Second Qatar Airways passenger flight takes off from Kabul – CNN
Second Qatar Airways passenger flight takes off from Kabul – CNN

By Kareem Khadder, Mostafa Salem and Tara John, CNN

Updated 11:20 AM ET, Fri September 10, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/10/asia/second-qatar-airways-flight-kabul-intl/index.html

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Burn victims of the 9/11 Pentagon attack celebrate a somber anniversary – The Washington Post
Burn victims of the 9/11 Pentagon attack celebrate a somber anniversary – The Washington Post

Hook says her husband, daughter, Yolanda Perkins, and son, Anthony Jr., always have been at her side — along with her grandson, Adonis Perkins, who was just 10 when everything happened.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/09/10/pentagon-911-burn-victims-anniversary/

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The Justice Department’s uphill battle against Texas’ abortion ban – CNN
The Justice Department’s uphill battle against Texas’ abortion ban – CNN

(CNN)In its lawsuit challenging Texas six-week abortion ban, the Justice Department is throwing a Hail Mary pass to get over the procedural stumbling blocks that have thwarted other attempts to block the ban in court.

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    CNN’s Ariane de Vogue and Joan Biskupic contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/10/politics/doj-texas-lawsuit-explainer/index.html

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    Washington Post reporter corrects story on Postal Service exemption from Biden vaccine mandate – Fox News
    Washington Post reporter corrects story on Postal Service exemption from Biden vaccine mandate – Fox News
    Video

    Fox News Flash top headlines for September 9

    Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

    A Washington Post reporter on Thursday night corrected a report claiming that U.S. Postal Service workers – a group of about 650,000 people – would be exempt from President Biden’s executive order calling for federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

    “JUST IN: White House official now says USPS workers ARE part of the federal vaccine mandate order under OSHA jurisdiction, though technically not under the executive order,” Post reporter Jacob Bogage wrote on Twitter.

    REPUBLICANS EXPLODE WITH FURY OVER BIDEN VACCINE MANDATE: ‘ABSOLUTELY UNCONSTITUTIONAL’

    “Deleting a previous thread that was based on earlier reporting,” he added. “Will also momentarily update our writeup.”

    Previously, the Post reported that postal workers would only be “strongly encouraged” to comply with Biden’s mandate, citing information from a White House official who requested anonymity.

    The Post story mentioned that many of the Postal Service’s work force of nearly 650,000 people were members of the American Postal Workers Union, a group that in July came out against vaccine mandates, asserting “It is not the role of the federal government to mandate vaccinations for the employees we represent.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    That postal union had endorsed Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign, the Washington Times reported.

    The Postal Service operates outside the executive branch, so is not subject to presidential orders applying to government employees unless specifically named in the order, according to the Post.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/washington-post-reporter-postal-service-exemption-biden-vaccine-mandate

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    Los Angeles schools are requiring vaccinations for eligible students. Hear what parents have to say – CNN
    Los Angeles schools are requiring vaccinations for eligible students. Hear what parents have to say – CNN

    By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

    Updated 7:04 AM ET, Fri September 10, 2021

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/10/us/los-angeles-schools-vaccine-mandate-friday/index.html

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    ‘We Never Got It. Not Even Close’: Afghanistan Veterans Reflect on 20 Years of War – POLITICO
    ‘We Never Got It. Not Even Close’: Afghanistan Veterans Reflect on 20 Years of War – POLITICO

    Justin Sapp: When things started in 2001, I went in advance with the CIA paramilitary teams in the middle of October. At that time, the war was very much an unconventional warfare kind of domain. We were the only guys on the ground—all told, there were probably less than 20 people. The definition of the campaign wasn’t fully formed yet. It was all being put together.

    So it was a pretty heady time. It was all new. It was all unique. We were new to the Afghans. They were new to us. We had very broad guidance. And the guidance was to enable the Northern Alliance to defeat the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. And that was it.

    It was sort of like, you knew the first chapter of the book and then hopefully you knew the last chapter of the book. But everything in between was very much ill-defined. It was sort of an adventure.

    Jahara “Franky” Matisek: When I first started flying cargo missions there in 2008, I had a very narrow tactical view of the country because I never really had to deal with any of the locals. It was basically deliver troops, take troops home, do helicopter swap-outs. It felt like it was a bureaucratized sort of routine war. I remember thinking on my first combat mission, ‘Oh, we have to get all mentally pumped and prepped.’ And it was like, no, FedEx is flying in there! It was not that big of a threat or deal, flying into the bases, for the most part.

    It felt like the bulk of my missions from 2008 to 2011, especially 2010, were when the ground forces in Afghanistan were getting ambushed and IED’ed [improvised explosive device] all the time. I spent a good chunk of 2010 and 2011 just transporting mine resistant ambush protected vehicles—they look like those big Humvee vehicles that protect the folks inside. I probably did at least 40 or 50 missions just transporting those things to Kandahar and Bagram.

