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lighting brings risk of new wildfires to california

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Fast-moving thunderstorms with lightning and little rain moved across Northern California early Friday, raising the risk of new wildfires in the drought-stricken region.

A red flag warning for critical fire weather conditions was expected to remain in effect all day, but the thunderstorm threat was expected to diminish in most areas by late morning, the National Weather Service said.

The official downtown San Francisco rain gauge recorded 0.01 inch (0.25 millimeters) of rain by 5 a.m., marking the first time it has rained there on Sept. 10 since 1978, the weather service said. The most recent measurable September rain in the city happened in 2019.

Thunderstorms also moved through parts of Southern California on Thursday and early Friday, triggering flash flood concerns for burn scars of past wildfires.

An area burned by the 2020 Bobcat Fire in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles received more than a half-inch of rain (15 millimeters), most of it in a period of about 15 minutes.

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The threat of lightning-sparked fires came as thousands of firefighters have made progress on containing more than a dozen large fires, mostly located Northern California forests.

A historic drought and recent heat waves tied to climate change have made wildfires harder to fight in the American West. Scientists say climate change has made the region much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

So far this year, more than 7,000 fires have scorched 3,300 square miles (8,500 square kilometers) in California, destroying more than 3,000 structures including many homes, according to the state firefighting agency.

President Joe Biden will survey fire damage during a visit to California next week in which he will also campaign for Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who faces a recall election on Tuesday.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Lightning Brings Risk of New Wildfires to California

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) - A weather system approaching northwest California was expected to bring dry lightning and blustery winds by late Thursday, unleashing a risk of new wildfires as thousands of firefighters have been making headway against existing blazes.

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Doctors are now recommending vaccines to pregnant women because of the number of deaths in babies due to covid.

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For the last 17 months some civilians have been jobless because of the Covid-19 pandemic

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unemployment insurance in the united states

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Federal pandemic unemployment benefits end in NC; other forms of aid still available

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On Sept. 4, federal pandemic unemployment benefits expired in North Carolina, meaning many unemployed people will no longer receive an extra $300 weekly. Caption: Federal pandemic unemployment benefits end in NC; other forms of aid still available. The week ending Sept.

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The USA just had the hottest summer due to climate change

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The U.S. just had its hottest summer on record

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This summer beat the record set by the Dust Bowl summer of 1936, when huge parts of the West and the Great Plains were parched by severe drought.

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Just last night, multiple men pulled up to a home in Charlotte North Carolina and began to fire "more than 150 rounds", said investigators, into the household. during the gunfire, a 3-year old boy, Asiah Figueroa, was shot and killed, the sister was wounded and taken to the hospital to be treated.

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asiah figueroa: a 3-year-old boy was killed after a barrage of gunfire was aimed at a home in charlotte

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A 3-year-old boy was killed after a barrage of gunfire was aimed at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina

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A 3-year-old boy died and his sister was wounded inside a relative's home in Charlotte, North Carolina, after several people fired roughly 150 rounds of gunfire at the house, police said.

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Apple can no longer force developers to use in-app purchasing, judge rules. This means loss in the economic value of apple.

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Apple News: Latest on the iPhone, iPad, Macbook, Apple TV, Operating Systems & More

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Find the latest news stories, photos, and videos on Apple on NBCNews.com. Read headlines covering new products, reviews, new updates, release dates, and more about Apple products.

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When President Joe Biden declared an end to the war in Afghanistan from the White House last month, he said he was also closing the curtain on the "mindset" that had turned the mission into a quagmire.

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'A heavy price': Two decades of war, wariness and the post-9/11 security state

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WASHINGTON - When President Joe Biden declared an end to the war in Afghanistan from the White House last month, he said he was also closing the curtain on the "mindset" that had turned the mission into a quagmire. "The decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan," he said Aug.

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There had been an earthquake in Mexico. People started seeing strange blue lights and made them think and fear that The Apocalypse was going to happen.

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MEXICO CITY - Mexicans are sharing spectacular videos of bursts of blue lights seen streaking across the skies as a strong earthquake rocked the country's Pacific coast city of Acapulco on Wednesday.

The 7.0 magnitude quake struck some 11 miles northeast of the resort city in the southwestern state of Guerrero. At least one person was killed, buildings were damaged and rockslides littered a major highway, but the temblor didn't cause widespread damage.

It did rattle nerves though.

The earthquake could be felt some 200 miles away in Mexico City and lasted nearly a minute. Residents fled into the streets as buildings swayed, sidewalks undulated and the blue lights burst brilliantly in the sky.

Twitter users posted videos of the blue flashes.

Soon users started using the hashtag Apocalipsis, Spanish for the biblical term denoting the end of the world, apocalypse.

