Post Reports

While billions of dollars in American aid poured into Jordan over the past decade, a secret stream of money was flowing in the opposite direction as the country’s ruler, King Abdullah II, spent millions on extravagant homes in the United States.Read more: In the past decade, King Abdullah II of Jordan used an extensive network of offshore accounts to disguise multimillion-dollar purchases of lavish homes in the United States and Britain. Reporter Greg Miller on how the lavish purchases sit in stark contrast to Jordan’s recent economic and political struggles. These findings are revealed in a new investigation, the Pandora Papers, that exposes a hidden world that has allowed government leaders, a monarch, billionaires and criminals to shield their assets.The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists gained unprecedented insight into the money flowing into U.S. trusts through a trove of more than 11.9 million documents — among the largest of its kind — maintained by financial services providers around the world.  

The United States has long condemned secretive offshore tax havens where the rich and powerful hide their money. But a burgeoning American trust industry now shelters the assets of wealthy foreigners by promising even greater secrecy and protection. That same secrecy has insulated the industry from meaningful oversight and allowed it to gain new footholds in states like South Dakota and Alaska.The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) gained unprecedented insight into the money flowing into U.S. trusts through a trove of more than 11.9 million documents, among the largest of its kind, maintained by financial services providers around the world. Their findings are revealed in a new investigation, the Pandora Papers, that exposes how foreign political and corporate leaders or their relatives moved money and other assets from long-established tax havens to obscure trust companies in the United States. In many cases, the assets were connected to individuals or companies accused of fraud, bribery and human rights abuses in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. In this audio report, Post reporter Debbie Cenziper, producer Ted Muldoon and ICIJ reporter Will Fitzgibbon travel from the sugar cane fields of the Dominican Republic to the beaches of California to back rooms of Sioux Falls to examine how this industry came to be, who profits from it and whom it harms.

How wellness influencers are fueling the anti-vaccine movement. Read more:For many people, the term “misinformation” conjures up images of conspiracy-theorist chat rooms and Russian bots. But as Ashley Fetters Maloy reports, an alarming amount of misinformation about the coronavirus is coming from wellness influencers. Today on Post Reports, the social media influencers questioning the wisdom of vaccination –– and how their messaging is increasing the threat of the virus mutating and keeping the pandemic raging.

This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed taking 23 animals and plants off the endangered-species list — because none can be found in the wild. What this tells us about climate change, and things to come.Read more:The ivory-billed woodpecker is officially extinct, along with 22 other species of plants and animals. “Just having to write those words was quite difficult,” Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Amy Trahan told climate reporter Dino Grandoni, choking up. “It took me a while.”The woodpecker was known as the “Lord God Bird” because it was supposedly so beautiful that anyone who saw it would blurt out the Lord’s name. Grandoni said that some scientists think the Endangered Species Act came too late to save a lot of animals. But maybe not all hope is lost. “My inbox today, after publishing the story online, is full of photos from amateur photographers in their backyards of woodpeckers, asking me if this is the bird that people are saying has gone extinct,” Grandoni said. “This might spur some interest in people going on and understanding the birds and other animals that are still with us.”

This week in Congress, top military officials are testifying on what went wrong in the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Will anyone in the government be held accountable? Read more:Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie are on Capitol Hill testifying in front of the Senate and House Armed Services committees on the fall of Kabul and the disastrous U.S. exit from Afghanistan. As lawmakers press for answers, Alex Horton reports on whether this hearing will result in accountability for the years of government missteps in handling the end of America’s longest war.

For years, allegations that R. Kelly was abusing young women and girls swirled. This week, the singer was found guilty of sex trafficking in federal court. But not all child sex-trafficking victims get justice — instead, many of them are arrested.Read more:Jessica Contrera has done a lot of reporting on child sex trafficking in the United States. When she saw the R. Kelly verdict this week, the cases of hundreds of other sex-trafficked children came to mind. “People were finally praising and recognizing these Black girls who came forward again and again and went through the grueling process of what it takes to testify in a case like this, and thanking them for coming forward and for their bravery,” Contrera says. “But it’s important to remember the context that Black girls who are sex-trafficking victims are also the most likely to be treated as criminals for being sold for sex.”Every year, Contrera says, dozens of teenagers are locked up despite being victims of a crime. In Las Vegas, Contrera went on a ride-along with a vice unit as it arrested child sex-trafficking victims, and she reports on what it was like for these youths to be sent to detention centers rather than given help.

