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Schneider had been sending inappropriate messages to a former teenage student at Franklin Middle School, according to the sheriff's office.

Juan Felipe Giraldo, 24, who was set to marry the mother of his child, Natalia Patiño, on Aug. 16, went missing in the town of Pereira after the disaster ravaged cities across the South American nation, international outlet Infobae reported. 

Inside Five Years Of Taliban Rule Since US Chaotic Exit

Via Middle East Eye

Five years after the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, 2021, Afghanistan has transformed from a chaotic battlefield into a functioning but deeply authoritarian state. Foreign troops are gone, and fragmented opponents have failed to mount a significant challenge to Kabul’s centralized control. The movement has established a degree of internal security unimaginable under the previous government. 

However, this stability rests on systematic exclusion, most notably of women, leaving the nation economically fragile and politically isolated. While the Taliban have proven they can govern without western support, they remain an international pariah managing a historic humanitarian crisis.

via AFP

Afghanistan today is quieter than before 2021, but it is also poorer, more isolated, and severely repressive towards half its population.  The regime's primary achievement in its first five years was territorial consolidation. The next five will test whether it can survive mounting internal and external pressures. 

Criminalization of Public Criticism

The central story of the last five years is the patient, quiet accumulation of power by the Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who operates from Kandahar. Since his appointment in 2016, Akhundzada has transitioned the movement from an insurgency to a rigid governing authority. 

Akhundzada has built a powerful network, ensuring key state positions, including the premiership, the central bank, and the chief justiceship, sit in Kandahari hands. This is reinforced by a massive patronage system of roughly 15,000 registered madrassas, in which students receive stipends and teachers receive graded salaries. This network secures the loyalty of the provincial clergy, the movement’s core constituency, by granting them both status and sustainable resources. 

In Kabul, high-profile figures such as Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Maulvi Yaqoob, and Amir Khan Muttaqi manage daily governance, economic policy, and foreign diplomacy. However, real power resides in Kandahar, where a 119-article criminal procedure code was quietly approved in early 2026 to cement absolute obedience and criminalize public criticism. 

“Hibatullah’s influence reaches far beyond religious affairs: major political, judicial, and administrative decisions increasingly reflect the preferences of the Kandahar leadership,” Muhammad Israr Madani, an Islamabad-based analyst and co-author of a book on state-building in the Taliban-led Afghanistan, told Middle East Eye.  

This centralization of power in Kandahar has “strengthened the Taliban’s ability to prevent internal fragmentation” while creating “resentment among commanders who believe that power is becoming excessively concentrated in one faction”, a mid-level Taliban leader who oversaw Khost told MEE in early 2024.  

Yet he emphasized that internal disagreement should not be mistaken for imminent collapse; top leaders recognize that unchecked conflict could cause the regime to crumble.

Ultimately, the Taliban have learned a crucial state-building lesson: durable control requires more than military force - it depends on patronage, financial leverage, ideological alignment, and the institutional capacity to systematically reward loyalty.

Economic void

Afghanistan faces a multifaceted economic crisis defined by structural dependency and extreme isolation. 

Following the 2021 takeover, Afghanistan lost international grants that previously covered 75 percent of public expenditure. The financial void was exacerbated by the freezing of $7bn in central bank assets and the suspension of US humanitarian funding in early 2025, which previously accounted for about 45 percent of the country’s aid lifeline.

While the Taliban have managed the economy better than many observers expected, expanding revenue collection through more effective customs duties and mining royalties, this has not translated into recovery for ordinary Afghans. Today, about 75 percent of Afghans cannot meet their basic needs. 

Economic expansion slowed from 2.3 percent in fiscal year 2023/2024 to 1.9 percent in 2024/2025, according to a May report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Rapid population growth, fuelled by the expulsion of over five million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan since 2023, has outpaced these minimal gains. Consequently, real GDP per capita fell by an estimated 2.1 percent in 2025/2026, straining communities with scarce jobs and overstretched infrastructure, the UNDP added.  

Compounded by natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, diplomatic isolation, and severe international banking restrictions, Kabul remains cut off from World Bank and IMF support, locking the nation into an unsustainable cycle of forced self-reliance. 

Even the regime’s most touted achievement, an opium ban that reduced poppy cultivation by 95 percent, has functioned as economic self-immolation for the poor. While landowning farmers reaped capital gains from soaring prices on existing stockpiles, the ban decimated the livelihoods of land-poor rural households who relied on opium for their income. 

