The chaotic evacuation has dented the president’s image of empathy and competence but political attacks may have limited shelf life
For Republicans it was a day of thoughts and prayers – and political opportunity.
Related: Kabul airport atrocity offers a glimpse of the chaos to come in Afghanistan
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That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh and Aubrey Allegretti report:
Afghans who want to flee to Britain may be better off “trying to get to the border” than awaiting RAF evacuation, the defence secretary has said as British troops made last-ditch attempts to airlift at least 1,500 remaining interpreters and others who have supported the UK.
Related: Fleeing Afghans should try to get to border, says UK defence secretary
Continue reading...Bill that requires places with history of discrimination to be under federal supervision passes 219-212 – but could fail in the Senate
The US House of Representatives has passed an update to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, restoring a critical provision of the landmark civil rights law that requires places with a history of voting discrimination to be under federal supervision.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed 219-212 on a party-line vote.
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Joe Biden had a conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today, as the US and its allies continue evacuations from Kabul.
“They discussed the ongoing efforts by our diplomatic and military personnel to evacuate their citizens, local staff, and other vulnerable Afghans,” the White House said in a readout of the call.
Joe Biden urged more private businesses to require coronavirus vaccinations for their employees, now that the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.
“Today, I’m calling on more companies ... in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said.
Continue reading...The Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz eloped to southern California on Saturday, in order to marry Ginger Luckey in a small ceremony on Catalina Island.
Related: Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine
Continue reading...Larry Elder doesn’t believe in gun control or the gender pay gap. He has risen to the top of the Republican field in the recall election for governor
Larry Elder is a confounding frontrunner in the Republican race to replace Gavin Newsom as California governor.
Related: Grizzly Flats: the California town leveled by the Caldor fire – in pictures
Continue reading...Ex-president to support of Mo Brooks, who is running for Senate and sympathised with man who threatened to blow up US Capitol
Donald Trump was due to stage a rally in Alabama on Saturday night, in a city that has declared a Covid emergency and in support of a congressman who both backed Trump’s attempt to overturn the election and this week sympathised with a man who threatened to blow up the US Capitol.
Related: Capitol bomb claim suspect charged with weapon of mass destruction threat
Continue reading...Dan Patrick refuses to apologise for false claim while Texas experiences highest hospitalisation rates since January
Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor of Texas, has refused to apologise for blaming rising Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths on unvaccinated African Americans, comments one Black Houston official called “racist and flat out wrong”.
Related: Texas school district requires masks after finding dress code loophole to bypass ban
Continue reading...Some Texas Democrats dismayed their colleagues returned to make a quorum, but others hope their protest has drawn attention to voting rights
A last-ditch effort to stall Texas Republicans from passing sweeping voting legislation effectively ended on Thursday evening after enough Democrats returned to the state capitol in Austin to allow lawmakers to proceed on legislation.
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The US State Department has put out a joint statement from the foreign ministers of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), after a meeting earlier today, appealing to the Taliban, effectively, in a display of resolve that appears undermined by the scenes on the ground in Afghanistan - and what is known of the Taliban.
We are united in our deep concern about the grave events in Afghanistan and call for an immediate end to the violence. We also express deep concerns about reports of serious human rights violations and abuses across Afghanistan.
We affirm our commitment to the statement by the UN Security Council on 16 August, and we call for adherence to international norms and standards on human rights and international humanitarian law in all circumstances.
Related: Afghanistan reports of torture and killing contradict Taliban’s promises
The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity, and to build on the important political, economic and social achievements they have made over the last twenty years. We stand by civil society actors who must be able to continue to safely play their meaningful role in Afghan society. We call on all parties in Afghanistan to work in good faith to establish an inclusive and representative government, including with the meaningful participation of women and minority groups. Under the current circumstances, NATO has suspended all support to the Afghan authorities.
Any future Afghan government must adhere to Afghanistan’s international obligations; safeguard the human rights of all Afghans, particularly women, children, and minorities; uphold the rule of law; allow unhindered humanitarian access; and ensure that Afghanistan never again serves as a safe haven for terrorists.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Frank’s views were disturbing, a brazen assertion of white privilege. But with our fates more clearly tied together than ever, I needed to understand him
On 11 March 2021, I took a selfie at the Baltimore Convention Center and pressed send. I’d just received my first dose of a Covid vaccine. “Feels pretty momentous,” I texted an acquaintance. “It was exactly one year ago that our university shut down.” Frank wrote back immediately from his small town in southern Michigan. “Momentous, yes. But not for the reasons you subscribe to,” he wrote.
Related: Battle for the Soul: can Joe Biden beat Trump’s Republicans in the war of words?
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Joe Biden will host Israel’s new prime minister Naftali Bennett in Washington on August 26, the White House has just announced.
Students in Florida’s Broward County went back to school under a mask mandate today, even as their school board faced threats of severe penalties for defying Republican governor Ron DeSantis.
And school officials in Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties planned to address the public health measure later Wednesday, hoping to reduce infections in classrooms.
In Miami, Florida’s largest school district with 334,000 students, a task force of medical experts recommended students should be required to wear masks when they return to classrooms next week.
