Today's Top Political and Coronavirus News Compilation - Wednesday, August 18, 2021 (1 Viewer)

Georgia’s State Election Board has taken a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county.

In a departure from previous conflicts, the U.S. funded its recent wars in the Middle East through massive borrowing.

The militants are trying to consolidate their control of the country in a campaign to paint a more moderate image.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has faced accusations of needlessly abandoning Afghanistan to the whims of the Taliban and of undermining Britain’s position in the world.

U.S. officials are privately warning that it will be "challenging" to meet President Biden's Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Fox News has learned.

President Biden is getting little cover from Congress as he faces broad backlash over his handling of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan. Some Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali…

President Biden’s approval rating has fallen to 49.3 percent in the FiveThirtyEight average of polls, the first time Biden has dipped below a 50 percent approval rating since entering office. …

President Joe Biden's administration unveiled a plan to overhaul the U.S. asylum system on Wednesday, including a doubling of staff, to try to speed processing at the Mexico border where migrant arrests have soared to 20-year highs this year.

The Defense Department has “subjected service members to Kafkaesque ordeals that have further delayed their attempts to become U.S. citizens,” an ACLU lawyer said.

U.S. says 3,000 people have been evacuated, but as many as 10,000 Americans still need to get out, and the militants now control the airport gates.

Trump-era 5G initiatives live on under Biden — Facebook submits last-minute appeal for Khan recusal

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team are mounting a pressure campaign on centrist Democrats to get them to support their party's budget resolution without a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Tobacco giant sees future in drug making — BlackBerry flaw leaves health devices vulnerable

Women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a deeply uncertain and scary future with the Taliban in control of the country following the collapse of a U.S.-backed government and the exit of U.S. troo…

Georgia’s state elections board on Wednesday named a three-person review panel to examine election operations in the state’s most populous county – under a provision of a new state election law that voting rights activists have warned could lead to a partisan takeover of a Democratic stronghold...

President Biden is in the middle of his first unanticipated crisis, and even many members of his own party are appalled.The chaotic scenes in Afghanistan have transformed a popular decision by Bide…

A consultant wants businessman and candidate John Cox to settle an unpaid bill from 2018.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, aiming to regain House majority, in an exclusive interview with Fox News compared the 2022 midterms to "the 100-year storm."

President Joe Biden's Justice Department is stepping up its fight against a new state law in Missouri that aims to invalidate many federal gun regulations, saying the measure has impeded law enforcement efforts to work with state and local police and is also unconstitutional.

Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubervile slammed members of the left-wing “Squad” for being “closed-mouthed” about protecting women in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country.

Two of President Joe Biden's most significant legislative wins, the Senate's advancement of historic physical and human infrastructure packages, have been overshadowed by two totally unrelated stories: the resignation of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Taliban's toppling of Afghanistan's...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ready to retire — at least in order to start collecting his public pension.

A large majority of voters support laws requiring photo identification, according to a new poll from an election integrity group conducted as Democrats push for sweeping elections reforms.A poll re…

Federal officials are pressing Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., for answers on the apparent personal use of campaign funds.

There's a desire among lawmakers to help some Afghans. But an early split over new refugee visas points to a looming battle over a politically heated issue.

The annual gathering of the nation’s secretaries of state used to be a sleepy, bureaucratic affair. After 2020, they’re getting Justice Department briefings on death threats.

The decree forbids spreading content that attacks “the constitutional, social and economic” rules of the state or that incite demonstrations or other acts “that alter public order.”

Crypto faces growing legal crackdown — Fed’s success on states and cities?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell excoriated President Joe Biden on Wednesday over the unfolding mayhem in Afghanistan that has followed the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces and subsequent Taliban takeover. In an interview on the Hugh Hewitt radio program, the Kentucky Republican predicted...

Trump criticized Biden for pulling US troops from Afghanistan. Trump's former national security advisor said Trump and Biden agreed on the decision.

A U.S. offshore regulator on Wednesday said efforts to resume a federal oil and gas leasing program are underway and would soon bear results following a court decision ending a suspension.

The vice president says she was the last person in the room to advise President Biden when he decided earlier this year to pull out from Afghanistan.