Women: the defining cost of Taliban rule 

The suppression of women and girls remains the most globally condemned aspect of Taliban rule, with international organizations such as Human Rights Watch framing the system as “gender apartheid”.

A relentless succession of decrees from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has stripped women of fundamental freedoms, such as restrictions on movement, employment, and public life. Girls remain barred from secondary education, and women are prohibited from attending or teaching at universities. Enforcement has intensified sharply, with authorities detaining women for “improper hijab” or travelling without a male guardian. 

Reflecting this crisis, the International Criminal Court issued secret arrest warrants for Supreme Leader Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, citing gender-based persecution as a crime against humanity.

Taliban staged a simulated bomb attack on a US military convoy during fifth-anniversary events in Paktia, with footage showing an upside-down US flag on an armored vehicle before an explosion.

In Kandahar, Taliban and their supporters also paraded an effigy of President Trump… pic.twitter.com/NneauF56rU

— Amu TV (@AmuTelevision) August 15, 2026

Beyond its human toll, this policy represents severe economic self-sabotage. Barring women from the workforce deprives the nation of vital human capital while accelerating brain drain. The United Nations estimates that restricting female labor force participation costs Afghanistan up to $1bn annually, or nearly 6 percent of its GDP.

The structural fallout, particularly acute shortages of female healthcare workers, teachers, and civil servants, has been “crippling basic health and education delivery for a generation,” said a Kabul-based humanitarian expert working for a UN body.

By sacrificing half its population to enforce ideological purity, the regime is “dismantling the country’s prospects for sustainable economic recovery and long-term development”, he told MEE. 

The bitter divorce with Pakistan

The relationship between the Taliban and their historical sponsor, Pakistan, has undergone a catastrophic collapse, shifting from strategic partnership to “open war” by early 2026. 

Initially, Islamabad celebrated the Taliban’s August 2021 return to power as a major geopolitical victory that would secure Pakistan’s western border and eliminate Indian influence. Then-Prime Minister Imran Khan declared that Afghans had broken “the shackles of slavery”, while current Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted a photograph of a Taliban leader with former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, captioned, “God is great.”

However, that initial optimism quickly unraveled. The Taliban administration’s refusal to suppress the militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known colloquially as the "Pakistani Taliban", transformed the border between the countries into an active flashpoint. 

Islamabad accused the Taliban administration of granting the TTP safe havens and access to abandoned US weaponry, driving a sharp escalation in cross-border attacks. 

A recent UN Security Council report reinforced these concerns, reiterating that the “terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan remained largely unchanged”, and warning that militant sanctuaries pose an enduring risk to neighboring states and Central Asia. 

In response, Islamabad deployed aggressive coercive measures, deporting around 2.6 million Afghans since late 2023, repeatedly closing vital border crossings, and launching retaliatory air strikes inside Afghan territory. 

Publicly, Taliban officials reject allegations that they harbor TTP fighters, dismissing the violence as an internal Pakistani security crisis. Privately, however, managing the TTP has exposed deep ideological fractures within the regime. 

“Hardline elements within Taliban ranks view Pakistani militants as historical comrades-in-arms, making any forcible disarming politically unthinkable,” said a Taliban mid-level official now working with the interior ministry. 

He said that shielding the TTP is deepening Afghanistan’s international isolation, while taking aggressive action against it risks driving disaffected fighters directly into the ranks of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). 

Minority marginalization

The fifth year of Taliban rule has accelerated the systematic exclusion of Afghanistan’s religious and ethnic minorities, particularly Shia and Hazara populations, who comprise 15 percent of the country.

Despite early promises of inclusivity, Shia jurisprudence has been erased from legal systems, universities, and schools, stripping away protections won under the former republic. 

Local Shia leaders highlighted a recent Taliban decree shuttering two vital cultural institutions, the Khatam al-Nabieen Educational Centre and Tamadon TV. Furthermore, Supreme Leader Akhundzada has excluded Shia scholars from new provincial ulema councils, even in Shia-majority provinces like Bamiyan and Daykundi.

The Taliban "are systematically working to remove our sect from the country’s legal and educational landscape,” warned a Quetta-based Hazara Shia cleric connected to the Afghan Shia community, who chose to remain anonymous for safety concerns. 

Beyond the Shia population, the Taliban launched a sweeping crackdown on the Salafi minority under the guise of severing ISKP’s ideological pipeline, severely restricting access to mosques and seminaries. Analysts warn this heavy-handed repression risks alienating local communities and driving radicalized youth directly into ISKP’s ranks, exacerbating national instability.

