Security Alert - Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan (August 21, 2021)  —  Event: Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions …

The treacherous journey into Kabul airport to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan  —  Dispatch from Afghanistan  —  KABUL — Two days after the Taliban's sudden takeover of Kabul, we were given a chance to escape: seats on a chartered plane to Qatar set to take off from the city's airport within hours.

University of Virginia disenrolls unvaccinated students ahead of fall semester  —  Officials said 49 students who have registered for fall classes are not in compliance with the school's vaccine mandate  —  Forty-nine students who registered for fall classes at the University of Virginia …

Pompeo Is Lying About Afghanistan  —  He laid the groundwork for the Taliban takeover.  Now he's blaming Biden.  —  Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump's former secretary of state, blames President Joe Biden for the chaos in Afghanistan.  “We're letting the Taliban run free and wild,” he complained a few days ago on Fox News.

Biden picks Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan and Nicholas Burns as top envoy to China  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden on Friday announced his intention to nominate Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan and Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China.  —  The two top diplomatic positions …

Orlando urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients  —  The city of Orlando and its water utility made an urgent appeal Friday afternoon for residents to cut back sharply on water usage for weeks because of a pandemic-triggered shortage of liquid oxygen used to purify water.

Facebook, Fearing Public Outcry, Shelved Earlier Report on Popular Posts  —  The company praised itself this week for being “the most transparent platform on the internet.”  —  When Facebook this week released its first quarterly report about the most viewed posts in the United States …

Americans prepare to welcome thousands of Afghan refugees, even as political rhetoric heats up  —  As divisions emerge among some Republicans in Washington over how to handle the refugee crisis in Afghanistan, resettlement groups have been inundated with calls from ordinary Americans seeking …

‘The Temperature in Saigon Is 105 and Rising’  —  What I learned about American power watching the U.S. leave Vietnam — and then Afghanistan decades later.  —  The helicopter zone at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, showing last minute evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians, April 29, 1975.

‘The Taliban Are Here’: The Final Days Before Kabul's Collapse  —  A lack of urgency in the U.S. and Afghanistan led many to believe the capital city had more time  —  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank technocrat and author of the book “Fixing Failed States,” …

Kemp signs order blocking COVID-19 mandates on Georgia businesses  —  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order Thursday that blocks local governments from mandating COVID-19 restrictions on businesses.  —  Private sector businesses and sports teams can follow local COVID-19 requirements …

In Iowa, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz Take Trump's Baton  —  At a rally in Des Moines, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz showed that many Republicans do not plan to move on from the Trump era.  —  DES MOINES — Far from Washington, and even farther …

Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt exonerated in internal probe  —  The Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt outside a door of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot has been formally exonerated after an internal investigation, according to a department memo obtained by NBC News.

Minnesota GOP ‘in ruins’ after shocking scandal  —  Less than a year ago, Minnesota looked every bit a swing state.  Donald Trump was pouring millions of dollars into his campaign there, after nearly flipping the state in 2016, Republicans were making inroads in the ancestrally Democratic Iron Range.

The F.D.A. is aiming to give full approval to Pfizer's Covid vaccine on Monday.  —  The Food and Drug Administration is pushing to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's two-dose Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, further expediting an earlier timeline for licensing the shot, according to people familiar with the agency's planning.

The Science of Masking Kids at School Remains Uncertain  —  At the end of May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a notable, yet mostly ignored, large-scale study of COVID transmission in American schools.  A few major news outlets covered its release by briefly reiterating …

How the U.S. Exit from Afghanistan Helps China  —  Mr. Zhou was a senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army from 2003 to 2020 and is an expert on the Chinese Army's strategic thinking on international security.  —  The speed and scope of the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan …

DOJ wants three months in jail for Proud Boys leader who burned BLM flag  —  (CNN)The Justice Department told a judge on Friday that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio should get three months in jail for burning a Black Lives Matter flag in December and bringing high-capacity rifle magazines to Washington …

Column: Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy.  You've been warned  —  Larry Elder smiled the smug smile of a Black conservative who could very well be liberal California's next governor.  —  “Where do you start with the damage Gavin Newsom has done to the state that we both love?”

CDC warns older adults, travelers in COVID high-risk groups not to take cruises, even if they're vaccinated  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidance for travelers who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 to recommend they avoid cruise ships, regardless of vaccination status.