Monday, November 11th, 2019
Veterans Day, Singles Day & Rare Space Event
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
Today's episode is brought to you by Zola.
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 perusing the latest happenings...
Veterans Day:
President Trump will speak at NYC's Veterans Day Parade today and become the first sitting president to attend this particular event. The city's mayor publicly urged President Trump to skip any political talk and focus only on honoring veterans. Due to the federal holiday, some offices, such as the USPS and some banks, will be closed.
Read more: Fox News, ABC NY, History.com, USA Today
Republicans Request Biden's Testimony:
Public testimony in the impeachment inquiry is set to begin later this week, and now House Republicans want to hear from Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, as well as the anonymous whistleblower. That said, House Democrats could still block those requests. Stay tuned.
Read more: The Hill, Washington Post. NPR, Fox News
Crisis in Bolivia:
The president of Bolivia is resigning after deadly protests and allegations of election fraud. President Evo Morales won re-election, but a report found “clear manipulations” in the voting system. He announced his resignation yesterday. Now, it's not clear who will take over.
Read more: NBC News, AP, BBC
Singles’ Day:
It’s Singles’ Day in China. The holiday marks the world’s largest annual shopping spree: people usually spend more money on Singles’ Day than Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. It started as a joke and alternative to Valentine's Day, but e-commerce giant Alibaba used it as a chance to offer discounts, and it took off.
Read more: CBS News, Reuters, AP
Cold Week Ahead:
It’s about to get even colder for a huge part of the U.S. Hundreds of weather records will likely be broken from Texas to Maine between today and Wednesday.
Read more: ABC News, AccuWeather, Weather Channel
Soccer Champs:
The Seattle Sounders won against Toronto FC to become the 2019 Major League Soccer champions. It’s their second MLS Cup title.
Read more: Seattle Times, USA Today, MLS
Big College Football Weekend:
It was the first time in eight years the top two teams in the AP Poll played each other during the regular season. LSU won against Alabama. Also, Minnesota moved into the top ten for the first time in 57 years after defeating Penn State on Saturday.
Read more: ESPN, CBS Sports
Rare Space Event:
The planet Mercury will cross in front of the middle of the sun today, and this only happens 13 times every 100 years. Mercury will appear as a tiny black dot on the sun. It starts at 7:35am EST and lasts five hours. But be careful: looking at the sun can cause eye damage without a solar filter. You can always watch the livestream online.
Read more: NBC News, CNN
Apple Card Investigation:
The newly launched Apple Card is under investigation. A viral tweet accused Goldman Sachs (the bank behind the credit card) of gender discrimination when it offered the husband 20x the credit limit than the wife, which led to even more claims of the same thing happening to other people. Goldman Sachs says limits are based on many individual factors, but never gender.
Read more: CNET, Business Insider, Engadget
Instagram Hiding 'Likes':
Starting this week, some Instagram users will no longer be able to see how many times a photo has been 'liked.' Only the person who posts a picture will be able to see the like count. This is supposed to help users focus more on connections and less on popularity. Instagram has been testing this in other countries for months, and now the test is coming to the U.S.
Read more: Variety, NPR
Box Office:
Midway was number one at the box office this weekend, though Stephen King’s adaptation of Doctor Sleep was expected to be on top.
Read more: Variety, Hollywood Reporter
People’s Choice Awards:
The fans voted and winners have been chosen. Last night’s awards show featured some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Kevin Hart, Jennifer Aniston, Gwen Stefani and Pink. See the full winners list here.
Read more: E! News, People, THR, Billboard
Money Monday - College Tuition Hikes:
College costs are on the rise. A new analysis predicts the University of Chicago’s sticker price will become the first to hit six-figures by the year 2025, but it won’t be the last. As schools become more selective, they’ve increased tuition to make up for it. That said, fewer students are paying full tuition thanks to scholarships and financial aid.
Read more: The Atlantic, The Hechinger Report