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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.
1. Job gains in August were expected to be low — but not this low. Blame the Delta variant.
Employers added 235,000 jobs last month, far below economists’ expectations of a gain of 725,000. The slowdown contrasted with huge gains recorded earlier this summer — 962,000 jobs were added in June and 1.05 million in July — and showed that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is hurting hiring.
The U.S. lost about 28,500 retail jobs in August. Leisure and hospitality positions, which had been a major driver in job growth in recent months, barely rose — a clear slowdown in industries that require face-to-face interaction with the public.
“There’s no question that the Delta variant is why today’s job report isn’t stronger,” President Biden said. “I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number.” He nevertheless expressed optimism about the outlook, saying the U.S. recovery was “durable and strong.”
2. Top federal health officials have told the White House to scale back a plan to offer coronavirus booster shots to the public later this month.
The leaders of the F.D.A. and the C.D.C. warned they may not have enough data to recommend boosters for anyone except certain recipients of the Pfizer vaccine by late September. Regulators are still waiting on data that the F.D.A. has been seeking from Israel, which is already giving boosters to everyone 12 and older, and need more time to decide the proper dosage for a possible third Moderna shot. Data from Johnson & Johnson has also not been delivered.
The U.S. plans to invest $2.7 billion in critical vaccine components. But countries struggling with vaccine shortages say they need the vaccine itself.
3. The death toll from the remnants of Hurricane Ida grew to 46 across four states hit by the storm on Wednesday.
The dead include 25 people in New Jersey, 16 in New York, four in Pennsylvania and one in Connecticut. New York City will step up flood warnings for people in basement apartments and move to evacuate them, after at least a dozen people living in basements were trapped and died in the storm, the mayor said.
As the region undertakes the daunting task of assessing damage, digging out and cleaning up, the governors of New York and New Jersey said they expect help from Washington.
4. The Supreme Court’s decision not to block Texas’ near-ban on abortions has vaulted the issue to the forefront of American politics.
As G.O.P. lawmakers in Arkansas, Florida and South Dakota promised to quickly enact copycat legislation, Democrats seized the opportunity to force an issue they believe is a political winner for them. The move could reshape the dynamics of elections in California this month, in Virginia in November and in the midterms that will determine control of Congress and statehouses next year.
After the law went into effect on Wednesday, the state’s largest anti-abortion group publicized a website that invited citizens to inform on the law’s violators. TikTok users and coders flooded the site with fake tips.
5. President Biden has insisted that the evacuation of Kabul was done as efficiently as possible. But key documents obtained by The Times suggest otherwise.
Refugees from Afghanistan pushed their way onto airplanes. Hundreds of children were separated from their parents. Rogue flights landed without manifests. Vetting of passengers was done in hours or days, rather than months or even years.
The Department of Homeland Security said about 40,000 people have arrived in the U.S., and officials expect about 17,000 more to arrive by Sept. 10. Thousands more may ultimately end up living in a dozen other countries. But thousands of Afghans with ties to the U.S. did not make it out. Many of them are now in hiding, worried for their safety and their future.
6. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan said he would not seek re-election, less than a year into what has been a deeply unpopular term.
Suga leaves the Liberal Democratic Party facing its biggest crisis in over a decade: Japan’s vaccine rollout started slowly; coronavirus cases are at record highs; the recovery has been tepid; and the government has failed to outline a clear path forward. His party is likely to stay in power, but it is almost certain to see its majority diminished, under a new leader.
At the end of the month in Germany, voters will choose a successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel after 16 years of her dominating German and European politics. The two leading candidates are anything but exciting — and that’s how Germans like it.
7. Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. It also uses more electricity than many entire countries.
In 2009, when Bitcoin’s value was basically nothing, you could mine one Bitcoin using a single computer in your living room that required a few seconds’ worth of electricity. But the soaring popularity of cryptocurrencies has meant that it now takes about 9 years’ worth of household electricity to mine a single Bitcoin. Its value: about $50,000.
The process consumes around 91 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, more than is used by Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million. Experts say using renewable energy for Bitcoin mining means it won’t be available to power a home, a factory or an electric car.
8. First Kanye. Then Drake. And now Abba.
For more than a decade, Drake and Kanye West have been at the top of the hip-hop heap. But never have the two generation-defining stars been in such lockstep as this week: Their albums — “Certified Lover Boy” and “Donda” — both potential streaming blockbusters, arrived within five days of each other, with very different rollouts. Now they’ll duel it out on the charts.
Abba, the Swedish pop phenomenon, is reuniting after nearly 40 years. “Don’t Shut Me Down,” their first single off their new album, due Nov. 5, is about a woman surprising an ex with her return. The choruses, our music critic writes, recognize the strangeness of Abba’s reappearance.
9. The No. 1 fall travel concern: uncertainty.
After a summer in which travel accelerated rapidly, the rise in coronavirus cases and ever-changing travel regulations are once again throwing variables into travel planning. But here is what you can expect: flexible tickets, costly rental cars, an uptick in domestic travel and crowded beaches.
In New York, upstate motels are making a comeback. Bygone roadside motels and bungalow colonies, which have been hiding in plain sight throughout the region, are primed for visitors craving a chance to be social with strangers, but in moderation.
10. And finally, a helping hand for an orphaned elephant.
Nania was just 2 or 3 months old when villagers found the elephant wandering in Burkina Faso in September 2017. Many orphaned elephants don’t make it, but with help from those villagers and international conservationists and her best friend, a black-and-white sheep named Whisty, the scrappy elephant is now about 4 years old and thriving.
Now Nania’s rescuers face a new challenge: figuring out whether she can be returned to a herd of wild elephants. DNA technology has revealed that Nania’s mother is probably still roaming nearby, and that one day she might join her original family, a group of threatened forest elephants. Her keepers plan to try for a reunion in October.
Have a hopeful weekend.
David Poller compiled photos for this briefing.
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