More than 100 students, alumni and faculty members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music have been flown out of Kabul on their way to Portugal, where the government has agreed to grant them asylum, the institute’s director said Monday.

They were on board a flight carrying 235 people out of Kabul’s international airport to Qatar on Sunday. It was the largest airlift of Afghan nationals since Taliban fighters seized Afghanistan in mid-August, two weeks before the U.S. and NATO withdrew their forces from the country after a 20-year military presence.

“You cannot imagine how happy I am. Yesterday I was crying for hours,” the school’s founder and director, Ahmad Sarmast, said from his home in Melbourne, Australia.

The musicians join tens of thousands of Afghans, including many from the country’s sports and arts scene, who have fled since August. Among the recent evacuees are Afghanistan’s female robotics team, known as the “Afghan Dreamers,” and a girls soccer team who resettled in Mexico and Portugal, respectively.

Source: More than 100 Afghans from music school flown out of country

Source: Senate Confirms 4th Native American Judge On The Entire Federal Bench | HuffPost Communities

A Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire is being denounced by his own party’s leaders for his bizarre claims about the COVID-19 vaccines, which included that the vaccines contain “living organism(s) with tentacles.” And he’s currently blocking millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 aid while he embarrasses the state GOP.

State Rep. Kenneth Weyler (R) emailed a 52-page “report” to his colleagues about COVID-19 and the vaccines with numerous ridiculous claims, including that the pandemic was a plot developed by leaders in the Vatican, London, and D.C. to control people’s thoughts with 5G technology.

Source: GOP lawmaker blocks $27M in COVID funds because vaccines contain “living organisms with tentacles” / LGBTQ Nation

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, which regulates pipelines, decided rural police should not have to pay for increased strain from Line 3 protests. As a condition of granting Line 3 permits, the commission required Enbridge to set up an escrow account to reimburse police for responding to demonstrations.

Enbridge told the Guardian an independent account manager allocates the funds, and police decide when protesters are breaking the law. But records obtained by the Guardian show the company meets daily with police to discuss intelligence gathering and patrols. And when Enbridge wants protesters removed, it calls police or sends letters.

“Our police are beholden to a foreign company,” Tara Houska, founder of the Indigenous frontline group Giniw Collective, told the Guardian. “They are working hand in hand with big oil. They are actively working for a company. Their duty is owed to the state of Minnesota and to the tribal citizens of Minnesota.”

Source: Revealed: pipeline company paid Minnesota police for arresting and surveilling protesters | Minnesota | The Guardian

UCLA Health said in a statement that active employees not working remotely must be vaccinated or receive an exemption, in compliance with the state public health order. “Those out of compliance are subject to progressive discipline, including restricting access to work sites and being placed on leave,” the statement said.

It is unclear what consequences Rake faced as a result. Rake did not respond to a request for comment.

UCLA Health employees are required to receive the annual flu vaccine and to provide documentation of vaccination or immunity to certain infectious diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, pertussis and meningitis.

This year, the flu and COVID-19 vaccines were added to the UCLA immunization requirement list for students.

At the Aug. 29 anti-vaccination rally, Rake urged onlookers not to request any exemptions for the vaccine. He claimed that asking for an exemption “was agreeing with the totalitarian lie that some other group has authority over your body.”

Source: UCLA anesthesiologist, vocal against COVID vaccine mandates, is escorted out of workplace – Los Angeles Times

President Biden today announced he is investing $1 billion dollars to quadruple the national supply of at-home COVID-19 tests by December.

“We will have a 200 million test supply by December,” said Jeff Zients, COVID-19 coordinator, during a White House press briefing. “At the same time we are increasing the supply of at-home tests, we are expanding access to free testing. Every American, no matter their zip code, can access free testing.”

Zients said the Biden administration was also focused on expanding the number of free, community-based testing sites to 30,000 across the country, including 20,000 sites at pharmacies.

Source: Biden administration boosts at-home COVID-19 test supply | CIDRAP