The nonstop surge of illegal immigrants across the United States-Mexico border this year, already breaking records month after month, is on a path to becoming the worst ever, according to the latest statistical analysis.And it won’t be by a hair. The new data shows that the record, set in 2000...

The Taliban's top political leader, who made a triumphal return to Afghanistan this week, battled the U.S. and its allies for decades but then signed a landmark peace agreement with the Trump administration.

Very few homes were left standing in Grizzly Flats. Susanville was warily eyeing the Dixie Fire. And PG&R was cutting power to 51,000 homes and businesses.

U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan past August, if necessary, to ensure all Americans are evacuated, President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

Gen. Mark Milley acknowledged the mission was complicated by the unexpected swiftness of the collapse of the Afghan security forces.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Wednesday that President Joe Biden's management of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan is an unforgivable failure. "Biden's disastrous decision-making has empowered an evil terrorist organization, put millions of Afghan women and...

The top Republicans on the House Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees are demanding the White House provide critical information related to the thousands of detainees released from Afghan prisons by the Taliban amid their takeover of Afghanistan, warning that the...

Republicans are also demanding answers.

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said on Wednesday the U.S. military should stay in Afghanistan beyond the planned Aug. 31 withdrawal date if needed to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.

"When it comes to experience, maturity, vision, there is a huge difference between us in comparison to 20 years ago," a Taliban spokesman said.

In Afghanistan, thousands of translators, cultural advisers and other Afghan support staff who worked and fought alongside American troops will be left to the mercy of the Taliban if the US doesn’t get them out of the country.

North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill ending child marriages in the state.

The Biden administration is proposing changing how asylum claims are handled. The aim is to reduce the backlog of cases from the U.S.

Ghani fled Afghanistan as the Taliban approached Kabul, the capital, on Sunday, less than 24 hours after he tried to rally his people.

Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party's ambitious plans for social and environment programs.

A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out what it called a "shockingly low" four-year prison term for a Brooklyn woman who admitted to supporting Islamic State, and ordered that she be resentenced.

Biden said in his speech defending his Afghanistan withdrawal that "some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier."

Pressure for a coordinated response to Haiti's deadly weekend earthquake is mounting as more injured trickle into hospitals already overwhelmed with thousands of patients.

The National Rifle Association has failed to root out rampant internal corruption, even after a bankruptcy case designed to avoid that obligation was thrown out, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a court filing seeking to dissolve the gun rights group.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos GettyAfter a few days of road-testing scattered messages, major players in the GOP and conservative media have started to coalesce around a unified message to Afghans seeking refuge in the United States: Stay the hell out of my country.As President...

A prosecutor in the trial against R. Kelly said the case was “about a predator” who used his fame to sexually abuse girls, boys and young women.

Critics say the new rules are aimed at stifling dissent following mass anti-government demonstrations.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is at an “impasse” with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) amid negotiations regarding the resumption of in-person learning in less than two weeks,&…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took the stage at a concert in the Bronx and put on a rap show for the audience, eliciting mockery from his critics.

Taliban fighters reportedly fired into a crowd and beat protesters in cities throughout Afghanistan on Wednesday, just days after the insurgent group took control of the country.Al Jazeera reported…

Political and population trends are colliding as the steadily escalating tension between red states and their blue cities across the Sun Belt is reaching a breaking point over the volatile issue of school masking.

The warnings followed years of consistently pessimistic assessments of the Afghan military's resilience.

Some of the Republican gubernatorial replacement candidates in the California recall election of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom take aim at conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, the frontrunner in many of the most recent public opinion polls in the September 14 election.

The onus of addressing discrimination against transgender people should fall on medical institutions, one of the report’s authors said.

The US R&B singer is accused of sexual abuse, racketeering and bribery; charges which he has denied.

LGBTQ advocates say the "sweeping" ruling could be used to attack “bathroom bills” and trans sports bans across the country.

The group Protect Our Parks filed their request with Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday.

California's top fire official says blazes raging across Northern California are wiping out forests that are central to plans to reduce carbon emissions and are testing projects designed to protect communities.

Video shows 12 Belarusian officers in riot gear as migrants scramble towards Lithuanian territory.

Not only does the planet’s core seem sludgy, it also appears to extend across 60 percent of the planet’s diameter, according to new research.

The expense of living varies across states.