What you need to know about “Havana Syndrome,” the mysterious illness affecting U.S. officials stationed around the world — and whether there’s anything the United States can do about it. Read more:“Havana Syndrome” first popped up in 2016 when a group of people at the U.S. embassy in Cuba reported a wide-ranging set of debilitating symptoms such as headache, nausea, tinnitus and memory loss. Five years later, 200 people are known to have shown symptoms of the mysterious illness. The Washington Post broke the news that the head of the CIA station in Vienna was recently recalled for allegedly failing to take the “Havana Syndrome” seriously. Intelligence reporter Shane Harris explains what we know about the strange syndrome, and the possible political repercussions if it is the result of a deliberate attack from a foreign adversary.

How Gabby Petito case galvanized sleuths across the Internet. And, how her disappearance and death highlight media failures in covering cases about missing women of color. Read more: Washington Post “Tik Tok Guy” Dave Jorgenson explains the Internet’s fascination with Gabby Petito’s disappearance and how the online attention has magnified the media coverage of her case. Plus, how the groundswell of news coverage has people wondering: What about other people who have gone missing —  especially marginalized people and people of color? investigative reporter Connie Walker, host of “Stolen: The Search for Jermain” and other crime podcasts, explains the black hole of coverage when Indigenous people disappear.

Deadlines are looming large for Congress. If policymakers fail to act, the United States could face unprecedented economic catastrophe. Read more:Time is running out to fund the federal government, which could shutter by Oct. 1. It all has to do with a bigger fight on the debt ceiling — the government’s borrowing limit. Democrats in Congress want to suspend the debt ceiling until next year, but Republicans aren’t playing ball and are threatening a government shutdown in opposition.But what does that all mean for Americans outside of Congress — for federal workers, for critical government services and for pandemic relief? Tony Romm reports on the stakes of the political fight on Capitol Hill, and the economic crisis waiting on the other side.

Thousands of mostly Haitian migrants are crossing into the U.S. from the southwest border of Texas. When they arrive, they face rough territory: hostile law enforcement, mass airlifts for deportations, and a squalid, overcrowded migrant camp in the U.S.Read more:Crossing the Rio Grande into Texas as a Haitian migrant is a treacherous journey. That became apparent after images came out of U.S. Border Patrol agents using whips and horses to police the border.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has also made it clear that there will be law and order conditions where agents are seeing an influx of travelers. This also comes at a time when the Biden administration has begun deporting Haitian nationals in droves.Arelis R. Hernández covers the southern U.S. border for The Post. She reports from the Rio Grande, giving a glimpse into what life is like on the border and explaining the Trump-era policy under which mass expulsions are taking place.To learn more about Title 42, the public health order that President Biden has kept in place to expel migrants out of the United States, listen to “Marooned in Matamoros,” a two-part documentary series from Hernández and Post Reports editor Ted Muldoon. It’s about a woman’s treacherous journey from El Salvador to the Matamoros encampment in Mexico.

What the latest news from Pfizer means for getting younger kids vaccinated. Plus, who will be able to get a booster shot and when. Read more:On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech said that children ages 5 to 11 had a robust immune response to smaller doses of their coronavirus vaccine. Anita Patel, a critical-care pediatrician at Children’s National Hospital, explains what these results mean for slowing the spread of the coronavirus and what it has been like to take care of severely sick children during the pandemic. The Biden administration had promised that this would be the week anybody vaccinated on or before Jan. 20 would be able to get a booster shot. Health and science reporter Lena Sun explains the confusion around who is actually eligible for a booster and when people could get one. 

Members of far-right extremist organizations — such as the Oath Keepers, a self-styled militia movement — are being charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riot. But prosecution may not wipe out their ideologies. Read more:Law enforcement officials in D.C. were prepared for a big rally this weekend — the so-called Justice for J6 rally in support of people charged in connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection. While turnout in D.C. was low, underlying conspiratorial ideologies are thriving, showing up in protests at local government offices and school board meetings around the country. One of the groups that has pushed that hard-right agenda is called the Oath Keepers. Many members are now being investigated and charged by federal prosecutors. Hannah Allam reports that the ideologies of this anti-government militia group continue to spread, even as members face legal consequences.  

With his performance of “God Bless America” during Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, NYPD officer Daniel Rodriguez comforted a nation still grieving in the wake of 9/11. It felt like a timeless moment. Instead, it proved fleeting. Twenty years later, the reasons for that tell a story of the political divisions and embellished patriotism that now polarize American sports. The weight of it all can be felt through the struggles of Rodriguez, who’s still trying to bless people with his voice as America attempts to rediscover its own.Join Washington Post sports columnist Jerry Brewer, sports features writer Kent Babb and audio producer Bishop Sand as they explore how a man and a nation have attempted to heal and find meaning after trauma and tragedy.Read more and see photos of Daniel then and now here.In Part 2, Jerry, Kent and Bishop visit Daniel in L.A. to see what his life is like now, and look into the origins of the song that made him famous. Then they look at what else happened to him, the song and the country in the years after 9/11, as shifting political winds drove the Americans further apart. 

