Monday, November 1st, 2021
“Moment of Truth,” Covid’s Turning Point & Rock Hall of Fame
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Ritual.com/newsworthy and Indeed.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...
UN Climate Change Conference Begins
Thousands of the world’s leaders and activists are gathered in Glasgow, Scotland for a major climate change conference, COP26. The hope is world leaders will agree on concrete plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Previously at COP21 in 2015 in Paris, France, the so-called Paris Agreement was adopted by 191 countries and the European Union. However, as of this year, not one major economy is on track to honor its commitments. Starting today, about 200 world leaders will lay out their countries’ efforts to curb emissions and discuss how to deal with the damage already done.
Read More: BBC, WSJ, AP, COP26
G20 Summit Wrap
Many world leaders, including President Biden, are coming to COP26 from the latest G20 Summit in Rome. The G20 countries represent the world’s 20 largest economies, and they produce more than 75% of the world’s climate-damaging emissions. Over the weekend, they acknowledged the goals from the Paris Agreement are still important, but they were vague on exactly how they plan to reach those goals. One thing the G20 leaders did agree on was to stop paying for new coal-fired power plants overseas. But, they didn’t address how they were using coal in their own countries.
Read More: WaPo, NY Times, NY Post, Bloomberg
Alec Baldwin Breaks Silence
The cinematographer shot and killed on the “Rust” movie set was finally laid to rest. Halyna Hutchins’ family and friends held a private funeral for her last night. Also over the weekend, for the first time since the shooting, movie star Alec Baldwin spoke to the paparazzi. He said he’s not allowed to talk about the details of the shooting since there’s an ongoing investigation. But, he called Hutchins his friend and said he’s in constant contact with her husband and son. Baldwin says they’re “overwhelmed with grief.”
Read More: CNN, BBC, Sky News, Newsweek, Vanity Fair
‘Rust’ Armorer Releases Statement
Law enforcement officials say they think a real bullet was loaded into the antique revolver Alec Baldwin was practicing with when he shot Halyna Hutchins. However, lawyers for the armorer who was in charge of guns on the set say she didn’t know where the live rounds came from. They did say she was hired for two positions for the movie, which made it tough for her to focus on her job as armorer. They also say she fought for training and safety meetings that never happened. As of this morning, the production company hasn’t responded to that statement. So far, no one is facing criminal charges, but authorities say that’s not out of the question.
Read More: ABC News, NY Times, Vulture, Deadline
SCOTUS Hearing Texas Abortion Case
The most restrictive abortion law in the country is going back before the Supreme Court today. The Texas law bans abortions as soon as doctors can detect a heartbeat, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy. The high court is going to consider how the Texas law is written and who is allowed to sue or be sued over it. The way the law is written, it’s up to private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone else who helps someone get an abortion. The Supreme Court will decide if Texas can avoid a federal court review by writing the law this way and if the US Justice Department can sue Texas to overturn the law.
Read More: Texas Tribune, Politico, AP, Fox News
U.S. Covid Turning Point
New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all going down on a national level. Case numbers have been going down since the middle of September, and deaths have gone from 2,000 a day a couple of months ago to about 1,400 a day now. Public health experts are calling this a “turning point.” They credit new vaccines, the return to mask-wearing, and growing immunity in previously hard-hit states. Still, as we enter the winter months, many doctors advise getting vaccinated against both COVID-19 and the flu, taking extra precautions like wearing masks inside, and staying home when you feel sick.
Read More: WSJ, CNN, Johns Hopkins, CDC
Philadelphia Bans Minor Traffic Stops
Philadelphia is set to be the first major American city to ban police from pulling over drivers for minor violations. The city council passed what’s called the Driving Equality Bill. Studies show police are more likely to pull over black drivers than white drivers for minor violations, like a broken taillight. This bill is meant to address that issue and to ease tension between police and community members. Some critics worry it may impact driver safety. However, most of the council and police are on board. Philadelphia's mayor is expected to sign the bill into law this week. Then, it’ll take effect about four months later.
Read More: USA Today, CNN, Axios, Philadelphia City Council
American Airlines Flights Canceled
Double-check your flight status if you’re heading to the airport today. There could be some changes after a slew of flights were canceled over the weekend. Tens of thousands of travelers found themselves stranded or scrambling to get to their destination after American Airlines canceled close to 2,000 flights between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Staffing shortages caused by wind gusts at American Airlines’ busiest hub in Texas late last week made it tough to get crews in position, and staffing problems snowballed from there. It was mostly a lack of flight attendants in the right places and a shortage of pilots.
Read More: CNN, WSJ, AP, Fox News, NPR
Roblox Outage
A massive outage of an online gaming platform left millions of young players unable to access their games over the weekend. Roblox users and parents took to Twitter to complain since the platform was down for about three days. The company says everything is back up and running now, and the CEO of Roblox put out a statement saying the outage was from several factors, one being a core system that became overwhelmed. He added the outage was not from an outside attack, and no player data was compromised.
Read More: CNET, The Verge, Engadget, WSJ, Roblox
Rock & Roll HOF Induction
Music legends were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame over the weekend. Rapper Jay-Z was one of the new inductees who got a lot of fanfare. He was introduced by former President Barack Obama, NBA star Lebron James, late-night legend David Letterman, and comedian Dave Chappelle. Music icon Paul McCartney welcomed another inductee, the band Foo Fighters. One of the night’s biggest moments came when McCartney joined the band to perform the Beatles hit “Get Back.” Other inductees included Carole King, Tina Turner, The Go-Gos, and Todd Rundgren. The full ceremony will be shown on HBO later this month.
Read More: Rolling Stone, AP, NY Times, Rock Hall
Day of the Dead
Día de Los Muertos, also known as ‘Day of the Dead,’ continues today. On the annual Mexican holiday, people honor their loved ones who have passed away. They sometimes create elaborate altars to commemorate them. They also gather together to tell stories, eat, and drink. The holiday is sometimes marked by parades where people paint beautiful skulls on their faces or ceramics. One of the largest parades in the world happened yesterday in Mexico City. Thousands of people gathered to watch the marching skeletons, dancers, and floats.
Read More: NY Times, USA Today, AP, Reuters
Money Monday: Most Unaffordable Housing Markets
Home prices have been going up so much lately that more people are being priced out of their cities. A new study from the real estate technology firm Knock looked at household incomes in certain cities and compared them with mortgages on new home construction. By those calculations, the least affordable markets for new homes are in Sacramento, California, and Miami, Florida. In both of those cities, 80% of households can’t afford new homes. The study also says more than 60% of people in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin, Denver, and more are also being priced out of new homes.
Read More: Sacramento Bee, Fox Business, Knock