The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is happening with dizzying speed.
In just a few weeks, the militant group has swept from province to province until it reached the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, earlier today.
Rather than push on militarily, it seems for now the Taliban are letting the government fall on its own.
All signs are that President Ashraf Ghani will agree to a power sharing arrangement. Which in effect means the Taliban will be back in charge — coming full circle 20 years after the Americans booted them out — and Ghani will either step down or move to a figurehead role, someone to give the Taliban a veneer of respectability with the rest of the world.
While the Taliban are issuing statements about ensuring ‘the transition process is completed safely and securely, without putting the lives, property and honor of anyone in danger,’ the danger is their actions will be quite different.
Controlling the customs posts and border crossings (aside from Kabul airport) and with the Afghan military collapsing, the Taliban hold the cards. Russia and China will be comfortable engaging with the group’s leaders.
But already there are reports the militants are seeking to reimpose the fundamentalism that defined their earlier rule. Two decades of painful but hard won progress for women and civil society could vanish.
A concern for neighbors is that an exodus of refugees from Afghanistan could include terrorists, and Uyghur separatists. The Taliban might permit groups like al-Qaeda to train and operate from there.
Afghanistan presents U.S. President Joe Biden with an unwinnable challenge. Americans wanted their soldiers home after so many years of fighting. And yet the U.S. also says it stands as a defender of human rights.
Biden is unlikely to reverse course despite the growing criticism. ‘I was the fourth president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan — two Republicans, two Democrats,’ he says. ‘I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.’” —Rosalind Mathieson Read more at Bloomberg“Evacuation scramble | Countries including the U.S., Australia, Canada and the U.K. are racing to fly out diplomatic staff, as well as Afghan interpreters and contractors. Biden has boosted the U.S. troop deployment by about 1,000 from the 3,000 Marines and soldiers announced earlier and 1,000 troops already in Afghanistan, with reports of helicopters landing at the U.S. embassy compound to ferry people to the airport.” Read more at Bloomberg
Russia does not plan for now to evacuate its embassy. ‘The world is watching in horror the results of Washington’s latest historical experiment,’ Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Telegram post.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Cutting them off | A Republican lawmaker is calling on the Federal Reserve to ensure official assets held by Afghanistan in the U.S. don’t fall into the hands of the Taliban. Representative Andy Barr made the request in a letter to the New York Fed, saying the goal is to ensure the country’s account at the Fed ‘cannot benefit the Taliban’s malign activities.’” Read more at Bloomberg
Taliban fighters in front of the provincial governor's office in Herat.
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images
“Refugee risk | The Taliban’s advance has made the willingness of Turkey to take the lead in securing Kabul airport riskier as it struggles to seal its eastern border with Iran against those fleeing Afghanistan. Turkey already hosts the world’s largest refugee population and, as tens of thousands of Afghans follow in the footsteps of Syrians and Iraqis, its hospitality has gone cold. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week he may meet leaders from the Taliban.
The background | The Taliban have a long history in Afghanistan. They first took over in 1996, and ruled until the U.S. military ousted them in 2001. But America is not the only country to invade Afghanistan — Russia has, too. For more details, read this explainer.” Read more at Bloomberg
Displaced Afghans at a makeshift camp in Kabul.
Photographer: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Europe
“Protecting women | In recent weeks, Taliban fighters in northern areas told some female employees of Afghanistan International Bank, the country’s largest by assets, to leave and go home, a source tells Eltaf Najafizada. ‘We can’t allow wholesale massacres of any woman who’s in the workplace in Afghanistan, or any woman who has an education, or allow them to kick all of the girls out of school and go back to, really, the days of cave people in the way they treat women and girls,’ says U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Women at a polling station in Herat in September 2019.
Photographer: Hoshang Hashimi/AFP/Getty Images
Les Cayes, Haiti, was one of two cities that reported major damage.Joseph Odelyn/Associated Press
“A powerful earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 300 people and injuring at least 1,800.
The magnitude-7.2 quake flattened buildings and trapped people under rubble in at least two cities in the western part of the country. It struck about 80 miles west of Port-au-Prince. ‘The streets are filled with screaming,’ an archdeacon said. ‘People are searching, for loved ones or resources, medical help, water.’
The Biden administration, the United Nations and private relief agencies that operate in Haiti promised urgent help.
The disaster could not have come at a worse time for Haiti, which has been in the throes of a political crisis since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated last month, and has yet to recover fully from a 2010 quake that killed 220,000 people. Saturday’s quake occurred along the same fault line.” Read more at New York Times
“The White House is working on a plan to start offering Covid-19 vaccine boosters to some Americans as early as October.
With a stockpile of at least 100 million doses at the ready, the first boosters are likely to go to nursing home residents and health care workers, followed by other older people. Officials envision giving people a third dose of the same vaccine that they originally received. Scientists are still debating whether the extra shots are needed, but administration officials said they could not afford to wait to figure out the logistics of providing boosters to millions of people.
This week, the F.D.A. authorized third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for certain people with weakened immune systems and the C.D.C. recommended them.” Read more at New York Times
“The skyrocketing COVID-19 surge in Florida is shattering records and ravaging the state’s younger population.
Florida has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks because of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, which has led to a major increase in state hospitalizations. By next week, 68% of hospitals are expected to reach a critical staffing shortage, according to an Aug. 9 survey by the Florida Hospital Association.
The majority of Florida's new cases are among individuals between the ages of 20 and 39, who remain among the least vaccinated age groups in the state.
