AP News in Brief at 12:02 a.m. EDT
Taliban sweep into Afghan capital after government collapses
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Taliban swept into Afghanistan's capital Sunday after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade U.S. campaign to remake the country.
Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul's abandoned presidential palace. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, told The Associated Press that the militants would hold talks in the coming days aimed at forming an "open, inclusive Islamic government."
Earlier, a Taliban official said the group would announce from the palace the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the formal name of the country under Taliban rule before the militants were ousted by U.S.-led forces in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, which were orchestrated by al-Qaida while it was being sheltered by the Taliban. But that plan appeared to be on hold.
Kabul was gripped by panic. Helicopters raced overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents, and the American flag was lowered. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out.
Fearful that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women´s rights, Afghans rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings. The desperately poor - who had left homes in the countryside for the presumed safety of the capital - remained in parks and open spaces throughout the city.
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Biden team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials were stunned on Sunday by the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan, as the planned withdrawal of American forces urgently became a mission to ensure a safe evacuation.
The speed of the Afghan government's collapse and the ensuing chaos posed the most serious test of Biden as commander in chief, and he was the subject of withering criticism from Republicans who said that he had failed.
Biden campaigned as a seasoned expert in international relations and has spent months downplaying the prospect of an ascendant Taliban while arguing that Americans of all political persuasions have tired of a 20-year war, a conflict that demonstrated the limits of money and military might to force a Western-style democracy on a society not ready or willing to embrace it.
By Sunday, though, leading figures in the administration acknowledged they were caught off guard with the utter speed of the collapse of Afghan security forces. The challenge of that effort became clear after reports of sporadic gunfire at the Kabul airport prompted Americans to shelter as they awaited flights to safety after the U.S. Embassy was completely evacuated.
"We´ve seen that that force has been unable to defend the country, and that has happened more quickly than we anticipated," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN, referring to the Afghan military.
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'Game over': Westerners rush to leave Kabul, rescue Afghans
The beating blades of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul´s airport on Sunday punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover entered the heart of Afghanistan´s capital.
Two weeks from the Biden administration's planned full military withdrawal, the United States was pouring thousands of fresh troops back into the country temporarily to safeguard what was gearing up to be a large-scale airlift. Shortly before dawn Monday Kabul time, State Department spokesman Ned Price announced the U.S. had completed the evacuation of its embassy in Afghanistan, lowering the American flag.
At the same time, the administration announced it was taking over air-traffic control at Kabul's international airport, to manage the airlifts. Sporadic gunfire there Sunday frightened Afghan families fearful of Taliban rule and desperate for flights out, one of the last avenues for escape in an evacuation made far more urgent by the Taliban's weeklong sweep across the country.
NATO allies that had pulled out their forces ahead of the Biden administration´s intended Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline were sending troops back in as well this weekend to protect evacuations of their own.
Some complained the U.S. was failing to move fast enough to bring to safety Afghans at risk of reprisal from the Taliban for past work with the Americans and other NATO forces.
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Death toll of powerful earthquake in Haiti soars to 1,297
LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) - The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti climbed to 1,297 on Sunday, a day after the powerful temblor turned thousands of structures into rubble and set off franctic rescue efforts ahead of a potential deluge from an approaching storm.
Saturday's earthquake also left at least 5,700 people injured in the Caribbean nation, with thousands more displaced from their destroyed or damaged homes. Survivors in some areas were forced to wait out in the open amid oppressive heat for help from overloaded hospitals.
The devastation could soon worsen with the coming of Tropical Depression Grace, which is predicted to reach Haiti on Monday night. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that although Grace had weakened from tropical storm strength Sunday, it still posed a threat to bring heavy rain, flooding and landslides.
The earthquake struck the southwestern part of the hemisphere´s poorest nation, almost razing some towns and triggering landslides that hampered rescue efforts in a country already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, a presidential assassination and a wave of gang violence.
The epicenter was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and aftershocks continued to jolt the area Sunday.
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EXPLAINER: Why are earthquakes so devastating in Haiti?
The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday killed hundreds and injured thousands more. The destruction comes just 11 years after a temblor killed tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Some 100,000 buildings were destroyed in the 2010 quake.
As rescuers search for survivors in the Caribbean nation, here's a look at why Haiti has had so many devastating earthquakes over the centuries and why they are often so devastating.
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WHAT MAKES HAITI PRONE TO EARTHQUAKES?
The Earth´s crust is made up of tectonic plates that move. And Haiti sits near the intersection of two of them - the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.
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Concerns over US terror threats rising as Taliban hold grows
WASHINGTON (AP) - America´s top general said Sunday that the United States could now face a rise in terrorist threats from a Taliban-run Afghanistan. That warning comes as intelligence agencies charged with anticipating those threats face new questions after the U.S.-backed Afghan military collapsed with shocking speed.