It's a phenomenon that occurs somewhat regularly

Rutgers University physicist Troy Shinbrot says not to worry - the blue lights are not a sign of the world coming to an end.

"If it did, the apocalypse would have happened a thousand years ago when this was first discovered," said Shinbrot. In an interview with NPR, he said the phenomenon of so-called earthquake lights has been recorded historically and occurs fairly regularly.

Some scientists believe the eruption of light, or luminosity, is caused by the friction of rock near Earth's crust, which releases energy into the atmosphere. The flash of light is produced near the planet's surface.

Shinbrot has tried to re-create the phenomenon in his lab and says he has measured voltage changes similar to what happens when Earth's crust slips in an earthquake.

He urges the scientifically curious to take a roll of adhesive tape into a dark closet and quickly peel back a strip. Shinbrot says a glow of light will be emitted. But he cautions not to relate "earthquake lights," or EQL, and the adhesive tape experiment too closely, since there is still a lot scientists don't know.

There's disagreement about what actually causes the flashes

The U.S. Geological Survey makes that clear on its website, stating, "Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL."

And USGS earthquake geologist Austin Elliott stresses not to rely on videos supposedly illustrating the EQL phenomenon.

He says most of what was seen in Mexico's skies on Tuesday night following the earthquake were power flashes from swinging wires in the electricity grid hitting other lines, trees or buildings.

"If there were visible natural electrical phenomenon going on, that would have been difficult to discern alongside the bright power flashes from the electrical grid," says Elliott.

National Autonomous University of Mexico seismologist Victor Manuel Cruz Atienza does believe in the phenomenon, but says last night's sky was full of a lot of electrical activity from a rainstorm.

"We can't for sure associate the earthquake with the light show we saw last night, especially given the rainstorm we were experiencing," he told NPR. He said it was difficult for him to distinguish the difference on several videos he saw making the rounds on social media.

Cruz Atienza and Shinbrot both agree there will likely be more chances to see the blue flashes across Mexico's skies. And many Mexicans are pointing out that most probably will happen sometime during September. That's when many of Mexico's greatest quakes have hit, including an 8.2 magnitude temblor that struck the state of Oaxaca four years ago on Sept. 7, 2017, and Mexico City's destructive 8.0 quake on Sept. 19, 1985.

That got Twitter users abuzz renaming the month Septiemble, a combination of "September" and "tremble" in Spanish.

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First Came A Quake In Mexico, Then Strange Blue Lights. People Feared The Apocalypse

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Mexicans are sharing spectacular videos of bursts of blue lights seen streaking across the skies after a 7.0 earthquake rattled the country's Pacific coast on Wednesday.

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Child covid cases have gone up by 22.4% weekly ever sense kids came back to school.

s.app.goo.gl/v3CU5XkMZSTB56SE9

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In Texas there has been a ban on abortion over 6 weeks, even though most woman don't even know that their pregnant.This law lets any american sue a texan if they help a woman get a abortion after six weeks.

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the justice department's uphill battle against texas' abortion ban  - cnnpolitics

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The Justice Department's uphill battle against Texas' abortion ban

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

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Misstique brooks-Suspect in Florida quadruple homicide falsely believed he was saving sex-trafficking victim, authorities say

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Misstique brooks-Suspect in Florida quadruple homicide falsely believed he was saving sex-trafficking victim, authorities say

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This weekend a family has lost a piece of their hearts because of the monster that was hiding in plain sight, he now is claiming that he was actually saving his victims because he thought they were sex trafficking a child, he was wrong and because of this, he is a Marine veteran charged with the murders of four people this week in a Florida home, including a 3-month-old baby.

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20 years ago he twin towers where attacked and 100 of thousands died and there familys have to live with that  therefore i believe this saturday we all pray

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A 3-year-old boy died and his sister was wounded inside a relative's home in Charlotte, North Carolina after several people fired roughly 150 rounds of gunfire at the house. The police department released what appears to be surveillance video of the shooting, hoping the public can help identify the cars or the suspects.

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There are many wildfires across the US

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91 wildfires are now burning across the us

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with oregon's bootleg fire growing to over 400

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91 wildfires are now burning across the US, with Oregon's Bootleg Fire growing to over 400,000 acres

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Seven new large fires were reported Sunday, bringing the total number of wildfires raging in the United States to 91, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

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There was a lot of wildfire this year and here are some states it effected:Florida,Oklahoma,New Mexico,Alaska,Texas, and etc, A wildfire starts when there is enough heat to start a spark.

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Global warming refers to human-induced warming of the Earth. climate change can refer to natural change. both have caused noticing threatning changes to the earth.

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Home - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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Vital Signs of the Planet: Global Climate Change and Global Warming. Current news and data streams about global warming and climate change from NASA.

