Tuesday morning news - August 3, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

House GOP investigation: coronavirus leaked from Wuhan lab » Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the evidence paints a clear picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The ranking Republican on the panel, Congressman Michael McCaul released a report on a third installment of an investigation into the origins of the virus.

It declared that the "preponderance of the evidence proves the virus did leak from the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] and that it did so sometime before September 12, 2019."

MCCAUL: They were genetically manipulating at the lab this gain of function that was taking place.

Gain of function is a form of research that genetically alters organisms. McCaul said scientists collected samples from caves.

MCCAUL: Bat samples, and then genetically modify them into a super SARS-like virus.

The committee’s Republican staff assembled the report. It stated “We now believe it’s time to completely dismiss the wet market as the source.”

But U.S. intelligence agencies, which are also investigating, have not yet made a determination about the source of the virus.

New York gov. announces new regulations for NYC transportation workers » Gov. Andrew Cuomo said workers in New York City's airports and public transit system will have to get coronavirus vaccinations or face weekly testing. But he stopped short Monday of mandating masks or inoculations for the general public.

Instead, he made this appeal to New York businesses …

CUOMO: Private businesses, I am asking them and suggesting to them: go to vaccine-only admission.

He also said more hospitals should require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Cuomo said he doesn’t have the legal authority to impose those mandates, as emergency powers granted by the legislature have expired.

Poll: Americans’ optimism dashed by delta variant surge » Meantime, a new poll shows that Americans’ are no longer optimistic about a recovery from the pandemic this year.

Gallup surveyed about 3,500 adults. The poll suggests that with new cases surging, more Americans, 45 percent to 40 percent, said the situation in the United States is getting worse, not better.

That’s in stark contrast to the month of June when 89 percent said things were improving.

And eight out of 10 of those surveyed believe life won’t get back to normal till the end of the year or longer.

U.S. expands scope of Afghans eligible for relocation » The Biden administration on Monday expanded a program to relocate Afghan citizens who face persecution from the Taliban for helping the United States. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The U.S. government is widening the range of Afghans eligible for refugee status. That will now include current and former employees of U.S.-based news organizations, U.S.-based aid and development agencies and other relief groups that receive U.S. funding.

Current and former employees of the U.S. government and the NATO military are also covered.

However, the move comes with a major caveat that may severely limit the number of people who can benefit: applicants must leave Afghanistan to begin the adjudication process that may take 12-14 months in a third country. And the U.S. does not intend to support their departures or stays there.

Nevertheless, the State Department said the move means that “many thousands” of Afghans and their immediate families will have the opportunity to permanently resettle in the United States.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Poland grants visa to Belarus Olympian who fears for safety » Poland is coming to the aid of an Olympic sprinter from Belarus who feared for her safety after she said her team’s officials tried to force her to fly home.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said the standoff began after she criticized sporting officials on social media for entering her into the 4x400 meter relay without her permission.

That set off a massive backlash in state-run media back home, where authorities relentlessly crack down on government critics. After that, the 24-year-old said she was rushed to the Tokyo airport but she refused to board the plane. Instead, she asked police for help.

Pavel Latushka is a top Belarusian dissident now residing in Poland. He said the Polish government is stepping up.

LATUSHKA: First of all, they’re ready to give her a national visa. Secondly, they will organize any consult and diplomatic assistance for the Belarusian citizen, it’s very important.

Belarus’ authoritarian government has gone to extremes to silence its critics. The government recently diverted a commercial jetliner, forcing it to land under false pretenses, in order to arrest a man critical of dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

And a quick word of correction from yesterday’s newscast. I absentmindedly referred to Tim Kaine as the governor of Virginia. But Kaine is of course a U.S. Senator representing Virginia.

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

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