    Being sent back to Afghanistan in 2020 kind of confirmed my suspicions. The Afghan National Defense Security Forces basically is still a paper army, much like when the Soviets built up their version of the Afghan army in the 1980s.

    When Covid basically shut down Afghanistan in March of 2020, it seemed like it was almost a relief for a lot of the advisers and trainers. Like, ‘Sweet, now we don’t really have to see them anymore, because Covid. We’re just going to VTC and FaceTime, just do all our advising through WhatsApp, texting and video calls.’ I think it was the nail in the coffin. We were already so risk-averse that it made it almost easier—now there was almost no chance of losing any U.S. or NATO troops to the Taliban or insider attacks.

    On my way out in October, I’m like, once we finally pull out of this thing, if we’re going to actually follow through on this, the Afghan Air Force is just going to collapse. They are so dependent on on the U.S. military and contractors basically providing air power.

    Jess Gonzalez: I had a very different experience. As a combat cameraman, I supported every aspect of the Marine Corps. I did female engagement teams, I did mortuary affairs. I did logistics, I did helicopter drops, I did helicopter recoveries. I’ve been around that whole country.

    I’m going to talk a little bit from the experience of the regular warfighter—the junior enlisted. The “suck.” We’re here. We got to do it. And then we’re going to go home. Being on the enlisted side, you don’t understand the policy. You go through your pre-deployment training and you understand what your little piece is within counterinsurgency and all of that. But you feel like a little piece in the game and not someone who’s able to see the whole board.

    The bin Laden raid happened in Pakistan while I was there. I remember coming off a convoy and everyone’s talking and whispering and watching the news on their computers. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, bin Laden’s dead.’ There’s some silence. My other photographer that I worked with was like, ‘Oh, well, I guess I get to go home now!’ There was this crazy morale boost for a little bit.

    Towards the end of my time, I was with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and we saw a lot of infrastructure getting built. So we had completed Route One and that connected to Route Red, which were two major roads within Helmand province. I had some friends that deployed last year and they said that the roads are completely destroyed now. That’s a little disheartening to hear, because it was this huge accomplishment to attach those two roads.

    Jason Dempsey: When I was moving in in January 2009, it was part of the precursor to what became known as the Afghan surge. The mentality both of the military and of our political leadership was that we were getting back to the good war. There was this assumption that the military had become competent at counterinsurgency and had been a learning institution over the previous eight years. And so I was pretty gung-ho to get to Afghanistan and get after these problems. Being there that year was fairly rewarding, albeit frustrating.

    But it was clear by the time I got back in 2012-13 that the entire mission was essentially—it was a failure. The question was, to what degree was it a failure and where did the blame fall? I spent years thinking about that, finding out that more and more of the blame fell squarely on the shoulders of the American military. We decided to mirror-image our army structure on a nation and country that simply wasn’t set up for that. Instead of doing what needed to be done, we did the mission we wanted to do.

    Phil Caruso: I echo a lot of what Jason said. When I got there in 2011, I was very proud to be a part of what I thought was finally giving Afghanistan its due attention and focus after almost a decade of underresourcing in favor of the effort in Iraq. I did think that we had more expertise and capability than we had early on from a conventional military perspective.

    I think there was a series of events in that deployment that made me realize the reality of the situation. I saw a number of things that made me question the viability of our strategy over the long run. I believe then and I still do believe that counterinsurgency can work, but on a timeline and a commitment that I don’t think is realistic for the United States, given our system and our interests domestically.

    What I came out of that deployment trying to do was just make the piece of Afghanistan I could touch a little bit of a better place, make the lives of the people that I dealt with a little bit better and try not to focus on the larger effort and shoulder the responsibility, the burden of winning the war myself and or with my unit.

    I do think we helped people in that deployment. And I do think we made a lot of progress. But at the end of the day, I don’t think it was sustainable without a long-term commitment, one that I don’t think would be viable.

    When I went back in 2014, it was a very different environment. The combat mission was ending. The sense I got was there was a lot of frustration in the military ranks because there was concern about artificial thresholds and micromanagement from Washington. The military, I felt, was being somewhat defensive about trying to protect the gains that it had made when the surge forces were there.

    We’re trying to literally count billets to figure out, how could they keep a unit viable with five people in uniform and replacing the rest with civilians and contractors? How many helicopters they could have at any given base? These were the things that were dominating discussion of the day as opposed to continuing to try to make progress on the ground. That made it very difficult and demoralizing for a lot of folks that were trying to carry on the mission because there wasn’t a clear sense of what we were trying to do.

    I think there was a sense of fatigue institutionally. There was a lot more risk aversion. Missions required a lot of higher approvals. A lot of commanders were concerned about the well-being of their soldiers and airmen, sailors and Marines, given what the climate was in Washington.

    As I look back on that decade of involvement in Afghanistan, there was for me a decreasing sense of what we were going to be able to achieve. And a decreasing sense of what we were even trying to achieve because the issues just became so complicated and so politically fraught that it made it very difficult to reach clear conclusions.

    Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/10/politico-mag-afghan-vets-roundtable-506989

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    Kamala Harris calls for Roe v. Wade ‘codify’ in wake of Texas abortion law – New York Post
    Kamala Harris calls for Roe v. Wade ‘codify’ in wake of Texas abortion law – New York Post

    Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday called for Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision affirming that women have a constitutional right to an abortion — to become law.

    “We need to codify Roe v. Wade,” Harris told reporters at the White House, where she met with abortion providers and activists.

    Her comments came after the Justice Department earlier Thursday sued Texas over the state’s new anti-abortion law, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.”

    “Today the DOJ has spoken loudly in saying that this law is patently unconstitutional,” Harris said during the meeting.

    The legislation, known as Senate Bill 8 or SB8, bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks, and leaves enforcement up to private citizens, using civil lawsuits instead of criminal prosecution. It authorizes payment of $10,000 or more to anyone who successfully accuses a person in court of performing or aiding an abortion.

    Harris, the former California Attorney General, slammed the law as “essentially an abortion bounty law” and criticized the Supreme Court for failing to grant an emergency appeal from abortion providers that sought to block the legislation earlier this month.

    Vice President Kamala Harris meets with abortion and reproductive health providers in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on Sept. 9, 2021.
    picture alliance / Consolidated

    “The Supreme Court has allowed a state law to stand that deputizes citizens, anyone, to proclaim themselves in a position to have a right under law to interfere with those choices that that woman has made,” she said.

    Harris noted that Texas wasn’t the only state to curb the procedure, saying that 22 so far “have laws that could be used to restrict the legal status of abortion.”

    “Ninety provisions that restrict access to reproductive health care were passed in 2021,” she said. “Some states like Kentucky and Mississippi have only one abortion clinic.”

    She vowed that the Biden administration would fight to protect the constitutional right to an abortion.

    Demonstrators march from Houston City Hall to the federal courthouse in protest of the Texas anti-abortion law on Sept. 5, 2021.
    Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

    “The right of women to make decisions about their own bodies is not negotiable,” she said.

    “No legislative institution has the right to circumvent the constitution of the United States in an attempt to interfere with a woman to make those decisions.”

    Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/09/09/kamala-harris-calls-for-roe-v-wade-codify-after-texas-abortion-law/

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    Biden to campaign for California Gov. Gavin Newsom on eve of recall vote – NBC News
    Biden to campaign for California Gov. Gavin Newsom on eve of recall vote – NBC News
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    Thinner, more energetic Kim Jong Un steals the spotlight at North Korea parade – CBS News
    Thinner, more energetic Kim Jong Un steals the spotlight at North Korea parade – CBS News

    Seoul, South Korea — North Korea held a parade on Thursday showcasing military dogs and virus workers in orange hazmat suits, but leader Kim Jong Un still managed to seize the spotlight by looking thinner and more energetic than he has in years. During the event late Wednesday, Kim, wearing a cream-colored suit and a shiny white tie, emerged as the clock struck midnight. He beamed in response to thunderous applause from performers and spectators filling Pyongyang’s brightly illuminated Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather, the country’s founder.
     
    He smiled widely, waved to the crowd and kissed children who presented him with flowers before taking his spot on a balcony to observe the parade. He laughed vigorously and applauded the marchers throughout the event, while holding animated chats with senior officials.

    It was a stark change from 2018, when TV footage showed him struggling to catch his breath while accompanying South Korean President Moon Jae-in on a short hike to North Korea’s Mount Paektu during a period of diplomatic engagement. Moon, who is three decades older than Kim, didn’t seemed fazed by the walk at all.

    North Korea leader Kim Jong Un attends a paramilitary parade held to mark the 73rd founding anniversary of the republic at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this undated image supplied by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on September 9, 2021.

    KCNA/Reuters


    “His face is clearly thinner and he is moving much more vigorously,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University.
     
    Kim’s weight loss became noticeable in June, when he made his first public appearance in weeks to convene a ruling party meeting. Some North Korea watchers then said that Kim, who is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and has previously weighed 308 pounds, may have lost 22-44 pounds.
     
    Most experts say Kim’s weight loss is more likely a result of efforts to improve his shape than an indicator of health problems, considering his regular public activity. It may also have a political purpose.
     
    Kim is facing perhaps his toughest moment as he approaches a decade of rule, with North Korea wrestling with U.S.-led economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons, pandemic border closures that cause further strain to its broken economy, and food shortages made worse by floods in recent summers.
     
    It has become crucial for Kim to build an image as a young and vigorous leader who can navigate the country out of trouble, analyst Park said. Such image-making efforts would align with the latest parade, which showcased civil defense units involved in efforts to rebuild the economy and communities destroyed by floods and emphasized a domestic message for unity. 

    North Korea leader Kim Jong Un (C) attends a paramilitary parade held to mark the 73rd founding anniversary of the republic at Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang in this undated image supplied by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on September 9, 2021.