With his performance of “God Bless America” during Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, NYPD officer Daniel Rodriguez comforted a nation still grieving in the wake of 9/11. It felt like a timeless moment. Instead, it proved fleeting. Twenty years later, the reasons for that tell a story of the political divisions and embellished patriotism that now polarize American sports. The weight of it all can be felt through the struggles of Rodriguez, who’s still trying to bless people with his voice as America attempts to rediscover its own.Join Washington Post sports columnist Jerry Brewer, sports features writer Kent Babb and audio producer Bishop Sand as they explore how a man and a nation have attempted to heal and find meaning after trauma and tragedy.Read more and see photos of Daniel then and now here.

After a decade and a half in office, Germany’s Angela Merkel is stepping down. On today’s show, we take a closer look at the chancellor’s life and legacy, and what this shift in power will mean for Germany and the world.Read more:Angela Merkel grew up the daughter of a pastor in communist East Germany, and political possibilities opened up for her after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. As chancellor she carried Germany and by extension the European Union through crisis after crisis with a steady hand. But her legacy is somewhat more complicated at home than it is abroad, as Loveday Morris and Ishaan Tharoor report.“Some applaud her humble, consensus-driven political style,” Morris writes. “Others see a lack of bold leadership, particularly in the face of a more aggressive Russia and rising Chinese power.”As Merkel leaves office, we talk about the vacuum of power she leaves behind and what might happen next. 

When we talk about abortion access in the U.S., we talk a lot about Roe v. Wade, the actions of state lawmakers, the court system. But we don’t talk about doctors — and what they do or don’t say to patients behind closed doors. Read more:After Texas passed the country’s most restrictive abortion law, many abortion rights advocates feared that other states would follow suit — states like West Virginia that have already made moves in the past to restrict access to abortion. But reporter Caroline Kitchener has found that there are other barriers to abortion already in place, some of which are invisible to us: “I had never even thought about this other barrier that is doctors,” Caroline said. “Doctors who might not talk to women about the option of abortion.” Caroline has spent many, many months reporting on Byron Calhoun, the only high-risk pregnancy OB/GYN in central West Virginia. He also happens to be staunchly antiabortion. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk about what that means for his patients — and, more broadly, how doctors’ political beliefs can affect the kind of care they provide their patients.

The Biden administration has made in-person learning a priority for this school year. Now that most kids are back in school, the question on everyone’s mind is: Will it last? Read more:By now almost all students are back to learning in person. But what some school districts are calling vague guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has led to widely varying coronavirus protocols — only some districts are requiring masks, while others may not be properly notifying parents of positive cases at their kids' schools. With the delta variant surging, many parents, teachers and experts are frustrated with this patchwork response. Health and policy reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb shares how schools have fared in the first weeks of classes, and why the guidance from the White House isn’t more prescriptive.

A recall election in California ends Tuesday night. After pandemic-related shutdowns and mandates, can Gov. Gavin Newsom survive the challenge to his liberal policies? Read more:Forty-six candidates on the recall ballot. One governor with his first term on the line. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is fighting to hold on to his seat, with the recall election that could replace him set to end Tuesday night. Newsom needs more than 50 percent of the vote to maintain his governorship. Senior correspondent Scott Wilson says recall elections are baked into California life. Every governor for the past 60 years has been challenged with a recall, but only one attempt has been successful.This recall election could flip leadership of the country’s most populous state to a vastly different candidate — and have far-reaching implications for national politics and the makeup of the U.S. Senate. 

Watching the chaotic end of America’s longest war, we’ve been thinking a lot about the terrorist attack that set it in motion. We interviewed colleagues who covered 9/11 to try to make sense of how that day changed the country and the world.Read more:“Where were you on September 11th?” Most Americans over a certain age have a 9/11 story — of the moment they heard the news of the terrorist attacks, or of anxiously calling family members to make sure they were okay. In the 20 years since the attacks, that day for some may feel like a slowly fading memory. But the direct consequences of that Tuesday in 2001 are still playing out in the news in front of us every day.Today on Post Reports, we’re telling the story of 9/11 through the eyes of our newsroom. We spoke with Post colleagues who covered it — from senior editors, to reporters at the Pentagon, to an intern.“It changed everyone's lives,” says Post reporter Juliet Eilperin, who was covering Congress that day, “not only in terms of those who lost people that they cared about that day, but what it meant for the commitment of our military and what it meant for people living in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Middle East.”As the Afghanistan war comes to a harrowing close, we look at how the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped our world and how the consequences of that day are still with us. This story was produced by Ariel Plotnick and Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman, Renita Jablonski and Martine Powers.It was scored and mixed by Ted Muldoon, who wrote original music for this show. Reena Flores and Rennie Svirnovskiy were also a huge help with this story.In this story, you’ll hear the voices of Leonard Downie, Arthur Santana, Juliet Eilperin, Valerie Strauss, Amy Goldstein, Amy Argetsinger, Marc Fisher, Katie Shaver, Karen DeYoung, Mike Allen, Rosalind S. Helderman, Chuck Lane, Debbi Wilgoren and Matt Vita. Thank you to WTOP News for sharing its 9/11 archive.We talked to so many people for this story who helped shape our understanding of that day, including Tracy Grant, Freddy Kunkle, Dana Milbank, Ellen Nakashima, Ann Gerhart and Dudley Brooks. And a big thank-you to Joe Heim, who pitched this idea to our show.The Post has many other stories reflecting on the anniversary of 9/11 and how our country has changed 20 years later.Listen to “America’s Song,” a special podcast series from The Post about how a singing police officer comforted a grieving nation after 9/11 — and why the moment couldn’t last.9/11 was a test. Carlos Lozada writes that the books of the past two decades show how America failed.