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President Biden is addressing the situation about coronavirus and people who are not vaccinated, this is important because we're going through a pandemic and this updates us about how people feel about the vaccine.

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- They're a source of frustration. A risk to their fellow citizens. A threat to the nation's economic recovery.

President Joe Biden is trying to concentrate the anger of the nation's inoculated majority against the stubborn 25% of eligible Americans who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Nearly 8 months after declaring "war" on the coronavirus as he took office, Biden announced far-reaching new federal requirements Thursday that could force millions to get shots. In doing so, he embraced those who haven't rolled up their sleeves as a new foe amid a devastating surge in cases that is straining the nation's health system and constricting its economy.

"We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin," Biden said from the State Dining Room. "And your refusal has cost all of us."

The unvaccinated minority, he added, "can cause a lot of damage, and they are."

The speech marked the starkest public airing of Biden's own frustrations over the direction of the COVID-19 pandemic and a striking departure from his familiar talk of national healing. In essence, he scolded a minority of the country for holding back the majority. And he had especially harsh words for public officials who have stoked or exploited vaccine fears for political gain.

"A distinct minority of Americans, supported by a distinct minority of elected officials, are keeping us from turning the corner," Biden said. "These pandemic politics are making people sick, causing unvaccinated people to die."

Biden's forceful posture reflected a calculus that far more Americans will support his action than will be drawn to the visceral anger that some on the right directed at his announcement - evidenced, in his view, by the fact that a supermajority of the country has already been vaccinated.

It was also driven by self-interest, as Biden tries to defend his own job performance on the issue most important to voters.

The resurgence of the virus has sent his poll numbers to the lowest point yet of his presidency. An AP-NORC poll conducted in August found that 54% of Americans approved of Biden's stewardship of the pandemic, down from 66% the month before, driven by a drop in support among Republicans and political independents.

The drop in approval has coincided with a summer backslide in the fight against the virus. Biden blamed the spiking cases for August's slower-than-expected job growth and warned the nation could continue to face economic penalty if it doesn't get the virus under control.

It was just two months ago that Biden prematurely declared the nation's "independence" from the pandemic. Now, despite more than 75% of Americans having at least one dose of vaccine, the U.S. is seeing about 300% more new COVID-19 infections a day, about two-and-a-half times more hospitalizations, and nearly twice the number of deaths compared to the same time last year.

"We're in the tough stretch, and it could last for a while," Biden warned.

Still, he predicted, with most Americans vaccinated, the human toll won't exceed last winter's carnage.

Speaking directly to the fears of Americans who have received a dose, Biden said, "For the vast majority of you who've gotten vaccinated, I understand your anger at those who haven't gotten vaccinated. I understand the anxiety about getting a breakthrough case." He pledged that his administration was moving forward swiftly to secure booster doses of the mRNA vaccines as soon as this month to provide more durable protection against the more transmissible delta variant.

In announcing that the Transportation Security Administration will double fines on travelers who refuse to wear masks on planes, Biden was unforgiving, "If you break the rules, be prepared to pay."

White House officials maintain Biden isn't trying to stoke anger in a vacuum but said he hopes that reflecting the irritation of the nation's majority - combined with new vaccine requirements - will serve as a productive step toward putting the virus back in check. Defeating the virus, they argue, now requires defeating the reluctance of the 80 million people who have yet to get a shot.

It's a head-spinning change in tone from a White House that spent much of the year steadfastly avoiding any appearance of criticism of those who were waiting to be vaccinated.

Federal, state and local governments invested billions on education, advertising and outreach about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. They gave away cash, cars, tuition, sports tickets and beer. Even as some Republicans criticized Biden's handling of the vaccination rollout, the White House for months held its tongue.

But as more Americans rolled up their sleeves, officials said, Biden grew more comfortable first taking on those his administration blames for spreading misinformation about the shots and now imposing the vaccination requirements his administration had previously avoided.

Even as his posture has stiffened, Biden has thus far held off on even more coercive requirements, such as requiring shots for domestic air travel.

Still, the reaction from Biden's opponents was swift.

Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted: "The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying. This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants."

Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, called it an "unconstitutional, un-American federal decree." South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster responded without nuance: "Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian."

The White House is gearing up for legal challenges and believes that even if some of the mandates are tossed out, millions of Americans will get a shot because of the new requirements - saving lives and preventing the spread of the virus.

Biden has found unusual allies in the business community, which is eager for a return to normalcy after 18 months of pandemic disruption. They may not like Biden's proposed tax increases, but they appear to have bought into his argument that the nation can ill afford to allow the unvaccinated to "undo" progress on strengthening the economy.

