⚡️ House Speaker Pelosi's Office says Taliban takeover was not inevitability, but 'possibility'

❗️ Biden says US had contingency plans for rapid collapse of Afghanistan that is underway now

#LIVE | Joe Biden addresses Taliban's power grab in Afghanistan after fall of Kabul

https://sptnkne.ws/Hbtm

UPDATE | Biden on situation in Afghanistan: 'This unfolded quicker than we anticipated'

MORE | Biden warns of 'devastating' response if Taliban attack US interests

🇺🇸 Biden delivered a forceful, if aggressive, speech refusing to walk back any of the decisions he took with regards to Afghanistan:

▪️"I stand squarely behind my decision, after 20 years I've learned the hard way there is never a good time to withdraw US Forces."

▪️"American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war, and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves."

▪️"We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence and humanitarian aid."

▪️"Our true strategic competitors Russia and China would live seeing us spending billions of dollars [in Afghanistan]."

▪️"Over the coming days we intend to transport out thousands of American citizens who have been living and working in Afghanistan."

▪️"I'm deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do no regret my decision to end America's war-fighting in Afghanistan."

▪️"Our troops are working to secure the airfield."

It's not that we left Afghanistan. It's the grossly incompetent way we left!

#LIVE | Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby holds briefing on Afghan crisis

https://sptnkne.ws/HbtU

🇺🇸US President Joe Biden is expected to speak at the high-level week of the UN General Assembly on September 21, according to a provisional list of speakers obtained by Sputnik.

📝 Commenting on Obama's Instagram page was briefly suspended as commentators urged the former president to do something about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Before it was turned off, the comment section was reportedly littered with hashtags such as #help_afghanistan and #afghanistanisbleeding.

Moreover, during the same period, comments on the Instagram feed of Michelle Obama were disabled.

Sen. Rick Scott , who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a call to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, demanding a bipartisan, bicameral investigation on the dialogue and series of events associated with Biden's "careless" pullout of US troops from Afghanistan.

🗣 "After the disastrous events in Afghanistan, we must confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment?"

🔗 The Biden administration plans to accept up to 30,000 Afghan refugees, according to a new report.

When and if they arrive, they could be housed at bases including Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas.

Sure, if only they reach the US safely first

🗣 "I hereby determine... that it is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the MRAA in an amount not to exceed $500 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected urgent refugee and migration needs of refugees, victims of conflict, and other persons at risk as a result of the situation in Afghanistan," Biden said in a memorandum for the Secretary of State

🇨🇳🇺🇸🇦🇫China is ready to cooperate with the United States on Afghanistan to prevent a civil war and prevent the country from becoming a breeding ground for terrorism again, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

🎂 A b-day he won't soon forget.

While thinking about how you would like to entertain your child on his birthday, make sure it doesn't end up being traumatic experience instead, like the case of a little boy from Utah.

🐊 The boy's family decided to provide him with some adventure and see how an alligator gets fed. At some point, the gator's handler wasn't paying close enough attention and her hand ended up getting trapped in between the reptile's teeth

🇮🇳 🇺🇸 India has sought US assistance in restoring airport operations in Kabul in order to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals stuck in Afghanistan.

India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to seek the American government's help

https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1427381207281639425?s=20

🇦🇫 🚗 Videos of Taliban men enjoying rides at an amusement park in Afghanistan have gone viral. The videos surfaced on social media a day after the Afghan fighters captured Kabul

⛔ Facebook confirms it has suspended all Taliban-related accounts

Several Afghan women have taken to the streets of Kabul demanding respect for their rights