| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, August 31, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. A U.S. general's ghostly image books a place in history, South Africa detects a new coronavirus variant, and play time's over for China's young video gamers | | | | | Today's biggest stories  U.S. Army Major General Chris Donahue steps on board a transport plane in Kabul, August 30, 2021 in a photograph using night vision optics AFGHANISTAN Celebratory gunfire resounded across Kabul as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn, following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist militia stronger than it was in 2001.
Carrying his rifle down by his side, Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the storied 82nd Airborne Division, became the last U.S. soldier to board the final flight out of Afghanistan a minute before midnight.
Less than 40% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden's handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and three quarters wanted U.S. forces to remain in the country until all American civilians could get out, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
Even before the last U.S. flight left Kabul, many of the bright and garish sights and sounds of city life in Afghanistan were changing as those left behind tried to fit in with the austere tone of their new Taliban rulers.
So what happens now? Read our explainer.
|  Theophilus Charles, 70, sits inside his house which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ida in Houma, Louisiana, August 30, 2021 U.S.
Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, knocked out power to over 1 million homes in Louisiana and prompted rescue operations in flooded communities around New Orleans. We spoke to one man who rode out the storm in his destroyed home, and visited a post-Hurricane Katrina refuge that has been rocked by Ida.
The U.S. Department of Education is opening civil rights investigations to determine whether five states that have banned schools from requiring masks are discriminating against students with disabilities. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Education said it has withheld funds from two school districts that made masks mandatory in classrooms this fall.
The number of hate crimes in the United States rose last year to the highest level in more than a decade, driven by a rise in assaults targeting Black victims and victims of Asian descent, the FBI reported. Georgia prosecutors affirmed their intention to seek the death penalty in Atlanta's Fulton County for the suspect accused of murdering four people at two Asian-run day spas there, characterizing the shootings as hate crimes.
Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an Ohio man accused of striking a police officer during the deadly January 6 Capitol riot and then trying to grab his gas mask as another rioter fired bear spray at police. The congressional committee probing the attack told 35 telephone, email and social media companies to preserve records which could be relevant to its investigation.
| | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Caldor fire encroaches on heavily populated areas Residents and tourists in communities near Lake Tahoe fled as a fierce, two-week-old wildfire roared closer to the popular resort destination through drought-parched forests in northern California's Sierra Nevada mountains. | | | | And finally… Murray's victory hopes go down the toilet  Stefanos Tsitsipas used his bathroom break when nature called at the U.S. Open but opponent Andy Murray fumed about the lengthy disruption as his hopes of scoring an opening round upset were flushed away. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