What the mismatch between the number of people employed and the number of jobs available tells us about America’s reassessment of work. Plus, how the pandemic has set women in the workforce back globally.  Read more:There is a mystery at the center of the economic recovery in the U.S. — 8 million people are unemployed, but there are 11 million jobs open. Senior economics correspondent Heather Long explains that this is all part of the overall rethinking of American life and labor.There has been a lot of reporting on the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers and livelihoods, especially here in the U.S. But Emily Rauhala and Anu Narayanswamy wanted to look at the problem globally — and what they found is that the pandemic has derailed a slow crawl toward equality for women in the workforce. 

For many Afghan evacuees arriving in the United States, escaping the Taliban was just the beginning. Now, they face the uncertainty of a tenuous legal status with little financial support unless Congress acts. Read more:The Biden administration is preparing to screen and resettle tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees in the United States over the coming months, but the majority will arrive without visas as “humanitarian parolees,” not refugees. Reporter Nick Miroff explains what this means. Volunteers are working to help the thousands of Afghan refugees who are starting new lives in the United States, but the transition is still a difficult one. Jorge Ribas has been interviewing Afghan evacuees who have recently arrived in the country. You can see more of his reporting here. 

Life in Texas under the nation’s most restrictive abortion law. Plus, the unusual legal strategy that allowed the law to go into effect and how it could be a blueprint for other states to circumvent Roe v. Wade. Read more:The nation’s most restrictive abortion law is now in effect in Texas after the Supreme Court refused to block it, banning abortions after six weeks. Hours before S.B. 8 went into effect, abortion clinics were packed — and now that abortion providers can be sued, they’re recommending people go across state lines to get the procedure if they’re more than six weeks pregnant. Caroline Kitchener traveled to Texas to report on what it's like for patients and clinics.This law is a huge win for antiabortion activists throughout the country, and it provides a blueprint for other states to use the same legal strategy. Ann E. Marimow reports on what this could mean for the future of Roe v. Wade.

What we know about the Thursday bombing near the Kabul airport. Plus, an Afghan journalist who left Kabul just before its collapse tells us why she fears for the family and friends she left behind. Read more:A bombing outside the Kabul airport Thursday left more than a hundred people dead, including civilians and U.S. service members. Military reporter Dan Lamothe says the attack was “a nightmare scenario” for the United States, making the mission to evacuate Afghans and U.S. personnel much more difficult. Journalist and Fulbright scholar Nasrin Nawa’s flight left Kabul right before the capital fell to the Taliban. In an op-ed she wrote for The Post, Nawa says her parents and sister tried to follow her but didn’t make it out.

The future of a federal ban on evictions is in the Supreme Court’s hands. But in many cases, whether a person gets evicted is up to a judge’s discretion, as our reporter found in Mississippi. Read more:A federal ban on evictions has been in place in one form or another since the beginning of the pandemic. But after spending a day in an eviction court in Mississippi, reporter Marissa Lang found it’s often left up to individual judges whether to enforce it. “So many of these cases are judge dependent, the outcome really varies, not just county by county, but judge by judge,” Lang said. She followed a woman facing eviction — and spoke to the judge who decided her fate. 

What the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine means. Plus, big business pledged nearly $50 billion for racial justice after George Floyd’s killing. Where did the money go?Read more:Goodbye, “emergency use authorization.” Hello, “full approval.” On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, commercially called Comirnaty. The four-month evaluation process was fast by the FDA’s usual standards, but regulators have emphasized that they did not sacrifice any kind of rigor in the process. Health and science writer Ben Guarino reports on the effect that full approval could have on vaccine mandates –– and whether it will change the hearts and minds of the vaccine-hesitant. After the murder of George Floyd ignited nationwide protests, corporate America promised to take an active role in confronting systemic racism. Now, more than a year after leading businesses pledged money toward racial-justice causes, reporter Tracy Jan analyzes where that money actually went. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said the Biden administration must comply with a ruling from a lower court to restart President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers. This was the program that forced people seeking asylum in the United States to wait on the other side of the southern border, in Mexico. It’s unclear what this new mandate will mean for the controversial program, but last month our podcast aired a two-part story about what living under this program is actually like for an asylum seeker. To better understand what it means to “remain in Mexico,” you can find those episodes — “Marooned in Matamoros,” Parts 1 and 2 — at this link. 

