Stories from August 14, 2021

Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure
President Joe Biden authorized on Saturday an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel.
Summery breezes Sunday; still searching for rain
Sunday’s temps will be warm, but dew points will be reasonable in most spots. We have details on that, plus a look at when our rain chances are highest next week.
Minnesota GOP chair faces growing calls to step down
Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Jennifer Carnahan faced growing calls to resign over the weekend, in the wake of a major GOP donor and activist being indicted on sex trafficking charges.
COVID claims more young victims as deaths climb yet again
As coronavirus infections rise among young Americans, so too have deaths in a population once thought to be largely shielded from the worst of the pandemic.
A 19-year-old Minnesota woman has been arrested on allegations she was part of a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking — a case that's been linked to the federal indictment of a Minnesota Republican Party donor and activist earlier this week.
As Taliban tighten their grip, Kabul airport is only way out
As a Taliban offensive encircles the Afghan capital, there's increasingly only one way out for those fleeing the war, and only one way in for U.S. troops sent to protect American diplomats still on the ground: Kabul's international airport.
As children's COVID cases surge, there's another virus on the rise
Health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic say there is another concerning prospect looming: a surge in children diagnosed with a combination of COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus.
At least 227 people were killed and hundreds were injured and missing after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.
Taliban capture key northern city, approach Afghan capital
The Taliban on Saturday captured a large, heavily defended city in northern Afghanistan in a major setback for the government, and were approaching the capital of Kabul, less than three weeks before the U.S. hopes to complete its troop withdrawal.
Afghan girls fear for their future as Taliban capture more cities, education minister says
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Rangina Hamidi, Afghanistan's acting minister of education, about what it's like on the ground in Kabul during the Taliban's latest military surge in the country.
July was the hottest month in recorded human history
The global combined land and ocean-surface temperature was 1.67 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, according to NOAA, the hottest in 142 years of record-keeping.
We’ll have a sun-splashed Saturday, with unusually dry dew points. Gusty winds this afternoon and evening will elevate the risk of wildfire spread in northern Minnesota. We have the details.
First live 'murder hornet' of 2021 spotted in Washington state
The first live giant "murder hornet" of 2021 has been spotted in Washington state — and it was caught in the act of living up to its name, attacking a wasp nest.
Kaveh Akbar pits the self against the sacred in his new poems
Words can seem infinite — but language has limits. In his new poetry collection, “Pilgrim Bell,” Kaveh Akbar shapes language into prayer, into body, into patchwork — but only into what can be known.
If a Russian Doll looked into a Black Mirror ... you'd have this novel
In Sarah Zachrich Jeng's debut thriller “The Other Me,” a young woman wanders away from a boring birthday party and finds herself in a different life, with a husband and family she didn't have before.