AMERICA is becoming a more diverse and multiracial nation, although whites remain in the majority (Shutterstock).

A picture of a new, more multiracial America is emerging from the data released today (Thursday) from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The information, which will be used to redraw legislative district maps from the House of Representatives to a local school district, showed some demographic changes shaped by immigration, birth rates and internal migration.

According to the Associated Press, the numbers will also be crucial in the allocation of federal money for years to come.

Among the key points, as noted by USA Today, are:

• A decrease in the white population for the first time since the 18th century;
• A sharp rise in the nation’s Hispanic population;
• A significant drop in the birth rate among white families.

“These changes reveal that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more racially and ethnically diverse than we have measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones of the Census Bureau.

According to Thursday’s report, the white (non-Hispanic) population is at 57.8 percent of the nation’s people. Hispanics are at 18.7 percent, Blacks at 12.4 percent and Asians at 6 percent.

Taliban capture two more major cities

TALIBAN police in Herat in 2001 (Wikipedia).

The Taliban rebels in Afghanistan continue to push toward control of the central Asian nation, taking the two provincial capitals of Kandahar and Heart.

A fundamentalist Islamic force, the Taliban now control all but four major cities there, triggering fears that the Afghan army – trained and equipped by the U.S. and Western allies – will collapse soon, taking the government down, according to The New York Times.

In response, the U.S. Department of Defense is planning to dispatch 3,000 Marines and Army soldiers to Afghanistan to evacuate U.S. citizens in the capital city of Kabul, along with embassy staff. Another 4,000 troops will also be sent to the region. All Americans – except for key Embassy personnel have been told to leave the country by the U.S. State Department. It’s believed that the capital may fall to the rebels within 30 days

Supreme Court (of one) upholds vaccine rule

VACCINATIONS may be required at Indiana University (Shutterstock).

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett – acting on behalf of the U.S. Supreme Court – on Thursday denied a request to stop a vaccine requirement at Indiana University.

According to United Press International, Barrett, who is responsible for emergency matters from Indiana, denied the request from eight IU students to overturn the university requirement that all students, faculty and staff be vaccinated against COVID-19 or get an “approved exemption.”

The students’ petition had already been turned down by two lower federal courts.