Vast J’lem fire coming under control * Afghan women on Taliban ’nightmare’; Biden defiant; 640 on a plane * Battling COVID Bennett finds governing harder than campaigning

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Tuesday, August 17, 2021 [Huge Jerusalem-area blaze coming under control, but hotspots still spell danger]( By [TOI staff]( [Blaze surpasses scale of 2010 Carmel fire, and officials predict decades of rehabilitation; Palestinians send firefighters amid ongoing race to douse dozens of flareups]( [Fire chief: Massive blaze near Jerusalem hopefully contained but may surge again]( By [TOI staff]( Analysis [Haviv Rettig Gur]( [Battling COVID, Bennett discovers governing is a little tougher than campaigning]( [Neophyte PM vowed he’d do better than Netanyahu, notably in the fight against the virus. He even wrote a book about it. Then came reality, the Delta variant and a lockdown dilemma]( [Israel records over 8,500 daily COVID infections as serious cases climb to 559]( By [TOI staff]( [Classes in high-infection areas to study remotely unless 70% of kids vaccinated]( By [TOI staff]( ToI podcast [Daily Briefing Aug. 17 – Israel takes on fires, surging pandemic… and sugar?]( By [TOI staff]( [David Horovitz updates listeners on the third day of destructive blazes and on the COVID vaccine campaign; Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren explores the new sugary drink tax]( [Erased from the public space, Afghan women describe unfolding Taliban nightmare]( By [Jerome TAYLOR]( [Prominent women in Kabul take to social media to express their pain for both a country and a way of life stolen now that Islamist militia back in control]( [Targeted killings, abuse of women reported after Taliban takeover – UN officials]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Afghanistan’s female soccer players call for help amid Taliban takeover]( By [Rob Harris]( [Striking photo shows 640 desperate people fleeing Kabul crammed in US army plane]( By [TOI staff and AP]( [Hundreds of panicked Afghans pulled themselves up through the C-17’s half-open ramp, and ‘the crew made the decision to go’]( [Afghan president said to flee country with cars and helicopter full of cash]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [Defiant Biden blames Afghan debacle on leaders who fled, army that didn’t fight]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Amid chaos following Taliban sweep to victory, US president says he ‘stands squarely behind’ pull-out decision, lamenting that Afghans lacked will to determine their own future]( [‘We warned them for months’: Pentagon ire mounts over Biden Afghanistan pullout]( By [Sylvie LANTEAUME]( [US allies tear into Biden administration over Afghanistan ‘failure’]( By [Hui Min NEO]( [$83 billion US spent on Afghan army ultimately benefits Taliban]( By [Robert Burns]( [Who is Abdul Ghani Baradar, the man who led the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan?]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [The de facto leader of the newly declared Islamic Emirate was raised in the birthplace of his insurgent group and jailed in 2010 — until the US requested his release in 2018]( [Taliban declares ‘amnesty,’ urges women to join government; observers skeptical]( By [ahmad seir, TAMEEM AKHGAR, KATHY GANNON and Jon Gambrell]( [Hamas praises Taliban for causing American ‘downfall’ in Afghanistan]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [A million Israelis get third dose, with early data showing heightened protection]( By [TOI staff]( [Figures said to offer good news in government’s bid to outrace Delta variant with vaccine booster campaign: Recipients 2.5 times more protected than those who only got two shots]( [US to recommend COVID vaccine boosters for all citizens 8 months after 2nd shot]( By [Zeke Miller]( [Pfizer submits clinical data on 3rd dose to FDA for authorization]( By [AFP]( Live updates [LIVE: Visiting Gaza border, Bennett vows to respond to rockets ‘on our terms’]( By [Amy Spiro]( [‘Our mission is to provide long-term security for the residents of the south,’ says prime minister alongside defense minister and IDF chief of staff]( Top Ops [Susannah Schild]( [8 accessible nature walks everyone will love]( [When a hike is more challenge than you want to undertake, don’t worry: you can experience the magic of the great outdoors on Israel’s flatter, shorter trails]( [Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll]( [Fundamentalism never dies]( [Fight extremism the moment you see it, for unless you are as fervent in your beliefs as the fundamentalists are in theirs, they will eventually come for you too]( [Why are we still so obsessed with Hitler? Unconventional docu tries to find out]( By [Andrew Lapin]( [‘The Meaning of Hitler,’ released last week in theaters and on-demand, seeks to examine our fascination with one of history’s unique evils, without encouraging Nazi fetishists]( [Poland recalls envoy to Israel in row over Holocaust claims]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Move comes after Israel recalled ambassador and called Polish anti-compensation law ‘antisemitic’]( [Blinken laments Polish president’s authorization of Holocaust restitution law]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Warsaw threatens to end ‘anti-Polish’ Israeli youth Holocaust memorial trips]( By [TOI staff]( [IAEA: Iran producing uranium metal, which can be used in nuclear bomb]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [UN nuclear watchdog says Tehran produced 200g of material enriched up to 20%, in further departure from deal]( Analysis [Ron Kampeas]( [One year on, here’s how the Abraham Accords are holding up]( [Degree to which normalization agreements are thriving varies by country, and it doesn’t look like there are any imminent new members of the club, but experts say deals here to stay]( A show of faith [10 Jewish facts about ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mayim Bialik you should know]( By [Maddy Albert]( [The television star is proud of her roots, and uses her broad reach to help educate viewers about her cultural and religious values]( [CRM]( [Abandoned Bulgarian synagogue to become cultural center and interfaith hub]( By [Jonah Goldman Kay]( More Headlines [Woman sues Bob Dylan for alleged sexual abuse in 1965 when she was 12]( By [AFP]( [Holocaust scholars in Poland win closely watched libel case on appeal]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Israel intercepts 23 tons of chocolate it says was intended to finance Hamas]( By [TOI staff]( [Petal project / Wildflowers will go forth from Jerusalem]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir tests positive for COVID-19]( By [TOI staff]( [Arizona is 8th state to weigh sanctioning Ben & Jerry’s over settlement boycott]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Lithuania scraps plan for swish $25M conference center on old Jewish cemetery]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Biopic of a nation / Gordis’s ‘Concise History’ of Israel to become 6-part docuseries]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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