WorldAssociated PressAfghan president seeks defense of cities as Taliban advance
The Afghan president on Monday blamed the American troops' speedy pullout for the worsening violence in his country and said that his administration would now focus on protecting provincial capitals and major urban areas in the face of the rapidly advancing Taliban. Ashraf Ghani also urged lawmakers to back a national mobilization drive against the Taliban amid an intensifying war between the Taliban and Afghan government forces over the past few months as U.S. and NATO troops complete their pullout from the war-torn country. “An imported, hasty” peace process — a reference to Washington's push for negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban — “not only failed to bring peace but created doubt and ambiguity" among Afghans, Ghani said in his address to Parliament.
PoliticsAxiosManchin, Collins say infrastructure bill has enough GOP support to pass Senate
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) said they believe that the massive infrastructure bill has enough support to pass in the Senate, with Manchin saying the chamber should "finish up" by Thursday. Why it matters: A bipartisan group of senators, including Manchin and Collins, have been negotiating the deal for months and are cutting it close to their self-imposed deadline for passing the measure before August recess. Appearing on on CNN's "State of the Union," Manchin expressed optimism, saying, "When you see Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell voting for the same thing, it's unbelievable."
PoliticsWashington ExaminerMcCarthy faces calls to resign over alleged joke about hitting Pelosi with gavel
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is facing several calls by Democrats to resign after reports surfaced that he joked about hitting Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a gavel. On Saturday night, McCarthy was reportedly gifted a large gavel by members of Tennessee's Republican congressional delegation during a dinner event. The gavel had the words "Fire Pelosi" inscribed on it, referencing the minority leader's repeated optimistic stance that the GOP will retake the House following the 2022 midterm elections.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 6 Best Oven Ranges Designers Often Choose for Kitchen Renovations
Gas or induction? Compact or dual oven? Designers help navigate the world of ranges Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Associated PressFlood watches in US West as mudslides close major interstate
Mudslides from heavy rains caused "extreme damage” to a major interstate and left it blocked with piles of boulders and logs, Colorado transportation officials said Sunday, as forecasters warned of more flash floods in the coming days across the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin regions. The flood risk was elevated for many areas of the West where recent wildfires burned away vegetation and left hillsides more susceptible to erosion, the National Weather Service said. Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, was closed with no word on when it might re-open after being pounded by flash floods over a three-day period.
HealthThe WeekFauci: 'I don't think we're going to see lockdowns' with the Delta variant surge, but more 'pain and suffering' is likely
COVID-19 cases are rising sharply in the U.S., thanks to the more easily transmissible Delta variant, but while many Americans may have to mask up again, "I don't think we're going to see lockdowns," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top federal infectious disease expert, said on Sunday's ABC This Week. "We're looking, not, I believe, to lockdown, but we're looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we're seeing the cases go up, which is the reason why we keep saying over and over again, the solution to this is get vaccinated and this would not be happening." Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, said "we are seeing an outbreak of the unvaccinated" now, adding that "from the standpoint of illness, hospitalization, suffering, and death, the unvaccinated are much more vulnerable."
WorldWashington ExaminerTaliban fighters strike airport in southern Afghanistan
Taliban forces attacked the Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan with at least three rockets overnight, a spokesman for the insurgent group said Sunday. The goal of the rocket strike was to obstruct airstrikes stemming from Afghan government forces, the Taliban said. "Kandahar airport was targeted by us because the enemy were using it as a center to conduct airstrikes against us," said Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, according to Reuters.
WorldBBCNigerian student shocked to see friend's body in anatomy class
In our series of letters from African writers, Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes about the disturbing reality behind some of the "unclaimed" bodies sent to the country's medical schools. Medical student Enya Egbe fled his anatomy class crying after being disturbed by the corpse he was asked to work on. The 26-year-old still vividly recalls that Thursday afternoon seven years ago at Nigeria's University of Calabar, converging with fellow students around three tables with a cadaver laid out on each.