    KCNA/Reuters


    Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kim, with his weight loss and cheerful demeanor at the parade, is likely trying to project an image of a “normal statesman” who engages with the public.

    “He’s also a husband and a father of three children who is approaching his 40s, so it isn’t strange that he would care about his health,” Yang said.
     
    Kim’s health is the focus of keen outside attention as the 37-year-old leader hasn’t publicly anointed a successor who would take control of North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal targeting Asian rivals and the American homeland. He has been known for heavy drinking and smoking and comes from a family with a history of heart problems. His father and grandfather, who ruled North Korea before him, both died of heart issues.
     
    “Considering the North’s political system, where the supreme leader decides everything, Kim’s health is an extremely important security matter,” Park said. “It’s likely there were internal concerns that he was overweight, and it would have been important for Kim to reduce those concerns and present himself as a young and healthy leader who’s capable of doing things.”

    Dr. Cheong Seong-Chang, Director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, told CBS News that Kim may also have wanted with the parade, to “show the world that North Korea is safe from the coronavirus, as they have repeatedly said.”

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-kim-jong-un-weight-loss-parade-2021/

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    Stillbirths double in Mississippi amid coronavirus pandemic – The Washington Post
    Stillbirths double in Mississippi amid coronavirus pandemic – The Washington Post

    Almost 1,300 people were hospitalized, and the state recorded its highest number of deaths in a single day Monday, with 124. Per capita, it is now second in the nation in total coronavirus deaths, at 285. (New Jersey, the leader in deaths per capita, stands at 303.)

    Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/09/pregnant-covid-mississippi/

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    RNC says it plans to sue Biden administration over federal vaccination mandate – NBC News
    RNC says it plans to sue Biden administration over federal vaccination mandate – NBC News
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    Biden Speaks With Xi Amid Low Point in U.S.-China Relations – The New York Times
    Biden Speaks With Xi Amid Low Point in U.S.-China Relations – The New York Times

    Before the call in the Treaty Room, senior administration officials said the conversation became necessary after previous discussions had erupted in criticism and ended with few commitments to collaborate.

    A meeting in March between China’s top diplomats and senior Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, ended in denunciations and without any joint statement on an intention to collaborate. A trip by Wendy R. Sherman, the deputy secretary of state, to China in July similarly ended with little sign of progress.

    During the most recent attempt to collaborate on addressing climate change, Chinese officials told John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, in Tianjin last week that the escalating tension would hinder any potential cooperation.

    “Without political will at the very top of both governments, any stabilization of the relationship, any progress toward work of mutual concern like climate or the pandemic, is impossible,” said Myron Brilliant, the executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It starts with the two leaders agreeing to a framework for working together on areas of shared concern.”

    Mr. Brilliant said the next phase of dialogue between the two leaders would need “to be backed by more concrete steps toward engagement in areas where the two sides also have differences and challenges,” such as trade and technology.

    Mr. Biden shared concerns with Mr. Xi over cybersecurity, two months after the administration accused the Chinese government of breaching Microsoft email systems used by the world’s largest companies and the United States rallied a broad group of allies to condemn Beijing for cyberattacks around the world.

    The effort by the Biden administration to organize denunciations from multiple nations angered the Chinese Communist Party. But the Foreign Ministry’s summary of the call said that both countries “agreed that it was very important for the leaders of China and the United States to engage in thorough communication” and that they would maintain regular contact.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/us/politics/biden-xi-china.html

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    Harris assails Texas abortion law as ‘patently unconstitutional’ – Fox News
    Harris assails Texas abortion law as ‘patently unconstitutional’ – Fox News
    Video

    VP Harris calls Texas abortion law ‘patently unconstitutional,’ urges Roe v. Wade to be codified

    Vice President Kamala Harris holds a discussion on women’s rights and reproductive health

    Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the Texas abortion law as “patently unconstitutional” on Thursday and called for the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision to be codified into law.

    Harris excoriated the Supreme Court for not blocking the Texas Heartbeat Act, or S.B. 8, which she described as “essentially an abortion bounty law.” The law, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in May, forbids aborting a baby after a heartbeat can be detected.

    The bill also allows for payments of up to $10,000 or more to anyone who prevails in court after accusing someone of performing or aiding an illegal abortion.

    Speaking with the press before a closed roundtable discussion with abortion activists and providers at the White House, Harris emphasized the Biden administration’s support for abortion.

    DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUES TEXAS OVER ABORTION LAW: ‘CLEARLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL’

    “The president and I are unequivocal in our support of Roe v. Wade, and the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, and the right of women to make decisions for themselves with whomever they choose about their own bodies,” Harris said.

    Referencing the 1973 Supreme Court decision that found abortion was legally protected in the U.S. Constitution, Harris later said, “We need to codify Roe v. Wade.”

