Monday, Aug. 30

· The FBI released its annual hate crimes report showing that the number of hate crimes in the United States increased to its highest level in more than a decade, with heightened assaults targeting Black and Asian-descent victims in particular. The data showed 7,759 identified hate crimes in 2020, a 6% increase over 2019 and the highest since 2008.

· Al Jazeera reported that at least three children and three adults were killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting members of an ISIS Afghan subgroup in Kabul. U.S. Central Command said it was aware of the causalities and that the attacks also hit multiple suicide bombers preparing to attack the Kabul airport, where evacuations were ongoing.

· Bloomberg obtained a Aug. 25 letter from Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan directing staff to examine ways to crack down on mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas industry and to determine if gas station franchises were artificially driving up gas prices.

· The Pentagon announced that the final U.S. military flight left Kabul, completing the U.S.’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan one day before the deadline negotiated by former President Donald Trump with the Taliban. General Kenneth McKenzie said, “Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001.”

· Climate envoy John Kerry arrived in Japan to talk with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga about carbon emissions and cutting support for fossil fuels. He stopped in China the next day to speak with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua to “engage with international counterparts on efforts to address the climate crisis,” the State Department said.

Tuesday, Aug. 31

· President Joe Biden gave a speech at the White House defending the U.S.’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying, “Let me be clear: leaving August 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save American lives … I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit.”

· U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez threw out a major Trump administration rule that scaled back federal protections for streams, marshes and wetlands. The Trump administration ruling had replaced an expansive Obama administration ruling that protected broad swaths of the nation’s waters.

Wednesday, Sept. 1

· State Department and Pentagon officials said the U.S. is engaged in “ongoing intensive diplomatic work” to help U.S. citizens and allies evacuate Afghanistan. “We are looking at all possible options — air routes, land routes — to continue to find ways for them to help evacuate and to support them in that,” Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said.

· Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House and assured him that the U.S. remains opposed to “Russian aggression” in eastern Europe. “The partnership between our nations grows stronger and its going to become even stronger,” Biden said, lauding their “similar value system.”

· U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert D. Drain adopted a settlement that granted the owners of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, broad protections from current and future litigation related to claims related to the opioid epidemic.

· The Supreme Court’s conservative majority refused to block Texas’ law passed Wednesday banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, denying an emergency appeal from abortion providers and allies that sought to prevent the law’s enforcement.

Thursday, Sept. 2

· Biden approved a federal declaration of emergency for California to help firefighters combating the Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe.

· Alexanda A. Kotey, a member of the Islamic State, pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in the kidnapping and beheading of four Americans in Syria in 2013.

Friday, Sept. 3

· Biden visited Louisiana for a firsthand look at the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which struck the Gulf Coast the weekend prior and caused torrential rains, flooding and devastation all along the east coast. “My message to everyone affected is: We’re all in this together,” Biden said. “The nation is here to help.”

· Jacob Chansley, also known as the “Q Shaman,” pled guilty to a felony charge carrying a prison sentence of up to 20 years for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

· Biden ordered the Justice Department and other agencies to begin a six-month process of declassifying documents related to the investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “When I ran for president,” Biden said, “I made a commitment to ensuring transparency regarding the declassification of documents on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America. As we approach the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, I am honoring that commitment.”

· The Treasury Department sanctioned four Iranian intelligence officials whom it alleged targeted an individual it did not name but who is likely Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist, in a failed kidnapping plot.

· The South China Morning Post published a report saying that talks between the U.S. and China on climate change failed, with China rebuffing climate envoy Kerry’s proposal to publicly commit to the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit limit of global warming targeted in the 2015 Paris Agreement among other goals. “China already has its own plans and road map for achieving its climate goals,” Chinese leaders were quoted as telling Kerry.

· The Commerce Department announced it plans to shut down an internal security unit that conducted rogue surveillance and investigations into people of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent “even in the absence of a discernible threat.”

Saturday, Sept. 4

· The Navy released a statement declaring five crewmembers dead in its Pacific Fleet after they went missing after their military helicopter crashed off the coast of San Diego.

Sunday, Sept. 5

· No news to report.