"Business Roundtable welcomes the Biden Administration's continued vigilance in the fight against COVID," said Joshua Bolten, the group's president and CEO.

"We look forward to working with the administration to ensure any vaccine requirements are structured in a way that does not negatively impact the operations of manufacturers that have been leading through the pandemic to keep Americans safe," said National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons.

Despite the vehement reaction of Biden's opponents, the president can take comfort in certain data points.

An Axios/Ipsos poll conducted July 30-Aug, 2 found that 58% of Americans, including 79% of those who are vaccinated, said they blame the unvaccinated for rising COVID-19 cases and the spread of new variants in the U.S. The poll allowed multiple responses, but the share saying the unvaccinated were to blame was higher than those blaming other causes, including people from other countries traveling to the U.S. (32%) and Donald Trump (28%).

White House aides point to an even clearer metric - the more than 208 million Americans who have already gotten a shot.

___

Emily Swanson, Associated Press director of polling in Washington, contributed to this report.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE - Zeke Miller has covered the White House since 2012.

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Analysis: Biden takes fight to unvaccinated in virus battle :: WRAL.com

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They're a source of frustration. A risk to their fellow citizens. A threat to the nation's economic recovery. President Joe Biden is trying to concentrate the anger of the nation's inoculated majority against the stubborn 25% of eligible Americans who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

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Child covid cases accounted for 22.4 % of weekly U.S cases as kids return to school

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As the school year starts for districts across the United States, child COVID-19 cases are up, with about 204,000 cases added last week. For the week ending August 26, children accounted for 22.4% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases, according to the American Academy of Pediactrics.

While child COVID-19 cases declined in early summer, they have "increased exponentially," with more than a five-fold increase the past month, according to the academy. The U.S. saw child cases go from about 38,000 the week ending July 22 to more than 200,000 the past week.

The rate of child COVID-19 cases last week was well above the average throughout the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, children represented 14.8% of total cumulated cases. In total, 4.8 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, and new variants are posting a higher risk for children, most of whom are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines.

The academy collected COVID-19 data from 49 states, New York City, Puerto Rico and Guam. Overall, the rate of child COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of August 26 was 6,374 cases per 100,000 children in the population, according to the group.

Twenty states reported more than 8,000 cases per 100,000. Tennessee, South Carolina, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Arkansas and Mississippi had the highest rates of child cases per 100,000 kids, according to the data.

Cases are increasing across the country again, which means there is also an increase in hospitalizations of all age demographics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a news briefing last week.

"But, because the absolute number of cases is so high, the absolute number of children who are coming into the hospital is high. It's also the case that we are currently within a surge of RSV cases as well, respiratory syncytial virus cases," Walensky said. "We're seeing RSV rates similar to what we generally see in the winter months."

Due to the " highly contagious Delta variant," the CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools - regardless of vaccination status.

"I can tell you that most of the places where we're seeing surges and outbreaks are in places that are not implementing our current guidance," Walensky said, adding that it's not hospitalizations that are spiking, but number of cases.

Because children under 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine, the CDC recommends schools utilize several prevention strategies and continue to implement social distancing, testing and routine hand washing in addition to masking.

Several school districts are also requiring staff to get vaccinated - including New York City, Chicago and all of California - as experts say a way to keep kids safe is for the adults around them to be vaccinated.

But some states are resisting preventative measures. The governors of Texas and Florida threatened backlash for districts that implement mask mandates in schools, but many districts are defying their orders.

The U.S. Department of Education is also investigating five Republican-led states - Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah - due to concerns that their mask mandate bans could leave students with disabilities and underlying health conditions more vulnerable to COVID-19, Reuters reports.

"Masks save lives and reduces the transmission of COVID-19," said Dr. Leslie Diaz, an infectious disease specialist at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, Wednesday on CBSN.

"The science is there, masks work and we should utilize them," Diaz said. "Especially in the school district and in the schools that are inundated now with all of the kids coming back and not doing virtual learning."

The science proves masks work in preventing the spread of COVID-19, she said.

"We are in a crisis. Whether you know you really want to acknowledge it or not, the reality is there every day of my life. I can't dismiss it," she said. "Wearing masks has become very relaxed behavior around here, and around the United States. It shouldn't be."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said when children are eligible for vaccines, schools should mandate them. "I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea," Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday. "We've done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis [vaccinations.]"

Fauci also said this week that there is a chance vaccines will be available to kids by the holiday season, Reuters reports.

While severe illness due to COVID-19 is still uncommon among children, "there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects," the academy says.

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Child COVID-19 cases accounted for 22.4% of weekly U.S. cases as kids return to school

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As the school year starts for districts across the United States, child COVID-19 cases are up, with about 204,000 cases added last week. For the week ending August 26, children accounted for 22.4% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases, according to the American Academy of Pediactrics.

