Friday, September 11th, 2020
19 Years After 9/11, Latest Election Warning & Facebook Campus
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Blinkist.com/news
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 reading the latest happenings...
9/11 19 Years Later
The world is paying tribute to those who died in the single deadliest terror attack in history. That happened 19 years ago today, on September 11th, 2001. Two ceremonies will happen in New York City. Family members will read aloud the names of everyone who died. However, that won’t be part of the in-person ceremonies. It was pre-recorded. Vice President Pence will attend both New York ceremonies. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be at one. Also, both Biden and Trump plan to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Read More: NBC New York, AP, WaPo, World Atlas, 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Largest CA Wildfire in History
A fire burning in Northern California is now officially the largest wildfire in state history. As of early this morning, it’s burned more than 1,100 square miles in the Mendocino National Forest. At least 14,000 firefighters are battling nearly 30 major wildfires in California alone. There are also 37 active fires burning in Oregon now where about half a million people have now evacuated their homes. That’s more than 10% of the state’s population. Even more large fires have been burning out of control in Washington, Wyoming, Montana, and several other states.
Read More: SF Chronicle, CNN, WaPo, AP, USA Today, InciWeb
6 Months into the Pandemic
Six months ago today, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus crisis a global pandemic. Now, COVID-19 is responsible for more than 909,000 deaths around the world. Nearly 192,000 of those are here in the U.S. Some progress has been made during this time though. The White House says hospitals have now been able to stockpile critical supplies, like N95 respirators. Vaccine research is also well underway, with both Pfizer and Moderna on the final phase of testing for their shots.
Read More: AJC, Johns Hopkins
GOP Relief Bill Fails in Senate
It seems like Congress will not be passing another coronavirus relief bill before the November election. Almost all Senate Republicans voted for a “skinny” relief bill, but Democrats blocked it from passing yesterday. The scaled-down bill would have gone toward things like extra unemployment benefits, funding for schools, and liability protections for businesses. However, Democrats said it was still inadequate and more of a political stunt than an actual compromise.
Read More: WaPo, AP, Reuters
Microsoft Warns of Election Cyberattacks
Microsoft says it’s seeing a lot more cyberattacks ahead of the November presidential election. The company blames hackers from Russia, China, and Iran for trying to infiltrate the campaigns of both President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. For instance, it says the same Russian hackers that targeted the Clinton campaign in 2016 recently targeted a campaign advisory firm Biden has been using. Also, Iran hackers tried to log into the accounts of Trump administration officials and Trump’s re-election staff.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, Axios, Reuters, The Hill, Microsoft, DHS
First Major Bank to Appoint Woman CEO
Citigroup has picked Jane Fraser to take over as CEO next year, making her the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. She has been with the company for 16 years. She will step in to replace the company’s current CEO who is retiring. In general, female CEOs aren’t common at big, publicly-traded companies. Only 37 Fortune 500 companies are run by women. That’s less than 8%. Still, it’s much higher than 20 years ago, when only two Fortune 500 companies were run by women.
Read More: USA Today, NBC News, ABC News, NYT, Citigroup
Private Companies Wanted to Mine the Moon
NASA is looking for private companies to go to the moon and collect a small amount of dirt and rocks. Then, NASA will buy the samples. The companies just have to take pictures and detail specifically where the samples are on the moon so NASA can get them later. It wants them by 2024, before launching people to the moon that same year. NASA hopes it can analyze the samples to learn how to possibly harvest resources, like water, from the moon.
Read More: Engadget, WaPo, Axios, NASA
Facebook Launches College Platform
Facebook is returning to its roots and creating a social network just for college students. It lets students connect with classmates, find upcoming events, and get updates from their school’s administration. Facebook Campus will live within the regular app. Students will be able to find a tab for it at the bottom of their screens, or by tapping the “more” button. As of now, it’s only available around about 30 colleges, but it will be expanding.
Read More: TechCrunch, Mashable, Facebook
MLB Playoffs
Major League Baseball is mapping out a plan for the postseason. For now, it seems the new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas will host the National League Championship and the World Series. The MLB thinks San Diego’s Petco Park is a good fit for the American League Championship. These series might also be played in a so-called “bubble.” At this point, there is no finalized plan, but one is expected soon. The World Series is scheduled for late October.
Read More: USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, NY Times
Fortnite Epic Concert Series
The popular gaming app Fortnite is working to make music and concerts a much bigger part of its platform. The company says it wants its new virtual venue to become a tour stop for artists. A three-week live concert series kicks off this weekend, starting with a performance by singer and rapper Dominic Fike. The other artists haven’t been announced yet.
Read More: The Verge, Variety, Fortnite
Feel Good Friday: Largest Rooftop Greenhouse Opens
The world’s largest urban rooftop greenhouse opened recently in Montreal, Canada. It’s nearly 164,000 square feet, roughly the size of three football fields. Lufa Farms built it on top of an old warehouse. Just a couple weeks after finishing construction, the company says it’s been churning out about 25,000 pounds of tomatoes and eggplants each week. The greenhouse uses rainwater for irrigation. Bees have been introduced for pollination and ladybugs are used for pest control.
Read More: CBC, TimeOut, Phys.org, Lufa Farms