    After twice asserting that women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, Harris continued, “No legislative institution has the right to circumvent the constitution of the United States in an attempt to interfere with, much less to prevent, a woman to make those decisions.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Harris also singled out Mississippi and New Mexico for their abortion restrictions and said her roundtable would discuss abortion laws nationwide. “We’re going to talk about the United States and what we must do collectively, all of us, to protect the women of our country and protect their constitutional rights,” she said.

    Pivoting to the Texas law, Harris said, “Today, however, the United States Department of Justice has spoken loudly in saying that this law is patently unconstitutional.”

    Harris added that the administration is setting its sights on 22 other states that she claims unconstitutionally restrict abortion.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-calls-texas-abortion-law-patently-unconstitutional-urges-roe-v-wade-to-be-codified

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    Biden pushes rapid COVID checks — despite accuracy issues – New York Post
    Biden pushes rapid COVID checks — despite accuracy issues – New York Post

    President Biden announced Thursday that the federal government will shell out $2 billion to buy almost 300 million rapid tests for COVID-19 – despite the fact that the tests are woefully inaccurate compared to PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, tests.

    Biden said the rapid tests would be distributed to community health centers, food banks and schools across the US “so that every American, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests.”

    However, rapid COVID-19 tests — which typically involve a health professional swabbing a person’s nose or throat but also have at-home versions — vary in accuracy depending on the manufacturer and the time when they are taken, with some offering a less than 50 percent chance of a correct diagnosis.

    A review of 64 studies published in March of this year found that rapid tests correctly detected COVID-19 in an average of 72 percent of people who displayed symptoms of the virus. In asymptomatic people, the accuracy rate dropped to an average of 58.1 percent.

    President Biden said rapid tests would be distributed to community health centers, food banks and schools.
    Brittany Murray/The Orange County Register via AP

    During the first week of symptoms, the review found, rapid tests provided an accurate positive an average of 78.3 percent of the time. However, the tests correctly identified COVID-19 just 51 percent of the time when given in the second week of symptoms.

    In terms of manufacturers, the review found that the rapid test manufactured by Belgium-based Coris BioConcept correctly gave a positive result in just 34 percent of cases. The top performer was South Korean firm SD Biosensor, whose test returned accurate positives 88 percent of the time.

    A second study, published in April, compared the accuracy of four types of rapid tests distributed by German companies Siemens and MEDsan, Switzerland-based Roche Diagnostics, and US-based Abbott Laboratories. None of the four correctly identified a positive COVID-19 case more than 55 percent of the time. The Abbott test fared the worst, correctly returning a positive result just 44.6 percent of the time.

    President Joe Biden is toughening COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers and contractors.
    AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

    By contrast, a January 2020 study found that PCR tests for COVID-19 using mucus from a person’s respiratory tract returned a correct positive result in 97.2 percent of cases.

    The Food and Drug Administration has approved five at-home rapid tests that correctly diagnose positive COVID-19 cases between 83.5 percent and 96 percent of the time for symptomatic individuals. However, a late July report by Nebraska Medicine found that two of the five tests are not available to the general public, while the other three retailed for between $24 and $55 per kit.

    In a possible response to that, Biden also revealed Thursday that he would invoke the Defense Production Act to order the manufacture of more rapid tests for COVID-19, while Wal-Mart, Amazon and Kroger would begin selling rapid test kits “at cost” starting no later than next week and continuing through the next three months. That translates, the president said, to a price reduction for the tests of up to 35 percent.

    The White House previously invoked the Defense Production Act in February of this year to boost the production of vaccines and personal protective equipment. Tim Manning, the national supply chain coordinator for the COVID-19 response under Biden, said at the time that he expected the delivery of 61 million rapid, at-home tests by the end of the summer.

    However, the president said Thursday that the US has still “failed to do enough” when it came to the deployment and distribution of tests.

    Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/09/09/biden-pushes-rapid-covid-checks-despite-accuracy-issues/

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    Los Angeles mandates COVID-19 vaccines for students 12 and older – CBS News
    Los Angeles mandates COVID-19 vaccines for students 12 and older – CBS News

    The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the country, approved a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students 12 and older on Thursday— one of the most aggressive measures taken by any school district to protect children. 

    Now, COVID vaccines will be mandatory for all eligible students by Thanksgiving if they want to attend in-person classes. The district has more than 600,000 students at more than 1,000 schools.  

    “When we look at other immunization requirements — polio, rubella, hepatitis — that we’ve had in schools for generations,  we are going to see other districts follow L.A. Unified’s lead,” said Nick Melvoin, a board member. 

    Melvoin said many school administrators are overwhelmed because they’re spending the majority of their time on COVID protocols. Vaccinations could change that, he said. 

    “According to this principal, about 90% of his schedule over the last month of school has been COVID protocols. We’re already seeing in instances where kids are vaccinated that we can go back to a normal school day,” he said. 

    The move comes as cases among children in the U.S. are soaring. Los Angeles County has recorded more than 190,000 COVID cases in kids 17 and under since the start of the pandemic, according to the county’s Department of Public Health. 

