Good morning. We’re covering Turkey’s resistance to accept Afghan refugees and the consequences of the F.D.A.’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. |
 | | Zeynep, an Afghan refugee, sits with her 1-year-old daughter at a bus station in Van, Turkey.Nicole Tung for The New York Times |
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Turkey blocks fleeing Afghans |
Weeks before Kabul fell to the Taliban, tens of thousands of Afghans were already fleeing the country each week. Many of them traveled 1,400 miles across Iran, hoping to make their way to Europe. But the migrants were met with sharp resistance at Turkey’s border, where thousands of Afghans were massed. |
In a single operation in July, more than 1,400 Afghans who had crossed into Turkey were rounded up and pushed back by Turkish police, which lawyers say violates the international convention on refugees. |
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey warned Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany by telephone on Sunday that his country “will not be able to shoulder the additional burden.” As in Europe, the public mood in Turkey has turned against immigrants and refugees, and has become a burning political issue as the Turkish economy has worsened. |
Evacuation progress: The U.S. military evacuated about 11,000 people from the Kabul airport in a 24-hour span, significantly speeding up the pace of U.S.-supported departures, which have totaled 37,000 since Aug. 14. |
Hindsight: Some former U.S. officials are looking back at a missed opportunity in 2001 that they passed on to negotiate with the Taliban. |
 | | A doctor drawing up doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Los Angeles this month.Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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The F.D.A. granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for people ages 16 and older, making it the first shot to move beyond emergency use status in the country. |
The decision — which comes amid a major uptick in cases, especially in the South — will set off a series of vaccine requirements by hospitals, colleges and corporations. The Biden administration hopes the approval will motivate at least some of the 85 million unvaccinated Americans who are eligible for shots to get them. |
A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three in every 10 unvaccinated people said that they would be more likely to get a Covid-19 vaccine if it was fully approved. But the pollsters and other experts warned that percentage could be exaggerated. |
- Taiwan started administering its first locally developed Covid-19 vaccine.
- While battling through its worst coronavirus outbreak, Australia’s prime minister said the country should shift away from a strategy of lockdowns when its vaccination target is reached.
- New York City will require all of its school employees to be vaccinated in the next month, without the option of submitting to weekly testing.
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 | | A Haitian worker hands over money from the sale of a block of ice on Monday.Matias Delacroix/Associated Press |
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The crisis in Haiti becomes a political launchpad |
The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked southern Haiti on Aug. 14, killing 2,200 people, struck a country already in crisis. In the absence of a concerted state relief effort, prominent Haitian politicians have supplied much of the relief supplies, including hot meals, medical supplies and even cash — often with their names prominently affixed on the containers. |
But with elections on the horizon, the efforts have raised difficult questions about the fine line between offering urgently needed aid and cynically exploiting the suffering. |
Michel Martelly, a former president who is widely believed to be preparing a new campaign, was mobbed by Haitians pleading for help when he arrived via charter plane carrying medical supplies and envelopes of cash. “Here is our president!” the crowd chanted. |
Context: Jovenel Moïse, who was president until he was assassinated last month, cemented his campaign lead by delivering a shipment of rice bearing his party slogan to survivors of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 shortly before the vote. |
Political office has traditionally been the main route for personal advancement in Haiti, which has a weak economy and deep-rooted corruption, and receives large amounts of international aid. The nation of 11 million people has about 200 political parties. |
 | | Vice President Kamala Harris and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore on Monday.Pool photo by Evelyn Hockstein |
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- Vice President Kamala Harris began her weeklong tour of Southeast Asia in Singapore, aiming to counter China’s growing sway in the region. Those efforts, however, have been overshadowed by the situation in Afghanistan.
- Container shipping rates from China and East Asia to America’s East Coast have quintupled in the past year as supply-chain bottlenecks snarl global trade.
- A new poll found that support for India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has plummeted, the BBC reports.
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- The International Monetary Fund distributed $650 billion on Monday to help poor countries pay down debt and withstand the costs of combating the pandemic.
- Extreme weather is pummeling the U.S.: A flash flood in Tennessee killed at least 21 people; the Caldor fire in California grew by more than 30,000 acres in just two days; and heavy rain continued in the Northeast a day after Tropical Storm Henri made landfall.
- After six years and $165 million in renovations, the newly opened modern art museum Neue Nationalgalerie looks like it did in 1968.
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 | | The lives of Mongolia’s Dukha people revolve around their domesticated reindeer.Regis Defurnaux |
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As the climate changes, the Dukha people — a small group of seminomadic reindeer herders in Mongolia — are being forced to make difficult decisions about their livelihood and their future. Our reporter recently spoke with them and photographed their journey to a new location. |
 | | Brandon Mena took pictures of himself in Caracas, Venezuela, last year to share with subscribers to his OnlyFans profile.Cristian Hernandez/AFP — Getty Images |
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Is OnlyFans ‘discarding’ its base? |
OnlyFans is inextricably tied to X-rated content — many sex workers, strippers and porn stars have popularized the company and have relied on it as a primary source of income. It allows creators to effectively run their own businesses and own the content that they post. “I’m very angry,” an OnlyFans creator known online as Jasmine Rice said. OnlyFans, she added, “made all their profits off the back of sex workers and are now discarding them.” |
The company handled more than $2 billion in sales last year, Bloomberg reported. Still, it has struggled to get funding from investors, who are hesitant to associate with the company’s sexually explicit material, as Axios reported. In a statement, OnlyFans said it was blocking explicit content at the request of its “banking partners and payout providers.” |
“Someone said it’s like Burger King saying they’re not selling burgers anymore,” Kenneth Pabon, a 22-year-old OnlyFans creator, told The Times. “This is what OnlyFans is known for.” |
 | | Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times |
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That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Matthew |
The latest episode of “The Daily” answers questions about children and Covid. |
Sanam Yar wrote the Arts and Ideas section. You can reach Matthew and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. |
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