National Security Biden Administration Says It Will Withdraw U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11 A senior administration official said that all U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that prompted America's involvement in its longest war. Rachel Treisman
World 'Our Houses Are Not Safe': Residents Fear Taliban In Afghanistan's Capital The Taliban have waged attacks across the country, prompting a call to reduce the violence from Gen. Mark Milley. In Kabul, the public worries about the Taliban's return. Diaa Hadid Fazelminallah Qazizai
World White House Orders Thousands Of U.S. Troops Withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq The American troop presence will decline in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. Senior military leaders oppose the move. Dustin Jones
Health The Campaign To Wipe Out Polio Was Going Really Well ... Until It Wasn't It looked as if polio would be the second human disease to be eliminated by vaccine — after smallpox. But "2020 has been a terrible year," the head of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative says. Jason Beaubien
World Khalilzad: 'A Moment For The Afghan Leaders Not To Repeat The Mistakes Of The Past' With talks begun between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban, U.S. special envoy for Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad tells NPR the U.S. has "tested" the Taliban and "they are meeting those tests." NPR Staff
Education Coal Miner's Daughter Is A Heartwarming Hero In Afghanistan Shamsia Alizada dropped out of the Madwdud Academy in Kabul after a suicide bomber killed more than 40 students. But she returned — and has scored top grades on the country's college entrance exams. Diaa Hadid
World Cited In Many Operations, Russia's GRU Is Suspected In Afghan Bounty Case Russian military intelligence, the GRU, is linked to the invasion of Ukraine and interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Now it's suspected of a bounty program to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Greg Myre
World Russia Denies Allegations It Paid Militants To Kill U.S. Troops As 'Nonsense' A bounty program on U.S. soldiers would constitute a "massive escalation" in Moscow's testy relations with Washington, says one Russia expert. A Russian lawmaker asks: "What would we get out of this?" Lucian Kim
National Afghan Interpreter Who Saved U.S. Troops Gets American Citizenship Janis Shinwari, an Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military, grabbed a rifle in the heat of battle and saved U.S. troops in 2008. Twelve years later, he became a U.S. citizen. Greg Myre
Health All-Girl Robotics Team In Afghanistan Works On Low-Cost Ventilator ... With Car Parts Automated ventilators are expensive. Hand-operated ventilators require a lot of labor. So these teens are on a quest to create a mechanized bag-valve-mask that'll do the job. Diaa Hadid Khwaga Ghani
