Monday, August 1st, 2022
California Burning, Rocket Free Fall & Will Smith’s Apology
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and Zocdoc.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 review the latest happenings...
Northern California Wildfires
Another out-of-control wildfire is raging in northern California. The so-called McKinney fire started on Friday in record-breaking heat. Since then, it’s burned through more than 80 square miles around the Klamath National Forest, just south of the Oregon state line. Thousands of people have had to flee their homes, and officials say some of them have lost everything. As of this morning, the fire is 0% contained, and thunderstorms could make it worse today. The National Weather Service says lightning could ignite new sparks, and erratic winds could help them spread.
Read More: Cal Fire, NWS, SF Chronicle, LA Times, CNN, Fox News
More Rain in Kentucky
Parts of Kentucky still recovering from last week’s flood damage are getting hit with another round of severe storms. Overnight and into this morning, rain has been coming down fast, bringing another threat of flash flooding. The death toll from last week’s flooding stands at 28, but Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says that number is higher. The official count just hasn’t been updated yet. On top of that, he says the flooding caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
Read More: NWS, Gov. Beshear, NPR, AP, USA Today, NBC News
Biden Tests Positive Again
President Biden is back in isolation. The president tested positive for Covid-19 again, just days after he tested negative from his initial bout of Covid-19. The White House physician called Biden’s case a “rebound”. That’s known to happen with patients who get the antiviral drug he took. Still, Biden says he feels okay, that his symptoms haven’t come back, and he's still able to work from home. If after this round of isolation, Biden tests negative, he will be able to go back to work in the West Wing as usual.
Read More: White House, WaPo, Fox News, NY Times, Reuters
Ukraine Mass Evacuation
Hundreds of thousands of people who live in eastern Ukraine are now being ordered to evacuate. They’re from the Donetsk region where Russians and Ukrainians are fighting at full force. Their homeland has been attacked relentlessly for months, and the Donetsk region has hardly any electricity or gas left. Separately, Ukraine is asking the American government to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Both the U.S. House and Senate have supported doing so, but so far, the secretary of state has held off.
Read More: Ukraine President, BBC, NY Times, Fox News, The Guardian
Russian Charged for Propaganda
The U.S. recently charged a Russian operative with trying to influence American opinion about the invasion of Ukraine, among other things. The U.S. Justice Department says he targeted political groups in Florida, Georgia, and California, recruited members of those groups to run for office in the United States, directed them to pro-Russian talking points and had them protest for pro-Russian causes. None of the candidates he supported were elected. The operative is not in custody, so he’s not likely to stand trial in the U.S. Reports say the indictment is meant to warn Americans about the reach of foreign influence campaigns.
Read More: DOJ, Politico, AP, NY Times, NBC News
Chinese Rocket Returned to Earth
Remember last week we told you China had a powerful rocket falling uncontrollably toward Earth? Well, it finally came down. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and there haven’t been reports of damage. The rocket was 10 stories high, weighed 1.8 million pounds, and was traveling up to 17,000 miles per hour before it crashed. China says most of it burned up during reentry into the atmosphere and that the rest landed in the sea near the Philippines. Still, NASA says China took too much risk by letting the rocket fall uncontrollably and not sharing any information about its path.
Read More: US Space Command, NASA Administrator, USA Today, Space.Com, NBC News, WaPo
Stock Market’s Best Month Since 2020
Wall Street rallied last month despite rising inflation and what some consider a recession. All three major market averages posted their best monthly percentage gain since 2020. We’re talking about the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq. Big tech is a big part of the turnaround for July. Experts say investors were relieved to hear at least better-than-expected earnings reports from some of the biggest companies.
Read more: Fox Business, NY Times, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch
TikTok Challenge Inspires Car Thefts
A TikTok challenge has been linked to spikes in certain types of car thefts. Car thieves known as the ‘Kia Boys” have posted how-to videos on TikTok and YouTube showing a way to unlock the vehicles with a USB cable. Now, police in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Texas have reported higher rates of car thefts – specifically of Hyundai and Kia models.
Read more: Business Insider, CarBuzz, CBS News, Fox News, Newsweek
RIP Bill Russell
Bill Russell died yesterday. He’s considered one of basketball’s greatest players of all time. He had 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, was named an All-Star 12 times, and MVP five times. To this day, the Finals MVP award is named after him. Once his playing days were over, Russell started leading the Celtics from the sidelines and became the first Black head coach of a team in any major sports league. He was also a longtime civil rights activist. Bill Russell was 88.
Read more: Bill Russell, NBA, ESPN, CBS Sports, WaPo, ABC News
RIP Nichelle Nichols
Actress Nichelle Nichols’ family announced she has passed away. She played Lt. Uhura in the original “Star Trek” series. That made her one of the first Black actresses to star in a primetime television show. After “Star Trek”, Nichols went on to become a recruiter for NASA and helped bring on people of color and women astronauts. Nichelle Nichols was 89.
Read more: Nichelle Nichols, CBS News, Deadline, NBC News, Variety
Will Smith Apology Video
Will Smith posted a YouTube video apologizing on-camera for striking Chris Rock during the Academy Awards earlier this year. In it, Smith apologizes to Rock, and he says he had reached out but was told Rock isn’t ready to talk. Smith also apologized to Chris Rock’s family, other nominees, and his own wife and kids. Smith said he’s remorseful while trying not to be ashamed of himself.
Read more: YouTube, Variety, The Guardian, USA Today, CNN, NPR
“Super-Pets” Wins Box Office
The cartoon “DC League of Super-Pets” made more money than any other movie at the box office this weekend. It makes some sense since family movies have been doing well this summer. Also, this one has an all-star cast featuring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reaves, Kate McKinnon, and many more. “Super-Pets” is thought to have made $23 million across North America in its first weekend. That’s nothing compared to the latest “Minions” movie but more than any other options this past weekend.
Read More: AP, NY Post, KTLA, Variety
Money Monday: Lotto Jackpot Winner
A lucky someone in Illinois won the third-largest lottery prize in American history. Their ticket matched the winning numbers from the $1.3 billion mega millions drawing. It’s not clear who the lucky winner was, but their ticket was sold at a Speedway gas station, about 17 miles northwest of Chicago. Whoever won has a choice to make: either take $780.5 million as a cash lump sum or get the full amount in payments over the next 30 years. Either way, they’ll face taxes. By the way, Mega Millions says another 26 tickets earned second-tier prizes worth $2 million or $1 million. Millions more won at least some amount of money.
Read More: Mega Millions, CNBC, NY Post, Fox Business, Business Insider, Axios