Judy Woodruff:
Meanwhile, Pfizer announced that testing shows its vaccine’s effectiveness drops some, to 84 percent, over six months. That could lead to federal officials authorizing booster shots.
Cooler weather and spots of rainfall brought some momentary relief today to firefighters in the Western U.S. The weather helped crews working on the Dixie Fire in Northern California, the largest in that state. But officials warned that hotter, drier conditions could return by the weekend.
A Wisconsin judge has ordered that a former police officer be charged with killing a Black man in suburban Milwaukee in 2016. The judge rejected the man’s claim that he found Jay Anderson Jr. his car and fired when Anderson reached for his gun. The former officer, who is also Black, later resigned.
Prosecutors had originally decided not to bring charges.
The Federal Reserve says the U.S. economy is still gaining strength. That assessment today could open the way to raising interest rates again later this year. Chairman Jerome Powell also said that the current spike in COVID cases doesn’t seem to be a cause for alarm in terms of the economy.