Friday morning news - August 20, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

U.S. forces struggle to speed up evacuations from Kabul » U.S. forces are struggling to speed up evacuations from Kabul as thousands of civilians try to make their way into the airport.

But Major Gen. Hank Taylor told reporters Thursday.

TAYLOR: In the past 24 hours, 13 C-17s arrived with additional troops and equipment. Also, 12 C-17s departed. These flights contained more than 2,000 passengers.

He said they’re ready to begin flying larger numbers out each day.

But the evacuations are running into a range of issues from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems.

And despite the Taliban’s charm offensive in the media, reports continue of militants going door to door in Kabul, hunting for Afghans who worked with Western forces.

And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin conceded that unless they can get to the airport, they’re on their own.

AUSTIN: We don’t have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people.

Meantime, US allies continue to lament the handling of the pullout. The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said Thursday...

BORRELL: Let me speak clearly and bluntly, this is a catastrophe. It’s a catastrophe for the Afghan people, for the Western values and credibility, and for the developing of international relations.

Tensions grow in Haiti over slow pace of aid after quake » Meantime in Haiti, tensions have been growing over the slow pace of aid reaching victims of a powerful weekend earthquake.

Relief supplies are arriving in Haiti. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said U.S. forces are delivering aid.

KIRBY: They’ve transported search and rescue responders and 5,500 pounds of medical supplies.

But getting those supplies to people in need has been a challenge.

Torrential rains from Tropical Storm Grace caused mudslides and washed out roads in some areas. And then there’s the problem of gang violence.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric…

DUJARRIC: Our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that access to the southern peninsula where the quake hit is challenging because gangs are controlling movements. Local authorities are negotiating access.

A major hospital in the capital of Port-au-Prince was closed Thursday for a two-day shutdown in protest. That after gangs kidnapped two doctors, including one of the country's few orthopedic surgeons.

Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,000 people and left about 30,000 families homeless.

Convalescent plasma study yields disappointing results » A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday showed disappointing results for a particular kind of COVID-19 treatment. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg has more.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: Researchers gave 250 emergency room coronavirus patients infusions of blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors, while another 250 patients got dummy infusions.

And the outcomes between the two groups were very similar.

Nearly a third of both groups became sick and returned to the hospital. Five patients died in the plasma group, while only one died in the other group.

Regeneron’s antibody cocktail is two drugs that together mimic the antibodies a person might naturally get after having COVID-19. President Trump got this treatment when he had the disease, and now Texas Governor Greg Abbott is receiving it.

Abbott recently announced nine new antibody treatment centers would open in the state.

Florida and Missouri are also expanding access to the antibody cocktail. Some are criticizing the Republican state leaders for expanding the expensive treatment while rejecting mask mandates.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

Man surrenders after claiming to have bomb near Capitol » A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hourslong standoff Thursday.

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger:

MANGER: Ultimately, we were able to take him into custody without incident. But there were certain things that we saw in his truck, for instance a propane gas container.

The threat triggered a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings and businesses in the area.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of North Carolina. They’re still trying to determine what motivated him to drive onto the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress and make bomb threats.

But relatives of the suspect said he was distraught over deaths in his family and recent events in his life.

Federal appeals court upholds Texas ban on dismemberment abortions » A federal appeals court in New Orleans this week upheld a Texas law banning dismemberment abortions. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The 2017 law seeks to prohibit the use of forceps to dismember unborn babies while they’re still alive inside the womb.

Abortion rights advocates argued that babies cannot feel pain during the gestation period affected by the law. They also argued in court that one alternative provided in the law, using suction to remove a fetus, also results in dismemberment.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked enforcement of the law last year. But Texas was granted a re-hearing by the full court, and a majority of the 14 appellate judges who heard arguments in January sided with Texas on Wednesday.

Kimberlyn Schwartz with Texas Right to Life celebrated the decision. She said “Anyone can see the cruelty of dismemberment abortions.” She added, “We’re grateful the judges recognized this horror.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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