U.S. Citizens and Afghans Wait for Evacuation Flights From Country's North  —  The Taliban have left hundreds of people stranded in Afghanistan awaiting approval for departure.  —  Around 1,000 people, including dozens of American citizens and Afghans holding visas to the United States or other countries …

How a Small Town Silenced a Neo-Nazi Hate Campaign  —  A Montana town reflects on its effort to drive former President Donald J. Trump's extremist supporters back to the fringes.  —  WHITEFISH, Mont. — Richard B. Spencer, the most infamous summer resident in this town …

Rolling Stone Issues ‘Update’ After Horse Dewormer Hit-Piece Debunked  —  Update (1155ET): Rolling Stone has issued an ‘update,’ not a correction, or a retraction, by appending the hospital's statement to the top of the article. … After Joe Rogan announced that he'd kicked Covid …

“No One Has Come”: Queens Flood Victims Left To Fend For Themselves In Storm's Aftermath  —  Family photographs, mattresses, empty refrigerators, and stuffed animals lined the driveways and gutters of residential streets in Woodside, Queens on Saturday, still damp under the clear blue sky.

State of the Union  —  DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Challenges mount.  U.S. COVID deaths now averaging 1, 500 a day, and new questions about who needs booster shots and when.  As the U.S. ends a war, can President Biden get his domestic agenda on track?

Republicans don't deserve House majority if they push lies -Kinzinger  —  A U.S. House of Representatives Republican said his party does not deserve to win majorities in congressional elections next year if it pushes lies and conspiracy theories, saying that it “desperately needs to tell the truth.”

Inside the Biden Administration's Push to Exit Afghanistan  —  U.S. strategy put Defense and State departments on divergent paths: The troops pulled out but the diplomats stayed—and were left exposed when Taliban took over  —  In June, as security worsened in Afghanistan …

Trump's Long Campaign to Steal the Presidency: A Timeline The insurrection was a complex, yearslong plot, not a one-day event.  And it isn't over.  —  The House select committee's investigation into the Capitol Riot and the various media ticktocks explaining what Donald Trump and his allies …

Texas abortion law could still be ‘destroyed’ by Supreme Court, Cassidy says  —  Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday said he expects the U.S. Supreme Court may well “swat away” the Texas abortion law once it comes to them in an appropriate case.  —  The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote …

POLITICO Playbook: Did Texas just reset the 2022 campaign?  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  If you want to understand the interplay between religious faith and politics at this moment, Ruby Cramer is out with an essential read on President JOE BIDEN's very public, very personal clash with the Catholic Church …

The rise of air rage  —  Pre-pandemic, the issue of unruly passengers was becoming increasingly omnipresent — data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggested incidents rose from 2012 to 2015, while whole conferences were dedicated to the problem.

Military Analysis Raises Questions About Deadly Drone Strike in Kabul  —  A preliminary analysis said that it was “possible to probable” that explosives were in the car and that drone operators took only a cursory scan of the courtyard before launching an attack.

New PR ploy  —  The head of a prominent centrist advocacy group quietly seeded a news outlet that provides a steady stream of positive coverage for her organization and its board members' lobbying clients, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: The fragmentation of digital media means virtually anyone can be a publisher.

If Gawker Is Nice, Is It Still Gawker?  —  “I'm not interested in ruining people's lives,” says its top editor, Leah Finnegan, who once insulted a baby in a headline.  —  When I started talking with Leah Finnegan, the editor of the newly restarted Gawker, I asked her whether …

U.S. Embassy contractors, visa applicants among Afghans left behind after one of the largest airlifts in history  —  KABUL — The day Afghanistan's capital fell, a contractor who had worked at the U.S. Embassy for six years was dismissed from work early.  —  Embassy staff had collected …

‘A Private Matter’: Joe Biden's Very Public Clash With His Own Church  —  As a rule dating back to the election, the reporters who follow the president go everywhere with him but two places: inside his home and inside his church.  —  When Joe Biden goes to Mass at his home parish in Delaware …

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Approval Plummets as 52 Percent Believe State Is on Wrong Track  —  Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott's approval rating has sunk to its lowest level since he took office, with the majority of Texans believing the southwestern state is on the wrong track.

State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan, organizers say: ‘Blood is on their hands’  —  Americans involved in private evacuation efforts tell Fox News that the State Department is the only reason their planes haven't left Afghanistan  —  Kamala Harris absent as Biden takes heat for Afghanistan

Guinea coup attempt: Soldiers claim to seize power from Alpha Condé  —  The fate of Guinea's President Alpha Condé is unclear after an unverified video showed him surrounded by soldiers, who said they had seized power.  —  They appeared on national TV claiming to have dissolved the government.

They Don't Remember Their Parents Dying On 9/11.  But They'll Never Forget  —  Twenty years ago this week, on Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists launched coordinated attacks on the U.S. using airplanes as their weapons.  —  Nearly 3,000 people were killed.  —  Many of those who died left behind children …

Poorly devised regulation lets firms pollute with abandon  —  A recent study finds that firms at risk of punishment cut their exhaust by 7% when the government is watching  —  Athletes don't get advance warning of drug tests.  Police don't share schedules of planned raids.

John Major attacks ‘strategically stupid’ decision to leave Afghanistan  —  Former UK prime minister says retreat is a sign of a more isolationist US  —  Former UK prime minister John Major has criticised the withdrawal of western forces from Afghanistan as a “strategically very stupid” …

Millions in U.S. lose jobless benefits as federal aid expires, thrusting families and economy onto uncertain path  —  Federal funds meant to ease the economic shock of the pandemic are coming to an end.  ‘It just feels like being discarded,’ one worker said