Afghan businesswoman Hassina Syed speaks of her relief at getting out on a British military plane.

Inspections "revealed evidence of significant violations" of regulations to keep pet food safe, officials said.

Syesha Mercado and her partner, Tyron Deener, denied doing anything wrong after their son and newborn daughter were taken by Florida authorities.

The Taliban on Tuesday said they were working to form a government that would be centered on Sharia law and urged Afghans to live "within the framework of Islam."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been criticized for efforts to ban mask mandates and vaccine passports.

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that he was concerned that then-President Donald Trump “undermined” the US’ 2020 agreement with the Taliban by pushing for US forces to leave Afghanistan without the Taliban meeting the conditions of the deal.

Schools have been in session for only days, and already thousands of students are in quarantine and some schools are shutting down.

Smartmatic accuses the defendants of spreading the false story that it rigged the race against former President Donald Trump.

Pressure for a coordinated response to Haiti's deadly weekend earthquake is mounting as more injured trickle into hospitals already overwhelmed with thousands of patients.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the state House may compel the attendance of its members by civil arrest, overturning a lower court order from earlier this month.

By next month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could be political exiles.

The Taliban have vowed to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists.

The court ruled that under the state constitution, the state House of Representatives can physically compel members' attendance.

Pacific Gas & Electric says it has begun shutting off power to about 51,000 customers in 18 Northern California counties to prevent wildfires.

Sen. Robert Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed to hold hearings on the Biden administration's Afghanistan withdrawal.

Evacuation flights resumed at Hamid Karzai International Airport. They were suspended after thousands of people rushed the airport.

With U.S. officials struggling to explain why America’s longest war ended in chaos, a series of interviews revealed there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that he was concerned that then-President Donald Trump “undermined” the US’ 2020 agreement with the Taliban by pushing for US forces to leave Afghanistan without the Taliban meeting the conditions of the deal.

Former Vice President Mike Pence diagnosed the situation in Afghanistan as a reflection of President Joe Biden's "weaknesses" and called the Taliban's ascendancy in Kabul the most humiliating foreign policy event since the Iran hostage crisis. Pence slammed Biden's "disastrous" strategy in an...

Across the U.S., the agencies that resettle refugees and volunteers are scrambling to help Afghan citizens who are fleeing their country after helping the U.S. during the 20-year war there.

Ezanullah, one of thousands of young Taliban fighters from the countryside who rode into Afghanistan's capital over the weekend, had never seen anything like it.

The bulk of Afghans resettled in the UK will be persecuted minorities, the home secretary says.

House Democrats have to balance competing interests as they try to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and broader spending plan.

The doctrine shielding most police officers from civil liability has been one of the main sticking points in negotiations.

Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, declared Tuesday that he is the "legitimate caretaker president" as he is in the process of bringing together military leaders to oppose the Taliban. Deposed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the embattled nation on Sunday and jetted to...

Fred, now a tropical depression, is delivering more rain to the East Coast.

UAE confirms hosting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani – updates as they happened.

What we know about the top figures in the militant group that has taken control of Afghanistan.

Planned Parenthood of Montana filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block four new laws restricting access to abortion in the state.

“He wasn’t just a translator, he was my brother, basically one of my Marines."

The crew of an Air Force plane, on which human remains were discovered following takeoff from a chaotic scene at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, reportedly were met by mental health counselors and chaplains after landing.Air Force Chief of Media Operations Ann Stefanek confirmed on...

Libertarian Larry Elder could well ride soaring conservative enthusiasm to become the first Black governor of deeply Democratic California.

President Joe Biden's remarks Monday did little to blunt criticism from some allies and former national security officials, amid deafening silence from many Democrats in Congress.

House Democrats, warning that “federal oversight is urgently needed” at the nation’s polling places, introduced a measure aimed at enhancing government control of elections and plan to consider it at a special August session that will convene next week. The measure is named after the late...

Robert Durst has testified he would lie to get out of trouble and had lied during sworn testimony in the past, but said he told the truth during five days of testimony at his murder trial.

Outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued five pardons on Tuesday and also commuted five sentences as he prepares to leave office next week after resigning in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal.

Salt Bae, who runs the Nusr-Et steakhouse chain, settled a claim by waiters over tips filed by the same lawyer now suing him in an overtime lawsuit.

