Axios

Former Trump national security adviser Robert O'Brien spoke for over an hour with House Republicans on Tuesday, helping them develop their latest policy offensive on Afghanistan, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: O'Brien has increasingly been working with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to help House Republicans in their effort to regain the majority in 2022.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged countries to provide "flexible and comprehensive funding" to Afghanistan in its "darkest hour of need," as he warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in a statement out Tuesday.

Why it matters: Some 18 million people, nearly half of the country's population, are in need of humanitarian aid, per Guterres. The World Health Organization has warned of a waning number of medical supplies and fears abound of an economic crisis.

The largest block of House Republicans will try to use the annual markup of the federal defense spending bill starting Wednesday to message against any recognition of the Taliban's legitimacy, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: All of their proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act are expected to fail, but it's part of a broader GOP messaging offensive to attack the Biden administration and Democrats over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Republican members and aides tell Axios.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby responded Tuesday to a viral video of Taliban fighters inspecting U.S. military equipment inside an evacuated hangar at Kabul's airport, telling CNN that the gear has been "demilitarized" and rendered "unusable."

Why it matters: The Biden administration has faced intense criticism over images of the Taliban seizing billions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment supplied to the Afghan security forces, which collapsed as the U.S. withdrew from the country.

About 70% of adults in the European Union are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said Tuesday.

Why it matters: The milestone makes the EU one of the world's leaders in inoculations, after an initially lagging vaccine campaign, the New York Times notes.

The debate over the media's role in Afghanistan's fall is intensifying, as experts look to understand how Americans were so blindsided by the Taliban's rapid rise to power.

Why it matters: "This is the least reported war since at least WWI," says Benjamin Hopkins, a historian of modern South Asia specializing in the history of Afghanistan at George Washington University.

How it ended: This image, made through a night-vision scope, shows the final American soldier to depart Afghanistan after America's longest war.

Driving the news: Army Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was coordinating the evacuation, boarded a C-17 cargo plane that lifted off from Kabul at 3:29 p.m. ET on Monday.

The Pentagon tweeted a photo of the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan, with the caption "ending the U.S. mission in Kabul."

The big picture: The moment marks the end of America's longest war after nearly 20 years of military involvement in Afghanistan. Taliban fighters were pictured with American equipment moving into Kabul's international airport soon after the U.S. troops left.

American Oksana Masters won gold in the women’s time trial H4-5 hand-cycling event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Tuesday.

Why it matters: She's the fourth U.S. woman, and sixth American overall, to win gold medals at the summer and winter Paralympics.