COVID vaccines to be required for military under new US plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the U.S. military will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine beginning next month under a plan laid out by the Pentagon Monday and endorsed by President Joe Biden. In memos distributed to all troops, top Pentagon leaders said the vaccine is a necessary step to maintain military readiness.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the mid-September deadline could be accelerated if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise.

“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon" licensure by the Food and Drug Administration "whichever comes first,” Austin said in his memo, warning them to prepare for the requirement.

The Pentagon plan provides time for the FDA to give final approval to the Pfizer vaccine, which is expected early next month. Without that formal approval, Austin needs a waiver from Biden to make the shots mandatory, and Biden has already made clear he supports it.

Austin's decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent new U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths surging to heights not seen since last winter. The concerns are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading. Any large virus outbreak in the military could affect America’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.

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'Code red': UN scientists warn of worsening global warming

Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released Monday that the United Nations called a “code red for humanity.”

“It’s just guaranteed that it’s going to get worse,” said report co-author Linda Mearns, a senior climate scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”

But scientists also eased back a bit on the likelihood of the absolute worst climate catastrophes.

The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and “unequivocal” and “an established fact,” makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013.

Each of five scenarios for the future, based on how much carbon emissions are cut, passes the more stringent of two thresholds set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. World leaders agreed then to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above levels in the late 19th century because problems mount quickly after that. The world has already warmed nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since then.

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Epstein accuser sues Prince Andrew, citing sex assault at 17

NEW YORK (AP) — One of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accusers sued Prince Andrew on Monday, taking accusations that she has repeatedly publicly lodged against him, including that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, to a formal venue.

Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, where Epstein was charged criminally with sex trafficking a month before he killed himself at age 66 in August 2019 in an adjacent federal jail where he was ordered to await trial.

Giuffre has repeatedly made her allegations against Epstein, his onetime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and Andrew, but the lawsuit was the first time she has directly confronted Andrew in such a formal setting. It steps up public relations pressure on the prince, even if he remains beyond the reach of the courts.

In a statement, Giuffre said she was “holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me."

“The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one’s life by speaking out and demanding justice," Giuffre said.

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Infrastructure on track as bipartisan Senate coalition grows

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of fits, starts and delays, the Senate is on track to give final approval to the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, with a growing coalition of Democrats and Republicans prepared to lift the first phase of President Joe Biden’s rebuilding agenda to passage.

Final Senate votes are expected around 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, and the bill would then go to the House.

All told, some 70 senators appear poised to carry the bipartisan package to passage, a potentially robust tally of lawmakers eager to tap the billions in new spending for their states and to show voters back home they can deliver.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it's "the first time the Senate has come together around such a package in decades.”

After that, the Senate will immediately launch votes on Biden's next package — the $3.5 trillion plan that is a more strictly Democratic undertaking — beginning a debate that will extend into fall.

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Ex-Cuomo aide details groping as lawmakers meet in private

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Lawmakers took another early step toward Gov. Andrew Cuomo's possible impeachment Monday, hours after an aide who accused him of groping her said in her first televised interview that she initially remained anonymous for fear the governor's “enablers” would destroy her.

Brittany Commisso, an executive assistant on Cuomo's staff, detailed her interactions with the Democrat in a joint interview with CBS and The Times Union of Albany that was broadcast Monday as a key New York legislative committee met behind closed doors to discuss potential impeachment hearings.

Commisso has spoken out before, first in an anonymous interview with the Times Union last winter, and then as one of 11 women who said they were sexually harassed by Cuomo whose allegations were detailed in a report by the state attorney general's office last week, which did not name her. She was also the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo, giving a report to the county sheriff Thursday.

Until now, the public hasn’t heard her tell her own story.

“I was afraid that if I had to come forward and revealed my name, that the governor and his enablers, I like to call them, would viciously attack me, would smear my name, as I had seen and heard them do before to people,” said Commisso, now 32.

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Senate Dems unveil $3.5T budget for social, climate efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats unwrapped a budget resolution Monday envisioning a massive $3.5 trillion, 10-year cascade of federal resources, aiming historic sums at family support, health and education programs and an aggressive drive to heal the climate.

