10 things you need to know today: September 5, 2021

(Image credit: AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)

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1. Kabul airport reopens for domestic flights
2. Taliban, resistance continue to clash in Panjshir
3. Death toll from Ida rises to 12 in Louisiana
4. Navy declares 5 missing sailors dead after helicopter crash
5. Harris to campaign for Newsom in California
6. Boeing's Dreamliner deliveries delayed until at least late October
7. Paralympics wrap up with closing ceremony
8. Pete Buttigieg announces arrival of 2 children
9. American Rogers knocks off women's No. 1 Barty in U.S. Open
10. 'Today' weatherman Willard Scott dies at 87

published 5 September 2021

1. Kabul airport reopens for domestic flights

Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport has reopened for domestic flights after a technical team from Qatar repaired parts of the air traffic control system, Ariana Afghan Airlines and a Taliban commander in charge of airport security said. Several flights resumed between the capital and three other major provincial cities on Saturday, while a humanitarian aid flight from the United Arab Emirates landed at the airport, which was the site of a chaotic evacuation process over the last few weeks as the United States and other Western nations withdrew from Afghanistan after the Taliban took Kabul. Although the airport is up and running again, it's reportedly still operating without radar or navigation systems.

The Taliban said Saturday they have entered Panjshir, the last Afghan province holding out agains their rule, and a spokesman said the group's forces seized five of seven districts following clashes with resistance fighters. Opposition forces led by Ahmad Massoud, known as the National Resistance Front, have officially denied that the Taliban had made inroads, claiming Sunday to have surrounded "thousands of terrorists" and captured hundreds of Taliban troops, Al Jazeera reports. On Saturday, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Miller said he expects the clashes to develop into a "civil war." Separately, in Kabul, the Taliban reportedly violently broke up a women's rights protest, one of several that have taken place in different parts of Afghanistan in recent days.

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The death toll from Hurricane Ida has risen to 12 in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said during a news conference on Saturday. Edwards warned the numbers could still increase, citing the fact that many people are still relying on power from generators, which were blamed for four carbon monoxide deaths among the 12 fatalities. He added that 718,500 customers are still without power in the state, but the number is decreasing — 1.1 million people dealt with outages in the immediate aftermath of the powerful storm. Meanwhile, President Biden, who toured damaged areas in Louisiana on Friday, will travel next week to areas in New York and New Jersey that dealt with severe and fatal flooding after Ida passed through, the White House said.

The United States Navy on Saturday declared five missing sailors dead after a multi-day search following a helicopter crash in the Pacific Ocean about 70 miles off the coast of San Diego. The helicopter was operating on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, before it crashed while conducting "routine flight operations." One sailor was rescued from the helicopter and was reportedly in stable condition as of Wednesday, while five sailors aboard the aircraft carrier were also injured — the Navy did not say how — and were likewise reported to be in stable condition. An investigation into what caused the crash is ongoing.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to her home state of California, which she previously represented as a United States senator, on Wednesday to campaign for the Golden State's Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) as he heads into the final days of his recall election fight. The Newsom campaign said Harris will appear at a rally in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Vice President was scheduled to join Newsom in California last month, but postponed the trip after a deadly terrorist attack at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Both Newsom and the White House have said President Biden will likely join the governor in California soon, though no timetable has been publicized.

New deliveries of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners likely won't begin until at least October because the company has not been able to persuade air-safety regulators to approve its proposal to inspect the aircraft, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Deliveries were initially halted earlier this year when the Federal Aviation Administration said some undelivered 787s have a new manufacturing quality issue that Boeing needs to fix before shipment. The model has had an excellent safety record and the planes already in-service have continued to be used heavily, but the impasse on the new deliveries has prevented Boeing from moving more than $25 billion worth of planes.

The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics wrapped up Sunday following the closing ceremony. Like the Olympics earlier this summer, fans were largely not allowed to attend Paralympic events because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it appears the games, which involved a record 4,405 athletes, went off smoothly considering the circumstances. "I believe we have reached the end ... without any majors problems," Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee, said. The next Summer Olympics and Paralympics will take place in Paris in 2024, but the Winter Games are just around the corner, scheduled for early next year in Beijing.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Saturday posted an image of he and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, holding their two new babies. "We are delighted to welcome Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg to our family," Buttigieg wrote on Twitter. Last month, Buttigieg announced that the couple were set to become parents, though he didn't dive into any details. Buttigieg, who ran a competitive campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination last year after a stint as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, became the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet position in American history after President Biden tapped him to lead the Transportation Department earlier this year.

Shelby Rogers, the last American woman remaining in tennis' U.S. Open, came back to defeat Ashleigh Barty, the world's No. 1 player, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Saturday. Rogers, who has advanced to the fourth round, rallied from down 5-2 in the third and final set with a boost from a supportive crowd. Barty had defeated Rogers in the pair's past five matchups, including four earlier this year, which prompted the American to change things up in terms of her playing style. "It can't get any worse," Rogers said. "You lost to her every time, so try something different." Rogers will face Emma Raducanu next with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.

Willard Scott, the longtime weatherman for NBC's Today, died Saturday morning, Today's Al Roker confirmed. Scott was 87. In an Instagram post, Roker said Scott "passed peacefully" while surrounded by his family. Scott was employed by NBC for 65 years intotal and joined Today in 1980. He was known for his fun-loving personality, doing the weather while wearing eccentric costumes, and wishing fans happy birthday when they turned 100. Roker said Scott "was the ultimate broadcaster" and his "second dad," adding that "there will never be anyone quite like him."

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.