Outlook

Five years after returning to power, the Taliban regime appears militarily entrenched yet structurally fragile. No organized opposition possesses the foreign backing, territory, or unified leadership needed to threaten Kabul. 

Armed groups like the National Resistance Front remain fragmented, incapable of challenging the regime’s centralized security apparatus. 

However, the regime’s greatest threat lies within its political architecture. Internal rifts continue to widen, prompting rare warnings from Akhundzada that discord could dismantle the government from within. While these political failures have not yet triggered a power crisis, an outright collapse would likely plunge Afghanistan into a civil war, devastating civilians and destabilising its neighbours. 

Demographics present an equally existential hurdle. With a stagnant economy and a population projected to double by 2050, long-term survival hinges on delivering livelihoods, food, and employment - a mandate current policies fail to meet. 

Internationally, pragmatic ties with Russia, China, and Central Asian neighbors provide economic lifelines without western recognition. Yet by governing through an extreme ideological police state, the leadership risks complete public alienation. 

The coming years will test whether the Taliban can transition from ruling through coercion to sustainable governance. Given their trajectory, this evolution remains improbable. Instead, persistent economic despair, social repression, and regional friction threaten to reignite systemic instability, preserving Afghanistan as an enduring catalyst for regional crises. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 23:20

As Shohei Ohtani’s manager, Dave Roberts knows how much a singular talent can mean to baseball.

Ben Rice is not producing like the Ben Rice from earlier this season.

Luis Robert Jr.’s next stop is left field.

Where In The World Are The Beer Lovers?

While many countries have their own special days to celebrate beer, one of the oldest alcoholic beverages known to humankind, International Beer Day is aimed at beer drinkers everywhere.

Every first Friday in August, special events are held in bars and pubs around the world.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, some countries' inhabitants might be more prone to celebrate than others.

You will find more infographics at Statista

A recent Statista Consumer Insight survey shows that some Latin American countries exhibit a share of between 35 and 44 percent of regular beer drinkers. Brazil tops the list with 44 percent of survey participants between legal drinking age and 64 years old regularly consuming the alcoholic drink usually made with malted barley, hops, water and yeast. Coming in first is Spain, however, with 45 percent of respondents saying the same.

Another Southern European country, Italy, also ranks high with 42 percent regular beer consumers.

Asia is also home to some of the biggest beer lovers, with 44 percent in Vietnam and 40 percent in Thailand saying they were regular beer drinkers. Muslim countries Malaysia and Indonesia see much fewer people drink beer on the regular, at just 15 percent and 6 percent, respectively. In China, the world's largest beer market, only a third of respondents say they are regular consumers. Overall, developing countries with younger populations are more likely to see higher beer consumption and production, while those with aging or shrinking populations typically see fewer beer drinkers.

Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom, countries associated with many popular beer brands and varieties, are closer to the 31-country average of around a third of respondents being regular beer drinkers.

In the United States, this figure was even lower at around a quarter of respondents between the ages of 21 and 64 years old.

While the Chinese may not be the biggest drinkers in the worlds, they are the world’s leading producer of beer, according to the latest BarthHaas Report. In 2025, the country’s output stood at 354 million hectoliters of beer. A hectoliter is equivalent to one hundred liters.

As the following chart shows, the United States is the second biggest producer of beer with an output of 175 million hectoliters last year. However, both countries have seen production decline over the past two years, as have a number of other nations, mostly in the developed world.

You will find more infographics at Statista

As the beer market struggles with changing consumption patterns and stagnating real incomes, countries with aging or declining populations have yet another factor weighing on the alcoholic beverage market.

Germany, Spain and Japan all saw their production fall over the course of the past two years.

Rounding off the top 5 countries are Brazil, Mexico and Russia, which all saw production increases since 2023. Asia showed more of a mixed picture with production increasing in Vietnam as well as India, Thailand and the Philippines, while it was down in China, Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, the African continent saw a significant 16 million hectoliter increase in output since 2023.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 22:45

A teen has been arrested in connection with the shooting that rocked Virginia State University Saturday morning and left five people wounded, one in critical condition

Investors who put $1.2 million into Wondermind claim Gomez and her mother "falsely represented" the company.

Investors who put $1.2 million into Wondermind claim Gomez and her mother "falsely represented" the company.

How Much Money Should You Convert To A Roth Each Year?

Authored by Javier Simon via The Epoch Times,

A Roth conversion allows you to turn funds in a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. As a result, you get to enjoy qualified tax-free withdrawals in retirement. And you avoid the required minimum distributions (RMDs) that may trigger major tax consequences for retirees.

