• Hours after the Trump administration’s envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad announced an agreement “in principle” with the Taliban to withdraw 5,400 U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeted the Green Village compound, which houses several international organizations and guesthouses in Kabul. The Taliban claimed credit for the bombing which killed 16 and injured 100 people.
(“The U.S. Deal With the Taliban Already Looks Like a Disaster,” Vice News, Sept. 3, 2019; “Son of Afghan Resistance Hero Criticizes ‘Secretive’ U.S. Taliban Deal,” Reuters, Sept. 6, 2019; “Talking in Qatar, Bombing in Kabul,“ Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 9, 2019)
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s top legislative leaders are advocating a housing bill to establish rent and eviction protections for some 3 million vulnerable tenants. The legislation would impose a cap on rent increases of 5 percent, plus inflation annually over the next decade, beyond what was accepted by the powerful California Association of Realtors. The move comes one year after California voters rejected a state referendum that would have expanded rent control regulations.
(“Newsom and Top California Lawmakers Strike a Deal to Cap Rent Increases,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 30, 2019; “Meet the Eviction Defenders Helping to Keep Tenants at Home,” Christian Science Monitor, July 30, 2019)
• In late August, 20,000 AT&T workers went on a 4-day strike over basic demands for human freedom and dignity, in 9 of the 13 states that once made up the Civil War era Confederacy. In their job action, workers confronted the legacy of Jim Crow laws, which over the decades had mutated into an extreme form of anti-unionism called “right to work” laws.
(“Strike: Ready to Fight back,” Nation, Sept. 2, 2019)