What the return of the Taliban means for women in Kabul. And, the story behind a secret meeting between the CIA director and the leader of the Taliban.Read more:Mahbouba Seraj, activist and director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, weighs the dire stakes for the women in Afghanistan — and explains why she chooses to stay in the country as dangers mount. President Biden said Tuesday he will stick to the Aug. 31 deadline to fully withdraw from Afghanistan. The Taliban has said U.S. troops staying any longer would be crossing a “red line.”As pressure to safely evacuate people from Kabul mounts, national security reporter John Hudson reports that CIA Director William Burns held a secret meeting with the leader of the Taliban, Abdul Ghani Baradar. It is the highest-ranking official within the administration to meet with the Taliban since the takeover of the country.

The Taliban insists it has changed. Afghanistan’s future hinges on whether that’s true.Read more:Frenzied evacuations from Afghanistan continue as the U.S. scrambles to meet its Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw all troops. But it’s still unclear what the country will look like after that. Taliban leaders say they will refrain from retaliatory violence and respect women’s rights. Griff Witte, The Post’s former Kabul bureau chief, evaluates those promises.

This week, Americans watched in disbelief as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in a matter of days — and we wondered what Craig Whitlock was thinking. Two years ago he and a team at The Post published a prescient and ground-breaking project called “The Afghanistan Papers,” revealing hundreds of secret interviews with U.S. officials candidly discussing the failures of the war.The interviews with some 400 people were part of a project called “Lessons Learned,” undertaken by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, and The Post obtained them after a three-year legal battle. These Afghanistan papers are a secret history of the war, Whitlock tells Martine Powers, and “they contain these frank admissions of how the war was screwed up and that what the American people were being told about the war wasn’t true.” “They really do bring to mind the Pentagon Papers, which were the Defense Department’s top-secret history of the Vietnam War,” Whitlock says. These recordings have new resonance this week. Read excerpts from Craig Whitlock’s new book, ‟The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War”.Deceptions and lies: What really happened in AfghanistanThe grand illusion: Hiding the truth about the Afghanistan war’s ‘conclusion’

Haitians face devastation after two natural disasters hit the island. And what the tragedies have exposed about the country’s preparedness.Read more:Last weekend, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake caused widespread destruction and death in Haiti. Then, torrential rain from Tropical Storm Grace hit the island. Now, Haitians are recovering from two back-to-back natural disasters while reeling from political turmoil caused by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last month. Caribbean bureau chief Anthony Faiola reports on how public officials and citizens living close to the epicenter of the earthquake are grappling with the compounded loss and tragedy.When an earthquake hits, it’s not the quake itself that kills people — it’s often the rattled buildings that collapse with people inside, or on top of them. And in Haiti, earthquakes are more dangerous than in other countries, because buildings there aren’t designed to withstand them. Reginald Desroches is a Haitian American engineer and provost of Rice University. After Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, he traveled there about a dozen times to investigate why the damage was so severe and to figure out how to reinforce the structures that remained standing. Listen to our episode on the assassination of Haiti’s president and how years of U.S. intervention in the Carribean country contributed to the chaos we’re seeing now.

Today, Post Reports answers your questions about kids, schools and covid-19 with physician and columnist Leana Wen and education reporter Hannah Natanson. Plus, the latest news on booster shots. Read more:Subscribe to The Checkup With Dr. Wen to get guidance in your inbox on how to navigate the pandemic and other public health challenges.

Almost as soon as Kabul fell, the political blame game began in Washington. But why weren’t we more prepared? Plus, an interview with Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States on her fears for women and girls in her country.Read more:As quickly as Kabul fell, the finger-pointing commenced. Reporter Shane Harris on the political fallout of a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — and how it could have gone better. Roya Rahmani was Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United States, serving from 2018 until just a few weeks ago. She spoke with producer Arjun Singh of the podcast “Can He Do That?” about what it’s like to watch her country fall to the Taliban, and what her fears are for women and girls who are still there.

