Wednesday morning news - August 18, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

White House: Taliban will allow civilians safe passage » Top Defense and national security officials briefed reporters at the White House Tuesday on the crisis in Afghanistan.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said airlifts are back on track in Kabul and the United States remains committed to evacuating American citizens and U.S. allies.

SULLIVAN: The Taliban have informed us that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment.

But he acknowledged reports that Taliban militants were turning away or even beating some civilians as they tried to reach the airport.

Other reports state that the Taliban has been going door to door in Kabul looking for civilians on a list of people targeted for retribution.

As for the military withdrawal that led to the Taliban’s takeover, the White House is doubling down Tuesday. Press Secretary Jen Psaki...

PSAKI: The president stands by his decision because he knows it’s in the interest of the United States, our national security, and the American people.

But the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Marco Rubio, fired back.

RUBIO: You look at the intelligence, you look at everything before us; it was clear that not only was the worst-case scenario out there, it was the likeliest outcome that was going to happen.

He said—quote—“this administration was specifically told Afghan forces would surrender faster than our ability to exit. They decided to ignore these warnings.

U.S. likely to authorize COVID booster shots » After struggling for months to persuade Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. health officials could soon face a new challenge: Convincing already-vaccinated Americans to get booster shots. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: As early as this week, U.S. health authorities are reportedly expected to recommend an extra dose of the vaccine for all Americans eight months after they get their second shot.

That according to two officials who spoke to the Associated Press.

Evidence shows that while the vaccines remain highly effective at least six months after the second dose, protection does gradually fall off month by month.

On July Fourth, President Biden proclaimed that the nation was declaring its independence from the virus. But since then, infections have soared and hospitals in some areas are filling up with mostly unvaccinated patients.

Booster shots won’t be widely administered until the Food and Drug Administration formally approves the vaccines. Right now, they’re distributed under an emergency use authorization. But the FDA is expected to grant full approval of the Pfizer shot in the coming weeks.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

New Zealand to enter lockdown after single virus case found » New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown after finding a single case of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted that the delta variant on a global rampage and said —her words—“We have seen what happens elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it.”

ARDERN: Just as we successfully stayed home and saved lived last year, I’m asking the team of 5 million to unite once more to defeat what is likely to be this more dangerous and transmissible variant of the virus.

The city of Auckland, where the infected man lives, and Coromandel, where he had visited, will go into a full lockdown for a week.

The rest of the country will lock down for three days while health experts try to find the source of his infection.

Commerce Dept: Americans spent less in July » Americans cut back on their spending last month.

The U.S. Commerce Dept. reports that retail sales fell a seasonal adjusted 1.1% in July from the month before. That was a much steeper drop than the 0.3% decline Wall Street analysts expected.

Auto sales fell almost 4 percent. Spending also dipped at stores that sell clothing, furniture and sporting goods.

Gus Faucher is chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. He says the delta variant surge is getting much of the blame, however…

FAUCHER: We actually saw a big increase in restaurant sales over the month, which suggests that perhaps it wasn’t rising COVID cases.

Spending rose at restaurants and bars nearly 2%, though that growth was slower than previous months.

Economists think Americans are also shifting their spending from goods to services, things like haircuts or vacations, which were not included in Tuesday’s report.

And rising prices for everything from food to washing machines may have curbed spending.

California wildfire threatens towns » Authorities in Lassen County, California had to order more Californians to flee their homes on Tuesday as the nation’s largest wildfire closed in.

Operations Section Chief Chad Cook told reporters…

COOK: The fire experienced really good growth with the southwest winds, The fire did push out toward the communities of Janesville, out toward Susanville.

Susanville, with a population more than 15,000, is the largest town the Dixie Fire has threatened so far.

The fire has been stuck at about 31 percent containment. It has consumed more than 600,000 acres.

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

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