The measure is a pivotal first step in what will likely be a tumultuous, months-long Democratic legislative march toward a progressive reshaping of the federal government that also hews to President Joe Biden's top domestic policy ambitions.

The blueprint reflects many Democrats' tilt leftward in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency and bears the imprint of Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a long-time progressive voice now at the hub of his party's power structure in Congress.

Many of its proposals would be financed by raising taxes on the wealthy and large corporations while sparing people earning under $400,000 annually, an oft-repeated Biden pledge and liberal goal. Though party leaders say the measure will be fully paid for, the budget resolution does not require that, instead giving Congress’ tax-writing committees unspecified license to raise money that a summary calls “substantial.”

The Senate was expected to approve the budget plan this week over solid Republican opposition. Meanwhile, senators were nearing approval of a separate $1 trillion package financing road, water and other infrastructure projects, a bill with broad support.

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Aircraft help fight California wildfire as smoke clears

Thick smoke that held down winds and temperatures in the zone of the largest single wildfire in California history cleared Monday from scenic forestlands, allowing firefighting aircraft to rejoin the battle to contain the massive Dixie Fire.

The newly clear skies will allow more than two dozen helicopters and two air tankers that have been grounded to fly again and make it safer for ground crews to maneuver.

“With this kind of weather, fire activity will pick up. But the good thing is we can get aircraft up,” said fire spokesman Ryan Bain.

Winds were not expected to reach the ferocious speeds that helped the blaze explode in size last week. But they were still a concern for firefighters working in unprecedented conditions to protect thousands of threatened homes.

Fueled by powerful gusts and bone-dry vegetation, the fire incinerated much of the small community of Greenville last Wednesday and Thursday. At least 627 homes and other structures had been destroyed by Monday and another 14,000 buildings were still threatened in the northern Sierra Nevada.

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EXPLAINER: How do border policies affect US infection rates?

PHOENIX (AP) — As the delta variant fuels an increase of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., some of President Joe Biden's critics blame the surge on his border policies, which allow some migrants to enter the country to apply for asylum.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last week accused Biden of “helping to facilitate” the spread of the coronavirus. Fox News host Sean Hannity referred to migrants causing “the biggest super-spreader event” and incorrectly asserted that none was being tested.

But public health experts say arriving migrants are not driving the rising infections in the U.S. The main culprits are people who refuse to get vaccinated. Furthermore, migrants who are allowed to enter are generally tested for COVID-19 and given hotel rooms to quarantine if they test positive, though federal authorities have not made data available about such cases.

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MIGRANTS ARE STOPPED AT THE BORDER?

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Taliban press on, take 2 more Afghan provincial capitals

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban took control of two more provincial capitals in Afghanistan on Monday, officials said. Their fall marked the latest development in a weekslong, relentless Taliban offensive as American and NATO forces finalize their pullout from the war-torn country.

The militants have ramped up their push across much of Afghanistan, turning their guns on provincial capitals after taking large swaths of land in the mostly rural countryside. On Monday they controlled five of the country's 34 provincial capitals. At the same time, they have been waging an assassination campaign targeting senior government officials in the capital, Kabul.

The sweep comes despite condemnations by the international community and warnings from the United Nations that a military victory and takeover by the Taliban would not be recognized. The Taliban have also not heeded appeals to return to the negotiating table and continue long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government.

Two lawmakers from northern Samangan province — Hayatullah Samangani and Mahboba Rahmat — said the provincial capital of Aybak fell to the Taliban on Monday afternoon without resistance. They said government officials fled to another district.

Provincial council member Mohammad Hashim Sarwari said Taliban fighters earlier had captured three districts of the province before overrunning the capital.

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Robert Durst takes stand at his trial, denies killing friend

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Durst took the stand at his California murder trial Monday and immediately denied killing his best friend, who prosecutors say was about to reveal to investigators his involvement in the 1982 disappearance of his wife.

“Bob, did you kill Susan Berman?” Durst’s attorney Dick DeGuerin said to open the testimony of the 78-year-old New York real estate heir.

“No,” Durst answered.

“Do you know who did?” DeGuerin asked.

“No, I do not,” answered Durst, who struggled to hear, strained to speak and appeared extremely frail as he sat in a wheelchair instead of a witness chair.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021