 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! President Joe Biden will reveal his plans to combat the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19. Tropical Storm Mindy is causing washout conditions in the Florida Panhandle. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off against the Dallas Cowboys, kicking off the 2021 NFL season. |
| It's Steve and Jane with Thursday's news. |
| 🌎 New this morning: Experts say the new Texas abortion law could actually hurt Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. |
| ⚖️ "Religious demand": The Supreme Court halted the execution of a Texas death row inmate who asked that his pastor be permitted to lay hands on him and pray while he dies. |
| ✈️ Southwest Airlines, trying to boost fall bookings, is running a characteristically quirky take on buy-one-get-one-free promotions. |
| ⚽ 18-year-old provides a jolt: Ricardo Pepi sparked the United States men's national soccer team's 4-1 win over Honduras in a key World Cup qualifier Wednesday night. |
| 🎤 The Top 10 on "America's Got Talent" is set. The last five acts moving on to the finals were revealed following what Heidi Klum called "a tough night" of semifinal performances. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear how hospitals may begin to ration care with beds running out during the COVID-19 surge. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Biden to unveil new strategy to stop virus spread |
| Months after proclaiming the U.S. was on the verge of independence from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks Thursday on how he plans to combat the spread of the delta variant. The speech, which will include a "six-pronged strategy" focused on containing the variant and boosting vaccination rates in hesitant corners of the country, is a tacit acknowledgement that efforts have so far fallen short of Biden's campaign promise to bring the pandemic under control. At least 75% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. But tens of millions of Americans remain unvaccinated. |
Tropical Storm Mindy makes landfall in US; Hurricane Larry still presents issues |
| Tropical Storm Mindy made landfall Wednesday evening in Florida's Panhandle, bringing strong wind and rain to the area. The storm touched down in St. Vincent Island, about 90 miles southwest of Tallahassee, along the state's northwest Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for parts of north Florida as the storm made its way across the northern peninsula. The storm's projected path has it moving across the state and impacting parts of Georgia before it heads out to the Atlantic Ocean Thursday. Meanwhile, Hurricane Larry continues to churn in the Atlantic Ocean. Waves from Larry are impacting the beaches along the East Coast with "life-threatening surf and rip currents," the Hurricane Center said. |
Cowboys and Buccaneers kick off the 2021 NFL season |
| The 2021 NFL season begins Thursday night, when the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off against the Dallas Cowboys (NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET.) Thursday's game is not only the return of the NFL season, but it will be Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's first start since suffering a gruesome ankle injury early in the 2020 season. On the other side, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady begins his 22nd season in the NFL and the pursuit of his record eighth Super Bowl title. And at 44 years and 37 days, Brady will be the oldest non-kicker ever to start a Week 1 NFL game. |
 | | Dak Prescott (4) and Tom Brady (12). | | Evan Russell, USA TODAY Sports | |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔵 The Biden administration asked 11 officials (including Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway) appointed by former President Donald Trump to military service academy advisory boards to resign or be dismissed. |
| 🔵 The notorious spotted lanternfly continues to wreak havoc on the East Coast as New Jersey adds more counties to its quarantine list. |
| 🔵 "Do I have to sue CNN?" Popular podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan is questioning media coverage surrounding how he was treating his COVID-19 diagnosis. |
| 🔵 What we know: Murders, money and mystery swirl around the prominent Murdaugh family in South Carolina. |
| 🔴 Terry Brennan dies: The former Notre Dame football coach who led the team that ended Oklahoma's famous 47-game win streak was 93. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Louisiana nursing home resident speaks out |
 | | Louisiana resident Debbie Strickland spoke to the USA TODAY Network. | | USA TODAY graphic | |
| Debbie Strickland, 66, was one of hundreds of nursing home residents evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ida to an Independence, Louisiana, warehouse at the center of a statewide investigation. A log of 911 calls obtained by the USA TODAY Network reveals chaotic conditions were reported even before Ida hit, with at least 30 calls made to officials from the facility about building conditions, food supply and myriad medical complaints. |
Unseeded teens take on experienced players for a spot in the U.S. Open final |
| The magical run of 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez will continue Thursday when she faces off against No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's semifinals at the U.S. Open (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET). Fernandez has already defeated two Top 5 seeds to reach the semifinals ( No. 3 Naomi Osaka first and then No. 5 Elina Svitolina on Tuesday night). What's amazing is Fernandez probably isn't the biggest surprise of the tournament. That honor likely would go to 18-year-old Emma Raducanu from Great Britain, who is the first qualifier in the professional era to reach the U.S. Open semifinals. Raducanu will try to make her first Grand Slam final when she faces No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece. The winners will battle for the title in the final on Saturday. |
Jennifer Lawrence jumps back into the spotlight with baby news, new movie |
| 👶 The actress, 31, and husband Cooke Maroney, 37, are expecting their first child together. Lawrence and Maroney, who is the director of the Gladstone Gallery art gallery, tied the knot in October 2019. |
| 🎥 Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio star in Oscar-nominated director Adam McKay's upcoming Netflix comedy "Don't Look Up," as a pair of low-level astronomers on a mission to warn humanity of a comet on its way to destroy Earth. The star-studded cast, seen in a trailer that debuted Wednesday, also includes Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi. |
 | | Jennifer Lawrence attends the Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2021/2022 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on July 5, 2021 in Paris. | | Kristy Sparow, Getty Images For Dior | |
Toronto Film Festival to open with 'Dear Evan Hansen' |
| The adaptation of Tony-winning musical "Dear Evan Hansen," starring Ben Platt and Julianne Moore and directed by Stephen Chbosky, will open the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. The festival returns to an in-person format after going mostly online during the pandemic in 2020. Other top films in the festival lineup include "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," starring Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker; Edgar Wright's '60s London-themed "Last Night in Soho" and Barry Levinson's "The Survivor," starring Ben Foster as WWII-era boxer Harry Haft. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories Wednesday |
| 👶 "I'm going to be a dad": Following months of rumors, John Mulaney has confirmed that he and actress Olivia Munn are together – and that they're going to be parents. |
| 📺 "Abrupt" departure: Steve Burns, the original host for the popular children's show "Blue's Clues," broke his long-held silence. |
| 💃 "Dancing With the Stars" cast revealed: "Cobra Kai" star Martin Kove, social media influencer Olivia Jade, "Bachelor" Matt James, "The Talk" co-host Amanda Kloots, and WWE superstar Mike "The Miz" Mizanin have joined the cast for Season 30. |
📸 Statue of Robert E. Lee is taken down in Virginia 📸 |
 | | The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., is taken down on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, more than 130 years after it was erected. | | Jack Gruber, USA TODAY | |
| The 131-year-old statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed from its stand in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday. It was one of the largest and most recognizable symbols of Confederate history in the state. |
| Workers harnessed the 12-ton statue and removed it from its 40-foot pedestal, eliciting cheers from hundreds watching. Some wore Black Lives Matter shirts and chanted, "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "Hey hey hey, goodbye." |
| Check out our gallery of photos from the occasion. |
| 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 |
| |
| |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment