By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News |
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Good Thursday afternoon. President Biden has moved up the deadline for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Tokyo Olympics reversed course and will not allow fans as Covid rises in Japan, and Naomi Osaka is speaking out her decision to quit the French Open. |
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Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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Biden moves up U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to Aug. 31 |
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President Biden said the U.S. has achieved its objectives in Afghanistan, and announced he is moving the date for full withdrawal up ten days to Aug. 31. |
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Biden said that once he made the decision to officially end the nearly 20-year-long war, his military advisers said it must happen swiftly. “Speed is safety,” Biden said. |
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“The United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan, to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, and deliver justice to Osama bin Laden,” Biden said at the White House this afternoon. |
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Biden also said the U.S. has succeeded in degrading the “terrorist threat” in Afghanistan to keep the country from becoming a hub for planning new attacks against the U.S. |
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But his comments came as the Taliban is making major territorial gains, and inching close to the capital of Kabul. |
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Biden said he did not believe a Taliban takeover of the country is inevitable, expressing confidence Afghanistan’s 300,000 troops against the smaller Taliban forces. |
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Our Richard Engel gained access inside the now-desolate Bagram base, and got a look at what the American forces left behind. |
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60 confirmed dead in Surfside as effort shifts to recovery |
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It’s now been two weeks since half of Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside, Florida, and the death toll continues to climb by the day. |
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Six more bodies were found overnight, bringing the number of confirmed dead to 60. Another 80 people remain potentially unaccounted for, officials said today. |
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On Wednesday, teams gave up hope of finding anyone still alive in the rubble, as the effort switched from rescue to recovery. |
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The decision to call off the rescue effort “was not an easy one, as our hearts still hoped to find survivors, but our experience and expertise indicated that was no longer possible,” said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky. |
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Work was briefly paused at the site today to mark two weeks since the building came crumbling down. |
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Fans banned at Olympics after state of emergency declared in Tokyo |
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The Tokyo Olympics will take place without spectators, after rising Covid infections led Japan to impose a new state of emergency on the capital that will last through the games. |
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The announcement, just over two weeks from the start of the Olympics, marks a major reversal from June 21, when organizers said up to 10,000 fans would be allowed at venues. |
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Tokyo reported nearly 900 new daily infections today, approaching levels that haven’t been seen since mid-May. |
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Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said today the hypertransmissible Delta variant is playing a role in Japan’s rising numbers. |
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Japan has also experienced a slow vaccine rollout, with only about a quarter of the population having received at least one dose. |
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The White House said it is still assessing whether First Lady Jill Biden will attend the Tokyo Olympics, after today’s announcement. |
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The current seven-day average of new Covid cases in the U.S. is roughly 13,900 per day, a nearly 11 percent increase from the prior week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said today.Five undervaccinated clusters across eight states, mostly in the South, post a risk to the rest of the country, a new analysis by Georgetown University found.One of the White House’s newly announced “surge response teams” has arrived in Missouri, the state with the highest rate of Delta variant cases.The global death toll from Covid has surpassed 4 million. The U.S. leads the world with more than 600,000 Covid deaths.Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week to 373,000, compared with the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate.The U.K. hit 30,000 daily cases for the first time since January, as the government plans to lift most remaining Covid restrictions on July 19.Children in the U.K. have found a way to fake positive Covid tests using soft drinks.Free food samples are making their way back to Costco and Sam’s Club stores, but with additional health precautions.If you’re fully vaccinated, do you need to take precautions at hotels while traveling this summer? |
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Tropical Storm Elsa slams the East Coast, warnings up to Massachusetts |
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Tropical Storm Elsa is racing up the East Coast after making landfall in Florida, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds, and the threat of tornadoes. |
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Tropical storm warnings are in effect for roughly 1,000 miles, from South Carolina all the way up to Massachusetts. |
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Elsa is moving into Virginia this afternoon after pelting the Carolinas. South Carolina was expected to see 3 to 5 inches, and up to 8 inches in isolated locations. |
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The regions from east-central North Carolina up to New England will see a widespread 2 to 4 inches, with up to 6 inches possible. |
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The cities of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Boston could all see impacts. |
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Elsa is blamed for at least one death, when a falling tree killed a person in Florida on Wednesday. |
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In Georgia, 11 people were injured when a suspected tornado, believed to be related to the storm, touched down at a submarine base, officials said. |
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What else we’re watching: |
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Haiti has declared a “state of siege” after the country’s president was assassinated. Four suspects have been killed, six others are under arrest, police said.Naomi Osaka wrote an essay for Time Magazine explaining her decision to quit the French Open, citing her mental health.A member of an FBI task force was fatally shot outside an Indiana facility on Wednesday, in what the agency is calling an ambush.A grizzly bear killed a camper after pulling her out of a tent in the middle of the night, in a small Montana town. |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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