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On saturday will represent the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack on U.S soil which changed America forever.

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More than 1,400 schools have shut down already because of kids getting Covid in school. Lots of students have tested positive for Covid recently. Many schools have pivoted to going virtual to reduce the amount of cases. Schools are trying to take serious measures to be able to stay in school and stay safe at the same time.

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The number of school closures due to COVID-19 is increasing alongside pediatric infections as the country's public school system fully reopens - in many places with low vaccination rates and mask-optional policies.

More than 1,400 schools across 278 districts in 35 states that began the academic year in person have closed, according to Burbio, an organization that's tracking how schools respond to the ongoing pandemic. The figures are up from 698 schools across 158 districts in 25 states.

While the spike in the school closure count is startling many education officials whose well-laid back-to-school plans have been foisted by the highly contagious delta variant and is creating major challenges for parents, they make up just a fraction of the 98,000 public schools across the country.

In more than half of the closures, the schools pivoted to virtual instruction, but roughly 40% of schools that closed for a period of time did so without any remote learning plan in place, according to Burbio. A little less than 5% of schools delayed school start - some due to logistical issues like hiring enough bus drivers - and about 3% moved to a hybrid format, where students receive both in-person and virtual instruction.

Editorial Cartoons on Education

The delays, closures and pivots back to virtual learning reflect the recent spike in COVID-19 cases among children.

While symptomatic and severe cases in kids remain less common than for other age groups, states and counties with mask-optional policies and where vaccination rates remain low are experiencing a harrowing increase in pediatric infections.

More than 51,000 students in Texas have tested positive for COVID-19 since the first week of school in August. The same is true for 20,000 students in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, in Florida, more than 26,000 children tested positive just last week, and children under the age of 12 became the age group with the highest new COVID-19 case count. In Georgia, cases in children 11 to 17 years old quadrupled over the last month since schools reopened. According to the state's public health officials, Georgia is experiencing the highest number of COVID-19 outbreaks since the pandemic began - more than half of which are connected to K-12 schools.

"I'm not surprised," Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told MSNBC on Tuesday. "And the reason is the delta variant is very serious and it's very contagious. And a lot of school districts aren't doing the things that are necessary." he said.

For all the criticism heaped upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government's top public health officials have been clear about how school leaders can return students to classrooms safely - by deploying a series of risk-mitigation strategies, one layered upon the other.

The more coronavirus safety measures a school implements, the safer it is, with the gold standard being high vaccination rates among educators, staff and eligible students. And over the course of three relief packages, the federal government has directed $190 billion to K-12 schools so that, among other things, every child could return to a classroom this school year.

Yet a recent analysis of 100 large and urban school districts, including the 30 biggest in the country, showed that 66% require masks for at least some and 68% have policies on contact tracing. But only 10% required vaccinations for school staff and just 18% required testing.

"Kids should be getting tested once a week," Jha said. "It's a really important part of preventing outbreaks. It doesn't just identify people who are infected, but it prevents those from spreading it any further."

"It's very possible to get kids back safely, but you have to follow the science," he said.

Education officials are watching the next two weeks closely and say it will likely be a bellwether for what to expect from the country's public school system this year.

"The next two weeks are going to be critical," says Chip Slaven, the interim executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association. "We're going to start to see how bad COVID really is with kids."

One of the biggest tests will come next week, when New York City schools reopen Sept. 13 for more than 1 million children. With the exception of medically fragile children, all students will learn in person.

"What I'm hearing in my discussions with health officials is that kids are being impacted more by the new variant than by the original COVID strain," he says. "We're going to have to see how school openings go and how many are able to keep the buildings open, how many have to return to virtual, whether it's going to be better or worse. We don't know that yet. We are in a national crisis due to a health emergency and people need to remember that."

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The number of school closures due to COVID-19 is increasing alongside pediatric infections as the country's public school system fully reopens - in many places with low vaccination rates and mask-optional policies. More than 1,400 schools across 278 districts in 35 states that began the academic year in person have closed, according to Burbio, an organization that's tracking how schools respond to the ongoing pandemic.

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The new Delta variant has caused cases to spike back up. This is the main variant of covid-19 in the US. The Delta Variant is 2 times as contagious as the original. But people are still highly encouraged to get the vaccine , and help prevent the spread.

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Children covid cases are going up kids make up 2.4% of the hospilzed covid cases. and in Floirda children make 22.4% of the amount of cases that they found out

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Aug 14 (Reuters) - The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated portion of the U.S. population, has caused hospitalizations to spike in recent weeks, driving up the number of confirmed and suspected pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations to 1,902 on Saturday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Reuters includes confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases for hospitalization, case and death data.