Ismail Sabri gets nod from UMNO and its allies, as opposition considers Anwar Ibrahim or Sabah’s Shafie Apdal.

Border Patrol agents have come under fire several times in recent weeks from shooters in Mexico, a development taken as a sign that cartels are becoming increasingly reckless and desperate to smuggle people and drugs into the United States.Agents working in the mountains south of San Diego...

The GOP primary for the open seat already has five candidates who are positioning themselves as loyal defenders of former President Donald Trump.

Three Democratic chairs of Senate committees have pledged to get a full accounting of “what went wrong” as the Taliban seizes control of the country.

The GOP primary for the open seat already has five candidates who are positioning themselves as loyal defenders of former President Donald Trump.

Strong winds are complicating US firefighters’ battle against California’s Dixie Fire, less than one-third contained.

President Joe Biden returned to the White House from Camp David Tuesday night a day before originally scheduled as he faces vocal criticism from both sides of the aisle over the chaos unfolding during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A federal judge and an appeals court, however, both recently declined to stop the project.

The Taliban apparently paraded men with painted black faces through an Afghanistan street with nooses around their necks, photos showed. Afghani journalist Bilal Sarwary tweeted the images from Herat on Friday. The photos were taken prior to the Taliban insurgency in Kabul on Sunday, prompting...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Democrat who said he will resign from his position amid numerous sexual harassment allegations, has filed retirement paperwork that will allow him to receive $50,000 a year for the rest of his life, a report said.

President Joe Biden's approval rating dropped by 7 percentage points and hit its lowest level so far as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed over the weekend in an upheaval that sent thousands of civilians and Afghan military allies fleeing for their safety, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has been widely criticized across the political spectrum, with a focus on the administration’s miscalculation of the speed with which the Taliban would take over and its failure to act faster to extract US personnel and thousands of...

A lack of bus drivers is prompting schools to delay the first day of classes, while others plead for help.

President Joe Biden and his top military and intelligence brass could soon face the scrutiny of Congress led by members of Biden’s own party after a chaotic exit from Afghanistan that left Americans stranded and Afghan allies swarming military planes taking off from Kabul. As of Tuesday, the...

Biden administration says rescue operation is proof of its commitment to vulnerable citizens, but won't promise effort will continue past Aug. 31.

The president and the U.K. prime minister spoke Tuesday in Biden's first conversation with a foreign leader since the Taliban took control of Kabul.

"I am disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid U.S. withdrawal," Sen. Bob Mendendez said.

Defending his withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden and his administration have emphasized how many people served in the Afghan military before its collapse.

Two Navy SEALs criticized President Joe Biden and his administration Monday following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country's capitulation to the Taliban. Robert O'Neill, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on the terrorist's Pakistani compound, said...

The FAA has received over 3,000 reports of unruly passenger incidents this year.

One of the Texas lawmakers who fled the state in order to avoid voting on a controversial election integrity confirmed that she also traveled to Portugal.

A US science institute is on the verge of achieving a longstanding goal in nuclear fusion research.

Haiti has been struck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake as it faces an approaching storm and the coronavirus pandemic. Here's how to help.

A few dozen survivors have been pulled alive from under the rubble but hundreds are still feared trapped.

The spokesman has appeared in public for the first time. But is there more than one Zabihullah Mujahid?

The depth of the mess the United States finds itself in Afghanistan is encapsulated by the fact that it must now effectively rely on its enemy, the Taliban, as it extricates itself from the humiliating endgame of its longest war.

The BBC's Malik Mudassir says Taliban fighters are now providing security at his hotel in central Kabul.

Kamala Harris’ planned trip to Vietnam next week comes as the current crisis in Afghanistan has drawn comparisons to the fall of Saigon in the 1970s.

Doctors hope it could boost the anti-cancer power of other drugs to fight hard-to-treat tumours.

The lawsuit says police "deputized these armed individuals, conspired with them, and ratified their actions by letting them patrol the streets, armed with deadly weapons, to mete out justice as they saw fit."

Afghanistan central bank governor, Ajmal Ahmady, tells the BBC he thinks country's economic situation will deteriorate.