    Culver City, California, and Hoboken, New Jersey, school districts have already enacted vaccine or testing mandates for students and staff. 

    Since schools have returned to in-person learning, COVID outbreaks have closed more than 1,400 schools. At least eight public school employees in Tennessee have reportedly died in the past month after contracting COVID. In Florida, school districts are allowed to impose mask mandates after a judge ruled against Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban. 

    Still, some parents like Bryna Makowka, who has a 15-year-old son in the Los Angeles public school system, say vaccine mandates goes too far. “This is no one’s right but the parent and child to make,” she said. 

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-schools-covid-vaccine-mandate-passes/

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    Lockdown lifted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after report of an active shooter – The Cincinnati Enquirer
    Lockdown lifted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after report of an active shooter – The Cincinnati Enquirer

    Update, 1:37 a.m.: An “all-clear alert” was given following a lockdown that began at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Thursday night. The lockdown was lifted shortly after 1:30 a.m. early Friday morning.

    Update, 12:54 a.m.: Security personnel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are still conducting sweeps following reports of an active shooter Thursday night. 

    “At this time, Wright-Patt Security Forces are still conducting sweeps of NASIC,” states a tweet posted by the base at 12:44 a.m. on Friday. 

    The post is referring to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center where emergency personnel responded to a report of an active shooter around 9:25 p.m. on Thursday. 

    Previous reporting: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is on lockdown following a report of an active shooting Thursday night. 

    Emergency personnel responded to a report of an active shooter at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Area A around 9:25 p.m., according to a tweet from the base. 

    Source Article from https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/09/09/wright-patterson-air-force-base-lockdown-due-report-active-shooter/8268483002/

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    LAPD investigating Larry Elder homeless attack in Venice – Los Angeles Times
    LAPD investigating Larry Elder homeless attack in Venice – Los Angeles Times

    The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating an altercation Wednesday in Venice involving a group of homeless people and supporters of Larry Elder, Republican candidate for governor.

    No charges have yet been filed, but the department’s Robbery-Homicide Division is looking into the incident, according to LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli. Lomeli said the case had been assigned to that unit “because it’s high-profile.”

    Elder’s visit to Venice began with a handful of Gold’s Gym patrons gathering outside his black-and-red campaign bus to cheer the candidate as he stepped off.

    The heckling began a few minutes later, as members of the Venice Neighborhood Council Public Health & Safety Committee walked Elder down Sunset Avenue.

    The confrontation with Elder heated up as the group turned onto encampment-lined 3rd Avenue, with a handful of people circling the group, screaming profanities at Elder and shouting at him to “get the hell out of here.”

    California

    Larry Elder cuts short Venice homeless encampment tour after hostile confrontation

    Someone threw what appeared to be an egg at GOP recall candidate Larry Elder during a tour of homeless encampments in Venice.

    After the group rounded the corner back onto Hampton Drive, what appeared to be an egg was thrown at Elder.

    “It kind of glanced his head,” an Elder campaign staffer said of the object.

    Read the Latest Recall Coverage

    A woman in a gorilla mask riding a bicycle threw the small white object past Elder’s head, as seen in a video posted on Twitter by Spectrum News reporter Kate Cagle.

    The woman appeared to be white, Elder is Black. Ape characterizations have been used as a racist trope for centuries.

    Moments later, the woman took a swing at a man who appeared to be part of Elder’s team. The man was hit by at least one other heckler just before Elder was escorted into a white SUV.

    “Today I kicked off the Recall Express bus tour,” Elder tweeted Wednesday evening. “Before we even left Los Angeles, my security detail was physically assaulted, shot with a pellet gun, and hit with projectiles. The intolerant left will not stop us. We will recall Gavin Newsom. We will save California.”

    Elder continued to campaign Wednesday and had multiple appearances scheduled for Thursday.

    Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-09/lapd-investigating-larry-elder-homeless-attack-venice

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    Biden Mandates Vaccines for Workers, Saying, ‘Our Patience Is Wearing Thin’ – The New York Times
    Biden Mandates Vaccines for Workers, Saying, ‘Our Patience Is Wearing Thin’ – The New York Times

    Lawrence O. Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor who specializes in public health, added: “The president’s plan is bold, audacious and unprecedented. But I do think it’s entirely lawful. He’s on extremely strong legal ground.”

    The moves, which Mr. Biden said would cover 100 million people, are part of a broader White House effort to curb the pandemic, which began to spin out of control in July even as Mr. Biden and his top aides were forecasting a “summer of joy” and declaring independence from the virus. Since then, the highly infectious Delta variant has spread rapidly, fueling a spike in cases and deaths.

    Also on Thursday, Mr. Biden ordered mandatory vaccination for nearly 300,000 educators in the federal Head Start Program and at more than 200 federally run schools. He announced that he would use the Defense Production Act to increase the production of rapid testing kits and would work with retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, to expand their availability. And he said the Transportation Security Administration would now double fines on passengers who refuse to wear masks.