Hospital officials are also seeing an influx of young, healthy adults filling their wards across the state, many requiring oxygen. In the past week in Florida, 36% of the deaths occurred in the under-65 population, compared with 17% in the same week last year when the state was experiencing a similar COVID surge.
Kristen McMullen, a 30-year-old woman from West Melbourne, Florida, died earlier this month — a week after giving birth to her daughter via emergency C-section.
Statewide, Florida set a record last week, reporting 151,415 new COVID-19 cases, according to the state health department. The state reported an all-time high of 24,869 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker.
Florida is the national leader in COVID-19 deaths, averaging more than 150 a day in the past week. Health officials say the number of deaths jumped significantly from 600, reported in the previous week, to more than 1,000 reported this week. New deaths tallied by the state health department raise the total coronavirus death toll to 40,766.” Read more at USA Today
Children and adults protested outside the school district building in Marietta, Ga., on Thursday.Audra Melton for The New York Times
“It was going to be a relatively normal new school year. That was before the surge in the Delta variant.
There have been more than twice as many daily virus cases this week as there were one year ago, and pediatric hospitalizations are rising in many regions. Interviews with families across the country revealed a politicized, bewildering experience for many parents, students and educators. Parents are struggling to make decisions for their children: Vaccines? Masks? Online schooling?
Wealthy countries have become used to the idea that children are extremely rare pandemic victims. But the toll in developing countries tells a different story. In Indonesia, hundreds of children have died from Covid-19 in recent weeks amid a Delta surge.” Read more at New York Times
“A federal judge late Friday revived a Trump-era immigration policy that ordered asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico as they waited for their U.S. court hearings.
President Joe Biden halted the controversial Migrant Protection Protocols border policy, known as ‘Remain in Mexico,’ during his first days in office, making good on a campaign promise. The program required thousands of non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico– an unprecedented handling of immigration protocol.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in June formally ended the program, saying keeping it intact ‘would be a poor use of the department’s resources.’
However, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, directed the Biden administration to reinstate the program, saying the administration ‘failed to consider several critical factors’ when ending the program. Kacsmaryk delayed his order for seven days to give the administration a chance to appeal.” Read more at USA Today
“California’s drought is revealing that even more than rain, it is money and infrastructure that will dictate who gets sufficient water.
The drought, and other effects of climate change, have drawn a bold line under the weaknesses of smaller communities with fewer resources. In towns along the Northern Coast that typically get much more rain, wells are running dry; in arid Southern California, reservoirs, built up through a century of planning and financial muscle, are nearly full.
Farther north, the Pacific Northwest’s latest round of sweltering temperatures has exposed how communities built for mild summers are grossly unprepared for the extreme heat.
Many leading Republicans are changing their tune on climate change after a decade of denying it. That doesn’t mean they’re supporting cleaner energy.” Read more at New York Times
“Lindsey Graham once called Donald Trump ‘a race-baiting, xenophobic bigot.’ Now he’s regularly golfing at Mar-a-Lago and advising the former president on his future.
The South Carolina senator believes that he alone can fix Trump and make him a unifying figure for Republicans to take back both houses of Congress next year. To get inside one of the unlikeliest relationships in politics, our reporters spoke with more than 60 people, and with the senator himself, and found ‘an infinitely adaptable operator seeking validation in the proximity to power.’
Separately, since George Floyd’s murder last year, books on race and racism have driven the publishing industry. Now, conservative publishers see gold in titles catering to the backlash, seizing on the firestorm over critical race theory at a time when the Republican Party plans to focus on culture-war issues in the 2022 midterm elections.” Read more at New York Times
Mike Richards, Jeopardy’s executive producer, will become the show’s regular host.Carol Kaelson/Sony Pictures Entertainment
“‘It is a little like choosing a pope.’
That’s Ken Jennings, who rose to fame after winning a record 74 ‘Jeopardy!’ games, on the search to replace the late Alex Trebek. Jennings was considered by many to be a shoo-in. But the decades-old game show has been rocked by drama over who would become the next host.
After a cattle call of rotating guest hosts, the announcement of Mike Richards, the show’s obscure executive producer, as the winner sent fans into a tailspin. Critics accused him of rigging the contest, while some fans argued that a little-known host was a better outcome than a celebrity.” Read more at New York Times
“Seven men and five women have been sworn in as jurors in the R. Kelly federal trial in New York. Opening statements begin Wednesday, and jurors will remain anonymous and partially sequestered. Kelly faces racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty.” Read more at CNN
“San Francisco became the first major US city to mandate proof of full coronavirus vaccinations for indoor activities. Starting Friday, residents age 12 and older will be required to show vaccine cards to enter restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters, as well as large event spaces.” Read more at CNN
“Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, won by TKO in his professional boxing debut Saturday night.
Ali Walsh, 21, defeated Jordan Weeks (4-2) when the referee stopped the fight at 1:49 of the first round.” Read more at USA Today
Golfers at Centennial Golf Club in Carmel, N.Y. Photo: John Meore/The Journal News via Reuters
“Golf's shutdown boom has persisted, with the National Golf Foundation reporting that U.S. rounds are running 19% above the 2017-2019 average, Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland writes:
Rounds at public courses are ‘outpacing growth in rounds at private clubs, with public rounds played up 26% this year against a 13% increase in private loops.’
Quarterly results for golf's two biggest publicly-traded companies reflect the surge, Yahoo reports:
‘Callaway reported golf equipment revenues that rose 91% in the second quarter, while [Titleist parent company] Acushnet said golf club sales rose 111% and golf ball revenues were up 98.1%.’
The bottom line: You can't get a tee time anywhere these days.” Read more at Axios