US is working directly with Taliban leaders on the ground trying to salvage Biden's crisis in Afghanistan  —  Taliban fighters accost CNN reporter and crew  —  Washington (CNN)While the US State Department continues to engage in high-level diplomatic talks with the Taliban in the neutral setting of Doha …

Elder's ex-fiancee said he brandished a gun at her  —  PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Alexandra Datig, the former fiancee and longtime radio producer for California GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, says she broke off an 18-month engagement with the conservative talk show host in 2015 …

Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan's Collapse  —  About two dozen State Department officials in Kabul sent an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken  —  WASHINGTON — About two dozen State Department officials serving at the embassy in Kabul sent …

Wicker Office Statement on COVID-19 Diagnosis  —  WASHINGTON - The Office of Senator Roger F. Wicker Communications Director Phillip Waller today issued a statement after Senator Roger F. Wicker tested positive for COVID-19:  —  “Senator Wicker tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus …

Police identify suspect who surrendered after claiming to have a bomb near US Capitol  —  (CNN)A suspect who claimed to have an explosive device in a truck near the US Capitol has surrendered to authorities and is in custody, US Capitol Police said Thursday.  —  Police have identified the suspect as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry.

How News Organizations Got Afghan Colleagues Out of Kabul  —  The evacuation of those who worked for outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post came after a global rescue effort stretching from the Pentagon to Qatar.  —  For hours, they waited on the tarmac in the relentless heat …

If North Texas runs out of ICU hospital beds, doctors can consider a patient's vaccination status  —  This would be a big change in health care, but doctors have yet to announce it.  So The Watchdog does it for them.  —  North Texas doctors have quietly developed a plan that seeks to prepare …

OnlyFans to Block Sexually Explicit Videos Starting in October  —  OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business.  —  The company will prohibit users from posting any sexually explicit conduct, starting in October.  Creators will still be allowed to post nude photos and videos …

What I Learned While Eavesdropping on the Taliban  —  When people ask me what I did in Afghanistan, I tell them that I hung out in planes and listened to the Taliban.  My job was to provide “threat warning” to allied forces, and so I spent most of my time trying to discern the Taliban's plans.

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban's new U.S.-made war chest  —  About a month ago, Afghanistan's ministry of defense posted on social media photographs of seven brand new helicopters arriving in Kabul delivered by the United States.  —  “They'll continue to see a steady drumbeat …

Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades worth as much as $10.9 million in violation of federal transparency law  — Harshbarger disclosed hundreds of stock trades weeks or months after a federal deadline.  — The tardy trades could invite an ethics investigation and fine.

There is a blueprint to win for Democrats in 2022  —  It's hard to believe that we're on the precipice of another campaign season, but the influx of fundraising emails we've been receiving the past several weeks to “help get X re-elected” tells the story.  —  The midterms for a first-term president are historically bad for his party.

Almost all eligible Georgians are registered to vote, data shows  —  Federal election report: 95% of voting-age Georgians registered  —  Georgia now has one of the highest voter registration rates in the nation, with 95% of citizens over 18 years old signed up to vote, according to federal election data released this week.

Greenville County GOP leader Pressley Stutts dies from COVID-19  —  Greenville County Republican Party leader Pressley Stutts died Thursday morning after battling COVID-19 for nearly a month.  —  Stutts death was confirmed by Dan Harvell, who represents the Anderson County Republican Party …

Are You Ready for Sentient Disney Robots?  —  Some of the animatronics at Disney's parks have been doing their herky-jerky thing since the Nixon administration.  The company knows that nostalgia won't cut it with today's children.  —  GLENDALE, Calif. — I was en route to meet Groot.

Charm offensive: What the Taliban said as they escorted me out of an Afghan city  —  MAZAR-I-SHARIF — Under the full tilt of the afternoon sunshine, two Taliban commanders with weathered, expressionless faces beckoned me into their tiny car - their eyes dropping to the floor so as not to make contact with a woman.

Cable News Military Experts Are on the Defense Industry Dole … Jack Keane has had a busy week.  —  The retired four-star general has been making the cable news rounds, offering scathing criticism of the White House in wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

Taliban are rounding up Afghans on blacklist - private intel report  —  The Taliban have begun rounding up Afghans on a blacklist of people they believe have worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.S.-led forces that supported it, according to a report by a Norwegian intelligence group.

Conspiracy-filled House hearing held on vaccine mandate ban  —  A GOP bill to preemptively prohibit mandatory employee vaccinations saw the light of day Thursday, in a House committee hearing saturated with COVID-19 conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxer rhetoric.

Parents pull kids from schools as district bucks CDC guidance and board member spreads misinformation  —  County board meeting erupts during school mask debate  —  (CNN)It's the third week of school in Cobb County, Georgia, and many parents are livid with what they perceive …

‘This is warfare:’ Trump allies Flynn, Bannon pushed conspiracies at ritzy party backed by Chinese exile  — Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and Mike Flynn pushed pro-Trump conspiracy theories at an event advertised as a celebration of an anti-China movement.