    “If you break the rules, be prepared to pay — and by the way, show some respect,” Mr. Biden said, in a salty reference to angry airline passengers who refuse to mask up. “The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their jobs is wrong. It’s ugly.”

    Experts say vaccine mandates are highly effective at preventing the spread of infectious disease; that is why schools require vaccination against measles, mumps and other childhood ailments. Since the announcement on Aug. 25 that the Pentagon would require active duty military personnel to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the percentage of military members with at least one shot rose from 76.22 percent to 82.96 percent, according to Pentagon data.

    But Mr. Biden is unveiling his plan in a deeply polarized environment around Covid-19 vaccination, and experts seemed split on how effective it will be.

    Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said the actions might be “too little, too late,” and warned that Americans opposed to vaccination might dig in and bristle at being told what to do. The American Hospital Association was cautious, warning that the moves “may result in exacerbating the severe work force shortage problems that currently exist.”

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/us/politics/biden-mandates-vaccines.html

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    Texas’ “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban target of Justice Department lawsuit – The Texas Tribune
    Texas’ “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban target of Justice Department lawsuit – The Texas Tribune

    Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

    The Justice Department sued Texas on Thursday over its new abortion restrictions law, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters, a week after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the law.

    Garland announced the lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Austin, after abortion rights advocates, providers and Democratic lawmakers called for the Biden administration to act. Other legal challenges have been stymied due to the design of the law, which opponents say was engineered to flout a person’s right to an abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973.

    “This kind of scheme to nullify the Constitution of the United States is one that all Americans, whatever their politics or party, should fear,” Garland said.

    The Texas statute, which went into effect Sept. 1, is considered one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. It prohibits abortions once a “fetal heartbeat” — a term medical and legal experts say is misleading — can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many people know they’re pregnant. Providers say that the law prevents at least 85% of the procedures previously completed in the state.

    Garland said Texas’ statute is “invalid under the Supremacy Clause and the 14th Amendment, is preempted by federal law and violates the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity.” He called the law a “statutory scheme” that skirts constitutional precedent by “thwarting judicial review for as long as possible.”

    Previous laws aimed at restricting or stopping abortions have been struck down over the years by the Supreme Court. But this law uses the novel mechanism of relying on private citizens filing lawsuits to enforce the law, not state officials or law enforcement. This makes it especially difficult to strike down in court because there is not a specific defendant for the court to make an injunction against.

    The law empowers any private citizen in the nation to sue someone found to be “aiding and abetting” an abortion, including providers, doctors and even Uber drivers.

    The law has seemingly brought most abortions to a halt in the state. Major clinics canceled appointments, fearful of being inundated with lawsuits in which they’d have to pay a penalty of at least $10,000 if they are found to be in violation of the law. Some clinics have even stopped performing abortions allowed under the new restrictions — before fetal heart activity is detected — out of fear of getting hit with lawsuits.

    “The United States has the authority and responsibility to ensure that Texas cannot evade its obligations under the Constitution and deprive individuals of their constitutional rights,” the lawsuit stated. “The federal government therefore brings this suit directly against the State of Texas to obtain a declaration that S.B. 8 is invalid, to enjoin its enforcement, and to protect the rights that Texas has violated.”

    Renae Eze, Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary, condemned the lawsuit shortly after it was announced.

    “Unfortunately, President [Joe] Biden and his Administration are more interested in changing the national narrative from their disastrous Afghanistan evacuation and reckless open border policies instead of protecting the innocent unborn. We are confident that the courts will uphold and protect that right to life,” Eze said in a statement.

    John Seago, legislative director for anti-abortion organization Texas Right to Life, said his organization thinks the lawsuit lacks legal standing and should be thrown out.

    “We think this is an audacious overstep from the Biden administration,” Seago said. “This is really an amazingly ambitious lawsuit … This is clearly a violation of Texas’ authorities’ [ability] to write their own laws and create their own causes of action. Hopefully, the judge that receives this sees the unprecedented nature of what the Biden administration is asking for.”

    Abortion providers and advocates applauded the Justice Department joining the legal battle to overturn the statute.

    “It’s a gamechanger that the Department of Justice has joined the legal battle to restore constitutionally protected abortion access in Texas,” Nancy Northup, president of Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “Right now, and every day this law is in effect, patients are being denied access to essential health care, and the hardest hit are people of color, those struggling to make ends meet, undocumented immigrants and others with pre-existing obstacles to access healthcare.”

    Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Federation of America president, said in a statement the lawsuit was “a needed announcement” and thanked Biden and the federal government for the action.

    Prior to Thursday’s announcement, legal experts expressed doubts as to how a federal lawsuit might work or how successful it might be. Because of the way the law is constructed, experts have been dubious about how the legal saga will play out in courts and those same challenges could impede efforts by the Justice Department. Federal lawmakers have also vowed to overturn the new restrictions by codifying Roe v. Wade in federal law, but those efforts likely face their own political challenges.

