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Aug. 10, 2021 10:39PM EST
U.S. envoy warns Taliban of international cutoff if Afghanistan is taken by force
Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States' special representative on Afghanistan reconciliation, warned the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday that any government formed by force will not be recognized internationally, according to AP.
Why it matters: Nine out of 34 Afghan provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban in recent days as the U.S. military withdraws, raising fears that the Afghan military will be unable to hold off the insurgent group.
- Khalilzad and the Biden administration are attempting to pressure the Taliban to negotiate a power-sharing agreement with the Afghan government to stabilize the country and prevent further violence and civilian causalities.
- The capitals of Farah, Baghlan and Badakshan provinces fell to the Taliban on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
The big picture: Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar called for sanctions against Taliban leadership in response to the provincial seizures, saying they violated commitments that the group gave to the U.S. in 2020.
- “The world community should come together to stop Taliban attacks on cities. This is a threat to international peace and security, not just a threat to Afghanistan,” Atmar told the Wall Street Journal.
- “Attacks on cities will have destabilizing consequences for the region and the international community—not only by sending refugees but also with the arrival of more foreign fighters to Afghanistan, which will pave the ground for other terrorist groups to come.”
The U.S. intelligence community has warned that the Afghan government could collapse as soon as next year as the Taliban's battlefield offensive grows.
- President Biden has called those assessments "wrong," saying the Afghan military outnumbers the Taliban and is better equipped.
- On Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the Afghan military would need to halt the Taliban's encroachment.
- “These are their military forces, these are their provincial capitals, their people to defend and it’s really going to come down to the leadership that they’re willing to exude here at this particular moment,” he said.
Go deeper: State Department urges U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan
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Jul. 06, 2021 09:45AM EST
The pandemic created boomerang-worker tech hubs — and they're not going away
"Boomerang workers" — those who've returned to their home towns to do remote work — rose with the pandemic, but the phenomenon shows signs of sticking around beyond it.
The big picture: Workers typically have to move to where the jobs are, centralizing top talent in big coastal cities. But as COVID drove rapid adoption of remote work, many people who were able to opted to return to their roots to be closer to family, raise kids in familiar settings or simply escape big city life.
What's happening: The boomerang effect isn't limited to any one industry. But tech workers in particular are choosing to leave big tech hubs like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York and moving back to previous stops, or to their own hometown or a spouse’s. That’s jumpstarting tech communities in some mid-sized cities.
For example, a large number of Tampa Bay natives have returned to the area after stints in bigger cities, bringing their contact lists and industry expertise with them.
- Allie Felix grew up in Tarpon Springs but left for venture capital jobs in San Francisco and New York. She moved back to join Embarc Collective, a startup and entrepreneur support hub in Tampa that launched in 2018.
- Whitney Holtzman, a Tampa native, honed her sports marketing skill in New York before returning to start her own business helping athletes grow their social media influence and reach.
Of course, plenty of people moved back home for a variety of reasons well before the pandemic hit — but they often had to leave their jobs behind when they did.
- Now that more companies are allowing remote work, employees often have the freedom to take their jobs with them when they high-tail it home. Or they are starting their own businesses.
“It’s very appealing for people to feel like they’re coming in on the ground floor” of a city’s tech scene, Lakshmi Shenoy, CEO of Embarc Collective. “They get to help build and shape it.”
Yes, but: The remote work option alone isn’t always enough. Shenoy said the biggest question people ask when thinking about moving back to the Tampa Bay Area are:
- Are there job opportunities in case the remote version of their current job doesn’t work out?
- Are there opportunities for their spouses?
- Are the schools good?
Between the lines: Part of the boomerang was driven by newly remote workers moving back to be closer to their parents for help with child care. But even among those who saw it as a temporary move, many are opting to stay. And those who can't work remotely are simply looking for local jobs.
- "A lot of people moved toward their parents for child care, and a lot of that will stick. Family relationships changed during the pandemic," said Betsey Stevenson, a University of Michigan economist.
In Tulsa, Okla., a program called Tulsa Remote offers people $10,000 to move to the city to work remotely.
- About 30% of those who've accepted the offer have lived in Tulsa or have a family connection to the city, said Ben Stewart, executive director of Tulsa Remote.
The other side: There’s no guarantee for how much of the boomerang will last as cities and offices re-open.
- The number of people working from home is already on the decline, per data from Indeed, although the level is still several times higher than pre-pandemic levels.
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Apr. 01, 2021 04:08AM EST
4 killed in Southern California shooting
A child is among four people killed in a shooting at an Orange County, California, office complex on Wednesday, authorities said.
For the record: It's the third mass shooting in the U.S. in the past two weeks, after eight people, including six Asian women, were killed at an Atlanta spa and 10 others were killed at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
Today at 5:30pm, the Orange Police Department responded to a call of shots fired at 202 W. Lincoln Ave. Officers arrived...
Posted by Orange Police Department on Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Dec. 10, 2024 10:12AM EST



