Ep. 98: News Roundup Week of 8/23/21

Heart & Home

The U.S. FDA this week gave full approval for the Pfizer vaccine for those 16 and older. It had been approved for emergency use. It’s the first vaccine fully licensed and found to be 91% effective. 85 million Americans are eligible that have not received a shot. ———- The civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife Jaqueline, 77, remained hospitalized this week in Chicago after testing positive for COVID-19. Jesse Jackson, 79, is vaccinated but his wife is not. ——— The “Homecoming Concert” in New York City's Central Park was canceled because of dangerous weather as Hurricane Henri approached the Northeast last Saturday. The five-hour concert, intended to celebrate New York City’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, was about halfway through when the weather became an issue. Henri made landfall Sunday near Westerly, Rhode Island, about 12:15 p.m. EDT with sustained winds of 60 miles an hour. Henri weakened as it moved slowly along the Eastern U.S., bringing heavy rain. The slow-rolling system drenched the Northeast with rain. Beach towns from the Hamptons on Long Island to Cape Cod in Massachusetts were spared the worst of the potential damage Sunday. Another storm, Ida, is expected to make landfall in Louisiana Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane on the same date Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana as a devastating Category 3 storm 16 years ago. The Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi coasts are under storm surge warnings, and Louisiana's coast is now under a hurricane warning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm will move into the Gulf of Mexico Saturday. -------- Catastrophic flooding in middle Tennessee left at least 21 people dead and 20 are missing after the rural area was hit with record rainfall Friday into Saturday morning. A preliminary rainfall total of 17.02 inches was measured at McEwen, Tennessee, Saturday, which would break the all-time 24-hour rainfall record for the state of Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service. The old record was 13.06 inches, recorded in Milan on Sept. 13, 1982. ——————- On Sunday, the Pentagon enlisted the help of six U.S. airlines to evacuate Americans and Afghan partners. Then , a suicide bomber and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. At least 90 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops were killed. U.S. officials said another 18 service members were wounded. At least 170 Afghans were wounded in the attack. Two British nationals and the child of another British national also were killed in the bombing. ——— Kathy Hochul became the first female governor of New York on Tuesday, inheriting immense challenges as she takes over an administration facing criticism for inaction during Andrew Cuomo’s distracted final months in office. ———- After months of debate over the legality of banning evictions nationwide, the Supreme Court had the final say and shut down President Joe Biden's eviction moratorium on Thursday in a 6-3 vote. ——— Today marks the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall on August 28, 1963.