Afghanistan curfew imposed as Taliban militants advance

The Afghan government imposed a curfew across almost all of the country on Saturday in an attempt to stop the Taliban from invading cities. Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces has escalated over the past two months as international troops withdraw from the country. The Taliban - a fundamentalist Islamist militia who were pushed out of power by the US invasion nearly 20 years ago - has also seized key roads as it seeks to cut off supply routes.

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  To reach a peace deal, Taliban say Afghan president must go

  Associated Press
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  The US launched strikes to destroy military equipment the Taliban captured from Afghan security forces

  Business Insider

Russia excludes senior Communist candidate from parliamentary vote

Russian electoral authorities on Saturday barred a well-known Communist Party candidate from running in September's parliamentary election, the latest high-profile opposition figure to be disqualified from the vote. Pavel Grudinin, who won 12% of votes when he challenged Vladimir Putin in a 2018 presidential election, was excluded from a candidate list because the Prosecutor's Office had found he held shares in a foreign company, news agencies reported. Grudinin, a wealthy farm boss, denied having any foreign assets and linked his disqualification by the central election commission to the potential for opposition parties to post a strong result in September, Interfax reported.

Boris Johnson talked out of triggering 'nuclear option' over Northern Ireland Brexit stalemate

Boris Johnson was ready to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol this week but was talked down by his Brexit minister Lord Frost, The Telegraph has learnt. With the UK now demanding a renegotiation of the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, The Telegraph has been told Mr Johnson is now convinced of the need to use the so-called “nuclear option” if Brussels refuses. It is understood that the warning was issued to Dublin this week, with UK officials making clear that it is Mr Johnson, rather than Lord Frost, who is most in favour of triggering Article 16 should the EU fail to change course.

Monsoon rains flood Philippine villages, thousands evacuate

Thousands of residents fled flooded communities and swollen rivers in the Philippine capital and outlying provinces Saturday after days of torrential monsoon rains, which left at least one villager dead, officials said. “This situation will be too difficult if there won't be a permanent solution to flooding, especially now with the threat from the delta variant,” Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told ABS CBN News, referring to the highly contagious COVID-19 viral strain that has been detected in the country. Many of the residents were evacuated from flood-prone villages in Marikina overnight, depriving them of sleep, said Teodoro.

Fauci: 'There's no way' the coronavirus was made with U.S. research funds. Here's why

From the pandemic's earliest days, Dr. Anthony Fauci has drawn political fire from COVID-19 skeptics. As director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Fauci is steeped in the scientific disciplines of virology, immunology and vaccine design. The latest example occurred this week on Capitol Hill, when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) effectively accused Fauci of sending U.S. tax dollars to China so scientists there could soup up coronaviruses culled from bats and make them more dangerous to people.

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  Dr. Anthony Fauci endorses NFL's hardline stance against unvaccinated players

  Yahoo Sports
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  Sen. Rand Paul Told To 'Get F**ked' During Virtual Town Hall

  HuffPost

Why it may be a 'grave mistake' for FDA to wait much longer for full COVID-19 vaccine approval

Zeynep Tufecki, a sociologist who has written extensively on COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, is a proponent of broadening vaccine mandates in the United States, citing precedent in the health-care sector, the military, and schools. Kentucky, she notes in a piece published Saturday in The New York Times, requires anyone working in a long-term care facility to be vaccinated against the flu and pneumococcal disease unless they have a medical or religious exemption (Brown University's Dr. Ashish Jha, another prominent voice during the pandemic, also pointed to flu vaccine mandates in nursing homes as a reason to implement them for the coronavirus). Both Pfizer and Moderna, which were granted emergency use late last year, have submitted their applications for full approval, and the former is apparently set to receive the green light no later than January 2022.

'It's not a Trump rally': Biden responds to being heckled while campaigning for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in Virginia

President Biden was heckled while appearing at a rally for former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. President Joe Biden was heckled during a Virginia campaign appearance on Friday, brushing off the disturbance while rallying support for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is seeking to reclaim his old job later this year. Biden, who traveled a short distance from the White House to Arlington, Va., spoke before roughly 3,000 people for McAuliffe, a prodigious fundraiser and former Democratic National Committee chairman who served as governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018.

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  Biden tests political muscle with campaign stop for Virginia governor candidate

  Reuters
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  Biden yokes Youngkin to Trump at McAuliffe campaign stop

  Politico

This Fort Worth man stood against the civil rights for which Opal Lee fought. He lost.

Fort Worth's Opal Lee was in the news in June when Congress finally made Juneteenth a national holiday and more recently when she was recognized by the state Senate. The 94-year-old civil rights icon's story includes how as a 12-year-old girl in 1939 her parents' home was targeted by white segregationists opposed to African American people moving into their neighborhood. Opal Flake Lee grew up to become a voice for change in Fort Worth and beyond.