    The federal lawsuit joins other legal efforts aimed at overturning the restrictions. Abortion providers originally challenged the new law in July, arguing it violates the precedent established by Roe v. Wade. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on district court proceedings, leading the providers to seek emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. Many onlookers waited late into the night Aug. 31, expecting an order from the high court before the law went into effect — but it didn’t come.

    A day later, the high court declined to weigh in. In an order, a majority of the court acknowledged that the case raised serious constitutional issues but said that it wasn’t clear whether the government officials and anti-abortion activists named as defendants on the suit “can or will seek to enforce the Texas law,” bringing uncertainty as to whether they could be sued in an attempt to block it. In a 5-4 decision, the Court allowed the law to continue. Court proceedings in the lower courts remain in limbo until the 5th Circuit makes a decision regarding its stay.

    “I’m hopeful that all of these (lawsuits) will move forward to restore access to abortion in Texas, but also in other states that will probably pass similar laws where access is already restricted,” said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for Primary and Trans Care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. “It’s important for us to get relief in the courts.”

    The law also prohibits plaintiffs from being ordered to pay defendants’ legal fees if the case is dismissed, leaving little risk for people who want to bring lawsuits and potential high costs for clinics to defend themselves even in cases where they ultimately prevail. No lawsuits have been announced so far.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was not immediately available for comment.

    Bethany Irvine contributed to this report.

    Disclosure: Planned Parenthood has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

    Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. Tickets are on sale now for this multi-day celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the day’s news, curated by The Texas Tribune’s award-winning journalists. Learn more.

    Source Article from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/09/texas-abortion-ban-federal-challenge/

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    Los Angeles public school board votes to mandate student vaccinations – Fox News
    Los Angeles public school board votes to mandate student vaccinations – Fox News
    Video

    L.A. firefighters, cops challenge vaccine mandate

    Firefighters 4 Freedom leader John Knox on COVID vaccine.

    The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted to approve a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students, becoming the first major school district in America to do so.

    The decision regarding the district’s more than 600,000 students came in a 6-0 vote from school board members at a meeting on Thursday.

    PORTLAND’S COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATE FOR PUBLIC WORKERS MIGHT EXEMPT POLICE OFFICERS: REPORTS

    The LAUSD released an online agenda for the meeting in advance and listed the following “expected outcomes” after implementation of the mandate:

    • All students who are 12 years of age and older and are part of in-person extracurricular programs must receive their first vaccine dose by no later than October 3, and their second dose by no later than October 31, 2021.
    • All students who are 12 years of age and older must receive their first vaccine dose by no later than November 21, 2021 and their second dose by no later than December 19, 2021.
    • All other students must receive their first vaccine dose by no later than 30 days after their 12th birthday, and their second dose by no later than 8 weeks after their 12th birthday.

    The LAUSD agenda said some students could be granted exemptions, with the school board estimating that 150,000 doses will need to be administered following the measure’s approval.

    Several protesters stood outside of the board of education as the vote took place, displaying signs in opposition to the mandate. “Where there is risk there must choice,” one sign read, while another questioned, “What could go wrong?”

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    In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, L.A. schools Interim Supt. Megan K. Reilly insisted the vaccine mandate is the right step to protect school children.

    “We’ve always approached safety with a multilayered approach: masks, air filtration and coronavirus screening,” Reilly said. “But we are seeing without a doubt that the vaccines are one of the clearest pathways to protecting individuals from getting severe sickness as well as for mitigating transmission of the COVID virus. It is one of the best preventive measures that we have at our disposal to create a safe environment at schools.”

    Recent data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that, as of August 29, 48% of county residents 12 to 15 years old and 57% of residents ages 16 to 17 were fully vaccinated.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/los-angeles-public-school-board-votes-to-implement-student-vaccine-mandate

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    First Flight From Kabul Is Hailed as Positive Step Amid Troubling Signs – The New York Times
    First Flight From Kabul Is Hailed as Positive Step Amid Troubling Signs – The New York Times

    At Thursday’s joint news conference at the airport, Taliban and Qatari officials hailed the flight as the moment that Afghanistan reconnected with the international community. While that may have been overstated — many world leaders clearly remain deeply wary of the country’s new leaders — American officials had words of praise Thursday for the militants that U.S. forces battled for two decades.

    “The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from H.K.I.A.,” Emily Horne, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement, referring to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. “They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step.”

    The State Department confirmed that Americans were on the plane, which later landed in Doha, Qatar’s capital, but would not say how many there were. A spokesman, Ned Price, said more than 30 Americans had been invited onto the flight but that some did not go.

    At Kabul’s airport Thursday, as passengers were being checked in for the flight to Qatar, the mood of relief stood in stark contrast to the scene there just over a week ago.

    Safi, 42, who is from Toronto, was among those passing through security to board the plane. He said he had tried to leave during the evacuation but had given up as chaos enveloped the streets outside the airport. At the end of August, a suicide bombing attack at the gates of the airport killed scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/world/asia/kabul-airport-qatar.html

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