Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Thursday. |
 | | President Biden announced incentives and mandates for vaccinations.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times |
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1. President Biden announced tough new requirements for federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. |
In a somber White House speech, Biden conceded that the virus he once thought was under control had come roaring back as the highly infectious Delta variant fueled a spike in cases. |
Under the new policy, which affects more than 4 million people, federal employees who are unvaccinated will be forced to submit to regular testing, social distancing, mask requirements and restrictions on most travel. |
Biden also urged states and cities to dole out $100 to everyone willing to get a shot and ordered the Defense Department to move toward requiring vaccinations for all members of the military. |
"With incentives and mandates, we can make a huge difference and save a lot of lives." Biden said. Here are the areas in the U.S. most affected by the Delta variant. |
 | | A mobile pop-up vaccination station in Berlin.Stefanie Loos/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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2. The European Union has surpassed the U.S. in Covid vaccinations. |
Inoculations across the bloc have maintained some speed throughout the summer, while they have stagnated for weeks in the U.S. More than 70 percent of adults in the E.U. have received at least one vaccine dose, compared with 69 percent in the U.S. |
 | | Strong consumer spending fueled G.D.P. growth in the second quarter.George Etheredge for The New York Times |
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3. The U.S. economy is coming out of its pandemic-induced hole. But the recovery is far from complete. |
Gross domestic product grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter, up from 1.5 percent in the first three months of 2021. On an annualized basis, growth was 6.5 percent — a rate that would normally warrant celebrations. |
But what makes the new G.D.P. numbers feel less than buoyant is the degree to which they reflect a nation struggling to complete a huge readjustment, our senior economics correspondent writes. It is an uneven economy — bursting at the seams in some sectors, while still depressed in others. |
 | | Theodore McCarrick in 2006.J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press |
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4. Theodore McCarrick, the former Roman Catholic cardinal, was charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in 1974. |
The charges are "a milestone in the prosecution of abusive bishops," said the co-director of a group that tracks allegations against priests. McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood by Pope Francis in 2019. |
 | | Sunisa Lee's golden routine.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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5. Sunisa Lee won the all-around gold medal in gymnastics, after a lifetime of chasing Simone Biles. |
 | | Gold medal winner Hou Zhihui of China reacts to her lift.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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6. China's sports machine is designed for one purpose: churning out gold medals for the glory of the nation. |
Taking a cue from the Soviets, the state scouts tens of thousands of children for training at more than 2,000 government-run sports schools. To maximize its golden harvest, Beijing has focused on niche sports that are underfunded in the West or that offer multiple Olympic gold medals, like women's weight lifting. |
 | | This road into Tigray's conflict-torn region, where millions of Ethiopians face the threat of mass starvation.Declan Walsh |
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7. Aid workers say the government in Ethiopia has cut off the only road leading to millions of people at risk starvation. |
In the past month, only one U.N. aid convoy of 50 trucks has managed to travel this route, a 300-mile stretch that goes through inhospitable terrain. The U.N. says it needs twice as many trucks, traveling every day, to stave off catastrophic food shortages inside Tigray, where 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, and another 4.8 million are in need of urgent help. |
The Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, said he was committed to providing aid, but his ministers accused aid workers of helping and even arming the Tigrayan fighters. Senior aid officials said the government's statements were at odds with its actions on the ground. |
 | | A nocturnal dung beetle climbs atop its dung ball to survey the stars before starting to roll.Chris Collingridge |
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8. Researchers suspect that many animals navigate by starlight — and might be lost as our city lights drown out ever more of it. |
A new study by animal vision experts from Lund University in Sweden found that dung beetles in South Africa became confused under light-swamped skies. The result adds to a small and scattered body of research, conducted over decades, on what the night sky might mean to the other earthlings who can sense it. |
Closer to the stars, Russia docked a new 23-ton module to the International Space Station that will serve as a laboratory and provide extra living room, as well as water purifying equipment and electricity from its solar wings. |
 | | Prince's "Welcome 2 America," recorded in 2010, is set for a Friday release.Kevin Mazur, via The Prince Estate |
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9. Prince's "Welcome 2 America" is a 2010 album for our times. |
Recorded in 2010, two years into the Obama presidency, the album balances hard insights with visceral joys. Eleven years later, Prince doesn't sound pessimistic, just matter-of-fact. |
 | | TV pitchman Ron Popeil surrounded by some of his wares in 1982.Reed Saxon/Associated Press |
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10. And finally, the man behind the Veg-O-Matic, Pocket Fisherman and dozens of other products you didn't know you needed. |
Ron Popeil's mastery of television marketing made him nearly as recognizable onscreen as the TV and movie stars of his era. Several of his catchphrases — "But wait! There's more" and "set it and forget it" — have endured. He died yesterday at 86. |
"I've gone by many titles: King of Hair, King of Pasta, King of Dehydration, or to use a more colloquial phrase, a pitchman or a hawker," Popeil said in 1995. "I don't like those phrases, but I am what I am." |
| David Poller compiled photos for this briefing. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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