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| 📝 Good afternoon and welcome to Notes on the News. It's Sunday, Aug. 29. Here's what we're watching this week: the final stages of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Hurricane Ida, and the opening of Elizabeth Holmes's criminal fraud trial. Let us know what you think by replying to this email. Thanks for reading. | |
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| |  | | U.S. Marines processed evacuees at the airport in Kabul on Saturday.
PHOTO: US MARINES/REUTERS | | | | |
| 1. Afghanistan withdrawal approaches conclusion. The massive international airlift out of Kabul is entering its final hours ahead of the Tuesday deadline for U.S. troops to depart, and tensions are running high. A U.S. drone struck a vehicle in a residential area of the capital today, preventing another attack on the city's airport, the Pentagon said. | |
| 2. Hurricane Ida poses major test for New Orleans's defenses. The city is among the Gulf Coast communities bracing for landfall today in what is expected to be the fiercest storm there since Hurricane Katrina hit 16 years ago. New Orleans is counting on its $14.5 billion flood-protection system to help prevent a repeat of that storm's destruction. | |
| 3. Elizabeth Holmes's fraud trial set to begin. The founder of blood-testing startup Theranos, which imploded amid allegations that she had misled investors and patients about the company's technology, faces criminal charges in proceedings that are scheduled to commence with jury selection on Tuesday. | |
| 4. Fed looks to August jobs figures for input. The Department of Labor is scheduled to release its monthly report on Friday, and Federal Reserve officials are expected to closely parse it for details on unemployment and hiring levels as they try to determine when to raise interest rates. | |
| 5. Biden to meet Ukraine's president. Volodymyr Zelensky heads to the White House on Monday, with a focus on Russia, corruption and energy cooperation—a key issue for the two leaders as Russia's gas pipeline to Germany nears completion, bypassing Ukraine and increasing Moscow's sway over energy in Europe. | |
| 6. Tennis superstars to miss U.S. Open. The tournament beginning Monday will be the first Slam held this century without at least one of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, all of whom withdrew with injuries. It could go down as the end of an era—and presents a Grand Slam opportunity for Novak Djokovic. | |
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| 55% — The percentage of intensive-care beds that are occupied by Covid-19 patients in Georgia. Across the country, such beds have become scarce after hospitalizations nationwide crossed above 100,000 for the second time in the pandemic, overwhelming caregiver capacity. $11.3 billion — The amount of money authorized in the federal infrastructure bill to pay for the reclamation of abandoned mine lands. Amid coal's steady decline, efforts are growing in West Virginia to repurpose former mines and lead the way to diversifying the state's economy. $200 — The approximate price of a kilogram of raw opium in Afghanistan, up from $70, after the Taliban ordered a stop to its production as they seek international acceptance as the country's new rulers. The crop, which is processed into heroin, helped finance the group's insurgency, Western governments say. | |
| | What Everyone Wants To Know | | |
| |  | | Harry Styles will require audience members to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test.
PHOTO: COVER IMAGES/ZUMA PRESS | | | | |
| Concerts' long-anticipated comeback is stumbling. More big-name artists are canceling their tours and other musicians are coping with the complexities and expense of doing live shows amid concerns about resurgent Covid-19 cases. The lingering pandemic has artist teams navigating a patchwork of safety protocols that vary by city and venue, looking to create "bubbles" around acts on the road, contending with higher logistical costs, and appealing to eager fan bases to get vaccinated. | |
| Here's how the 'Jeopardy!' host succession plan went sideways. Nine months ago, Sony Pictures Entertainment executives thought they had an ideal successor to "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek in Ken Jennings, a former contestant who held the record for longest winning streak on the game show, people close to the program said. But tweets he made years ago resurfaced, and the reaction gave Sony executives pause. Because the plan was never to turn the keys over to Jennings permanently right from the start, Sony had a way to buy some time. But that would only lead to another round of headaches. | |
| U.S. spy agencies can't pinpoint the source of Covid-19. American intelligence agencies are unable to determine conclusively how the pandemic emerged, a summary of a classified report said. Four agencies assessed, with low confidence, that it reached humans via infected animals, the summary said, while one argued with moderate confidence that it was the result of a lab accident. But the summary is unequivocal on two major points: that the coronavirus "was not developed as a biological weapon" and that U.S. spy agencies don't think Chinese officials had foreknowledge of it before the outbreak emerged. The report also said Beijing has hindered the global investigation and that the U.S. intelligence community won't be able to pinpoint the source of the pandemic without more information from China. | |
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| |  | | Actor Jake Gyllenhaal revealed in a Vanity Fair interview that he finds bathing 'less necessary.'
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES | | | | |
- Go shower (or don't): Columnist Rory Satran looks at why some Hollywood types take a lax approach to hygiene, stoking a contentious uproar on how often one should bathe. It mirrors a similar discord in the medical community, and among everyday people.
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