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Calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan was a crisis of Biden’s own making

Ian Bremmer Explains: Withdrawal From Afghanistan a Crisis of Biden’s Own Making | GZERO World

Joe Biden has been looking for a way out of Afghanistan for decades, and regardless of how ugly things get, he's not turning back. After Trump reached a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to end the war, Biden decided to stick with the arrangement, overruling his own generals. Ian Bremmer explains that while he agrees with Biden's decision to get out, he did not foresee the incompetence of the execution. In that sense, the last few weeks have constituted the greatest foreign policy crisis for President Biden to date, and one that was largely self-imposed. Ian looks at four key failures led to this disaster on GZERO World.

Watch the episode: Afghanistan, 2021: Afghan & US military perspectives as the last soldier leaves

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Microsoft is advancing its efforts to eliminate single-use plastics across its global packaging portfolio through material innovation and design changes across products like Surface and Xbox. By rethinking how packaging works—from cushioning to coatings and structural components—the company is reducing waste and demonstrating how design decisions at scale can deliver meaningful sustainability impact. Last week, Microsoft marked a key milestone in reducing single-use plastic in its packaging to just 0.07%, reflecting significant progress toward its broader commitment to become a zero-waste company by 2030. Read the full story here.

Malian soldiers stand near a truck during a patrol following the attack on Mali's main military base in Kati, Mali, on April 27, 2026.

REUTERS/Stringer

Jihadist insurgents and Tuareg secessionists assassinated Mali’s Defense Minister Sadio Camara at his home in Kati during coordinated attacks across the West African country on Saturday.