ritika: --leigh-ann: with the first word news, i'm leigh-ann gerrans.ropical storm nicholas came on shore in texas, bringing torrential rainfall to houston and parts of louisiana, still recovering from hurricane ida two weeks ago. nicholas was downgraded to a tropical storm after briefly being rated a hurricane. it could jump as much as a -- it could dump as much. . is 18 inches of rain house democrats -- dump as much as 18 inches of rain. a number of democrats say they cannot support president biden's spending bill until the so-called salt deduction cap is lifted. mostly affects those living in high tax states. here in the u.k., a panel has recommended giving coronavirus booster shots to people 50 and over, along with other vulnerable groups. it urges that the vaccine begins this month. the british government is trying to increase the immunity of its population after a potential surge in cases this winter. china's evergrand has come up with a dire assessment of its financial house. the struggling property developer says it faces terminus liquidity stra