As the United States left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, the Taliban seized control of the country in a matter of weeks. President Biden defended the withdrawal Monday afternoon while Americans and vulnerable allies remained in limbo in Kabul.Read more:The Taliban seized the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday morning, restoring the insurgent group’s grip over Afghanistan after they were removed from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001, and kept at bay for about two decades during America’s longest war. Kabul bureau chief Susannah George explains what it’s like to be in the city in such a dramatic  moment of transition. “Once the Taliban took over Kabul, the security forces in the entire city melted away overnight,” she says.Meanwhile in Washington, Pentagon reporter Dan Lamothe on the military calculus for withdrawing from Afghanistan, and the efforts to safely resume evacuations.  With the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, we want to hear from veterans or anyone who was involved in the war effort — whether you’re American, Afghan or served in the coalition. If you had friends or family members serve, we’d also like to hear your perspective on how the war affected you. Tell us your stories.

Today on Post Reports, an interview with Dave Jorgenson, The Washington Post’s “TikTok Guy.” Throughout the pandemic, he’s been uploading two newsy, funny TikToks a day for The Post’s nearly 1 million TikTok followers.  Read more: Dave also has a book: “Make a TikTok Every Day: 365 Prompts for Attention-Grabbing TikToks.” You can check out all of his TikToks here.A few of Martine’s favorite Tiktoks from Dave:During the primary for the 2020 election, Dave made TikToks with a bunch of presidential candidates, including Cory Booker and Julián Castro. You can also check out the sea shanty here.All of Dave’s delightful quarantine TikToks are in a Twitter thread here.

How some states are trying to make students and staffers feel safe in school. Why more moms may leave the workforce as the delta variant spreads. And what it’s like to lose your town to a wildfire and to have to start again. Read more:California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Wednesday that the state will require all teachers and school staffers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or to submit to weekly testing. It’s the first state to impose such a rule. The governor is citing the surge of the delta variant as the reason –– and the fact that more and more children are being hospitalized by infection. As the pace of coronavirus cases rises nationwide and children’s camps and day cares shut back down, working mothers’ lives and livelihoods are taking another massive hit. Heather Long reports on the panic setting in among America’s millions of mothers with children under the age of 12 and the potential economic cost of a second mass resignation of moms.The Dixie Fire in California has been burning since mid-July. It now covers more than 500,000 acres in four counties and has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Marisa Iati reports on the state’s containment efforts, the emotional toll of evacuation and why rebuilding may not be an option in Greenville, Calif.

What’s behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans embracing a big Biden agenda item? Infrastructure. Plus, a delightful story about a man, his hobby and his dog. Read more:The big bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this week is being hailed as a moment of unity, with politicians from both sides of the aisle finding common ground in building roads, repairing bridges and expanding broadband technology. But the reality is a bit more complicated. Mike DeBonis reports on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s thinking behind his support of President Biden’s agenda item.Along with being The Post’s art and architecture critic, Philip Kennicott is also an avid piano player. The thing is, his dog hates it when he plays piano, particularly Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He tries to solve the mystery of why.

The resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And, as American troops withdraw, the U.S. response to a surge of Taliban control in Afghanistan. Read more:Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation after a state investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women and oversaw an unlawful attempt to exact retribution against one of his accusers. Reporter Michael Scherer on what this means for New York politics and the women at the center of the accusations. The Taliban is gaining more ground in Afghanistan, as U.S. troops withdraw from the country after two decades. Missy Ryan and Susannah George report on the regional capitals that have fallen to Taliban control and America’s role in Afghanistan’s uncertain future. As the school year approaches, we want to try to tackle your concerns about how covid affects kids and how to safely go back to in-person learning. If you’re sending your child back to school or going back to school yourself and have a question, send us a voice memo at [email protected]. We would love to hear from kids and teenagers as well as parents.  

A landmark United Nations report finds that humans have pushed the climate into ‘unprecedented’ territory. Plus, what we can learn from the Tokyo Olympics with the Winter Games in Beijing just around the corner.Read more:On Monday, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest and most dire report about the state of the planet. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said that  results are “a code red for humanity” and is calling on countries to embrace the drastic transformation needed to slow the warming of the planet. Reporter Brady Dennise has more. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have officially ended. Tokyo bureau chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee explains that the events have offered a brief respite from the latest pandemic surge but also a complex legacy. With the Winter Olympics set to begin in just six months, what lessons have the International Olympic Committee learned — and will they stick?

The infrastructure bill making its way through the Senate doesn’t include money for caregivers. Today, we dive into what it’s like to take care of a partner who has a disability and to often not get compensated for that labor.Read more:Earlier this week, the much anticipated infrastructure bill started moving through the Senate with bipartisan support. What’s left out of the bill, though, is what’s being called “human infrastructure” — money for things like quality child care and care for elderly people and those with disabilities.Today, we’re diving into one of these groups that’s being left out of the bill: people who care for their partners who have disabilities. Video editor Amber Ferguson learned that in most states, if you’re giving care to a partner with a disability, you cannot be compensated if you’re married. And those people who aren’t getting compensated for their labor are usually women. “It's just not sustainable for me to do this every single day in the way that I have been,” said Jane Morgan, who has been caring for her boyfriend largely by herself since he became quadriplegic in 2019.

