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Features & Faces
Above, Lionel Messi, 34, undergoes medical tests in Paris before signing his $41 million-a-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain last night.
| 1 big thing: Taliban speed stuns Biden administration |
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Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Saul Loeb/AFP, Farshad Usyan/AFP and Javeed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images |
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The Taliban has stunned even seasoned military and national security officials in the U.S. government with the speed of its conquests over the past week.
Biden may not see much of a pause between his total withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country's total collapse into a bloody civil war.
The Taliban has toppled nine of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals in less than a week, and now controls an estimated 65%+ of the country. (See a map.)
White House officials have privately reassured themselves by noting that polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans support withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
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| 2. Part 2: What Biden is thinking with Taliban on a tear |
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The
Taliban flag flies in the main square of Kunduz, one of the country’s
largest cities, after fighters seized the strategically important
provincial capital. Photo: Abdullah Sahil/AP Senior U.S. officials privately express little confidence in the Afghan security forces, Axios can report.
A former senior U.S. intelligence officer with extensive experience in the region, who remains in touch with his former colleagues, tells Axios they're despondent — and have accepted that Biden is "dug in" and that resistance is "futile."
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Axios he discussed the situation in Afghanistan on Monday with Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and there's "no chance" Biden changes his troop withdrawal strategy.
The intrigue: A Biden State Department spokesperson told Axios that Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy, is in Doha, where the Taliban has its political office, to "press the Taliban to stop their military offensive and to negotiate a political settlement."
Asked about that, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Axios: "We have never yielded to any foreign pressure tactics before and we do not plan to capitulate any time soon either."
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| 3. Profits soar despite cost squeeze |
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Data: FactSet. Chart: Axios Visuals America's biggest companies are hitting record profit margins despite rising costs for supplies and labor, Axios Markets editor Sam Ro writes.
S&P 500 companies are reporting an average net profit margin of 13% in Q2, according to FactSet data through Friday.
Between the lines: Small businesses have had a harder time absorbing and passing along increased costs.
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A message from Facebook |
| Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up |
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Facebook supports updated regulations, including four areas where lawmakers can make quick progress:
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| 4. Crypto gets captured |
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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios |
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Cryptocurrency is beloved by people who want to transact outside the reach of government. But it's gotten mainstream enough that politicians and regulators want control, Axios' Felix Salmon reports.
What's happening: As crypto assets grew to be worth well over $1 trillion, investors and financiers increasingly wanted to get involved.
What's next: SEC chair Gary Gensler — who taught a course on cryptocurrencies at MIT — gave an important speech last week laying out a maximalist vision for how his agency can regulate crypto. The bottom line: Cryptocurrency's future may be as an integral part of the existing financial system, regulated just as much as any other financial product. |
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5.  Biden's $1 trillion win
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Photo: Senate TV via Reuters Above, Vice President Harris presides as the Senate votes 69-30 — with 19 Republican "aye"s — to pass President Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Now the infrastructure bill goes to the House. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced members will return from recess Aug. 23. Read Hoyer's letter.
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| 6. Cuomo considered feel-good ads in final days |
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Courtesy N.Y. Post Desperate to head off impeachment, advisers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo considered person-on-the-street TV ads featuring New Yorkers who thought he was doing a great job, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).
Cuomo confidants told The Times that until the end, he seemed to "evince a certain daredevil's thrill in sizing up the long political odds — and fancying himself the rare breed capable of surmounting them."
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7.  White population declines
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For the first time in the history of the U.S. census, the number of white people is expected to show a decline — a benchmark that's coming eight years earlier than projected, the WashPost reports.
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8.  1 foot thing: Paris welcomes Messi
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Photo: Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Meanwhile, in Barcelona ... Workers ripped down Messi's photo from outside the team's Camp Nou stadium. |
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A message from Facebook |
| Why Facebook supports the DETER Act |
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Communication around elections has changed a lot in the last 25 years — the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed. That's why Facebook supports updated internet regulations — like the DETER Act, to help protect election integrity against foreign interference. |
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, tech 
. In the crypto world, Coinbase said that ethereum trading volumes topped bitcoin’s last quarter.
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Marvel's Avengers
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Sameer Al-Doumy/Getty Images
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Equinox
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GAMESThe Puzzle Section |
Word Search: Today's puzzle is not good, it's gr-r-reat! Play it here.
Nick Trivia
On this day 30 years ago, three classic cartoons all premiered on Nickelodeon. Can you name them?
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