
US left to depend on the Taliban for a safe exit from Afghanistan defeat
CNN
The depth of the mess the United States finds itself in Afghanistan is encapsulated by the fact that it must now effectively rely on its enemy, the Taliban, as it extricates itself from the humiliating endgame of its longest war.
As President Joe Biden returned to Washington Tuesday, breaking off his vacation at Camp David for a second time, the White House said that the Taliban had agreed to provide safe passage to Kabul's airport for civilians who have the right to live in the United States. But the assurances raise multiple questions, including:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









