I'm Carl Azuz. It's great to see you and we hope you're doing well.

Starting today in Afghanistan where the Taliban, the ruling group in the Asian country, says it has completely conquered the Panjshir Valley.

Why is that significant?

Well, the Taliban quickly took control of Afghanistan as the United States prepared to withdraw its military from there last month.

But there's 1 province left out of the 34 in Afghanistan that's been considered a hold-out.

A group in Panjshir, which is north of the capital of Kabul, has been fiercely fighting the Taliban for weeks.

And if the Taliban has conquered Panjshir⏤as it says it has⏤it means they now control all of the country.

But the National Resistance Front says the Taliban does not have control in Panjshir, that there's fighting against the Taliban all over the province, and that it will continue.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to get American citizens out of the country.

The Biden Administration has said there are around 100 Americans remaining in Afghanistan.

A Republican lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says the number is quote, "in the hundreds".

The US State Department says it just helped four Americans escape the country over land, but there are multiple reports that say the Taliban is blocking other Americans from leaving on planes.

A Republican lawmaker says the Taliban wants something in exchange for allowing the planes to leave.

The State Department says it can't confirm these reports because it no longer has employees in Afghanistan.

For its part, the Taliban has said it will allow Americans to leave Afghanistan freely, but can this group be trusted?

Inside the new Afghanistan, in rural Paktika Province far from Kabul, the Taliban's provincial governor has called a meeting.

No women to be seen.

Local village elders and tribal chiefs listen; a young boy takes a selfie.

Much has changed since the Taliban were last in charge⏤smartphones and social media⏤but poverty, still the country's biggest problem.

[Pashto] We have many expectations and we are praying the Taliban will deliver.

The week after Kabul fell, a local journalist took a road trip for us to see what was happening outside the capital⏤Taliban guides showed him the way

At the border, change is already underway.

Part charm offensive, giving traders what they want⏤longer opening hours at the border⏤and part crackdown⏤keeping men and women apart.

[Pashto] Let me tell you: Before, we had one single line for both men and women. Now we have two; they are kept apart.

Pakistani officials easing into the new relationship backing the segregation.

On this journey, two things become clear: Afghanistan's near financial collapse and the hard switch to religious rule.

Spotting a crowd, the team stop⏤It's a provincial courthouse

Inside, local leaders, careful to praise the new boss.

[Pashto] We used to have to go a long way to get to a Taliban court, he says, now we have one right here.

The new judge in town⏤quite literally⏤laying down the Taliban law, their interpretation of Islamic law.

Under Taliban rule in the 1990s, the Taliban's Sharia law led to public amputations for thieves, stoning, even hanging,

but in the local market, Sharia law is not the big concern. It's making a living.

[Pashto] Business is very bad. We don't know who's in charge.

[Pashto] Only low rank people are here; we don't know if we can trust them.

[Pashto] They're not telling us anything and the situation has not improved; prices are going up.

In the barbershop, business is down.

It's not only me, he says, but business is bad in the market; it's not as good as before.

They're not alone.

The local pharmacist is also struggling. Stocks already depleted under the last government.

The clinics, maternity nurse also worried about finances, says the previous government didn't pay her for the past four months and she can't afford to go home.

Closer to Kabul, another doctor, more problems.

Day and night, he says, we get 25 to 30 patients and we have just 1 doctor and 1 nurse for them all.

Outside the hospital, the Taliban claim an alternate reality.

[Pashto] Before, you didn't know whether the doctor was coming or not, but now, they are there for you all the time.

On this trip, the Taliban's prioritising of Sharia law and bits of charm offensive seemingly missing Afghans' most important needs: a secure livelihood.

Lousy. Poor. A massive disappointment.

These are some of the words being used to describe the US government's latest jobs report, which came out last Friday and covered national employment conditions in August.

235,000 jobs were added to the US economy that month.

Why was that disappointing?

Because economists had expected that 728,000 jobs would be added as the recovery continues from all the effects and shutdowns related to coronavirus.

The unemployment rate, the percentage of workers that don't have a job, that improved a bit to 5.2%⏤it was 5.4% in July.

The unemployment rate is at its lowest point since the pandemic hammered the US economy last March.

But as far as job growth goes, many economists are blaming the Delta variant of COVID, which is responsible for most of the new cases in America, for holding the economy back.

Call it the Delta drag.

Jobs growth slowed in August as the Delta vi⏤uh, variant surged.

After very strong hiring in June and July, August was the slowest job growth since January, and the very sector that drove so much of the job gains this year stalled.

Hiring in leisure and hospitality was flat; employment in that sector is still down about 10% from before the pandemic.

Job losses last month were in retail stores, bars and restaurants⏤even without renewed lockdowns, economists say Americans are turning more cautious about going out as the variant spreads and hospitals fill up.

There was strong hiring in professional services.

Think architects, engineers, computer systems design, scientific research, gains in manufacturing and transportation warehousing, and notable, the jobless rate fell to the lowest of the pandemic⏤

5.2% as households reported stronger jobs growth there.

Now, big picture: 17 million jobs have been added since the crash in the spring of 2020.

The economy still down 5.3 million jobs since the pandemic began.

10-second trivia: Which of these nations has only one official time zone?

Australia, Brazil, China, or Indonesia.

Before its communist revolution in 1949, China had five time zones⏤its current government only recognizes one.

Would you live in a 10-story apartment building that was built in one day?

'Cause that's what appears to be happening right here.

This was not done the old-fashioned way.

The Chinese company that built this started with prefabricated containers that were largely assembled in a factory.

That's where the windows, appliances, lighting, mechanical and electrical systems were all set up.

Then, these containers were moved to the building site and that's when the clock was started.

A large team was able to unfold the walls, stack and connect the containers in just under 29 hours⏤what the company calls the world's shortest construction period.

It says this method of construction does not affect the building strength, but is it the way of the future in the industry?

Some critics still have safety concerns, though this might attract attention in cities that are looking for housing that can be built quickly and cheaply.

Something funny to wrap up our show today and don't give me that skeptical side-eye.

These are comedic wildlife photos, and they're competing for a comedy wildlife photography award.

Still not impressed?

Well, there's gotta be something here that you find eye-opening.

42 of the world's most amusing animal images will be voted on by viewers and the winner gets a trophy, a special website for a year, and a one-week-long safari.

Haters might say that competition's for the birds, but if you find yourself "monkeying" around with a camera "ow-all" the time and "camel" across something "un-bear-lievably" hilarious,

we'll take your best shot "eagle eye", 'cause you, too, could "tree" yourself to the title of "peng-winner".

We love to recognize schools that use our show; today's shout-out goes out to Branford High School in Branford, Florida.

For a chance to get your school mentioned, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and leave a comment on the most recent show at youtube.com/CNN 10.

I'm Carl Azuz.