Less than a week after a military assessment predicted Kabul could be surrounded by insurgents in 30 days, the world on Sunday watched stunning scenes of Taliban fighters standing in the Afghan president's office and crowds of Afghans and foreigners frantically trying to board planes to escape the country.
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators on a briefing call Sunday that U.S. officials are expected to alter their earlier assessments about the pace of terrorist groups reconstituting in Afghanistan, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
In June, the Pentagon´s top leaders said an extremist group like al-Qaida may be able to regenerate in Afghanistan and pose a threat to the U.S. homeland within two years of the American military´s withdrawal from the country. Two decades after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan because the Taliban harbored al-Qaida leaders, experts say the Taliban and al-Qaida remain aligned, and other violent groups could also find safe haven under the new regime.
Based on the evolving situation, officials now believe terror groups like al-Qaida may be able to grow much faster than expected, according to the person, who had direct knowledge of the briefing but was not authorized to discuss the details of the call publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
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Afghan president was isolated before slipping into exile
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani slipped out of his country Sunday in the same way he had led it in recent years - a lonely and isolated figure.
Ghani quietly left the sprawling presidential palace with a small coterie of confidants - and didn´t even tell other political leaders who had been negotiating a peaceful transition of power with the Taliban that he was heading for the exit.
Abdullah Abdullah, his long-time rival who had twice buried his animosity to partner with Ghani in government, said that "God will hold him accountable" for abandoning the capital.
Ghani's destination was not immediately known. In a social media post from an unknown location, he wrote that he left to save lives. "If I had stayed, countless of my countrymen would be martyred and Kabul would face destruction and turn into ruins that could result to a human catastrophe for its six million residents" Ghani wrote.
Abdullah, as well as former President Hamid Karzai, who had beaten a path to Ghani's door on numerous occasions to plead with him to put compromise above retaining power, were blindsided by the hasty departure. They said they had still been hoping to negotiate a peaceful transition with the Taliban, said Saad Mohseni, the owner of Afghanistan's popular TOLO TV.
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Misinformation at public forums vexes local boards, big tech
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - There are plenty of places to turn for accurate information about COVID-19. Your physician. Local health departments. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
But not, perhaps, your local government's public comment session.
During a meeting of the St. Louis County Council earlier this month, opponents of a possible mask mandate made so many misleading comments about masks, vaccines and COVID-19 that YouTube removed the video for violating its policies against false claims about the virus.
"I hope no one is making any medical decisions based on what they hear at our public forums," said County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, who supports mask wearing and said she believes most of her constituents do too. The video was restored, but Clancy's worries about the impact of that misinformation remain.
Videos of local government meetings have emerged as the latest vector of COVID-19 misinformation, broadcasting misleading claims about masks and vaccines to millions and creating new challenges for internet platforms trying to balance the potential harm against the need for government openness.
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California fire threatens homes as blazes burn across West
QUINCY, Calif. (AP) - Thousands of Northern California homes were threatened Sunday by the nation's largest wildfire and officials warned the danger of new blazes erupting across the West was high because of unstable weather.
Thunderstorms that moved in starting Friday didn't produce much rain but whipped up winds and generated lightning strikes across the northern Sierra where crews were battling the month-old Dixie Fire. Extreme heat returned Sunday with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees (38 Celsius).
"We're definitely still dealing with the possibility of lightning. Winds are all over the place. Things are going to be pretty unstable for the next couple days," said fire spokesman Edwin Zuniga.
Gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) on Saturday pushed flames closer to Janesville, a town of about 1,500 people just east of Greenville, the small gold rush-era community decimated by the fire 10 days ago.
James Reichle evacuated from Greenville and has been sleeping with his dog in a trailer outside a church. His home survived the flames but he's been unable to return because the roads are closed. He said he feels for his neighbors at the evacuation center who lost everything.
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Fred strengthens slightly as it heads to US coast
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - The National Hurricane Center said Fred regained its tropical storm status in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday just hours before Grace was demoted to a tropical depression. A new tropical depression also formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday night.
Fred was forecast to move across the Gulf and reach the coast as early as Monday afternoon, forecasters said. They said people from Alabama to the central Florida Panhandle should monitor the system's progress.
A tropical storm warning is now in effect for the coast of the Florida Panhandle from Navarre to the Wakulla/Jefferson County line, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area in the next 24 hours. A storm surge warning has been issued for part of Florida's Big Bend area. That's the spot on the Gulf Coast where the Florida peninsula turns west into the Panhandle.
Fred's maximum sustained winds stood at 50 mph (85 kph) Sunday night.
Anticipating Fred, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the state's Panhandle region. And Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement Saturday saying her administration was monitoring the weather and "will be ready to act from the state level if needed."