Florida school districts defy the governor’s ban on mask mandates. An elementary school that welcomed its students back in the spring is still struggling to make a full return to normal. Plus, why you should rid your vocabulary of “corporate-isms.”Read more:At least four school districts in Florida have announced that they will either keep or issue new mask mandates in light of the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the state. Their announcements directly challenge an order by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has threatened to withhold funds from schools that mandate face coverings for students. The debate over mask mandates is just one part of the conversation about how to safely reopen schools for in-person learning, as the coronavirus, aided by the delta variant, threatens to disrupt children’s educations for the third straight school year. Perry Stein reports on the stakes of such a prolonged disruption, and on whether schools can make up for that lost time. “Nice to e-meet you.” “Let’s touch base.” “I’m out of pocket.” Remote, virtual work is making us talk like robots. Tatum Hunter teaches us how to “circle back” to being human. 

As New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faces an impeachment effort and calls for his resignation, his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, avoids mentioning the scandal on his show. Plus, your questions on the delta variant — and is NBC ruining the Olympics?Read more:Will New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resign? The pressure continues to mount after a damning report was released yesterday by the state’s attorney general. It concludes that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. That report also included the name of the governor’s brother, Chris Cuomo, a host on CNN. But when his show went on the air last night, he didn’t mention any of it. Media reporter Elahe Izadi explains the governor’s response so far, as well as CNN’s handling of the scandal and Chris Cuomo’s involvement.Earlier this week, we asked you to send us your questions about the current coronavirus surge and the delta variant. We tackle a few of them today with science reporter Ben Guarino. Like many people, host Martine Powers has been watching the Olympics — or trying to. She asks reporter Ben Strauss — is NBC ruining the Olympics?

The Biden administration is expected to announce a new action to limit evictions as a federal eviction moratorium expires. But it’s unclear how many people that will help. And, why the expanded child tax credit may not be a silver bullet against poverty.Read more:Nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, 28 percent of households are struggling to cover basic expenses. More than 11 million renters are behind on payments. One in seven parents are struggling to feed their families. This is all despite a raft of government interventions, including an expanded child tax credit approved in March. The White House said the expanded child tax credit would cut child poverty by more than 40 percent. But that lofty expectation is crashing into the reality of debt for many people behind on rent and utility bills. Kyle Swenson reports on the potentially blunted impact of those payments for families living with debt, including moms such as Brittany Baker in Ohio.

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have come to rare agreement, crafting a trillion dollar-plan to fix infrastructure across the country.Read more:After weeks of negotiation, a bipartisan group of senators have put forth a plan to restore America’s infrastructure. The more than $1 trillion plan to improve roads, bridges, pipes, ports and lines of communication could be a centerpiece of Joe Biden’s presidency — unless he has his own deal in the works. Congressional reporter Tony Romm breaks down the far-reaching proposal.

In 1983, the U.S. invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada. Forty years later, many Americans have no idea why — or that it happened at all. Today, in collaboration with “Throughline,” we tell a story of revolution, conquest, and dreams of a Black utopia.Read more:For host Martine Powers, this historical deep-dive has a personal connection. Growing up in a Caribbean American family offered a different perspective on the 1983 invasion — a moment that isn’t just about President Ronald Reagan or Cold War machinations. Instead, this era in Grenada’s history is also the story of people and ideas that became symbols of Black freedom around the world — and a direct inspiration for Black Americans.“This was a Black country with people making their own success and failure,” says Dessima Williams, Grenada’s former ambassador to the U.S. “We didn't have White people over us. And I think that itself was revolutionary at the psychic level.”This story was produced in collaboration with “Throughline,” a podcast about history from National Public Radio. Here are a few other episodes that you’ll want to check out: “Palestine,” about the region’s history of settlements and displacement; “Five Fingers Crush The Land,” on the history and culture of China’s Uyghur people; and the unexpectedly dark story of American imperialism, in “Reframing History: Bananas.”

Debates over critical race theory take over a town in Michigan. Plus, why breakthrough coronavirus infections do not mean that our vaccines aren’t working.Read more:Traverse City, Mich., is a microcosm of the critical race theory debates taking over school systems across the country. The debates in the town came after the school board decided to fast-track an equity resolution, after students held a fake slave auction over Snapchat. Reporter Hannah Natanson went to Traverse City to understand what White parents think of the resolution and racism in the town, as well as how students feel.Within the past few weeks, positive coronavirus test results have been delivered to some high-profile fully vaccinated people: New York Yankees players, Olympic gymnast alternates and state lawmakers from Texas. Ben Guarino reports on why such breakthrough infections are to be expected — and why they don’t imply that vaccines are widely failing.

