency and GovernorJay Inslee. However, the agreement will need to be ratified and employees will still be required to be vaccinated by October 18. (Seattle Times)
Brazilian federal health regulator Anvisa suspends the use of over 12 million doses of the SinovacCoronaVac vaccine that were produced in an unauthorized plant. (Reuters)
Slovakia reverses its ban on unvaccinated people attending public events and will instead allow a negative test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 during a visit by Pope Francis on September 12 to 15 due to low vaccination numbers. (Barron's)