Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, September 7, 2021:
COVID FALL II
The “Hot Vax Summer” that wasn’t is unofficially over as Americans head back to work and school amid the continuing Delta wave of the pandemic. The good news is that new cases are starting to fall in some of the hardest-hit states in the South. The bad news is that the U.S. is still seeing about 160,000 new cases a day, about 100,000 hospitalizations and roughly 1,500 daily deaths. The White House’s plan to offer booster shots later this month still needs the sign off from the CDC and FDA, and there were reports over the weekend that federal health officials have warned the administration that they need more time to determine the scope and necessity of a broad booster campaign. NY TIMES
TEXAS ABORTION LAW
The Biden administration says it is exploring “all options” to block Texas’ restrictive new abortion law that bans the procedure at 6 weeks with barely any exceptions and empowers residents to file civil suits against anyone who helps a woman evade that ban. That bill was allowed to proceed by the Supreme Court last week over the dissent of the Court’s liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts. The fact that the Court did not move to block the Texas bill is widely seen as the most serious threat to Roe v. Wade in 50 years. WASH POST
TROPICS LATEST
Half a million people in Louisiana, about 20 percent of the state’s population, remain without power a week after Hurricane Ida’s landfall. The cleanup in the region has been set back by new threats of flash flooding from a different storm system that is expected to ease after today. Meanwhile, Hurricane Larry is churning as a Cat 3 out in the Atlantic -- it’s not expected to come anywhere near the U.S., though the East Coast is expected to see significant swells and dangerous rip currents through the end of the week. USA TODAY
TALIBAN CEMENTS CONTROL
The Taliban announced that they overtook the last holdout of resistance in Afghanistan, putting the country entirely in their control a week after the last U.S. troops withdrew. There are reports that Taliban fighters have prevented several NGOs from evacuating their remaining workers -- including Americans and green card holders -- from an airport in northern Afghanistan. NPR
BENEFITS CLIFF
The expanded unemployment benefits that have been in place for nearly 18 months have now expired, leaving 7.5 million out-of-work Americans without the federal assistance that has helped them make ends meet during the pandemic and another 3 million without the extra $300 weekly supplement. Neither Congress nor the White House have shown any appetite for extending the benefits, though President Biden has called on states to use emergency Covid funds to help unemployed workers. No state has indicated it plans to do that. CBS NEWS
TIKTOK VS. YOUTUBE
TikTok has overtaken YouTube in one of the most significant metrics of digital engagement. According to research from App Annie, users in the U.S. and UK now spend more time watching videos on TikTok than they do on YouTube. Google-owned YouTube is still much bigger in terms of MAU (monthly average users), but TikTok is where people are spending more of their free time. YouTube has noticed the trend, recently rolling out the TikTok-knock-off YouTube Shorts to gain back some of those eyeballs. BBC
US OPEN
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic survived a scare from 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby to advance to the quarterfinals at the US Open. On the women’s side, 18-year-old Emma Raducanu of Britain advanced to the quarters after dominating American Shelby Rogers, making this the first Open in which no player from the host country has made it to the final eight. GUARDIAN
IN MEMORIAM: MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS
Michael K. Williams, who memorably played Omar in The Wire and Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire, has died at the age of 54. Williams was found dead in his NYC apartment from a possible drug overdose. The Emmy-nominated actor was open about his struggles with addiction over the years, saying the intensity of his on-screen characters sometimes exacerbated his drug use. Tributes flooded social media after the news broke of Williams’ death, with former co-stars remembering him as a brilliant performer and gentle soul. OBIT
BOX OFFICE
Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings smashed Labor Day box office records, taking in $90 million over the long weekend. Shang-Chi was released exclusively in theaters, giving support to the theory that “day-and-date” releases have been holding back audiences from going to the multiplex. While several of the fall’s big new movies have already been bumped once again, Sony is actually moving up the release of Venom 2 from Oct. 15 to Oct. 1 after seeing the strong showing from Shang-Chi. DEADLINE
LEFTOVERS: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
One-year-old twin girls who were born conjoined at the back of the head were successfully separated in a first-of-its-kind operation in Israel. The girls, whose names have not been released, are among the youngest conjoined twins to ever be separated. Following the operation, doctors placed them side by side so they could see each other for the first time: SEE IT
