Monday, November 16th, 2020
Stay-at-Home Orders, Al Qaeda Leader Killed & History-Making Masters
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Fitbod.me/newsworthy and www.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 review the latest happenings...
States Add COVID-19 Restrictions
More states are imposing new restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths increase. For example, New Mexico’s governor issued a two-week “stay at home” order that starts today. It tells people to stay home except for trips essential to health, safety, and welfare. Non-essential businesses must close. Oregon’s governor also placed her state in a partial lockdown for two weeks, starting Wednesday. This means businesses will have to close their offices to the public and mandate work-from-home as much as possible.
Read More: WaPo, AP, Axios, CNN
See All Restrictions and Mask Mandates: NY Times
COVID Infections, Death Toll Rising
COVID-19 hospitalizations are breaking records in 25 states. As of yesterday, the COVID Tracking Project says about 70,000 Americans are in hospitals with severe coronavirus cases. So far, more than 246,000 Americans have died from it since late February. The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the U.S. could start getting back to “relative normal” as soon as the spring. That’s if early testing results on vaccines hold up and people agree to be vaccinated.
Read More: Reuters, Bloomberg, NY Times, NBC News, Johns Hopkins, COVID Tracking Project
Trump’s “Rigged” Election Claims
One week after the presidential election was called for Joe Biden, President Trump is making it clear that he’s keeping up his legal fight. He sent out several tweets over the weekend, saying things like, “I concede NOTHING!” and “We won’t let a rigged election steal our country.” However, election officials from both political parties have said there were no major instances of voter fraud. Observers have confirmed there were no serious irregularities.
Read More: AP, WaPo, Reuters, Trump Tweet
Giuliani Leading Election Challenges
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several swing states. Some have been dismissed. Others are still ongoing. Friday, President Trump reportedly put Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, in charge of election challenges. Giuliani told FOX News he has evidence of voter fraud that he can’t release yet. He also said these allegations should be “investigated as a national security matter.”
Read More: NY Times, ABC News, Forbes
Biden Economy Speech
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris aren’t letting Trump’s legal challenges slow down the transition. This afternoon, they will give a joint speech on the economic recovery. During the campaign, Biden promised to increase the number of U.S. jobs and fight income inequality. This will be his first remarks on the economy since claiming victory. Biden and Harris will speak from Wilmington, Delaware at 1:45 ET.
Read More: USA Today, Bloomberg
Trump Supporters, Counter-Protesters Clash
Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Washington, D.C. in a show of support for President Trump. Most of the day, things were peaceful. The president passed by the crowds in his motorcade, smiling and waving. However, the mood changed when some counter-protesters showed up. Activists on both sides shouted threats at one another and some threw punches. One stabbing was reported and two police officers were injured. At least 20 people were arrested.
Read More: AP, WaPo, CNN, NBC News, FOX News
Al Qaeda’s No. 2 Leader Killed
Intelligence leaders say Al Qaeda’s second-highest leader was assassinated. It reportedly happened in Iran back in August. However, senior U.S. officials just confirmed it to news outlets like the New York Times. Reports say Israeli agents shot and killed Abu Muhammad Al-Masri and that it was at the request of the United States. Al-Masri was one of Al Qaeda’s founding members and he was the mastermind behind the 1998 attacks on American embassies in Africa.
Read More: WaPo, NY Times, Reuters
Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement
Leaders from 15 Asia-Pacific countries signed what’s being called the largest free trade agreement in history. Members include South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It notably does not include the U.S. President Trump pulled the U.S. out of a rival Asia-Pacific trade pact in 2017. This new deal has been in the works since 2012 and was signed yesterday. It gets rid of several tariffs on imports for 20 years and it might encourage companies to look within the trade region to buy goods.
Read More: BBC, Reuters, Financial Times
30th Named Storm
Central America is expected to get hit with a second Cat. 4 hurricane, just two weeks after the last one. Hurricane Iota formed over the weekend. The National Weather Service says it’s likely the storm will bring heavy rainfall, flooding, mudslides, and damaging winds to Nicaragua and Honduras. It could make landfall as soon as tonight in the same area hit by Hurricane Eta. Iota is the 30th named storm of this already record-breaking hurricane season. It’s the 13th one to become a hurricane.
Read More: Weather Channel, Axios, USA Today, Reuters
SpaceX Launch
SpaceX successfully launched a group of astronauts into orbit last night, marking the company’s second crewed mission and the first one to the International Space Station. The launch was supposed to happen Saturday, but it got pushed back a day because of bad weather. Now, four astronauts are on their way to the ISS. Their journey will last about 27.5 hours, so they should be arriving tonight. Already, the astronauts have said the launch was a “heck of a ride” and that they had “smiles all the way up.”
Read More: AP, NY Times, Reuters, Space.com
Masters Winner Makes History
Golfer Dustin Johnson pulled off a record-breaking win at the 2020 Masters. He got the lowest score in the tournament’s history. He came in 20 under par, breaking the previous record by two shots. Coming into the Masters, Johnson was already the world’s top-ranked golfer. However, he says this was the tournament he wanted to win the most. When he did, he broke down in tears, saying it felt like he was dreaming.
Read More: CBS Sports, AP, NY Times
MLB First Female GM
Major League Baseball has a female general manager for the first time. Kim Ng was hired as the GM of the Miami Marlins. This makes her the highest-ranking woman in the MLB. She got her start with the Chicago White Sox in 1990 in their front office. She was also the assistant general manager for the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. For the last nine years, she has been the MLB’s senior vice president of baseball operations. Ng says getting a GM job was “the honor of her career”
Read More: ESPN, Bleacher Report, MLB
Rockefeller Christmas Tree Arrives
New York City’s famous Rockefeller Christmas tree is in place. The 75-foot Norway spruce was trucked in via a police escort on Saturday. Then, it was lifted into its spot with the help of a crane. Staff will spend the next few weeks putting lights, ornaments, and tinsel on the tree. It will be officially lit on December 2nd. Usually, the tree-lighting ceremony draws big crowds. This year, in-person spectators aren’t allowed. However, you’ll still be able to watch Christmas in Rockefeller Center from home, as usual, on NBC.
Read More: AP, CNN, Rockefeller Center
Monday Monday: Scaled-Back Thanksgiving Dinners
Grocery chain Kroger estimates 43% of shoppers plan to celebrate with only their immediate household this year, so it purchased more turkeys than usual, in a wider array of sizes, to accommodate smaller gatherings. Walmart has a similar plan. It will also stock up on more turkey breasts than usual for people who don’t want to cook a whole bird. Many farmers have decided to harvest turkeys earlier this year, so they’re smaller. They’re also offering more chickens and ducks. Restaurants who offer Thanksgiving dinners say they’re receiving more orders for takeout feasts than usual.
Read More: AP, Smithsonian, WSJ