As President Joe Biden manages the evacuation of Americans in Afghanistan, his domestic policy agenda hangs in the balance on Capitol Hill. To analyze both, Judy Woodruff is joined by Lisa Lerer of The New York Times, and Errin Haines of The 19th.
Category Archives: Politics
Cover Previews: The New Yorker – August 30, 2021
Covid-19: Patients Dying In Name Of Vaccine Freedom
In the video above, Alexander Stockton, a producer on the Opinion Video team, explores two of the main reasons the number of Covid cases is soaring once again in the United States: vaccine hesitancy and refusal. “It’s hard to watch the pandemic drag on as Americans refuse the vaccine in the name of freedom,” he says. Seeking understanding, Mr. Stockton travels to Mountain Home, Ark., in the Ozarks, a region with galloping contagion and — not unrelated — abysmal vaccination rates. He finds that a range of feelings and beliefs underpins the low rates — including fear, skepticism and a libertarian strain of defiance. This doubt even extends to the staff at a regional hospital, where about half of the medical personnel are not vaccinated — even while the intensive care unit is crowded with unvaccinated Covid patients fighting for their lives. Mountain Home — like the United States as a whole — is caught in a tug of war between private liberty and public health. But Mr. Stockton suggests that unless government upholds its duty to protect Americans, keeping the common good in mind, this may be a battle with no end.
Renewable Energy: The Political Backlash (WSJ)
Political battles at the most local levels are slowing the pace of decarbonization Property owners in the windy and sunny parts of the U.S. are pushing back against large-scale renewable energy development, opposition that researchers say could slow the transition to a cleaner economy. Photo: Aaron Yoder/WSJ
Morning News: Airlines To Aid Refugees, Vaccinating Youths, Blue-Light Glasses
A.M. Edition for Aug. 23. WSJ’s Karina Shah looks at where different countries stand with youth vaccination rates. The Pentagon orders U.S. airlines to help evacuate Americans and Afghan partners from the country.
At least 21 people are dead after flash flooding in Tennessee. Tropical Depression Henri makes landfall. Bitcoin miners go elsewhere amid a crackdown in China. And, blue-light glasses: a fashion accessory or a necessity?
Political Analysis: Fiasco In Afghanistan, Work On Holidays, Dante’s Wisdom
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week: the fiasco in Afghanistan is a grave blow to America’s reputation, Bartleby asks whether you should work (a little) on your holiday (10:00) and, 700 years on, how Dante can still help people find hope amid adversity (15:40)
Sunday Morning: News From Zurich, London, Amsterdam & Bangkok
Tyler Brûlé covers the weekend’s biggest news stories with panellists Juliet Linley and Benno Zogg, as well as our friends and contributors in London, Amsterdam and Bangkok.
Saturday Morning: News & Stories From London
Georgina Godwin and our regular guest and newspaper reviewer Vincent McAviney on the weekend’s biggest topics. Plus, Monocle editor in chief Andrew Tuck’s column.
Political News: Gerson & Capehart On Afghanistan, School Mask Mandates
Students returned to school in a number of states this week amid a new surge of COVID cases and a fierce battle over mask mandates. Republican governors in states like Arizona and Texas have tried to stop school districts from mandating face masks, drawing sharp criticism from some parents and educators, and action from the white house. John Yang reports from Florida, the epicenter of this debate.
News: Top 5 Stories For August 20, 2021 (Reuters)
August 20, 2021: Biden, Afghanistan, Capitol bomb threat, Storm Grace, COVID booster shot, Australia
1. President Joe Biden is brushing off criticism of his administration’s chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal because he and his aides believe the political fallout at home will be limited, according to White House allies and administration officials.
2. A man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol surrendered to police after a standoff that paralyzed a swath of Washington for more than five hours.
3. Tropical storm Grace dumped heavy rain on Mexico’s Caribbean coast but appeared to have spared tourist resorts serious damage as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico, where it was forecast to strengthen again.
4. The Biden administration’s plan to provide COVID-19 vaccine boosters is based on concerns that a decrease in the vaccines’ ability to protect against milder infections could also mean people will have less protection against severe illness, a premise that has yet to be proven, scientists said.
5. Two million residents of Sydney will be under nightly curfew from next week to slow the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus that is spreading across New South Wales state.
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