Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, August 19, 2021:

BOOSTERS FOR ALL

The White House is strongly recommending that vaccinated Americans get booster shots eight months after their second dose, starting on Sept. 20. The recommendation steps on that of the WHO, which has called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of next month so that low-income countries can get more supply before high-income countries like the U.S. start topping their populations off. The administration is also making employee vaccination a condition for any nursing home that takes federal funding, the first time President Biden has used the leverage of federal money to get more people vaccinated. USA TODAY

AFGHANISTAN LATEST

The Taliban have declared that Afghanistan will be once again be known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name the group used during its brutal rule in the 1990s. Taliban forces responded to the first street protests against their government with violence, beating and shooting demonstrators and undercutting the promises of being a kinder, gentler Taliban. Meanwhile, the exiled former president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has turned up in the UAE after fleeing Kabul, reportedly carrying bags filled with $169 million in U.S. currency. Ghani denied that he took any money and said he fled to avoid being hanged. AP

POLITICAL BLOWBACK

President Biden committed that the U.S. would evacuate every American out of Afghanistan, even if it means staying beyond his self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline to get out. In his first TV interview since the fall of Kabul, Biden again defended the hasty withdrawal, saying there was no way out of Afghanistan without “chaos ensuing.” The president’s approval rating has fallen below 50% for the first time , according to the RealClear and FiveThirtyEight polling averages, while a new Reuters poll has him dropping 7 points. ABC NEWS

EXTREME WEATHER

STORMS: Hurricane Grace has made landfall along the Yucatan as a Cat 1 storm. The remnants of Tropical Storm Fred are impacting the Northeast today as a rain event after drenching North Carolina. And Henri is churning out in the Atlantic near Bermuda, now forecast to make a hard right that could cause problems for the New England coast late Sunday and early next week. USA TODAY

FIRES: Northern California’s Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe is the latest inferno to explode in size, growing nearly 50,000 acres in 24 hours and wiping out parts of the mountain town of Grizzly Flats. Meanwhile, the Dixie Fire -- still going strong after more than a month -- has now achieved the distinction of becoming the first wildfire on record to burn clear across the Sierra Nevada mountain range. NPR

BANNED PESTICIDE

The EPA is banning a common pesticide used on food crops that has been linked to brain damage in children. The pesticide, chlorpyrifos, is often sprayed on produce like corn, apples and broccoli, except in a handful of states where it has already been banned. The Obama administration started the legal process of banning chlorpyrifos, which the Trump administration reversed, and the Biden administration is now enacting. REUTERS

T-MOBILE HACK

T-Mobile has confirmed a security breach that it says impacted 48 million people -- the vast majority of whom are not T-Mobile customers. The carrier says a database of first and last names, socials, DOBs and driver license numbers of current, former and prospective was hacked and is now for sale on the dark web. No financial information was compromised, but the sensitive data stolen is plenty for hackers to engage in identity theft. The company is planning to proactively reach out to those affected. WIRED

COUNTDOWN TO PARALYMPICS

The Olympic Village in Tokyo is back open to athletes ahead of the 2020 Paralympic Games, set to start next week, and there's already been a confirmed COVID case inside the bubble. For the Paralympics, the stands will again be devoid of fans as the CoOVID situation in Japan is worsening with the newly arrived Lambda variant, thought to be brought in by someone attending the Olympics. GUARDIAN

R. KELLY TRIAL

The long-awaited federal case against R. Kelly has gone to trial in Brooklyn. The Grammy-winning singer is charged with bribery, racketeering and sexual abuse, which he has denied. Prosecutors are alleging that Kelly ran a sophisticated blackmail scheme to prey on women and teen girls for decades. The last time Kelly was in court was in 2008, when he beat child pornography charges after his alleged victim refused to testify. This time, the prosecution has several “Jane Does” lined up to take the stand. AP

SPOTTED...

...Lily Cole, creating a social media uproar by posing in a burka on Instagram amid the Afghanistan turmoil. The model later apologized, saying she “hadn’t read the news at the time.” SEE PIC

...Boston Dynamics’ increasingly terrifying bi-ped robot, Atlas, doing some light parkour in the robotics company’s latest video: WATCH

… Colin Jost, taking to Instagram to confirm the rumors that his wife, Scarlett Johansson, had given birth. The couple are new parents to a baby boy named Cosmo, Jost’s first and Scar-Jo’s second. Jost asked for privacy and suggested people send all inquires to his Weekend Update co-host, Michael Che. PEOPLE

LEFTOVERS: SHORTCUT TO NOWHERE

An Amazon Prime delivery truck was captured on video making its own exit off the highway to avoid traffic, sparking a new round of discussion over the lengths Amazon drivers will go to get their cargo delivered on time. A TikTok user filmed the 18-wheeler bailing out of a traffic jam on I-45 in Texas by driving over the grassy median onto a smaller service road. That road was a dead end, leading to another jam as all the cars that followed the truck had to then merge back onto the highway: SEE IT

Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!

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