Children currently make up about 2.4% of the nation's COVID-19 hospitalizations. Kids under 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine, leaving them more vulnerable to infection from the new, highly transmissible variant.

"This is not last year's COVID. This one is worse and our children are the ones that are going to be affected by it the most," Sally Goza, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told CNN on Saturday.

The numbers of newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients aged 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49 also hit record highs this week, according to data from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The spike in new cases has ramped up tension between conservative state leaders and local districts over whether school children should be required to wear masks as they head back to the classroom this month.

School districts in Florida, Texas and Arizona have mandated that masks be worn in schools, defying orders from their Republican state governors that ban districts from imposing such rules. The administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened to withhold funding from districts that impose mask requirements, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott is appealing to the state Supreme Court to overturn Dallas County's mask mandate, the Dallas Morning News reported on Friday.

A fifth of the nation's COVID-19 hospitalizations are in Florida, where the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients hit a record 16,100 on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally. More than 90% of the state's intensive care beds are filled, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

INCREASED HOSPITALIZATIONS

The nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association, came out in support of mandatory vaccination for its members this week. NEA President Becky Pringle said on Saturday that schools should employ every mitigation strategy, from vaccines to masks, to ensure that students can come back to their classrooms safely this school year.

"Our students under 12 can't get vaccinated. It's our responsibility to keep them safe. Keeping them safe means that everyone who can be vaccinated should be vaccinated," Pringle told CNN.

The U.S. now has an average of about 129,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, a rate that has doubled in a little over two weeks, according to a Reuters tally. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is at a six-month high, and an average of 600 people are dying each day of COVID-19, double the death rate seen in late July.

Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oregon have reported record numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations this month, according to a Reuters tally, pushing healthcare systems to operate beyond their capacity.

"Our hospitals are working to maximize their available staff and beds, including the use of conference rooms and cafeterias," Florida Hospital Association President Mary Mayhew said in a statement on Friday.

In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown said on Friday that she was sending 500 National Guard members to assist overwhelmed hospitals, with 1,500 members in total available to help.

In Jackson, Mississippi, federal medical workers are assisting understaffed local teams at a 20-bed triage center in the parking garage of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) to accommodate the overflow of COVID-19 patients.

Fifteen children and 99 adults were hospitalized with COVID-19 at UMMC as of Saturday morning, the hospital said. More than 77% of those patients were unvaccinated.

(Refiling Aug 14 story to make clear in the second paragraph that the 1,902 hospitalizations includes both confirmed and suspected cases)

Reporting by Gabriella Borter and Lisa Shumaker; editing by Diane Craft and Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Children hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. hits record number

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Aug 14 (Reuters) - The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

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After 20 years 2 more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were identified using technology. They used DNA analysis of unidentified remains that were recovered from the world trade center site. There are still 1,100 victims that have yet to be identified.

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Two more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center have been identified in New York City - just days before the nation marks the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.

Dorothy Morgan of Hempstead, N.Y., is the 1,646th victim to be identified through ongoing DNA analysis of unidentified remains recovered from the World Trade Center site, where 2,753 lives were lost. The second person - and the 1,647th victim - is a man whose name is being withheld at his family's request.

Morgan and the man were identified by New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner using new forensic technology and advances in DNA science.

"Twenty years ago, we made a promise to the families of World Trade Center victims to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to identify their loved ones, and with these two new identifications, we continue to fulfill that sacred obligation," said Dr. Barbara A. Sampson, chief medical examiner of the city of New York.

Morgan's identity was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said. The unnamed man's identity was confirmed through remains found in 2001, 2002 and 2006.

It's the first time in two years a victim's remains have been identified. There are still more than 1,100 victims, at least 40% of those who died on 9/11, that remain unidentified.

According to The New York Times, forensic scientists are testing and retesting more than 22,000 body parts that were recovered from the World Trade Center site. Much of the testing is done using bone fragments the size of a Tic Tac.

The longtime effort to identify victims of the World Trade Center attacks is considered the largest and most complex forensic investigation in U.S. history, according to New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

Sampson said, "No matter how much time passes since September 11, 2001, we will never forget, and we pledge to use all the tools at our disposal to make sure all those who were lost can be reunited with their families."

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20 Years Later, 2 More 9/11 Victims Have Been Identified Using New Technology

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Two more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center have been identified in New York City - just days before the nation marks the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Dorothy Morgan of Hempstead, N.Y., is the 1,646th victim to be identified through ongoing DNA analysis of unidentified remains recovered from the World Trade Center site, where 2,753 lives were lost.

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Ford motor manufacturing facility in India, has experienced a 2 billion dollar loss within the last ten years. Due to these losses, they will be closing the facility. About 4,000 jobs will be lost, however this was needed in order to help with long term growth of the company.

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ford is ending production in india and taking a $2 billion hit in the process - cnn

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Ford is ending production in India and taking a $2 billion hit in the process

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Ford is ending production in India and taking a hit of $2 billion as it retrenches from a market that has been almost impossible for American automakers to break into.

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People are starting to predict when Earth's ending point will occur. Scientists think it may be sooner, different climates are changing rapidly. In 2021 alone, extreme weather has been severe, wildfires, cyclones, hurricanes, and floods have been spreading across the globe. Climate change is making big adjustments to the earth, and not positive ones. The article is important in showing that we need to do something to stop climate change.

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If there's one thing we know about climate breakdown, it's that it will not be linear, smooth or gradual. Just as one continental plate might push beneath another in sudden fits and starts, causing periodic earthquakes and tsunamis, our atmospheric systems will absorb the stress for a while, then suddenly shift. Yet, everywhere, the programmes designed to avert it are linear, smooth and gradual.

Current plans to avoid catastrophe would work in a simple system like a washbasin, in which you can close the tap until the inflow is less than the outflow. But they are less likely to work in complex systems, such as the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere. Complex systems seek equilibrium. When they are pushed too far out of one equilibrium state, they can flip suddenly into another. A common property of complex systems is that it's much easier to push them past a tipping point than to push them back. Once a transition has happened, it cannot realistically be reversed.

The old assumption that the Earth's tipping points are a long way off is beginning to look unsafe. A recent paper warns that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation - the system that distributes heat around the world and drives the Gulf Stream - may now be " close to a critical transition ". This circulation has flipped between "on" and "off" states several times in prehistory, plunging northern Europe and eastern North America into unbearable cold, heating the tropics, disrupting monsoons.

Other systems could also be approaching their thresholds: the West and East Antarctic ice sheets, the Amazon rainforest, and the Arctic tundra and boreal forests, which are rapidly losing the carbon they store, driving a spiral of further heating. Earth systems don't stay in their boxes. If one flips into a different state, it could trigger the flipping of others. Sudden changes of state might be possible with just 1.5C or 2C of global heating.

A common sign that complex systems are approaching tipping points is rising volatility: they start to flicker. The extreme weather in 2021 - the heat domes, droughts, fires, floods and cyclones - is, frankly, terrifying. If Earth systems tip as a result of global heating, there will be little difference between taking inadequate action and taking no action at all. A miss is as good as a mile.

So the target that much of the world is now adopting for climate action - net zero by 2050 - begins to look neither rational nor safe. It's true that our only hope of avoiding catastrophic climate breakdown is some variety of net zero. What this means is that greenhouse gases are reduced through a combination of decarbonising the economy and drawing down carbon dioxide that's already in the atmosphere. It's too late to hit the temperature targets in the Paris agreement without doing both. But there are two issues: speed and integrity. Many of the promises seem designed to be broken.

At its worst, net zero by 2050 is a device for shunting responsibility across both time and space. Those in power today seek to pass their liabilities to those in power tomorrow. Every industry seeks to pass the buck to another industry. Who is this magical someone else who will suck up their greenhouse gases?

Their plans rely on either technology or nature to absorb the carbon dioxide they want to keep producing. The technologies consist of carbon capture and storage (catching the carbon emissions from power stations and cement plants then burying them in geological strata), or direct air capture (sucking carbon dioxide out of the air and burying that too). But their large-scale use is described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as " subject to multiple feasibility and sustainability constraints ". They are unlikely to be deployed at scale in the future for the same reason that they're not being deployed at scale today, despite 20 years of talk: technical and logistical barriers. Never mind: you can keep smoking, because one day they'll find a cure for cancer.

So what's left is nature: the capacity of the world's living systems to absorb the gases we produce. As a report by ActionAid points out, there's not enough land in the world to meet the promises to offset emissions that companies and governments have already made. Even those who own land want someone else to deal with their gases: in the UK, the National Farmers' Union is aiming for net zero. But net zero commitments by other sectors work only if farmland goes sharply net negative. That means an end to livestock farming and the restoration of forests, peat bogs and other natural carbon sinks. Instead, a mythical other will also have to suck up emissions from farming: possibly landowners on Venus or Mars.

Even when all the promised technofixes and offsets are counted, current policies commit us to a calamitous 2.9C of global heating. To risk irreversible change by proceeding at such a leisurely pace, to rely on undelivered technologies and nonexistent capacities: this is a formula for catastrophe.

