☀August 19: Troops will stay in Afghanistan for evacuation. Texas school adds masks to dress code.

Updated: Aug 19, 2021 / 05:30 AM EDT

FILE – In this May 18, 2021 file photo, fifth graders wearing face masks are seated at proper social distancing during a music class at the Milton Elementary School in Rye, N.Y. As the nation closes out a school year marred by the pandemic, some states are now starting to release new standardized test scores that offer an early glimpse at just how far students have fallen behind — with some states reporting that the turbulent year has reversed years of progress across every academic subject. New York, Georgia and some other states pushed to cancel testing for a second year so schools could focus on classroom learning. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

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Good morning! It’s Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Here’s a look at your news across the nation:

1️. U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan to evacuate Americans, Biden says

President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug 18, 2021, on the COVID-19 response and vaccination program. U.S. health officials Wednesday announced plans to offer COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is falling. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

2. Tennessee elementary school teacher dies of COVID-19 complications

David Turner (left); Odion Turner (right) died in a shooting in Portland’s Madison South neighborhood on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. (PPB)

3. China pushes adoption of language, cultural symbols in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), center, waves as he arrives in Lhasa to attend the ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Tibet liberation, in Lhasa in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. The top Chinese official said Thursday, Aug. 19, that “all-round efforts” are needed to ensure Tibetans speak standard spoken and written Chinese and share the “cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation.” (Huang Jingwen/Xinhua via AP)

4. Persephone, the robot guide, leads visitors in a Greek cave

Persephone guides the visitors inside Alistrati cave, about 135 kilometers (84 miles) northeast of Thessaloniki, Greece, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. Persephone, billed as the world’s first robot used as a tour guide inside a cave, has been welcoming visitors to the Alistrati cave, since mid-July. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

📱 [Trending] this morning

Texas school district finds loophole in mask mandate ban – the dress code

Administrators in the Paris, Texas, school district have found a way around Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Masks are now part of the dress code.

FILE – In this May 18, 2021 file photo, fifth graders wearing face masks are seated at proper social distancing during a music class at the Milton Elementary School in Rye, N.Y. As the nation closes out a school year marred by the pandemic, some states are now starting to release new standardized test scores that offer an early glimpse at just how far students have fallen behind — with some states reporting that the turbulent year has reversed years of progress across every academic subject. New York, Georgia and some other states pushed to cancel testing for a second year so schools could focus on classroom learning. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

📅 What we’re watching

🔴 Hurricane Grace forecast to hit Mexico.

🔴 Zuckerberg makes “special announcement about the future of Facebook.”

🔴 States rush to sign on to opioid settlement.

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