Tuesday, May 31st, 2022
Police Admit Missteps, Holiday Travel Chaos & ‘Top Gun’ Breaks Records
All the news in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Indeed.com/newsworthy and Rothys.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to read the latest happenings...
TX Law Enforcement Made ‘Wrong Decision’
Outrage is growing about how long it took law enforcement officers to confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers in a Texas school. Police officers got into the school just minutes after the gunman. However, no one confronted the shooter until about an hour and 20 minutes after the shooting started. The on-scene commander decided it would be best to wait for more backup and equipment. The state police director says the commander made “the wrong decision, period.”
Read More: NY Times, WaPo, Axios, Fox News, Sen. Cornyn
Feds Review Response
The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing the response to the Texas school shooting in the hopes of better preparing first responders for the future. In the meantime, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is asking people to reserve judgment, saying “second-guessing and finger-pointing is destructive, distracting, and unfair.” However, other lawmakers say police should have known better since they already get training for this kind of thing. The officers in Uvalde got active shooter training just two months before the shooting.
Read More: Texas Tribune, AP, CBS News, NPR, ABC News, DOJ
EU Deal on Russian Oil Embargo
Leaders in the European Union have agreed to ban most imports of Russian oil. That’s reportedly the harshest economic penalty yet for Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. The new embargo is on all oil delivered by tankers. On top of that, countries will scale back the pipeline imports, too. It’s going to be a huge setback for Russia since Europe pays tens of millions of dollars a month for Russian oil, and about 40% of Russia’s federal budget revenue comes from the oil and gas sector. It will impact Europe, too, since the embargo is likely to drive already high energy prices even higher.
Read More: Politico, NY Times, WSJ, Reuters, EUCO President
Zelensky Visits Frontline Troops
Russia is bombarding one of the last areas in eastern Ukraine that are still under Ukrainian control. As of this morning, officials say about 90% of buildings in the eastern city of Severodonetsk have been damaged. Also over the weekend, Ukrainian President Zelensky made his first visit to frontline troops in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. Those troops were able to push back the Russians a few weeks ago, but Russia has still been attacking that city and others from afar. Still, Russia is suffering losses, too.
Read More: AP, WSJ, BBC, Newsweek
Hurricane Agatha
It’s the first named storm of the year in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and it was the strongest on record to ever make landfall in the eastern Pacific in May. Hurricane Agatha hit a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns in southern Mexico. People had to hunker down in shelters in the Mexican state of Oaxaca as the storm brought torrential rains and 105-mile-an-hour winds to the region. The good news is the hurricane started losing strength quickly after it came onshore, and it’s expected to keep weakening as the day goes on.
Read More: Weather Channel, CNN, AP, USA Today, NHC
Flights Canceled
Some people had a chaotic time trying to travel over the long holiday weekend. Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed each day. FlightAware shows nearly 1,000 of them flying within, to, or from the U.S. were canceled on Sunday and Monday alone. Airlines cited severe weather. Delta also blamed “air traffic control actions.” Already, some airlines are cutting down their summer flight schedules. Meanwhile, the cost of summer travel has skyrocketed since there is more demand than supply.
Read More: CBS News, CNN, The Hill, AP, FlightAware
Strawberries Hep A Outbreak
Certain strawberries may be linked to a Hepatitis A outbreak. The FDA is investigating and says you should throw out any strawberries that might be contaminated. It’s talking about organic, fresh strawberries under the brands FreshKampo and HEB. They were sold at stores like Aldi, Kroger, Walmart, and Trader Joe’s between March 5th and April 25th. So far, there have been 17 cases of Hepatitis A possibly linked to the strawberries. Hepatitis A is a contagious virus. Most people recover within a few weeks. However, in rare cases, it can cause liver disease. The CDC says if you may have eaten the strawberries and are unvaccinated, talk to your doctor.
Read More: USA Today, Insider, CBS News, FDA, CDC
Chaos at Soccer Final
Every year, the Champions League final is the world’s biggest soccer game outside of the World Cup. This year, the game was against Real Madrid and Liverpool. France was hosting. However, before the game started, it was overshadowed by chaos, confusion, and violence. The French government says tens of thousands of Liverpool fans showed up with either fake tickets or no tickets. It says some forced their way in, and others assaulted stadium employees. Police then tried to clear the way by using tear gas and pepper spray on the crowd. In the end, some fans who paid hundreds of dollars for real tickets weren’t able to get in. Now, the governing body of European soccer, UEFA, says it’s going to review what went wrong.
Read More: BBC, NY Times, Reuters, ESPN
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Memorial Day Record
Tom Cruise had his biggest box office debut ever. It was also the biggest Memorial Day movie debut in history. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ shattered predictions for ticket sales by bringing in $156 million in North America in its first four days. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is the sequel to the 1986 original. The original ‘Top Gun’ also dominated the box office when it debuted, bringing in $8 million on opening weekend. The sequel broke another record, too. It’s playing at 4,732 North American theaters. That’s the widest release of all time.
Read More: LA Times, Variety, Reuters, Fox News
Trivia Tuesday
Area 51 is located in which U.S. state?
Play along on today’s Instagram Stories quiz. We’ll also have the answer right here next week.
Last Week’s Trivia
Q: In public places in Florida, what's illegal to do when wearing a swimsuit?
A: Sing
Read More: Spatz Law Firm, American Courthouse, Rooth Law Group