The Caldor Fire is rapidly expanding through Northern California, prompting mandatory evacuations for residents in El Dorado County.

The company sets an expiry date of 2033 for the decades-old technology.

Former "That '70s Show" star Laura Prepon has revealed that she stopped practicing Scientology about five years ago.

Just a week into the school year, over 10,000 students and staff in the Hillsborough County Public Schools district in Florida have been isolated or quarantined.

U.S. health officials have announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and evidence that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling.

The Biden administration is prepared to begin rolling out booster shots for many Americans the week of Sept. 20, the nation's top health officials announced Wednesday.

The United States reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.

The names, Social Security numbers and information from driver’s licenses or other identification of just over 40 million people who applied for T-Mobile credit were exposed in a recent data breach, the company said Wednesday.

The Biden administration says it will offer booster shots to many people who are already fully inoculated against COVID-19. We answer your questions.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Wednesday that people who received two Moderna or Pfizer shots are considered fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, even though federal officials will encourage third shots to bolster immunity to the disease. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ROLL OUT THIRD SHOTS FOR...

The board of trustees at a public school district in Texas changed its dress code to include face masks in a bid to get around Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on face mask mandates.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday announced schools that impose mask mandates in the state will not have access to a $163 million grant program backed by coronavirus relief funds he controls.The Republican governor said schools with mask mandates or that have closed due to COVID-19 concerns...

Lobbyists, lawmakers and border mayors are imploring the Biden administration to ease restrictions on nonessential travel put in place 18 months ago at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. But officials haven’t budged even as other countries gradually open to Americans.

The State Department issued a joint international statement Wednesday essentially asking the Taliban to "guarantee" the protection of women and girls in Afghanistan following the hard-line Islamic militant group’s rapid takeover of the country since the U.S. withdrawal of troops.

Protecting yourself against COVID-19 is also about loving your neighbor, the pope says.

Pacific Press/GettyThe Biden administration on Wednesday endorsed booster shots for millions of Americans already vaccinated against COVID-19, proposing they begin in earnest by late September as the ultra-contagious Delta variant wreaks national havoc.The FDA and CDC were still due to sign off...

The U.S. recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday as numbers reach levels last seen in April, largely due to the highly infectious delta variant spreading rapidly throughout the cou…

Disney World is loosening its outdoor mask requirements, leaving it up to customers whether they want to wear a mask in most outdoor areas of the park.Starting Aug. 19, masks will no longer be requ…

New data confirms that vaccine protection against COVID-19 has decreased for the Delta variant of the virus, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says he's in touch with superintendents who are actively defying Florida and Texas governors' orders not to mandate masks.

President Joe Biden says he’s committed to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal.

Young children must show proof of a negative test to enter many indoor spaces, as infections surge.

The fall book season will be packed with new works by such high-profile authors as Jonathan Franzen, Sally Rooney and Colson Whitehead.

The Florida Board of Education suggested Tuesday it could remove local school officials who broke state rules and required masks for students amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Here's what to know about Biden's plan to begin rolling out vaccine boosters to the broader public this September, assuming regulators at the FDA agree its necessary.

Storm Grace has strengthened into a hurricane just west of Grand Cayman island, and is expected to make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday morning, the U.S National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Wednesday.

The Sand Creek Massacre is one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history.

The Republican governor, who is fully vaccinated, is not currently experiencing any symptoms.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive for COVID-19. His office said Tuesday that Abbot is in good health and experiencing no symptoms.

The DeSantis administration contends the Alachua and Broward county public schools do not allow parents to opt their children out of the mask mandate.

Here's what to know about Biden's plan to begin rolling out vaccine boosters to the broader public this September, assuming regulators at the FDA agree its necessary.

Hospitals in Texas and Florida straining to care for the wave of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients have procured fleets of mobile mortuary trailers in anticipation of swelling fatalities due to the delta strain. Texas health officials requested five mortuary trailers from the Federal Emergency...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday despite being fully vaccinated.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says he's in touch with superintendents who are actively defying Florida and Texas governors' orders not to mandate masks.

Martin and Trina Daniel, married for over 20 years, both died of COVID-19 within hours.

A 13-year-old Mississippi girl has died just one day after testing positive for coronavirus, according to Smith County School District Superintendent Nick Hillman.