White House defends Yates firing

"We're not going back to the shutdowns of March of 2020," says White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, as the US national average of daily coronavirus cases tops 60,000 and is rising rapidly.

The White House announced plans to hold a virtual summit for democracy in December. Leaders of the world's democracies are set to take part.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is facing competition within his party as he struggles with crumbling approval rates ahead of a general election.

Other invaders to Afghanistan "will face what the United States has faced today," says the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid during a press conference on the tarmac of Kabul airport hours after the last US troops left the country. The United States' longest military conflict drew to a close when its forces abandoned Kabul's airport, ending two decades of war.

"We will get you out. We will honor your service," vows White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki after a former interpreter to Joe Biden begged him to save him and his family in a Wall Street Journal news article. The interpreter, who helped rescue Biden in a 2008 Afghan snowstorm, is in hiding after failing to join the Kabul evacuation airlift, according to the Journal.

With his popularity in freefall, Yoshihide Suga has said he will not enter a race for party leadership key to determining Japan's next prime minister. Markets have responded positively to the prospect of a new leader.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

Social media users have been sharing images that purport to be of Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. It's claimed they show he's leading a double life. The photos, supposedly, include him failing to wear a head covering and even posing alongside a woman who also isn't wearing a headscarf or veil. But by using reverse image searches and facial recognition technology, it's easy to see the photos are all of other people. The means to spot fakes are out there, but people have to want to look.

The ruling BJP party has been left without any serious challengers to its power as the Indian National Congress faces a leadership crisis in several states.

Hundreds of truck drivers wait for dozens of ships to unload their containers in California as the White House announces that it will now work 24 hours a day in an attempt clear the backlog.

The army is investigating a soldier suspected of firing toward protesters during Thursday's deadly clashes over the Beirut blast probe. Meanwhile, families of the blast victims have backed the judge leading the probe.