Good morning.
The United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are warning crowds trying to access Kabul airport to leave the area, and are asking people no longer to attempt to travel to the airport, citing a “high threat” of a terrorist attack and unspecified security threats.
The warnings are a distressing blow to people with practically no other means of escape from Afghanistan, attempting to flee Taliban rule ahead of the 31 August deadline for US withdrawal.
There could be up to 1,500 American civilians still in Afghanistan, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said yesterday.
The Pentagon estimates that 88,000 have been flown out of Afghanistan since the Taliban took Kabul on 15 August – of that, 45% were women and children.
There have been persistent reports that Afghans with full visa documentation were still being arbitrarily turned away at the gates. Despite this, the US asked that people only approach the airport if “you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so”.
Amid this chaos, two members of US Congress arrived at Kabul airport on a fact-finding mission, drawing the ire of the Pentagon, the state department and the White House. “They certainly took time away from what we had planned to do that day,” John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said.
Seth Moulton, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, a Republican representative from Michigan, said they had a duty to provide oversight of what the Biden administration was doing in the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
For more Afghanistan news, follow the liveblog here.
Milk crate challenge has doctors warning of severe injuries
A new fad has swept social media called the milk crate challenge, in which participants take on a set of milk crates precariously stacked in the shape of a pyramid and attempt to climb to the top and then back down again without it toppling over.
Doctors across the US are coming out to warn people of the dangerous injuries that can occur. “It’s perhaps even worse than falling from a ladder,” said Shawn Anthony, an orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai hospital in New York.
Adult film star Ron Jeremy indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault
A grand jury has indicted 68-year-old adult film star Ron Jeremy on more than 30 counts of sexual assault involving 21 women and girls, aged 15 to 51, across more than two decades. The actor has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In other news…
This weekend’s gunfight at a Portland, Oregon Proud Boys rally is raising concerns of escalating violence as far-right demonstrators and anti-fascist counter-protesters have repeatedly faced off over the past year.
Since 2013, officers in Columbus, Ohio, have killed children at a higher rate than most other US police forces – including 16-year-old foster child Ma’Khia Bryant in April.
A man upset over state-ordered coronavirus restrictions was sentenced to prison for planning to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s governor.
OnlyFans, the user-generated adult content site, is scrapping its plans to ban sexually explicit content.
Stat of the day: half of Florida’s 2.8m public school students are now required to wear a mask
In Florida’s Orange county, a surge in positive Covid-19 cases prompted the school district to reconsider its parental opt-out mask policy. This week, the district reported just under 2,000 positive cases among students since school has begun, with 1,491 people under active quarantine. The school board’s policy change comes as a courtroom battle continues over efforts by Governor Ron DeSantis to leave such decisions up to parents.
Don’t miss this: the fight over food traditions in Oregon’s Klamath Basin
The C’waam suckerfish and its cousin the Koptu once formed the backbone to the seasonal food system of the native tribes of Oregon’s Klamath Basin. Since 1988, however, they’ve been on the endangered species list, meaning no member of the tribe has been able to harvest them. The effort to protect these suckerfish is part of a generations-long story of how European food preferences clashed with tribal food systems.
Climate Check: Green reads
Penguin Classics is launching a “new canon” of environmental literature which it believes has “changed the way we think and talk about the living Earth”. These authors will include everyone from the environmental warrior Greta Thunberg, the Nobel peace prize winner Wangari Maathai writing about the power of trees, and Naomi Klein on how deregulated capitalism is waging war on the climate.
Want more environmental stories delivered to your inbox? Sign up to our Green Light newsletter to get the good, bad and essential news on the climate every week
Last Thing: In the weeds
Seaweed can act as a fertilizer and as the “ocean’s first regenerative crop,” it can clean polluted waters and tackle the climate crisis. Yet efforts to farm kelp in New York state, however, have been stymied by one very tough setback: it’s illegal.
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in Touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
