The White House said Monday that the US has evacuated or helped to get approximately 48,000 people out of Afghanistan since 14 August, with about 10,900 of them airlifted out during 12 hours Monday.

Rain fell at the highest point on the Greenland ice sheet last week for the first time on record, news wires reported. This is yet another worrying sign of warming for the ice sheet already melting at an increasing rate, scientists said cited by Reuters.

Police were investigating a report Thursday of a possible explosive device in a pickup truck outside the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill and have evacuated multiple buildings on the sprawling Capitol complex, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

More than 100 million US households, or 61% of all taxpayers, paid no federal income taxes last year, according to the US Tax Policy Center, CNBC reports.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced on Sunday that early elections would take place on 20 September, news wires reported. He said that Governor General Mary Simon had agreed to his request to dissolve parliament, opening the way to snap elections next month.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday that it has authorized a third Pfizer or Moderna jab for people with weakened immune systems. The measure allows for the use of an additional dose in certain immunocompromised individuals, such as organ transplant recipients, the FDA said in a statement, cited by dpa. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss further clinical recommendations regarding immunocompromised individuals.

The United States budget deficit surged to 2.54 trillion dollars for the first 10 months of the fiscal year. The budget gap was mainly due to spending over the government stimulus programmes aimed to offset the impact of the Covid-19 recession over the country's economy, AP reported. The US Treasury Department announced that the deficit through July is 9.5% lower than the same period a year ago.

Andrew Cuomo's resignation as governor of New York after a series of sexual misconduct accusations has turned a spotlight on his lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, who will become the first woman to lead the state in its 233-year history, news wires reported. Hochul is set to take over running the New York state government in two weeks from Cuomo, who announced his resignation on Tuesday. A report released last week by the state Attorney General’s office found that the three-term governor had sexually harassed at least 11 current and former staffers. Both Cuomo and his lawyer have strongly denied the allegations.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday marked the Senate's passage of a bipartisan infrastructure plan earlier in the day with a White House speech touting the political win and thanking Republican senators who voted with Democrats for what he said was their "courage" to come together to strike a deal for the American people, AP reported.

US announced it had decided to make vaccination against Covid-19 mandatory for all military personnel. The spread of pandemic including the new variants is seen threatening the readiness of the army, AP elaborated, citing the plans of the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the plans and said the mid-September deadline will be accelerated as infection rates continue to rise.