Why employers are getting bolder with vaccine mandates. How the pandemic worsened the opioid crisis. And the aftermath of the floods in Germany.Read more:On Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors in certain circumstances because of the highly transmissible delta variant. At the same time, many employers — including the federal government — are considering coronavirus vaccine mandates. Dan Diamond reports on the changing guidance around masks and vaccines.Last week, the three major drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson reached a settlement in court after being sued for the damages of the opioid crisis. Lenny Bernstein on how the pandemic has affected the continuing opioid epidemic. You can find our related story from 2018 about the Trump administration’s handling of the fentanyl crisis here.This past month, floods in Germany and Belgium killed nearly 200 people. Loveday Morris reports on the clean-up and recovery in Western Europe.

Why the U.S. women’s gymnastics team settled for a silver medal. And, the search for separated parents in rural Guatemala. Read more:The U.S. women’s gymnastics team took home a silver medal in Tuesday’s team final, after star gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the event. Sports reporter Liz Clarke discusses the unexpected upset, and the course of the Russian Olympic team’s winning trajectory. The United States lost track of parents after separating them from their children at the border. In rural Guatemala, it’s up to Eriberto Pop — a motorcycle-riding human rights lawyer — to find them. Central America bureau chief Kevin Sieff reports on his journey with Pop into the western highlands of Guatemala.

The political debate — and theater — surrounding a new House committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. And, why wildland firefighters in the West are burning out.  Read more:A bipartisan select House committee begins its probe of the Jan. 6 insurrection this week. But as national security reporter Karoun Demirjian explains, the investigation kicks off under a cloud of political debate and theater. On the heels of one of the worst wildfire years on record, the federal government is struggling to recruit and retain staffers as firefighters grapple with low wages, trauma and burnout from increasingly long and intense fire seasons. Sarah Kaplan reports on the Biden administration’s promise to the federal firefighting force –– and what the United States has to understand about climate change and wildfires.

In February 2020, Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández walked across the bridge from Brownsville, Tex., to Matamoros, Mexico, two sister cities along the international border with the glistening green Rio Grande snaking between them. Up on the levee, a breathtaking sight unfolded before her: a makeshift migrant camp full of thousands of asylum seekers from all over Latin America forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico while they plead their cases.There in the camp, Hernández met a woman from El Salvador named Nancy and her two teenage children. Nancy had a chilling story to tell about how she wound up there — and why she feared she would never get out. In this special two-part series, Hernández and producer Ted Muldoon explore what Nancy’s story reveals about the real-world impact of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.In Part 2, the Biden administration comes into office promising change. But change can’t come soon enough for Nancy, whose desperation has only deepened after 16 months in the camp.To find photos and videos of Nancy's journey and her life in the camp, visit wapo.st/nancy. Listen to Part 1 of the series here.Read more:Hear more of Hernández’s ride-along with the Hidalgo County Constable’s office in this March 2021 episode of Post Reports, or read about it here. 

In February 2020, Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández walked across the bridge from Brownsville, Tex., to Matamoros, Mexico, two sister cities along the international border with the glistening green Rio Grande snaking between them. Up on the levee, a breathtaking sight unfolded before her: a makeshift migrant camp full of thousands of asylum seekers from all over Latin America forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico while they plead their cases.There in the camp, Hernández met a woman from El Salvador named Nancy and her two teenage children. Nancy had a chilling story to tell about how she wound up there — and why she feared she would never get out. In this special two-part series, Hernández and producer Ted Muldoon explore what Nancy’s story reveals about the real-world impact of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.In Part 1, Nancy slowly unspools her story, starting with her journey north. After she and her children make their way across the Rio Grande, they're intercepted — not by Border Patrol, but by the cartels. To find photos and videos of Nancy’s journey and her life in the camp, visit wapo.st/nancy.Read more:Photographer Michael Robinson Chavez and reporter Mary Beth Sheridan capture haunting images of migrants fighting for survival at the border. Reporter Kevin Sieff looks at what happens when asylum seekers miss their court dates because they were kidnapped.

The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin Friday, after dozens of people in the Olympic bubble have tested positive for the coronavirus. How soaring rent prices are becoming the new norm across the U.S. And, Anthony Bourdain and the ethics of audio deepfakes. Read more:After a year’s delay, Tokyo 2020 will kick off this Friday despite concerns over the coronavirus: At least 67 people in the Olympic bubble have tested positive. Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports on the precautions that the International Olympic Committee is taking. Follow The Post’s live coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Games here.Senior economics correspondent Heather Long says that bidding wars and spiking rental prices are becoming the new norm as the pandemic recedes in the United States.A new documentary about Anthony Bourdain features a deepfake of the celebrity chef’s voice, evoking criticism. Timothy Bella reports.