Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - ‘Gone through hell’

Tuesday was the first day in almost 20 years that Afghans awoke without American soldiers somewhere in their country. A U.S.-based advocacy group said about 113,000 Afghans still want to leave. International flights, however, may not operate out of the Kabul airport for some time to come. In Washington, President Joe Biden marked the end of America’s war there by stridently defending the evacuation effort, saying chaos was guaranteed and that Americans had been alerted as far back as March to prepare. Biden said the U.S. must focus on China and Russia, and also described the damage done to soldiers and their families by two decades of conflict, saying they’ve “gone through hell.” —Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering banning payment for order flow, but pulling it off won’t be fast or easy. The regulator rattled Wall Street this week when Gary Gensler hinted in an interview that he may be willing to prohibit brokers from getting paid to send customer stock orders to trading firms—something that’s been key to the explosive growth of retail trading. Robinhood shares tanked Tuesday. Here’s your markets wrap.

The federal government is helping southern states begin a long cleanup from Hurricane Ida. The death toll rose Tuesday as the full extent of damage became clearer. Louisiana officials said they don’t know when the lights will be back on, and new models show how climate change superpowered the storm. Meanwhile, western U.S. wildfires fueled by global warming are racing toward Lake Tahoe.

Floodwaters left behind by Hurricane Ida in LaPlace, Louisiana. The storm drove a wall of water inland when it thundered ashore Sunday. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Five years into scandals that have cost Wells Fargo more than $5 billion in fines and legal settlements, regulators are privately signaling they’re still not satisfied with the bank’s progress in compensating victims and shoring up controls. It could cost the bank even more.

South Korea is forcing Google and Apple to open their lucrative app stores to other payment systems—the first country to do so. The move sets a potentially radical precedent. 

Europe reached a goal of fully vaccinating 70% of its adult population as Israel reported a record number of new cases. In the march toward administering boosters, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is setting aside millions of dollars for the effort. In Colorado, a disturbing new trend is taking shape: children are being infected at the fastest rate in the state. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. 

Already at the epicenter of America’s homeless crisis, Los Angeles County officials are warning it could see its unhoused population almost double after pandemic-related eviction bans end.

Workers tear down a homeless camp in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles. Earlier this year, the city council put in place restrictions on homeless encampments.  Photographer: Jill Connelly/Bloomberg

Heat kills more people in the U.S. than any other kind of weather. An axiom repeated by emergency managers is that nobody should die in a heat wave. And yet people do, sometimes in overwhelming numbers. Cities around the world are racing to solve this inexorable problem. These are the cities leading the way.

• Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s criminal trial is here.
• One of India’s top carmakers warns output is going to plummet 40%.
• Argentina’s women are getting left behind in the economic recovery.
• Major production snags will delay the large-screen Apple Watch. 
• Fidelity to hire 9,000 more staff as retail trading boom continues.
• Big Take: Question the origins of Covid-19? Get ready to be hacked.
• Mike Richards was fired from Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

They’re a relic. Obsolete technology that was replaced by the mobile phone. But for Eric Kunsman, they’re a source of fascination. The professor and photographer is on a mission to document every single one of the last pay phones in Rochester, N.Y.—a city that’s become well known for obsolete tech.  

East Main Street, 2018 (left) 2020 (right) Photographer: Eric Kunsman

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Bloomberg New Economy Conversations—China’s Tech Crackdown: Join New Economy Forum Editorial Director Andrew Browne on Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. as he analyzes the sweeping regulatory crackdown underway in China. The private sector helped power China’s economic rise, but President Xi Jinping seems determined to rein in what he sees as its excesses. Is this transitory or a game-changing shift? Joining Andy are Keyu Jin, Associate Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics & Political Science, and Kevin Rudd, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Society. Register here.