Roth conversions can deliver major tax benefits, but knowing how much to convert is crucial. Jack_the_sparow/shutterstock

However, a Roth conversion can also set off surprise tax bombs if you convert a large enough amount. But if you convert too little, you could be letting substantial tax savings slip away.

Luckily, there's no maximum or minimum as to how much money you can convert to a Roth IRA.

So how much should you convert into a Roth IRA? Let's see what the experts say.

Convert Only Enough to Fill Lower Tax Brackets

The IRS treats the amount of money you convert into a Roth IRA as ordinary taxable income for the year in which you made the conversion.

So many financial advisers recommend you convert just enough to fill the marginal income tax bracket you're currently in without converting enough to push you into a higher one.

So let's see how you can do that step-by-step.

First, determine your taxable income for the year from all sources. This includes the following.

• Wages
• Social Security checks
• Pension payments
• Dividends and interest

Next, subtract your standard or itemized deductions. Most people take the standard deduction. In calculating how much of your social security income is taxable, the Social Security Administration has a website calculator that is highly useful.

Then, check to see the highest level of your current tax bracket and see how much room there's left before reaching the next highest one.

Now, let's crunch some numbers.

Suppose you're a 45-year-old individual with gross income for the year of $80,000 and you're filing single. Subtract the standard deduction of $16,100 to get $63,900 in taxable income. That puts you in the 22 percent tax bracket. The top level for that bracket is $105,700.

That means you have $41,800 to "fill" the 22 percent tax bracket before you spill into the 24 percent tax bracket.

So you can convert around $41,800 and stay in the 22 percent tax bracket, making it a potentially tax-efficient move.

But higher income individuals may need to tread a bit more lightly.

That's because Roth conversions could increase your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). And if it's high enough, it could trigger major surcharges on your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. These surcharges are called the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA).

So you should be aware of key thresholds you may want to avoid crossing - especially if you're near or over age 65. That's the age when you begin qualifying for Medicare.

IRMAA Thresholds

The Social Security Administration (SSA) determines whether you owe IRMAA to your Medicare premiums by looking at your MAGI from two years prior.

You may face IRMAA in 2026 if your 2024 MAGI was greater than $109,000 as an individual filer or if it was larger than $218,000 for couples filing jointly.

So you may want to run the IRMAA thresholds against your total MAGI. This would include the Roth conversion amount.

If you're in the 24 percent tax bracket, which opens at $105,701 in income, you may have little room to convert before you cross the IRMAA thresholds.

But a Roth conversion could still make sense if the pros outweigh the cons. Think about how much tax-free withdrawals in retirement, the avoidance of RMDs, and protection from potential future tax rate increases may benefit you.

Pro Tip: Timing Matters

Some financial advisers recommend considering Roth conversions during the sweet spot or gap years. This is generally the time after you retire, but before you begin collecting Social Security checks and before RMDs kick in (age 73 or 75, depending on birth year).

In theory, you would be in your lowest tax bracket at this time and have strong control over how you manage your cash flow from existing accounts.

But there's more you should be aware of.

Understand the 5-Year Rule

The five-year rule is key to the mechanism of a Roth IRA. But here's what you need to know about this rule when it specifically comes to Roth conversions.

In order to withdraw converted funds and their earnings tax-and-penalty-free, you must meet the following criteria.

• Have had the Roth account for at least five years
• Be at least 59.5 years old

If you withdraw converted funds before five years have elapsed and you're under age 59.5, you will likely face a 10 percent penalty on any pre-tax assets that were converted as well as the earnings. Plus, you'd owe income taxes on those earnings.

The Bottom Line

The right amount to convert depends on a variety of personal factors. These include your income, your current and future tax situation, your Medicare situation and more.

And remember, Roth conversions could be most ideal when you'd be in a higher tax bracket in the future than the one you are in now.

But you can also strategically make Roth conversions over time. This is known as staggering conversions. Nonetheless, you must understand that every conversion has its own five-year rule.

As you can see, a Roth conversion can be as beneficial as it is complex. So it's important to discuss this strategy with a qualified tax professional before you move forward.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 22:10

Hawaii-bound flyers were hit with a travel nightmare Saturday as Hurricane Lala strengthened near the Big Island, forcing airlines to cancel flights from LAX and slash service across the islands.

She's going viral after confronting an alleged shoplifter outside a Ross Dress for Less.