PoliticsWashington ExaminerSenators reveal bill text and introduce $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal after rare weekend session
It's no longer a framework: Senators on Sunday evening revealed and introduced legislative text for a bipartisan infrastructure deal crafted after months of negotiations among a bipartisan group of lawmakers. "This legislation represents the most significant investment in our infrastructure since the construction of the Interstate Highway System," Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said on the Senate floor on Sunday. Finalized during a rare weekend session, the legislation, which is called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, clocks in at 2,702 pages.
WorldLA TimesAs water table lowers, Tehran and much of Iran are slowly sinking
Officials and outside experts have long linked subsidence in Tehran to over-extraction of groundwater, with the falling water levels causing the soil to shift and settle in many neighborhoods and at the airport. "The disaster is rooted in the fact that 4 billion cubic meters of water are annually extracted from 50,000 wells, a third of which are illegal," Mohsen Tabatabei, an official with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, told local reporters in June. We're seeing it [subsidence] in 30 out of the 31 provinces.
PoliticsThe Guardian‘A one-man scam Pac’: Trump’s money hustling tricks prompt fresh scrutiny
Donald Trump's penchant for turning his political and legal troubles into fundraising schemes has long been recognized, but the former US president's money hustling tricks seem to have expanded since his defeat by Joe Biden, prompting new scrutiny and criticism from campaign finance watchdogs and legal analysts. Critics note Trump has built an arsenal of political committees and nonprofit groups, staffed with dozens of ex-administration officials and loyalists, which seem aimed at sustaining his political hopes for a comeback, and exacting revenge on Republican congressional critics. Just days after his defeat last November, Trump launched a new political action committee, dubbed Save America, that together with his campaign and the Republican National Committee quickly raked in tens of millions of dollars through text and email appeals for a Trump “election defense fund”, ostensibly to fight the results with baseless lawsuits alleging fraud.
PoliticsAssociated Press'Vote them out': Willie Nelson headlines Texas protest rally
Country music legend Willie Nelson led more than a thousand spectators in singing “vote them out” Saturday from the steps of the Texas Capitol during a rally wrapping up a four-day march in support of Democratic state legislators who bolted for Washington two weeks ago to block GOP-backed voting restrictions. Families with lawn chairs spread out across the sprawling Capitol greens in Austin. Clergy, politicians, constituents and musicians all spoke out about the proposals to impose voter ID requirements, limit ballot drop boxes and mail voting, and strip local officials of their election authority.
U.S.Miami HeraldWanting to test the waters in this red-hot housing market? Be careful of this hidden clause
You may not be forced to sell if you really don't want to, but you could be on the hook for a 5% or 6% sales commission — whether you sell or not. At play here is an often-unnoticed clause in most listing agreements, which essentially says that if the agent brings a legitimate buyer to the table who offers to match your selling requirements, said agent is due his or her commission. According to realty professionals I've spoken with, the clause is rarely, if ever, enforced.
PoliticsThe GuardianWant to make Jim Jordan sing about the Capitol attack? Ask Jefferson Davis
The House select committee on the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol, according to chairman Bennie Thompson, should “not be reluctant” to include on its witness list Republicans including the minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan and others who have knowledge of or may have been implicated in the attack.
U.S.Washington ExaminerUS considering ‘next steps’ as it warns Iran it will respond to deadly attack on oil tanker in international waters
The new categories include: Afghans who work or worked as employees of contractors, locally employed staff, interpreters/translators for the U.S. government, U.S. Forces Afghanistan, International Security Assistance Force or Resolute Support; Afghans who work or worked for a U.S. government-funded program or project in Afghanistan supported through a U.S. government grant or cooperative agreement; Afghans who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based media organization or nongovernmental organization.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
All eyes are on Ohio special election following loss by Trump-backed candidate in Texas
As soon as it became clear last week that a Texas congressional candidate backed by Donald Trump would be defeated in a special election, the former president's allies quickly shifted their attention to Ohio to ward off another embarrassing loss.
SportsReutersOlympics-IOC says looking into gesture used by U.S. athlete Saunders on podium
The International Olympic Committee is looking into the gesture U.S. athlete Raven Saunders made after the shot put silver medallist raised her arms in an X above her head, a potential breach of rules banning protests on medal podiums. The IOC is in contact with World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference on Monday. The USOPC said Saunders' gesture did not breach its rules.
