Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020
Relief Bill Passed, Kilauea Volcano Erupts & New NBA Season
All the news in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Ritual.com/newsworthy and BlueNile.com
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 read the latest happenings...
Congress Passed Relief Bill
Both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly approved the new coronavirus relief bill. Even though it’s less than half the size of the CARES Act, this one is still one of the largest relief packages in modern American history. It’s worth $900 billion. It includes more money for schools, health care providers, hard-hit businesses, and more. It also includes $600 direct payments for Americans who make $75,000 or less. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says some of those payments could start going out as soon as next week.
Read More: AP, NY Times, Reuters
CDC Interference Subpoenas
Congressional investigators have been looking into allegations that certain officials in the Trump administration tried to adjust COVID-19-related data to reflect a more optimistic view of the pandemic. A panel of lawmakers subpoenaed two top public health officials to find out more. The Democratic-led House panel is giving the CDC director and the Health and Human Services secretary until the end of the year to hand over emails and communications having to do with a series of scientific reports. Republicans are calling the subpoenas “partisan” antics.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, CBS News
Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Charges
32 years after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the U.S. announced new criminal charges in the terror plot. The Justice Department is charging a former Libyan intelligence officer for making the bomb that took down the flight. The Boeing plane was traveling from London to New York when the explosion happened over Lockerbie, Scotland. 270 people were killed, mostly Americans. Abu Agila Mohammad Masud Kheir Al-Marimi is in Libyan custody now, but Attorney General Bill Barr says he’s hopeful Libya will allow Masud to be tried in the U.S.
Read More: NPR, Reuters, FBI, Justice.Gov
Confederate Statue Removed from Capitol
A Confederate statue that stood in the U.S. Capitol for 111 years is now gone. It was removed from the National Sanctuary Hall in Washington, D.C. yesterday. In that hall, each state is allowed two statues. Virginia had contributed one of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the other of the nation’s first President George Washington. However, the Gen. Lee statue is now in the hands of a Virginia-based museum. Virginia will install a statue of civil rights pioneer Barbara Johns in its place. She protested for equal education in Virginia.
Read More: NBC News, FOX News, CBS News, VA Governor
Kilauea Volcano Erupts
The Kilauea volcano erupted on Hawaii’s big island, shooting lava into the sky. The sky turned into shades of orange and red and a massive steam cloud shot nearly six miles into the air. Authorities say the eruption is not life-threatening because of where this eruption is happening. No one has had to evacuate their homes. Still, people are now being encouraged to stay inside due to falling ash. At this point, scientists say it’s hard to know how long the eruption will last. They’re keeping an eye on it.
Read More: AP, NY Times, Weather Channel, USGS
NBA Opening Night
The new NBA season officially kicks off tonight. First, the Golden State Warriors go toe-to-toe against the Brooklyn Nets. Then, it’s the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Los Angeles Clippers. This season won’t happen in a bubble. Teams will play at their regular home arenas unless they’re traveling for away games. Players will get tested for the virus daily and if they come back positive, they’ll be isolated. For now, many games will go without fans.
Read More: CBS Sports, AP, NBA
Xmas Packages Might Arrive Late
Millions of Christmas presents may arrive late this year because the U.S. Postal Service is overwhelmed. It’s dealing with an unprecedented number of packages since more Americans are shopping online during the pandemic. Plus, the American Postal Workers Union says 19,000 employees are out sick. Now, some processing plants are refusing to accept new mail shipments. At others, packages are sitting on trucks for days, waiting to be unloaded.
Read More: WaPo, NY Post
Dippin’ Dots Could Help Vaccine Distribution
The ice cream company Dippin’ Dots may soon be an unlikely ally for getting more people vaccinated against COVID-19. One of the major hurdles for Pfizer’s version of the vaccine is it needs to be stored at -94 F. Not all hospitals and clinics have the special freezers required to maintain that cold temperature, so Dippin’ Dots is setting up. Their unique ice cream is also stored in colder-than-usual freezers, so it’s going to try to get them to health facilities.
Read More: TODAY, Popular Science
Tesla’s First Day on S&P 500
Tesla just made its debut on the prestigious S&P 500 and it didn’t do well. The S&P 500 is a stock index that measures the performance of 500 large companies. It gives investors a good idea of how healthy the stock market is. When Tesla got in, shares tumbled 6.5% even though, as a whole, the S&P 500 lost only 0.4%. Still, Monday’s slide was a small dent in what was an otherwise blockbuster year for Tesla. Shares are up 687% this year compared to last and Tesla is still considered the most valuable carmaker in the world.
Read More: AP, WSJ, Bloomberg
Longest Music Video Record
Twenty One Pilots set a new world record for the longest music video ever recorded. The video for its song “Level of Concern” lasted nearly 178 days without interruption. The band asked its fans to send in their own footage. Then, they kept adding content to the video. It was constantly live streaming from June 21st to December 16th. This shattered the previous record for the longest music video. That one was for Pharrell’s song “Happy” which lasted 24 hours.
Read More: Engadget, Billboard, Guinness World Records
Topping Two Charts Twice
Taylor Swift’s new album Evermore is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Meanwhile, her single “Willow” had a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. That made her the first artist to top both charts at the same time twice. She became the first person to achieve the feat even once when her prior album Folklore and its single "Cardigan" opened atop the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts in August.
Read More: Billboard, Vulture
Trivia Tuesday
Q: Besides the winter holidays, what two holidays generate the most money in the U.S.?
Play along on today’s Instagram Stories Quiz. We’ll also have the answer right here next week.
Last Week’s Trivia Tuesday Answer
Q: What NBA player has won the most league MVPs?
A: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Read More: NBA, Bleacher Report