| Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana as a Category 4 storm. The U.S. conducted a drone strike on an "ISIS-K threat." It's the weekend's biggest news. |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hurricane Ida makes landfall as Category 4 monster | | Powerful Hurricane Ida slammed onto the Louisiana coast Sunday, a Category 4 storm wielding winds of 150 mph, life-threatening storm surge and potentially catastrophic rainfall. The storm first crashed ashore near Port Fourchon, less than 100 miles south of New Orleans. A short time later it make a second landfall a few miles to the north, near Galliano. By then, power was out to more than 300,000 homes and businesses in the state, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us. | | The storm, which Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said could be the most powerful to slam the state in more than 160 years, prompted evacuations in New Orleans and around the state. Hurricane Ida's landfall comes 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina struck the area, flooding most of New Orleans and killing almost 2,000 people in one of the most severe hurricanes in U.S. history. | | • | Are you in the path of Hurricane Ida? The USA TODAY Network has launched SMS texting as a resource. Sign up here. | | Afghanistan: US conducts drone strike on ISIS-K threat; roughly 300 Americans seek evacuation | | A U.S. drone strike on Sunday targeted an "imminent ISIS-K threat" to the airport in Kabul, where officials have warned of additional attacks following a suicide bombing last week. A U.S. official said the airstrike hit a vehicle that included a suicide bomber. There were no initial indications of civilians being killed in the strike, said a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, but the military is continuing to assess the aftermath. It was the second known airstrike against ISIS-K terrorists since a suicide bomber on Thursday killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 169 Afghans near a gate to the Kabul airport. | | Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the U.S. is doing "everything possible" to get out about 300 American citizens who indicated they want to leave Afghanistan by the Aug. 31 deadline. The White House said Sunday that about 2,900 people were evacuated from Kabul in the last 24 hours that ended at 3 a.m. Sunday. Since Aug. 14, about 114,400 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan. The U.S faces a self-imposed deadline Tuesday to evacuate Americans who want to escape. | | |  | | Smoke rises from explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. The explosion went off outside Kabul's airport, where thousands of people have flocked as they try to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Officials offered no casualty count, but a witness said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded Thursday. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon) ORG XMIT: XRG128 | | Wali Sabawoon, AP | | Real quick | | | Delta variant may double risk of hospitalization among unvaccinated | | The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus may double the risk of hospitalization among unvaccinated people, according to a new study. The U.K. study is part of a growing body of evidence that suggests the latest delta variant may be causing more severe illness than prior strains. "This large national study found a higher hospital admission or emergency care attendance risk for patients with COVID-19 infected with the delta variant compared with the alpha variant," researchers found. | | | Ed Asner, seven-time Emmy winning actor, dies at 91 | | Edward Asner, known to millions as gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, died Sunday at age 91. His publicist, Charles Sherman, confirmed to USA TODAY that Asner died on Sunday surrounded by his family. Hard-drinking, tough-talking Grant, who originated on CBS' "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and grew to headline on drama spinoff "Lou Grant," made Asner a household name. Asner, a U.S. Army veteran, took on a broad range of roles over an acting career that spanned seven decades, playing burly cops and 5 o'clock-shadowed heavies in pre-"Mary" '60s dramas while endearing himself to younger generations who wouldn't know Lou Grant from Ted Baxter in 2003's "Elf" and 2009's "Up." | | |  | | In this March 7, 2010, file photo, actor Ed Asner arrives during the 82nd Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Asner, the blustery but lovable Lou Grant in two successful television series, has died. He was 91. Asner's representative confirmed the death in an email Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, to The Associated Press. | | Matt Sayles, AP | | 'Freedom is a constant struggle': Thousands march for voting rights | | Thousands converged on the nation's capital Saturday to demand the protection of voting rights, walking in the footsteps of the 250,000 people who marched in the historic March on Washington 58 years before. As part of March On for Voting Rights, civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and the Rev. Al Sharpton, also led marches in Houston, Miami, Phoenix and more than 40 other cities. Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said the nationwide rallies follow in the footsteps of the direct action and civil disobedience strategies King used. March On for Voting Rights is calling on Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act, and oppose nearly 400 bills in 48 states that organizers say "amount to shameful, outright voter suppression." | | P.S. Like this roundup of stories? Sign up for "The Short List" newsletter here. | | This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press. | | | | MORE ARTICLES | | | | | | | |
