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| Ida has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but not before it knocked out the power in New Orleans and left at least one person dead as a hurricane. |
| And in Afghanistan, rockets hit a neighborhood in Kabul early Monday, following a U.S. drone strike that targeted an "imminent ISIS-K threat" roughly a day earlier. |
| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers. It's Julius here, with Monday's news. |
| 🏳️🌈 New this morning: LGBTQ people face dating challenges beyond that of their straight and cisgender counterparts. Mostly. |
| 🚒 Fire officials ordered more evacuations around the Tahoe Basin Sunday as crews dealt with the Caldor Fire, described as "more aggressive than anticipated." |
| 😷 'A decision no parent should ever have to make': Families across the U.S. are filing lawsuits over mask mandate bans. |
| 🍩 Krispy Kreme is offering 2 free doughnuts. Here's how to get the deal. (Hint: 💉) |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear the latest from Louisiana after Hurricane Ida made landfall as one of the strongest storms in U.S. history. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
Ida, now a tropical storm, leaves at least one dead in Louisiana |
| Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday , shortly after it moved into Mississippi after making landfall in Louisiana Sunday as a Category 4 storm. As of Monday morning, Ida had maximum winds of 60 mph and was centered 95 miles (155 kilometers) south-southwest of Jackson, Mississippi. It was moving north at 8 mph. Though Ida lost its hurricane status, it was responsible for at least one death, the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed Sunday. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards confirmed the death in a statement, and added that President Joe Biden officially declared Ida a disaster, releasing federal funds to assist with rescue and recovery efforts, which will begin in earnest Monday morning. |
| 🔋 Ida also severed power to New Orleans, the city's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness confirmed. Utility company Entergy said power was not expected to be restored overnight. |
| 🔵 Ida inflicted noticeable damage to the region, with video showing the hurricane's powerful winds ripping off a portion of the roof from the Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Galliano, Louisiana. A Lafourche Parish official told the USA TODAY Network that "a few" patients and staff were inside at the time. |
| 🧇 How bad will Ida be? Why Waffle House closures in Louisiana could be an indicator of the storm's severity. |
 | | A person walks through New Orleans' French Quarter ahead of Hurricane Ida. Residents of New Orleans prepare as the outer bands of the hurricane begin to cut across the city. | | Brandon Bell, Getty Images | |
Rockets strike neighborhood near Kabul international airport |
| Rockets struck a neighborhood near Kabul's international airport early Monday, part of ongoing violence in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has taken control of the country following the departure of U.S. forces. The strikes Monday morning in Kabul's Salim Karwan neighborhood were followed by gunfire, but it wasn't immediately clear who was firing, according to the Associated Press. The attack comes after a U.S. drone strike on Sunday that targeted an "imminent ISIS-K threat" to the airport in Kabul, where officials have warned of additional attacks following a suicide bombing last week. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔵 'A Massachusetts hero': Marine Johanny Rosario Pichardo, who was killed in the Afghanistan airport attack, was honored and received condolences in her home state. |
| 💿 'Donda' drops: Kanye West's long-awaited 10th studio album is out, but the artist claims his label released it without his "approval." |
| ⚾ Little League champs: Michigan defeated Ohio, 5-2, to win the 2021 Little League World Series championship. |
| 👊 'The true hero': A mother has been praised by officials after punching a mountain lion that attacked her 5-year-old son. |
| 📺 Ed Asner dies: The seven-time Emmy winner, and TV's beloved Lou Grant, has died. He was 91. |
 | | Edward Asner, known to millions as gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, died Sunday at age 91. | | USA TODAY graphic | |
Tennessee school district parents plan 'sick out' in push for COVID-19 safety |
| Some parents of the Knox County Schools in Tennessee are planning to keep their students home Monday en masse to put pressure on local and state educational leaders to improve COVID-19 safety protocols. The "sick out" aims to force administrators to follow guidance from the Knox County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and create a more robust virtual experience for students who are home sick or quarantined. COVID-19 cases have been sharply rising in Knox County and across the state over the past two months. New patients are trending younger than they were earlier in the pandemic. |
Man expected to be sentenced for murder of Mollie Tibbetts |
| The man convicted of murdering 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts is expected to be sentenced Monday. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who was convicted in May for killing Tibbetts, faces a mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder . A week before he was scheduled to be sentenced in July, Bahena Rivera's attorneys filed motions to request a new trial — which was later rejected. Tibbetts' body was found in August 2018, about a month after she disappeared while jogging near Brooklyn, Iowa. Police eventually traced a car seen on surveillance video to Bahena Rivera, a local farmhand. He then led police to her remains. |
Peloton launches treadmill with new safety features after recall |
| Peloton will launch a new version of its Tread treadmill Monday after the death of a child. The new treadmill will include several safety features, such as a four-digit passcode users must type before activating the device, and a physical safety key to operate the treadmill. "Our goal is to be the go-to fitness solution and the largest and safest home fitness brand in the world," said John Foley, Peloton's CEO and co-founder, in a statement. Peloton had voluntarily recalled all of its treadmills in May after the fitness equipment maker admitted in March that a child had died in an accident involving a Tread+ treadmill. |
ICYMI: Some our top stories published over the weekend |
| 🔵 'She was a light in this dark world': California Marine Nicole Gee, who cradled a baby at the Kabul airport, was remembered by fellow Marines after being killed in Afghanistan attack. |
| 🔵 Analysis: Was the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan "egregiously mishandled" or inevitably "messy"? What went wrong during the withdrawal process. |
| ✈️ 'I'm conflicted': Travelers are weighing their plans to visit Hawaii after the state's governor begged tourists not to come amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. |
Photo of the day: Remains of US service members arrive at Dover Air Force Base |
 | | A military carry team moves a transfer case Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base, Del., containing the remains of one of the U.S. troops who was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, during a casualty return for 11 of the 13 of the service members. | | Carolyn Kaster, AP | |
| A case containing the remains of one of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, is transferred by a military carry team Sunday. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were among officials in attendance for the "dignified transfer" of service members who were killed in a suicide bombing outside the airport in Kabul last week. |
| See this gallery for more images of the ceremony. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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