| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Thursday, August 5, 2021 by Farouq Suleiman | Hello Here's what you need to know. U.S. COVID-19 cases hit six-month high at over 100,000, hardline cleric Raisi to be sworn in as Iran's president and thousands evacuate fast-moving California wildfire. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Patients prepare to get in line for a swab test at a COVID-19 mobile testing site hosted by the Manatee County Florida Department of Health in Palmetto, Florida, U.S., August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Octavio Jones. COVID-19 The United States hit a six-month high for new COVID-19 cases with over 100,000 infections, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant ravages areas where people did not get vaccinated.
Low vaccination rates and the more infectious Delta variant are converging to create a new COVID-19 crisis for Louisiana as the United States and the world face the latest stage of the pandemic.
The Biden administration is developing a plan to require nearly all foreign visitors to the United States to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of eventually lifting travel restrictions that bar much of the world from entering the United States, a White House official told Reuters.
The White House said it is prepared to provide COVID-19 booster shots, if needed, suggesting it would not heed a call by the World Health Organization to delay providing additional vaccinations.
Landlord groups asked a U.S. judge in Washington to immediately lift a new eviction moratorium that was put in place Tuesday by the CDC, saying the new order was "unlawful". |  A firefighter guides a firetruck down a driveway to protect homes threatened by the flames at the River Fire, a wildfire near the Placer County town of Grass Valley, California, U.S. August 4, 2021. REUTERS/Fred Greaves. Wildfires A rapidly spreading wildfire burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate in two heavily wooded counties northeast of Sacramento in Northern California, generating a towering plume of smoke visible from at least 70 miles away.
Greek authorities ordered villages near the site of the ancient Olympic Games in the western Peloponnese to be evacuated as wildfires raged across the country, destroying swathes of forest and buildings, and sending hundreds fleeing.
Flames that threatened a coal-fired power station in Turkey's fire-ravaged southwest have been extinguished, local authorities said after workers and residents were evacuated overnight by ship when fire broke out in the plant's grounds. |  Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi attends a news conference in Tehran, Iran June 21, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) World Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi will be sworn in as Iran's president, with the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers face growing crises at home and abroad.
Japan was set to expand emergency restrictions to eight more prefectures to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases, as worries deepen about strains on the nation's medical system in Olympics host Tokyo and around the country.
Sydney recorded its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic as authorities launched an investigation into a beach party suspected of spreading the virus into a region outside the city, triggering a snap one-week lockdown there.
A Hong Kong judge cleared singer and pro-democracy activist Anthony Wong of a charge of "corrupt conduct" filed this week by the city's anti-corruption watchdog over an appearance at an opposition election rally in 2018.
The International Olympic Committee has yet to talk to any Belarusian team officials involved in the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who took refuge in Poland this week after refusing to return to her homeland from Tokyo. | | | Business A $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill faces its biggest test of this week's U.S. Senate debate when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office delivers its judgment on whether the measure fulfills a promise of not adding to Washington's budget deficits.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm sold more than $22 million worth of shares in the electric-car maker after exercising stock options, according to a filing with the U.S. SEC.
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order setting a target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles and propose new vehicle emissions rules to cut pollution through 2026, the White House said.
From an office in Shenzhen's sprawling electronics district, an engineering team is prototyping a bioreactor that will one day produce "cultivated meat," discussing component sizes in a video call with scientists sitting in kitchens and bedrooms in the UK.
TikTok owner ByteDance told employees that it planned to lay off teachers, sales and advertising employees in its education business after China imposed sweeping regulations on the private tutoring sector, sources said. | | | | | | | | | Quote of the day "I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General of the World Health Organization Ignoring WHO call, Germany, France to give COVID-19 vaccine boosters | | | | Video of the day  Poll: 59% of New Yorkers think Cuomo should quit | | | | And finally… Medal chomp grosses out Japan and riles Toyota  Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS The mayor of Japanese city Nagoya earned himself Internet infamy and a rare rebuke from Toyota Motor for chomping down on an Olympic gold medal at an event meant to celebrate its winner, softball pitcher Miu Goto. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