Costco is bringing back their cult-favorite sweet treat previously discontinued from its exclusive Kirkland brand — exciting bargain-loving frequent shoppers.

He celebrated a bit too early.

"Long gone are the days when revolutions involved pitchforks, torches, and angry mobs…"

There are two choices that should be no-brainers for California voters in November.

The Massachusetts Abortion Law Could Backfire On Democrats

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey spent this week signing away one of the last hard limits on abortion in a state that already ranked among the most permissive in the country, and now even some of her own party's lawmakers think she went too far.

The Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act strips away the state's statutory ban on abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Physicians in the state can now perform abortions at any point in the pregnancy, based on their own professional judgment, with no gestational cutoff written into law. The measure also expands legal protections for providers, shielding them from consequences that once accompanied performing procedures deep into the third trimester. Critics have a simple way of describing what changed: abortion in Massachusetts is now legal up until the moment of birth.

The bill cleared the Massachusetts House 119-33 on July 22, and the vote broke down almost exactly the way you would expect in a legislature that Democrats control by an overwhelming margin. Almost exactly, but not quite. Nine House Democrats voted with Republicans against the bill, and several of them made clear that their objections went beyond politics.

Rep. Jeffrey Turco, a Winthrop Democrat, did not hold back.

"This new law represents an extremist and dangerous position," Turco told Fox News Digital.

He added that the law "allows abortion anytime, unrestricted, and in many cases, publicly funded until the moment of birth." Turco also complained about the process itself, saying the bill was "rushed through the legislative process in two weeks, without an opportunity for the public to weigh in." He called the result "out of step with the views of the average person in Massachusetts" and added, "The new law is barbaric."

Rep. Chris Markey raised a different kind of objection, one rooted less in outrage than in unease about where the law leaves physicians.

He said the bill "creates a very slippery slope" and "puts doctors in a very difficult ethical dilemma."

Markey argued the law conflicts with what most of his own constituents actually want.

"While many are pro-choice, you can still be pro-choice and see this law as going beyond the norms of acceptability." Rep. Dennis Gallagher, also a Democrat, said he simply saw no need for the law in the first place.

Healey's office defended the bill by pointing to what it described as an ongoing “assault” on reproductive rights nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

"I've heard heartbreaking stories from women and families who were preparing to welcome a healthy baby into their family, only to receive devastating news later in their pregnancy," Healey claimed, describing families who traveled long distances and paid out of pocket rather than relying on doctors they already trusted.

A 2024 poll by the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation found 66 percent of Massachusetts voters supported expanding abortion access after 24 weeks, with 34 percent opposed.

That number will get cited endlessly by supporters of the law. It also happens to describe one of the bluest electorates in America, which is exactly the problem Democrats elsewhere are about to run into.

National polling on abortion has never lined up neatly with the binary pro-life versus pro-choice framing that dominates cable news. Gallup has tracked the moral acceptability of abortion since the early 2000s, and its 2025 survey found 49 percent of Americans consider it morally acceptable, down from a record 54 percent in 2024. Gallup's Values and Beliefs poll from May of this year found 48 percent of Americans want abortion legal in all or most circumstances, split between 33 percent favoring all circumstances and 15 percent favoring most. Meanwhile, 49 percent want it to be illegal or legal only in a few circumstances, split between 17 percent favoring illegality and 32 percent favoring rare exceptions. That split has held steady on the broader question of legality since at least 2022.

Read those numbers together, and a pattern emerges. Most Americans lean pro-choice in the abstract, yet a majority still wants some boundaries. This instinct is a lot closer to Bill Clinton's old "safe, legal, and rare" formulation than to anything resembling abortion without limits. Massachusetts Democrats just passed a law that abandons limits entirely, and the timing of this is very inconvenient for them.

Democrats already face a midterm environment complicated by a socialist insurgency inside their own coalition, an ideology that polls poorly with the general electorate.

Layering abortion extremism on top of that gives Republicans a matching set of arguments heading into November: a party too far left on the economy and now demonstrably too far left on one of the few issues where most voters still want some compromise.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 21:35

KANSAS CITY – With arguably the deepest and most talented roster in the NFL, it’s no surprise the Rams enter the season as the prohibitive Super Bowl favorites. There is, however, one question no one around the Rams wants to ask, much less contemplate: What happens if Matthew Stafford goes down? Los Angeles Rams quarterback...

Police are hunting for 16 suspects after a mob of alleged looters struck an East Los Angeles AutoZone twice in a 24-hour period.