The G7 will hold a leaders' virtual meeting next week to discuss a "common strategy and approach" to the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, the White House announced Tuesday.
Why it matters: Afghanistan has been mired in chaos since Kabul fell on Sunday, with thousands of Afghans fleeing their homes. The crisis has bolstered calls for countries to open their borders to Afghan refugees.
Hundreds of workers at Nabisco — the maker of popular snacks like Oreo cookies and Chips Ahoy! — have gone on strike, citing concerns about the "outsourcing of jobs to Mexico," and demands of contract concessions from parent company Mondelēz.
State of play: The strike began with a work stoppage and 24-hour picket lines at a location in Portland, Oregon, before spreading to Aurora, Colorado, and Richmond, Virginia. The workers are part of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), which announced the strike.
The Air Force said Tuesday its Office of Special Investigations is examining deaths tied to the takeoff of a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Monday, according to AP.
Why it matters: The Air Force was forced to halt evacuations from Afghanistan on Monday after thousands of civilians stormed the runway. They were attempting to flee the country, which fell under the control of the Taliban on Sunday.
House Democrats introduced a voting rights bill that was named in honor of the late Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) announced on Tuesday.
Driving the news: The bill would restore elements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and allow the federal government to block certain state changes to election laws it finds to be discriminatory.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Tuesday. Abbott is "experiencing no symptoms" and is fully vaccinated.
Why it matters: Abbott has fought vehemently against public health measures such as mask and vaccine mandates.
President Biden spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson today about the developing situation in Afghanistan — his first talk with a world leader since the nation's government fell to the Taliban, per a White House readout of the call.
The bottom line: The pair discussed the "need for continued close coordination among allies and democratic partners," and agreed to hold a virtual G7 leaders’ meeting next week to discuss a common strategy and approach.
Until Afghanistan, Vietnam was America's longest war. The images we're seeing now have a lot of parallels with that war — right down to the scenes of the chaotic, desperate final days.
President Biden is getting some unlikely backing for his Afghanistan troop withdrawal from a longtime nemesis: the Koch political network.
Driving the news: Concerned Veterans for America, a foreign policy-focused arm of Charles Koch's Stand Together political and policy apparatus is coming to Biden's defense after the U.S. withdrawal handed control of the country to the Taliban this week.
The family of Anthony Huber, one of the men Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming police failed to intervene and conspired with white militia members.
Why it matters: The lawsuit filed by Huber's parents is the first major suit against the city, police and county following the protests last August sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday that officials had been planning for non-combatant evacuation operations in Afghanistan "as far back as May," but — acknowledging the "graphic nature" of the mayhem in Kabul — suggested that "no plan survives first contact."
Why it matters: The Biden administration is facing intense criticism for the scenes of chaos at the international airport in Kabul, where at least seven people were killed after thousands of Afghans stormed the runway in a desperate effort to flee the Taliban.
Above, you see hundreds of desperate Afghans running alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane as it took off from Kabul yesterday.
Driving the news: The amateur video played around the world, and this photo is atop front pages across America, making it a defining image of the exit debacle — and, many Democrats fear, Joe Biden's presidency.
Senior national security officials presiding over a historic foreign policy collapse are privately expressing deep frustrations about the thin Afghanistan withdrawal plans left behind by Donald Trump.
Why it matters: Many experienced operatives in both parties are aghast that President Biden and his team didn't ready better preparations over nearly seven months since taking office.
Some Democrats are considering allocating a portion of their $3.5 trillion budget plan toward refugee resettlement for those fleeing Afghanistan, three Hill sources familiar with the early discussions tell Axios.
Why it matters: As President Biden defends his plan for complete withdrawal amid searing images of the Taliban’s swift takeover, Democrats who agreed with the plan, if not its execution, are scrambling for a way to protect some of the nation's most vulnerable — including women, children, interpreters and others who helped the U.S. over the past two decades.
Most Americans support mandating masks in schools and vaccinations to return to the workplace, and they oppose states' efforts to ban such moves, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
But, but, but: The survey finds the Republican base going against the grain so disproportionately that it helps explain the defiant postures of many red-state governors.
The Taliban declared an "amnesty" and called on women to join their new government on Tuesday, as the militant group marked the first day of what it's calling the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."
Why it matters: The remarks by Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, mark "the first comments on governance from a federal level" since the Taliban returned to power, AP notes.
Former President George W. Bush said late Monday that he and former first lady Laura Bush had "been watching the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan with deep sadness."
Why it matters: Bush ordered the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and deny al-Qaeda of a haven to launch any more terrorist attacks on the U.S. following 9/11. He said last month that President Biden's decision to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan would leave Afghan women and girls facing "unspeakable harm."
The Biden administration is coalescing around a plan to give COVID-19 booster shots to most Americans, the New York Times first reported Monday night.
What to expect: The booster shots would likely be given in the order the initial round of vaccines were administered, or around eight months after someone received the first two mRNA shots or the single Johnson & Johnson jab, a Biden administration official told Axios. This could potentially begin in late September.
Bob Dylan is being accused in a new lawsuit of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1965. He strongly denies the allegation.
Driving the news: His accuser, identified in court documents as "J.C.," alleges the 80-year-old Nobel-winning folk music legend gave her drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her.
