World News: Your weekend long reads 🗞️

Saturday, August 28

Good morning, friends of The Short List! If you slept in a little later today, you are excused: It was quite a week in the news world. It's John, and I'm here to catch you up on some great reads you may have missed.

Afghanistan

►The United States' grinding exit from Afghanistan took a deadly turn this week, with Marines, other US service members and civilians killed in an attack outside the airport in Kabul. Even before the attack, Hamid Karzai International Airport was the scene of daily drama – explained in this visual piece – of Americans and Afghans scrambling to get on one of the last flights out of the city.

►The thousands of Afghans who made it to the U.S. may be safe from Taliban, but they now face the daunting task of restarting their lives amid a difficult and complicated immigration process.

►Even before the airport attack, the chaotic end of the Afghan war was taking a toll on President Joe Biden's popularity. A USA TODAY/Suffolk poll out this week put Biden's job approval at 41%, with 55% disapproving. Before this week, national polls generally showed his approval rating above 50%.

COVID-19

►As Florida sees the worst of its COVID-19 pandemic, few places have been hit as hard as Jacksonville. "It's been very overwhelming. It's been traumatizing," said nurse Akira Rivera-Perez, 24, "You see patients just go down so quickly. We only have so much we can do. And sometimes, that's not enough."

►Just as quickly as the new school year started, many children were sent back home after a slew of COVID-19 outbreaks. So are schools the the problem? Yes and no, experts said. Low community vaccination rates are also a factor.

Surfside condo collapse

►As many as nine of the 98 victims who died in the collapse of Champlain Towers might have survived the initial cave-in only to perish later in the rubble, a USA TODAY investigation of fire rescue logs found. The investigation raises questions about whether any of the victims could have been rescued and how the disaster has been investigated.

As if that weren't enough, there are more great reads below. But get some rest, OK?