Day 241: "A catastrophic pathway."

1/ An FDA advisory panel rejected a plan to offer Pfizer Covid-19 boosters shots for everyone 16 and older. Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 16 to 2 against approving the booster shot after scrutinizing new data from Israel and questioning whether the data justified boosters for the general population when the current vaccines still offer robust protection against severe Covid-19 disease and hospitalization. The panel, however, recommended booster shots for older Americans and other high-risk groups. The votes are non-binding and the FDA is expected make a final decision on boosters by early next week. An outside advisory panel to the CDC, meanwhile, has scheduled a two-day meeting next week to discuss plans to distribute booster shots in the U.S. (New York Times / CNBC / Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Politico / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / CNN)

2/ The United Nations warned that the global average temperature is on track to rise 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. “The world is on a catastrophic pathway,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said. Based on the most recent commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions from 191 countries, if implemented, would result in a 16% increase by 2030 compared with 2010 levels. The latest scientific research suggests that greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease by at least 25% by 2030 to avert the worst impacts of global warming. Guterres warned “there is high risk of failure.” (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

3/ The Pentagon admitted that the Aug. 29 drone strike in Kabul, which killed 10 civilians, including 7 children, was “a tragic mistake.” Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, apologized for the error, saying the decision was made in an “earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport.” The car was believed to have been carrying explosives in its trunk. “We now assess it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K,” McKenzie said. (Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/09/17/drone-strike-kabul-afghani...