U.S.INSIDERTennessee GOP rep who rejected masks now says COVID-19 is 'real and dangerous' after his 8-month battle with the virus
Tennessee representative David Byrd used to support the idea that the media was sensationalizing the COVID-19 pandemic. In his 8-month battle with the virus, he developed pneumonia, jaundice, and liver failure. Tennessee GOP Rep. David Byrd is urging the public to take COVID-19 seriously and get vaccinated after his 8-month struggle with the virus, which saw him hospitalized and put under a ventilator for 55 days.
WorldThe Daily BeastHere’s Why China Could Be Sucked Into the ‘Graveyard of Empires’
Of course, the U.S. government is not actually pulling out of Afghanistan to make way for China or to lure it into a trap. Quite the contrary, one U.S. official with whom I spoke said the U.S. would monitor China's involvement closely and that it might someday become a potential source of concern should China's role become “overlarge. When it comes to Afghanistan's history as “the graveyard of empires,” China may think they know better than us how to avoid the country's pitfalls.
U.S.Business InsiderThe weird armored vehicle that the US Army hated, the Marines loved, and enemies feared
In 1950, the US Army and US Marine Corps started a joint project to build a light anti-tank vehicle. It produced the M50 Ontos, a small tracked vehicle with light armor and six recoilless rifles. The Army rejected the M50, but the Marines embraced it, putting it on the frontlines in Vietnam.
WorldNBC NewsJapan shelters Belarusian sprinter who sought to flee at the Olympics
A Belarusian sprinter brought under the protection of Japanese authorities on Monday after making a dash for freedom at a Tokyo-area airport is reportedly heading to Poland. Tsimanouskaya, who said her team was forcing her to return home after she publicly criticized her coaches at the Olympics, plans to seek asylum in Poland, an activist group supporting the athlete told The Associated Press. The sprinter, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, had sought the protection of Japanese police at Haneda Airport on Sunday after she refused to board a flight to Minsk, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese authorities confirmed.
- U.S.The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Early morning visit by sheriff's deputies raises questions
Aug. 1—MORGANTOWN — At 4:51 a.m. May 21, Monongalia County resident Chin Orih was awakened by a banging on his front door. As Orih was getting dressed, his wife checked the home's security cameras and saw the house surrounded by sheriff's deputies with their guns drawn. Orih turned on the front porch light and went outside.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump lashed out after documents were released showing him pressuring Justice Department officials to overturn the 2020 election
Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the release of records of his pressuring DOJ officials. The documents indicate Trump urged officials to say the 2020 election was "corrupt." In a statement Saturday, Trump repeated the election-fraud claims in his bid to overturn his defeat.
HealthBusiness Insider24 vaccinated friends had a blowout vacation on Cape Cod. Though their symptoms were mild, 14 of them caught COVID-19, report says.
Twenty-four fully vaccinated friends had a weeklong July 4 getaway in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The cases were part of a bigger study that prompted the CDC to change its indoor masking guidance. Fourteen of 24 vaccinated friends who visited the Cape Cod town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, in July caught COVID-19, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
HealthBusiness InsiderA woman turned down a COVID-19 vaccine because she was scared. She changed her mind after getting so sick she struggled to breathe.
Ekaterina Wilson, an unvaccinated 39-year-old in North Carolina, had been scared of COVID-19 vaccines. Ekaterina Wilson spoke to reporters last week from the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, where she was admitted to emergency care after catching COVID-19. Wilson, pictured in the tweet below, had assumed that because she was young and healthy, catching COVID-19 would not be dangerous for her.
“[The program] stands likely to leave millions of families — disproportionately the poorest and most fragile ones — behind.”
“[Paying] families monthly, instead of one lump sum ... will provide parents with more stability knowing when cash is coming.”
“More parents will disappear from the workforce, and more children will be locked into dependency.”
“Poverty is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
“Time is running out. There are only six months until monthly payments of the credit cease."