Army Ranger Savagely Killed Female Security Guard in Drunken Rampage: Police

Patrick Byrne, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was arraigned by video conference from his jail cell on Friday and a court-appointed attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf. Court documents obtained by local outlets show that Pierce County prosecutors have accused Byrne of first-degree murder for killing 41-year-old Denise Smith as she was on duty at a downtown Tacoma office building on Sunday. U.S. Army Ranger Patrick Byrne, 26, is charged with murdering Denise Smith, 42, as she worked as a security guard at a Tacoma office building.

A United Airlines flight was evacuated after a teenager AirDropped a photo of an airsoft gun to other passengers, report says

A teen caused a United Airlines flight to be evacuated after he AirDropped an image of a gun to other passengers. Passengers were removed from the plane and rescreened, NBC Bay Area reported. A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Orlando was evacuated on Thursday after a teenager sent a photo of an airsoft gun to other passengers on the plane, according to NBC Bay Area.

A third of states have passed more restrictive voting laws. Here's what you should know

For some states considered battlegrounds during the 2020 presidential cycle, like Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas, voting rights advocates fear the impact of such laws could be seismic. "We view these laws as a very serious threat to American democracy," said Steven Lance, policy counsel at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense Fund. They're really a threat that is specifically targeting, in many of these cases, a means of voting that proved to be lifelines for Black and Latino voters in the 2020 election and other provisions that were necessary during a global pandemic,” Lance said, citing NAACP Legal Defense Fund data.

First images of Derek Chauvin in prison are released

The first images of Derek Chauvin in prison have been released after he was sentenced for the murder of George Floyd for 22 years and six months last month. In April, the former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Mr Floyd died in May 2020 after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.

California family say they were treated like criminals on a Southwest flight because their toddler wouldn't keep his mask on

A California family said Southwest Airlines "just wanted them off the plane" when their 3-year-old son refused to keep his face mask on. After the experience, the family is vowing to never fly on the airline again. Eric Hansen, his wife, and their toddler were all ready to fly from Las Vegas to San Jose on Friday 23 July, KRON4 reported.

Marjorie Taylor Greene said she would deport Chinese people who are 'loyal' to the Chinese Communist Party

Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to "kick out every single Chinese in this country that is loyal to the CCP". Greene made the comments while speaking to Steve Bannon on his show. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that if she was in charge she would deport every Chinese person that was loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

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  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'HIPAA Rights' Excuse Brutally Mocked On 'Late Night'

  HuffPost
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  Seth Meyers Mocks Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Vaccine Excuse

  The Daily Beast

Teenagers 'swatted' a 60-year-old Tennessee man to get his Twitter handle. The shock caused him to die of a heart attack.

Teenagers 'swatted' a 60-year-old man because they wanted his Twitter handle, NBC News reported. The man was "scared to death" and suffered from a massive heart attack, his family said. A 60-year-old man in Tennessee died after he was "swatted" by teenagers who wanted his valuable Twitter handle, NBC News reported.

Canada is reopening to vaccinated American travelers next month. How much will a trip cost?

Canada has decided to open its borders to vaccinated Americans– but how much can visitors expect a trip up north to cost after more than a year of strict travel restrictions? The U.S., meanwhile, has extended the travel restrictions on its side of the border through at least Aug. 21. Travel to Canada is expected to accelerate once restrictions ease.

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  Air Canada 'turning a corner' as restrictions ease, bookings increase

  Yahoo Finance Canada
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  Top envoys: Canada and U.S. are 'coordinated' on border reopening — even if out of sync

  Politico

Democrats blast FBI’s handling of Brett Kavanaugh probe, calling it ‘constrained’ by Trump White House

Democrats have blasted the fbi >FBI's handling of a 2018 probe of Brett Kavanaugh ahead of his confirmation as a Supreme Court justice, charging that it was controlled and limited by the Trump administration. Your letter confirms that the FBI's tip line was a departure from past practice and that the FBI was politically constrained by the Trump White House,” seven Democratic senators wrote in a scathing letter to FBI director Christopher Wray. The Democrats were replying to a letter from an assistant FBI director named Jill Tyson, who told them that over 4,500 tips had been called in to the FBI's “tip line” for its background check on Mr Kavanaugh.

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  FBI ignored tips on Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Democrats charge

  Yahoo News Video
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  FBI ignored tips on Kavanaugh, Senate Dems charge

  Reuters Videos

Roundup of Olympic gold medals from Saturday, July 24

Sun completed her set of Olympic medals after winning individual bronze and team silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Popescu has yet to win an individual gold medal at any of her five Olympic appearances despite often being among the favorites. She won team gold in 2016.

Biden set to nominate Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador to Australia: report

President Joe Biden is set to nominate Caroline Kennedy to become the next ambassador to Australia, according to a CNN report. Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, served as ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017 under then-President Barack Obama. She is a longtime friend and political ally of Biden, and spoke during the Democratic National Convention last summer.

R. Kelly sexually abused teenage boy he met in McDonald's and bribed officials for information about his legal case, prosecutors allege

New York prosecutors filed a 55-page motion seeking permission to admit new evidence in R. Kelly's trial. The filing alleges that Kelly bribed officials and sexually abused underage boys. The disgraced R&B singer is due to stand trial on August 9 in New York on racketeering charges.