US News

• The New York Post reports the NY state government is considering divesting from Ben and Jerry’s parent company in the state government workers’ pension fund. [Link]
• The Biden Administration decided against investigating possible civil rights abuses in NY nursing homes because of the policies of Andrew Cuomo. [Link]
• The Jan. 6th Congressional select committee includes former CIA Inspector General David Buckley. Buckley has a history of retaliating against whistleblowers. [Link]

Afghanistan

• CENTCOM head Gen. McKenzie says the US will continue to support the Afghan government with airstrikes against the Taliban. He did not say if the strike will end on August 30th. [Link]
• At least 2,400 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in May and June. The number is a record high since the data started to be tracked in 2006. [Link]
• Forty-six Afghan soldiers fled over the border to Pakistan. [Link]
• Biden announced he was allocating $100 million in emergency funds to help Afghans who assisted the US out of the country. [Link]
• The Taliban called on Afghanistan’s President, Ashraf Ghani, to step down. [Link]
• The CIA Director William Burns says the Taliban are probably at their strongest position since 2001. [Link]
• Russia is helping Tajikistan secure its border with Afghanistan. [Link]

Middle East

• Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teen in the West Bank. Witnesses report the teen was in a group throwing stones. [Link]
• Iran begins exporting oil from the Gulf of Oman, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. [Link]
• Russia is seeking to deter Israel from continuing to bomb Syria. [Link]
• Saudi carried out at least 17 airstrikes in central Yemen. At least 21 Houthi fighters were killed in the strikes. [Link]

Africa

• The US bombed Somalia for the second time in a week. [Link]
• Forces from Ethiopia’s ethnic Tigray group seized a town in the neighboring Amhara region. Tigrayan forces have been on an offensive since they were routed by the Ethiopian Army and allied forces in November of 2020. The loss of the town prompted leaders of the Amhara ethnic group to call on young men to take up arms. [Link]
• Tunisia’s President Kais Saied dismisses the prime minister and legislator. [Link]
• The man who attempted to assassinate Mali’s interim president died while in the custody of security services. [Link]
• Six Cameroonian soldiers were killed by Islamist militants. [Link]
• In Nigeria, kidnappers abducted a man attempting to pay a ransom for over 100 kidnapped students. [Link]