Monday, January 25th, 2021
Trump Trial Timeline, Russian Protests & Brady vs. Mahomes
All the news you need in about 10 min:
Today's 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 review the latest happenings...
House to Deliver Article of Impeachment
Today begins the next phase in former President Trump’s second impeachment. The House is set to hand over the article of impeachment to the Senate. It charges Trump with inciting the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol. Normally, once impeachment papers reach the Senate, the trial can start right away. However, Senate leaders made a deal to delay it two weeks. This will give President Trump more time to prepare his defense and the Senate will be able to make some progress on confirming President Biden’s cabinet nominees.
Read More: WaPo, NY Times, USA Today, Politico
Defense Secretary Confirmed
Today, Janet Yellen is expected to become the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary in the department’s 230-year history. The Senate is voting to confirm her nomination today. Friday, Senators confirmed retired Army General Lloyd Austin to become the nation’s first Black Secretary of Defense. In his first directive, Lloyd told senior leaders to send him reports detailing their efforts to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the military. Also, President Biden will likely issue an order today to allow transgender Americans to serve in the military again.
Read More: NBC News, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, AP, CNN, Defense Dept.
Buy American Day
The White House is calling today “Buy American Day.” The president is expected to sign an order to ensure government agencies buy more from American businesses and workers. The Government Accountability Office says overall, federal agencies spend nearly $600 billion a year on contracts for goods and services. Experts believe Biden wants to make sure almost all of that money is spent here in the U.S.
Read More: WSJ, The Hill, White House
Mass Protests in Russia
Tens of thousands of Russian protesters took to the streets over the weekend. They’re showing how upset they are over the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Protests were planned across 90 Russian cities, including one in Siberia where temperatures hit -60 degrees Fahrenheit. Police and protesters clashed in several places. At least 3,500 people were detained since authorities called the protests “unlawful.” The U.S. government is calling on Moscow to release the people who were detained for “exercising their universal rights.”
Read More: NPR, NY Times, WSJ, Reuters, U.S. State Dept.
U.S. Tops 25M COVID Cases
More than 25 million Americans have now been infected with COVID-19 in just over a year. Meanwhile, new strains of COVID-19 could be making matters worse. At first, the version spotted in the UK was considered more contagious, but no more deadly. Now, British data is showing that might not be the case. It might actually be up to 70% more contagious and about 30% more deadly. The UK says research isn’t conclusive yet and scientists in the U.S. are working to learn more.
Read More: Axios, NPR, CNN, Johns Hopkins, UK Report, CDC
Super Bowl Teams Set
The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this year’s Super Bowl. Both teams won their conference finals yesterday. This makes 25-year-old Patrick Mahomes the youngest quarterback in history to play back-to-back Super Bowls. On the other side, the Bucs quarterback is 43-year-old Tom Brady. He’ll be playing his 10th Super Bowl, the most of any player in NFL history. The Bucs will play the Super Bowl at home in Tampa, Florida. The host city was picked before we knew who was in the big game.
Read More: NY Times, USA Today, ESPN
COVID-Sniffing Dogs at Heat Games
In the NBA, fans are coming back to Miami with the help of some coronavirus-sniffing dogs. The highly-trained dogs will use their powerful noses to screen fans for COVID-19 at Miami Heat games. Until now, the Heat has only allowed a handful of guests to show up. Starting this week, about 2,000 regular fans will be welcomed back as long as they can get past the dogs. That said, if someone is afraid or allergic, they’ll be able to skip them and get a rapid COVID-19 test instead.
Read More: AP, The Hill, CBS Sports
Hank Aaron Dies
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron passed away at 86 years old. He is considered one of the greatest Major League Baseball players of all time. He played from 1954-1976 mostly with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. By the time he retired, he had 755 home runs. That record would stand for more than 30 years. Through it all, Aaron faced racism because he was Black. He worked as a civil rights activist and encouraged young Black athletes to stay in baseball. The Braves said he died peacefully in his sleep. No cause was given.
Read More: ESPN, CBS Sports, NY Times
Larry King Passes Away
The world is also saying goodbye to iconic radio and TV host Larry King. The 87-year-old died Saturday in the hospital where he’s been fighting COVID-19 for the last few weeks. King’s career spanned more than five decades. The AP estimates he conducted about 50,000 on-air interviews which included guests from all walks of life. Over the weekend, everyone from former President Bill Clinton to Oprah Winfrey shared their memories and sadness about King’s passing.
Read More: NY Times, WaPo, AP
SpaceX’s Rideshare Launch
SpaceX had another record-breaking launch. It’s Falcon 9 rocket launched 143 spacecraft into orbit. That sets a new global record for the most spacecraft ever sent into space on a single mission. They were all satellites of different shapes and sizes. Some of the smaller ones were only as big as a mailbox. Yesterday’s mission was part of SpaceX’s “Rideshare” program. It’s meant to give government or commercial satellites a ride into space at a relatively cheap rate.
Read More: CNBC, Reuters, The Verge
Winning Lottery Tickets Sold
For the first time in months, someone bought a winning Mega Millions ticket. It was worth $1.05 billion. That’s the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. No word yet on who the winner or winners are, but we know it came from a Kroger store in a Detroit, Michigan suburb. The Powerball lottery also saw a winner last week. That one was worth $731 million. Someone in Maryland bought that winning ticket. Neither the Mega Millions nor the Powerball had seen a grand prize winner since September.
Read More: AP, ABC News, USA Today
Money Monday: Super Bowl Ticket Prices
Super Bowl tickets are always costly, but this year, it’s even worse since the pandemic means fewer tickets will be sold overall. Only 22,000 fans will be allowed in the stadium. Plus, demand is high. At last check, the cheapest ticket available on Ticketmaster cost about $10,000 plus fees. For good seats, prices go up to nearly $38,000 per ticket. TicketIQ says that makes this the most expensive game it’s seen since it started tracking data in 2010.
Read More: FOX News, WFLA, WJXT