Your Friday Briefing

President Biden outlined a six-part plan to combat the spread of the Delta variant.Credit…Al Drago for The New York Times

‘We will turn the tide on Covid-19’

President Biden will require two-thirds of American workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including many private-sector employees, health care workers and federal contractors — as well as the vast majority of federal workers, who could face disciplinary measures if they refuse.

The actions, made through a combination of executive orders and new federal rules, are the most expansive that Biden has taken to control the pandemic and will affect almost every aspect of American society. Roughly 80 million eligible Americans have not been vaccinated, while the country is reporting roughly 150,000 new cases a day.

Analysis: Legal scholars say the president has broad latitude to compel vaccination, even for workers in private businesses. “The federal government has ample power to regulate health and safety in the workplace,” said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University.

Quotable: “We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers,” Biden said. “We can and we will turn the tide on Covid-19.”

An American tradition: For as long as there have been vaccine mandates in the U.S., there has been backlash against those mandates.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

• At least 14 patients died in a fire at a temporary coronavirus hospital in North Macedonia.

• Israel will reopen to small groups of vaccinated tourists after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, which begins on Wednesday evening.

• Dr. John Nkengasong, a top African health official, has called on wealthy nations to donate their booster shots to low-income countries struggling to administer first doses.

• The Australian airline Qantas will require proof of vaccination for everyone on board.

International flights resume from Kabul

Ten days after an anarchic evacuation of Afghanistan came to an end, the first international passenger flightdeparted Kabul yesterday for Doha, Qatar, with scores of Americans, Canadians and Britons on board.

The chaos of the evacuation left the airport in Kabul strewn with damaged equipment and the abandoned possessions of evacuees. In recent days, Qatari and Turkish personnel have worked with the Taliban to repair damage and make the airport basically functional again.

There was no indication that the Taliban would allow the tens of thousands of Afghans who qualify for special U.S. visas to leave. They said that Afghans with dual citizenship would be allowed to depart.

Statement: “The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights,” a spokeswoman for the National Security Council said. “They have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step.”

Far-reaching social media rules in Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, has temporarily banned social media companies from removing certain content, including his own claims that the only way he’ll lose next year’s elections is if the vote is rigged — one of the most significant steps by a democratically elected leader to control what can be said on the internet.

The new regulations appear to be the first time a national government has stopped internet companies from taking down content that violates their rules.

Other tech news: Facebook and Ray Ban have created smart glasses that can take photos, record video, answer phone calls and play podcasts. Our reporter’s verdict? “What do the people around me think when they hear me utter, ‘Hey, Facebook, take a photo’? Can I still look cool doing that? Can anyone?”

THE LATEST NEWS

News From Europe

• Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat who is modeling himself as the candidate of continuity, has a fair shot at being Germany’s next chancellor in the country’s coming election.

• Moscow’s intelligence services have influence over Russian criminal ransomware groups, but they do not control their hacking targets, according to a new report.

• In their sixth meeting in less than a year, the leaders of Russia and Belarus agreed to deepen their economic ties, leaving tougher political questions for later.

• The European Central Bank said it would slow down its pandemic-era bond-buying program, citing “favorable financing conditions” and the inflation outlook.

Around the World

• Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, attended a toned-down national military parade on Thursday, skipping the opportunity to raise tensions with the U.S. through a fiery speech or display of long-range ballistic missiles.

• The Justice Department sued Texas over its new restrictive abortion law, calling the state’s near-total ban of the procedure an “open defiance of the Constitution.”

• Members of a women’s soccer team from Afghanistan who fled the country have found a new home in Italy.

What Else Is Happening

• France will offer free contraceptives for women up to age 25 starting next year.

• Novak Djokovic is a step closer to the coveted Grand Slam after winning his U.S. Open match and moving to the semifinals. He will face off against Alexander Zverev today.

A Morning Read

For nearly 300 years, an image of Cupid was covered over in Vermeer’s “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window.” After significant restoration, the famous painting is back on show in Dresden, Germany, looking quite different.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Culture’s struggle with 9/11

“Just days after the catastrophe, American culture became a culture of prohibitions: a disciplined terrain where testimony was discouraged, and interpretation actively discredited,” writes Jason Farago, the critic at large for The Times.

The art that followed in that silence went small or minimalist: the spare memorial “Tribute in Light,” which reinstated the absent skyscrapers downtown as spotlights; the personal dramas of the playwright Neil LaBute and the novelist Claire Messud, in which the tragedy mundanely transformed their characters. Then Sept. 11 became the undercard for the Iraq War, making it difficult to interpret on its own terms.

A more positive response radiated from the site of the World Trade Center, one that, as the architecture critic Michael Kimmelman writes, “has ended up being the ultimate retort to Sept. 11 and the emblem of New York’s resilience.” Lower Manhattan is still a work in progress — but better than it was, more humane and livable. The district’s residential population tripled in the aftermath of the attacks.

The reinvention of the area is also a fitting tribute to Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of the twin towers. The towers projected strength, physically and culturally, but were delicate as well, Alexandra Lange writes in Bloomberg CityLab. They were also supposed to be more sociable, but budget cuts killed Yamasaki’s ideas for pools, trees and an arcade. In the shadow of no towers, that gentle part of his vision came back stronger than ever.

For more: The Times is exploring how the Sept. 11 attacks continue to shape the U.S.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Use up seasonal fruit in this twist on a late summer pudding.

What to Read

“People Love Dead Jews,” Dara Horn’s collection of essays, challenges the way we remember and narrate Jewish history.

Sharpen Up

How to keep your knives kitchen-ready.

Now Time to Play

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” singer (five letters).

And here is the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next week. — Natasha

P.S. Taylor Lorenz, a tech reporter for The Times, joined the podcast “Make Me Smart” to discuss the creator economy.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is about an F.B.I. agent disillusioned with the U.S. war on terror.

Whet Moser wrote today’s Arts and Ideas. You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].