If Earth systems cross critical thresholds, everything we did and everything we were - the learning, the wisdom, the stories, the art, the politics, the love, the hate, the anger and the hope - will be reduced to stratigraphy. It's not a smooth and linear transition we need. It's a crash course.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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Earth's tipping points could be closer than we think. Our current plans won't work | George Monbiot

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Climate policies commit us to a calamitous 2.9C of global heating, but catastrophic changes can occur at even 1.5C or 2C, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

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President Biden asked companies with more than 100 employees to require vaccination or weekly testing. This is important because he might soon require school children to also be vaccinated.

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biden announces new vaccine mandates that could cover 100 million americans - cnnpolitics

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Biden announces new vaccine mandates that could cover 100 million Americans

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President Joe Biden on Thursday imposed stringent new vaccine rules on federal workers, large employers and health care staff in a sweeping attempt to contain the latest surge of Covid-19.

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Due to the immense drought, CNN states that dozens of wildfires have been spreading throughout Western United States. Thousands were forced to evacuate, left homeless and in need of basic supplies and shelter. The fire season in California is starting earlier each year. One factor that plays a roll in the wildfires in the West is Climate Change. Spring is becoming warmer---along with summer---and seasons are becoming dryer and dryer, creating moisture stress on vegetation. The fire season has reported to last longer each year.

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Dozens of large wildfires are raging across the western United States as the region experiences a historic and unrelenting drought.

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this is important because now more people can get the shot and be safe

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Cuba begins vaccinating children as young as two for Covid-19 | CNN

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The Cuban government has begun to vaccinate children as young as two years old for COVID-19, the island’s state media reported, in a bid to get kids back into classrooms.

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A female student talks about how since the taliban have come back it has been horrible

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A female student in Afghanistan, going by the name Sahar, expressed her sadness and outrage on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday, calling the Taliban a group of "savage puppets" who are once again trying to imprison women in the war-torn nation.

Her remarks come just over a week after the U.S. completed its withdrawal of armed forces, a move that garnered significant bipartisan backlash for the Biden administration's hasty strategy which left 13 service members dead.

"Well I am furious and saddened by what is happening," said Sahar. "After all the challenges we have dealt with and issues within the national society of Afghanistan over decades and we have fought for generations to achieve what we have right now as females in society."
4 PRISONERS OBAMA EXCHANGED FOR BOWE BERGDAHL NOW IN SENIOR TALIBAN POSTS
Despite the Taliban claiming they will modernize and respect basic human rights, reports have surfaced over recent days questioning the validity of that assertion.

The Islamic militants are reportedly 'hunting' anyone who has aided the U.S. in the war over the last 20 years and going door-to-door to do so, according to a pregnant American woman who remains stranded in the country.

"Finally, in the past few decades we are finally able to study, work, speak up, and be considered individuals," Sahar said. "However, now, after all, a group of savage puppets are trying to imprison us once again."

"They are taking away the rights that we have gained through years of suffering and fighting. The situation isn't bearable at all."
WHITE HOUSE SAYS 'NO RUSH' TO RECOGNIZE NEWLY ANNOUNCED TALIBAN GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN
The Taliban announced the interim government this week, and named Haqqani network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani the interior minister.

He is currently wanted by the FBI for his dealings with the terrorist network in the region, has a $10 million bounty on his head, and is reportedly holding at least one American hostage.

The line-up of all-male government officials includes various actors with terror ties, including four individuals who were released from Guantanamo Bay during the Obama administration, and are reportedly holding posts ranging from defense and intelligence, to border and tribal affairs.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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Female student in Afghanistan on Taliban control: 'They are trying to imprison us once again'

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A female student in Afghanistan, going by the name Sahar, expressed her sadness and outrage on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday - calling the Taliban a group of "savage puppets" who are, once again, trying to imprison women in the war-torn nation.

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North Korea just held a middle of the night parade to celebrate the 73rd anniversary for its founding.

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north korea holds middle-of-the-night military parade - cnn

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North Korea holds middle-of-the-night military parade

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North Korea held a midnight military parade in Pyongyang early Thursday to mark the 73rd anniversary of its founding, the country's state media reported.

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South Korea has become the latest country in the Asia pacific region to consider getting rid of its Covid-19 elimination strategy. South Korea is trying to bring the country's fourth Covid-19 outbreak under control.

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South Korea Covid-19 cases at record highs as country looks to relax virus restrictions | CNN

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South Korea has become the latest country in the Asia Pacific region to consider abandoning its coronavirus elimination strategy, announcing plans to potentially lift Covid-19 restrictions despite rising case numbers.

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in virgina robert e lee statue was removed after people wanting it taken down
video https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-e-lee-statue-removed-richmond-virginia-capital/

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We watch CNN10 to learn about current events!

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CNN 10 is an on-demand digital news show ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom.