CIA Director William Burns held secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar  —  CIA Director William J. Burns held a secret meeting in Kabul on Monday with the Taliban's de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in the highest-level face-to-face encounter between the Taliban …

Breaking: Herschel Walker is running for U.S. Senate in Georgia  —  Former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker — at the urging of former President Donald Trump —launched a campaign Tuesday for the U.S. Senate, bringing both his celebrity and his untested political background …

Spike Lee's New Documentary Gives a Notorious 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist His Biggest Platform Ever  —  On Monday, the New York Times reported that Spike Lee devotes a significant amount of time in his new four-part HBO documentary series, NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½, to the group Architects & Engineers …

Gottheimer's Suicide Squad Hurt Their Party But Gained Nothing Democrats have five weeks to get their act together.  —  Until 11 days ago, the Democratic Party had a unified strategy to advance President Biden's legislative agenda.  The plan was to pass two bills: a bipartisan infrastructure deal favored …

Exclusive: Americans' harsh judgment on Afghanistan costs Biden's approval, down to 41%  —  Susan Page Matthew Brown Mabinty QuarshieUSA TODAY … Was the longest war worth it?  —  After two decades of combat, Americans by more than 2-1 say the war in Afghanistan, launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, wasn't worth it.

ISIS terrorist threats jeopardize Afghanistan evacuation, Pentagon assessment warns  —  Terrorist threats are now jeopardizing the massive American evacuation effort underway in Afghanistan's capital, Pentagon officials relayed to lawmakers Tuesday, according to three congressional aides …

Reuters photographer was killed after being left behind in Afghan retreat, general says  —  Danish Siddiqui was with soldiers on the front line of an Afghan Special Forces clash with the Taliban.  New reporting, and his last photographs, cast light on his final hours, on the collapse of the Afghan military …

VP Harris' overseas flight delayed due to “anomalous health incident” in Hanoi  —  Vice President Kamala Harris' Tuesday flight from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed roughly three hours due to a “recent possibly anomalous health incident” in Hanoi, per a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

Biden's America is confused — and so is the world  —  Many allied nations prefer the Democratic president to Trump but crave clarity about Washington's world role  —  No, the western alliance is not about to break up.  And America is not about to drift off into some isolationist reverie.

Pa. redistricting commission to count people in prison at their old home, not in their cell  —  When drawing state legislative lines, Pennsylvania will count tens of thousands of people locked up in state prisons not in their cell, but at their previous home address before they were incarcerated.

6 In 10 Floridians Support Requiring Masks In Schools, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; 61% Say Recent Rise In COVID-19 Cases In Florida Was Preventable  — mail_outline  —  As Florida deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases and a battle intensifies over an executive order issued …

Maryland's Kimberly Klacik sues conservative commentator Candace Owens for defamation, asks for $20 million in damages  —  Kimberly Klacik, a former Republican congressional candidate in Maryland, is suing conservative commentator Candace Owens for $20 million in damages over an Instagram video Owens …

Conservative Bill Kristol endorses McAuliffe in race for Virginia governor  —  RICHMOND — Bill Kristol is just like all the other disaffected Virginia Republicans whom gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin needs to win over, only famous.  —  The longtime conservative commentator …

Afghan exit is a low moment for journalism  —  It was either me or Jimmy Carter who promised that “I will never lie to you” but I did in July when I pledged no more breaks in 2021 for The Will Bunch Newsletter.  Actually, I discovered I had one extra week of vacation, for which I'm currently packing my swim trunks.

Sponsor drops Schwarzenegger over rant about anti-maskers  —  A bodybuilding sponsor has dropped actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a spokesperson over his recent rant against anti-maskers, USA Today reported.  —  A spokesperson for the sports supplement company REDCON1 told The Hill that they chose …

Governor Kate Brown Announces Statewide Outdoor Mask Requirements  —  With COVID-19 rapidly spreading, masks help stop spread of the Delta variant  —  Salem, OR—Governor Kate Brown today announced new statewide outdoor mask requirements to help stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

NEW POLL: Veterans strongly support withdrawal from Afghanistan; Republicans out of step with rest of America on Afghan refugees  —  WASHINGTON, DC - A new poll commissioned by VoteVets shows that American veterans overwhelmingly support President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan, along with all Americans.

Judge Questions DOJ's Media Policy in Capitol Riot Case Against Infowars Host  —  Prosecutors must clarify why agency's new limits on pursuing journalists shouldn't apply to far-right talk-show host charged in Jan. 6 attack, judge says  —  WASHINGTON—Attorney General Merrick Garland's move …

Performative Antiracism at the University of Wisconsin  —  The University of Wisconsin has apparently done Black people a favor.  It lifted away a rock.  —  It was a big one, 42 tons, and at least some Black students thought of it as a symbol of bigotry.  Because, you see, 96 years ago …

FCC proposes fining conspiracists $5.1M for voter suppression robocalls  —  The FCC is proposing to fine conservative conspiracists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman more than $5.1 million for allegedly coordinating more than 1,000 unlawful robocalls aimed at swaying last year's presidential election …

Oklahoma Man Arrested for Assault on Media During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach  —  Assailant Repeatedly Attacked Member of News Media, Marks Eighth Defendant Arrested for Assault on Press  —  WASHINGTON — An Oklahoma man was arrested on Aug. 19 for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 …

He Was the ‘Perfect Villain’ for Voting Conspiracists  —  Eric Coomer had an election-security job at Dominion Voting Systems.  He also had posted anti-Trump messages on Facebook.  What happened next ruined his life.  —  To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Kathy Hochul becomes New York's first female governor  —  Gov. Kathy Hochul became New York's first female governor at midnight on Tuesday, assuming office after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal.  —  Hochul, who has in recent days attempted …