Continue reading...Analysis: Trump thought he’d use the midterm primaries to punish his enemies and tighten his grip on the party. It’s not working out quite how he’d hoped
As the Republican party first began to prepare for the 2022 midterm elections it seemed like Donald Trump had it all figured out.
The former US president had an axe to grind with certain Republicans who had bucked him in the past and the upcoming party primaries were a place he could assert his still powerful influence and exact revenge on his perceived foes.
Continue reading...President acknowledges his decision would be criticized by many but says he would not ‘shrink from my share of responsibility’
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
The South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham called Joe Biden after his victory over Donald Trump to tell the president he only joined attacks on his son, Hunter Biden, as a “bare minimum” to satisfy Trump supporters.
The detail was included in a lengthy profile of Graham and his Washington manoeuvres published by the New York Times. It said the call, intended to “revive a friendship damaged by [Graham’s] call for a special prosecutor to investigate the overseas business dealings” of Hunter Biden, was “short, and not especially sweet”.
Related: ‘Short and not especially sweet’: Lindsey Graham called Biden over Trump support
Continue reading...Governors of states such as Florida and Texas, where the Delta variant is surging, have made masks and vaccines a partisan issue, in a lethal mix of ignorance, irrationality and nihilism
The crowd gathered under a tent at the water’s edge, their tables decorated with the Stars and Stripes and checked tablecloths. In their midst in Austin county, Texas, last Saturday was the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, laughing with delight and playing the fiddle.
With the coronavirus roaring through the state and hospitals near breaking point, comparisons with Nero fiddling while Rome burned were irresistible, although journalist Alisha Grauso pointed out on Twitter: “Nero actually enacted sweeping relief efforts to try to quell the fire and also offer his people aid in the aftermath, particularly the lower class, so Abbott is somehow worse than a Roman emperor known today as being a psychotic tyrant.”
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Joe Biden held a virtual meeting today with business, university and healthcare leaders to discuss strategies to get more Americans vaccinated against coronavirus.
The meeting included the CEOs of Kaiser Permanente, United Airlines and DESA, Inc., as well as the president of Howard University. All four have already announced vaccine requirements for their employees or students.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention said on Wednesday that pregnant women should get vaccinated after an analysis of data that showed no increased risk of miscarriage among women who received it.
The advice comes as hospitals in hot spots around the US are see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus, the Associated Press reports.
Related: CDC urges pregnant women to get Covid vaccine, finding no increased risk of miscarriage
Continue reading...Lawmakers approve Democrats’ budget resolution on party-line 50-49 vote hours after passing $1tn infrastructure bill
Democrats pushed a $3.5tn framework for bolstering family services, health and environment programs through the Senate early Wednesday.
The overnight vote advances Joe Biden’s plans for reshaping federal priorities, and came hours after passing a $1tn infrastructure package.
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The $1tn infrastructure bill that passed the Senate takes some steps toward addressing the climate crisis and building resiliency – through environmental activists and progressive Democrats say it falls short. In California, where global heating has helped fuel extreme wildfires, Dani Anguiano reports on the devastation of the Dixie fire:
After weeks of fire, smoke and warnings, Kimberly Price’s beloved hometown had run out of time.
With wind driving the Dixie fire directly into Greenville, Price’s longtime partner, John Hunter, told her she needed to leave. Price, 58, had spent most of her life in the close-knit Sierra Nevada community. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving, but the flames were everywhere.
Related: ‘I still feel it isn’t real’: Gold Rush town residents reckon with wildfire devastation
White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified the president’s earlier comments praising Andrew Cuomo’s legacy as governor.
Earlier, a reporter had asked Joe Biden to assess Cuomo’s decade-long career as governor. “I thought he’s done a hell of a job – and both on everything from access to voting to infrastructure to a whole range of things. That’s why it’s so sad,” Biden responded.
@potus responded to a specific question today about @NYGovCuomo work on infrastructure. He also made clear it was right for @NYGovCuomo to step down, reiterated his support for women who come forward, and made clear you can’t separate personal behavior from other work.
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Joe Biden applauded defense secretary Lloyd Austin for taking steps to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for members of the US military starting next month.
“I strongly support Secretary Austin’s message to the Force today on the Department of Defense’s plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for our service members not later than mid-September,” the president said in a new statement.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin is seeking the president’s approval to make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for all members of the US military by next month.
In a message to service members today, Austin noted that Joe Biden had asked him to consider how and when coronavirus vaccines might be added to the military’s list of mandatory vaccinations. The defense secretary has since been consulting with senior Pentagon leaders and health experts about the best timeline for the new policy.
Continue reading...The truth of how the bill – which is not yet finished – has come to be is a little more self-interest than national interest
The Biden administration’s infrastructure proposal is still making its way through the congressional sausage-making process but it has already been lauded as a rare victory for bipartisanship in a divided America.
Pledging to unify America after his 2020 election win, Biden and his top supporters see the roughly $1tn package not just as a chance to repair America’s tattered and torn infrastructure but also as a model for reaching across the US’s political divide and getting things done.
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