The U.S. officially started moving troops out of Afghanistan late last month as part of President Biden’s plan for a full withdrawal by September 11.

🤿 A deeper dive…
At least 2,500 U.S. troops are currently deployed as part of a 9,600-member NATO Afghan mission, while another ~1k troops are reportedly in the country “off the books.”

• The Trump administration had agreed to fully withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by May 1 in a deal with the Taliban signed in February 2020.

Then… President Biden extended that deadline to September 11 in an announcement last month.

• In response, the Taliban said that any American presence in the country on or beyond May 1 - last Saturday - would be considered a breach of the February 2020 deal, leading them to resume attacks on U.S. forces.

⏭️ What’s Next?
The Pentagon and State Department are preparing for possible Taliban attacks on U.S. troops and officials between now and September 11.

• From the AP: “Even the most seasoned American analysts of the Afghan conflict are unsure what to expect of the Taliban. Bruce Riedel, a Middle East analyst at the Brookings Institution and former CIA analyst, wrote this week that it’s unclear whether the insurgents will attempt to disrupt the withdrawal, but he says they may escalate the war.”

🦠💉 COVID Update

Images: CDC

• The 7-day average of new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. hit its lowest point since July 2020 on Friday, per a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins data.

President Biden unveiled a new federal goal of administering at least one dose of a vaccine to 70% of U.S. adults by July 4, which would mean providing ~100M shots over the next 60 days.

• However… the pace of vaccinations has fallen in recent weeks.

Biden said his administration would begin reallocating some doses to states with a higher demand for shots and direct pharmacies to offer walk-in vaccinations.

• He also said they are “ready to move immediately” if the FDA approves Pfizer’s vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15, a decision the agency is expected to make by early next week (per the NYT).

The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge is open for business.

• Located in Portugal, the 516 Arouca bridge measures roughly 1,692 feet long (or 516 meters, hence the name) and is suspended 574 feet above a river.

+Bonus: UK label Marques’Almeida held a fashion show on location recently. Guess what the runway was…

Yes - "I think transparency and honesty have a lot of facets. In education, we talk a lot about students who are able to show up as their "whole selves", versus people who can only present one side of themselves. I think adults should want to spend their time and energy in a place where they can be their "whole selves" as well, and that includes being able to have honest, open conversations about money and political beliefs. Growth and understanding comes through dialogue."

No - "The current political and social climate is not conducive to discussion, which is a form of communication where people listen to understand and learn and transcend to a higher level of understanding and awareness. Rather, the current climate is one where the only interaction seems to debate, and people are not listening to understand, but listening to counter, to prove wrong, and perhaps even listening for things to further inflame heightened emotions."

Unsure - "I worry that if you ARE able to discuss politics, an employee’s political views could be used against them in the workplace, either explicitly or implicitly. But if it’s not allowed, I worry one could avoid important conversations (sexual harassment, racial bias, etc) by labeling them “political,” and therefore untouchable."

From a teacher’s view - "I'm torn on how to think about this. As an educator, I know I'm having these conversations daily and shaping young citizens' perspectives and opinions (which is political). But I also respect the view that schools are a-political and should be a neutral space to think freely without teacher influence. So I see and understand both sides. But if we include politics in our classrooms all the time, this could become a platform for teachers to show their biases more than they should. However, students already have a lot of biases from what they hear at home. Tough question!"

+Note: We received 431 responses.

For years, cancer survivor Mike Cohen spent his days biking and maintaining an active lifestyle to keep his immune system as strong as it could be – that is, until his heart began to fail.

Images: Reader's Digest

Six-years after his cancer treatment ended, a clot in his left artery pushed James to the top of full heart transplant list. Thankfully, he received a new heart soon after.

• His donor? James Mazzuchelli, a former 32-year-old Navy flight surgeon who lost his life in a helicopter training flight.

Mike next to James' parents

When Mike received a letter from James’ mother Christine in the mail, he decided to show her just how strong his new heart was by cycling all the way from James’ grave in California to his parents’ house in Florida – 2,300 miles in total.

• After nearly two months of biking, Mike and Christine finally shared a deep hug, followed by tears of gratitude and relief.

“[My] old heart was like a two...  this heart is a ten.”

Read more.

🚀 Liftoff in 3... 2... 1...

Images: Blue Origin

Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, begins selling tickets today for the inaugural commercial flight of its New Shepard suborbital rocket.

• The flight, which is expected to occur later this year, will take paying customers into suborbital space for several minutes, allowing them to experience zero gravity and view Earth through a large array of windows.

Although Blue Origin has not yet revealed the price of the tickets, CEO Bob Smith said they will be in the “hundreds of thousands” of dollars range.

Read more.

Which of the following is not a retired flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream?

A) Wavy Gravy
B) Cutie Patootie
C) Bovinity Divinity
D) Dastardly Mash

(keep scrolling for the answer)

Merch – and even a mini-vacation – is at your fingertips. Simply: 

1. Copy your unique referral link below.
2. Post said link on social media, drop it in your group chat, post it in the company Slack channel, etc.
3. Watch the rewards roll in.

No link found!

B) Cutie Patootie

Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard.