While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
1. Back to school with a new mask mandate:
Beginning today, all Palm Beach County School District students are required to wear facial coverings while inside school district buildings or on school district transportation.
According to the most recent numbers, there are 1425 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the school district with 1234 of them students.
Catholic schools in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast will also require masks when children return to the classroom Monday.
2. FDA on track to fully approve Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine:
The Food and Drug Administration could fully approve the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as early as Monday, according to multiple reports.
Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are currently operating under emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccines.
Several universities said they would revisit the issue of a vaccine mandate after the COVID-19 shot was fully approved. Many school districts may also put the COVID-19 vaccine on its list of required vaccinations after it's fully approved.
3. Florida becomes third state to surpass 3 million cases
The state hospitalizations hit 17,198, compared with 15,840 one week ago. The state listed 346 deaths occurred in the past week, including a child under 16 years old.
Last week there were 286 deaths that occurred then. Deaths can take several days or even weeks to be reported to the state so the figures will fluctuate.
The state's vaccination rate for adults getting at least one dose reached 73.1 percent and 51 percent are fully vaccinated.
4. 22 dead amid major flooding in Middle Tennessee, about 20 others missing
A sheriff in Tennessee says at least 22 people are dead any many are missing after record-setting rain caused devastating flooding that swept away homes. A Facebook page from officials in Waverly listed about 40 missing people Sunday afternoon.
Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said many of the missing were from neighborhoods hit hardest by Saturday’s flash flood. The dead ranged in age from young children to elderly people and included the foreman at country star Loretta Lynn's ranch.
Up to 17 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours, which set a new one-day record for rainfall in Tennessee.
5. Biden: Evacuations in Afghanistan accelerating, but 'we have a long way to go'
President Joe Biden on Sunday provided another update on evacuation efforts in Afghanistan as the military races to evacuate all Americans ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline.
Biden noted that evacuations have picked up, saying that the military during one 30-hour span over the weekend had flown 11,000 people out of the airport in Kabul.
He also confirmed the use of civil reserve flights — commercial aircraft recruited to assist in military missions. Biden said that such flights would not impact commercial flight schedules in the U.S., and that those planes would only be used to fly evacuees after they had arrived in third-party countries.
Today's Forecast
Saharan Dust will limit rain chances through most of work week:
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On This Day In History
On August 23, 1989, as punishment for betting on baseball, Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose accepts a settlement that includes a lifetime ban from the game.
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