US is working directly with Taliban leaders on the ground trying to salvage Biden's crisis in Afghanistan  —  Taliban fighters accost CNN reporter and crew  —  Washington (CNN)While the US State Department continues to engage in high-level diplomatic talks with the Taliban in the neutral setting of Doha …

Elder's ex-fiancee said he brandished a gun at her  —  PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Alexandra Datig, the former fiancee and longtime radio producer for California GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, says she broke off an 18-month engagement with the conservative talk show host in 2015 …

Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan's Collapse  —  About two dozen State Department officials in Kabul sent an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken  —  WASHINGTON — About two dozen State Department officials serving at the embassy in Kabul sent …

Wicker Office Statement on COVID-19 Diagnosis  —  WASHINGTON - The Office of Senator Roger F. Wicker Communications Director Phillip Waller today issued a statement after Senator Roger F. Wicker tested positive for COVID-19:  —  “Senator Wicker tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus …

Police identify suspect who surrendered after claiming to have a bomb near US Capitol  —  (CNN)A suspect who claimed to have an explosive device in a truck near the US Capitol has surrendered to authorities and is in custody, US Capitol Police said Thursday.  —  Police have identified the suspect as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry.

How News Organizations Got Afghan Colleagues Out of Kabul  —  The evacuation of those who worked for outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post came after a global rescue effort stretching from the Pentagon to Qatar.  —  For hours, they waited on the tarmac in the relentless heat …

If North Texas runs out of ICU hospital beds, doctors can consider a patient's vaccination status  —  This would be a big change in health care, but doctors have yet to announce it.  So The Watchdog does it for them.  —  North Texas doctors have quietly developed a plan that seeks to prepare …

OnlyFans to Block Sexually Explicit Videos Starting in October  —  OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business.  —  The company will prohibit users from posting any sexually explicit conduct, starting in October.  Creators will still be allowed to post nude photos and videos …

What I Learned While Eavesdropping on the Taliban  —  When people ask me what I did in Afghanistan, I tell them that I hung out in planes and listened to the Taliban.  My job was to provide “threat warning” to allied forces, and so I spent most of my time trying to discern the Taliban's plans.

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban's new U.S.-made war chest  —  About a month ago, Afghanistan's ministry of defense posted on social media photographs of seven brand new helicopters arriving in Kabul delivered by the United States.  —  “They'll continue to see a steady drumbeat …

Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades worth as much as $10.9 million in violation of federal transparency law  — Harshbarger disclosed hundreds of stock trades weeks or months after a federal deadline.  — The tardy trades could invite an ethics investigation and fine.

There is a blueprint to win for Democrats in 2022  —  It's hard to believe that we're on the precipice of another campaign season, but the influx of fundraising emails we've been receiving the past several weeks to “help get X re-elected” tells the story.  —  The midterms for a first-term president are historically bad for his party.

Greenville County GOP leader Pressley Stutts dies from COVID-19  —  Greenville County Republican Party leader Pressley Stutts died Thursday morning after battling COVID-19 for nearly a month.  —  Stutts death was confirmed by Dan Harvell, who represents the Anderson County Republican Party …

Almost all eligible Georgians are registered to vote, data shows  —  Federal election report: 95% of voting-age Georgians registered  —  Georgia now has one of the highest voter registration rates in the nation, with 95% of citizens over 18 years old signed up to vote, according to federal election data released this week.

Charm offensive: What the Taliban said as they escorted me out of an Afghan city  —  MAZAR-I-SHARIF — Under the full tilt of the afternoon sunshine, two Taliban commanders with weathered, expressionless faces beckoned me into their tiny car - their eyes dropping to the floor so as not to make contact with a woman.

Taliban are rounding up Afghans on blacklist - private intel report  —  The Taliban have begun rounding up Afghans on a blacklist of people they believe have worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.S.-led forces that supported it, according to a report by a Norwegian intelligence group.

Cable News Military Experts Are on the Defense Industry Dole … Jack Keane has had a busy week.  —  The retired four-star general has been making the cable news rounds, offering scathing criticism of the White House in wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

Conspiracy-filled House hearing held on vaccine mandate ban  —  A GOP bill to preemptively prohibit mandatory employee vaccinations saw the light of day Thursday, in a House committee hearing saturated with COVID-19 conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxer rhetoric.

Parents pull kids from schools as district bucks CDC guidance and board member spreads misinformation  —  County board meeting erupts during school mask debate  —  (CNN)It's the third week of school in Cobb County, Georgia, and many parents are livid with what they perceive …

‘This is warfare:’ Trump allies Flynn, Bannon pushed conspiracies at ritzy party backed by Chinese exile  — Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and Mike Flynn pushed pro-Trump conspiracy theories at an event advertised as a celebration of an anti-China movement.