All of New Orleans without power after Hurricane Ida leaves ‘catastrophic transmission damage’  —  A slow-moving Hurricane Ida has left all of Orleans Parish customers without power due to “catastrophic transmission damage,” according to Entergy New Orleans.

Be Glad Donald Trump Isn't Running the Show in Afghanistan … It is of course impossible to say how the Afghanistan withdrawal would have gone down if Donald Trump had still been in the White House instead of Joe Biden.  But we can say this much: Whatever happened, the entire Republican Party …

Inside Politico's Billion-Dollar Drama  —  From “son of” to mogul in his own right: Robert Allbritton just became the unlikeliest winner of the new media sweepstakes.  —  I was sitting in a bar next to John Harris, a former national editor of The Washington Post.

Rockets fired at Kabul airport amid US withdrawal hit homes  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Rocket fire apparently targeting Kabul's international airport struck a nearby neighborhood on Monday, the eve of the deadline for American troops to withdraw from the country's longest war after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Who's to blame for the deaths of 13 service members in Kabul?  We all are.  —  The last thing President Biden ever wanted to do was to preside over another ramp ceremony for more flag-draped caskets returning home from Afghanistan.  Indeed, the entire rationale of his troop withdrawal was to avoid further casualties.

American University of Kabul students and alumni trying to flee were sent home.  —  Hundreds of students and alumni of American University of Kabul gathered at a safe house on Sunday and boarded buses in what was supposed to be a final attempt at evacuation on U.S. military flights, students and alumni said.

Why California's recall election matters  —  True story.  —  I've had people come up to me to ask if I'm Larry Elder.  —  Yes, I have been mistaken for the far-right radio host.  —  Well, I guess we are Black men who appear on cable television and talk radio shows.

Biden Deserves Credit, Not Blame, for Afghanistan  —  Americans should feel proud of what the U.S. government and military have accomplished in these past two weeks.  —  About the author: David Rothkopf is an author, a commentator, a former senior government official, and the host of the Deep State Radio podcast.

EU Set to Recommend Halting Nonessential Travel From the U.S.  —  The European Union action is in response to the increase in U.S. coronavirus cases  —  The European Union is set to recommend halting nonessential travel from the U.S. because of Covid-19, diplomats said on Sunday.

Pentagon prepared for ‘mass casualty’ attack at Kabul Airport hours before explosion  —  Just 24 hours before a suicide bomber detonated an explosive outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, senior military leaders gathered for the Pentagon's daily morning update on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

North Korea Appears to Have Restarted Yongbyon Nuclear Reactor  —  The reactor's apparent operations add to President Biden's foreign-policy challenges  —  North Korea appears to have resumed operation of its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon in a move that could enable the reclusive country …

Scoop: Former Israel ambassador joins U.S. Iran team  —  Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro has joined the State Department's Iran team as a senior adviser, a senior State Department official tells Axios.  —  Why it matters: Israel is pressing the Biden administration to start discussing a …

What Taliban rule will look like in the new old Afghanistan  —  With U.S. troops departing Afghanistan after 20 years, it's now time for the Taliban to decide how it intends to run the country — and for the U.S. to decide how to work with that government.  —  The big pictures …

As the Taliban Tighten Their Grip, Fears of Retribution Grow  —  Taliban leaders have promised amnesty to Afghan officials and soldiers, but there are increasing reports of detentions, disappearances and even executions.  —  ISTANBUL — When Taliban troops seized control of the Afghan capital two weeks ago …

You want tyranny?  A war hero died because hospitals were full of COVID patients.  —  A little over a week ago, as U.S. soldiers risked their lives flying tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans to safety, U.S. Army veteran Daniel Wilkinson — who earned a Purple Heart in Afghanistan …

'The far Left have won and taken over America's elite institutions - we need to start again'  —  Journalist and culture war warrior Bari Weiss tells Zoe Strimpel her plan to help the US fight the ideological rot enveloping it  —  Bari Weiss has always seemed to be the sort of person …