5 things to know for July 24: Coronavirus, RNC, police, China, ISIS
Our apologies! We told you about the Dolly Parton rooftop bar yesterday, but included the wrong link. Here’s the right one — trust us, it’s worth a click.
Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
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1. Coronavirus
The US has now surpassed 4 million Covid-19 cases, and experts are pleading for another nationwide shutdown to keep things from getting worse. More than 150 prominent US medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and others have signed a letter urging politicians to take the unpalatable, but potentially necessary step. As it stands, statisticians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say Covid-19 may end up being a top 10 leading cause of death in the nation for 2020. Despite the dire warnings, new CDC guidelines for opening schools push hard for an in-person return. If you’re still looking for an ideal mask when you need to be in public, a new study suggests masks are more effective if they have two or three layers of protection.
2. RNC
The Jacksonville portion of this summer’s Republican National Convention is off. President Trump said the timing of the event was “just not right,” but added that other convention activities will still be held in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is a big turnaround for Trump, who has been touting his planned speech in Jacksonville since moving the convention’s main events from Charlotte after the city raised concerns about coronavirus precautions. It’s no secret that Florida has been a coronavirus hotspot for a while now, and several Republican lawmakers had said they were not going to travel to convention activities in the state. A person familiar with the situation said that may have made the President wary of getting stuck in another sparsely-attended event, like last month’s disappointing rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
3. Police
President Trump says he wants to dispatch as many as 75,000 federal agents to quell what he describes as violent crime in major US cities. That is, to put it simply, a LOT of federal agents: According to the latest data, there were approximately 100,000 federal law enforcement officers in the entire United States in 2016. The President has been leaning hard into a “law and order” persona lately, despite pushback from local leaders. He seems especially interested in Chicago, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot has resisted warnings the President would send federal officers to her city. Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s independent watchdog agency says it will investigate the use of force by federal law enforcement officers during recent protests in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC.
4. China
China has ordered the closure of the United States consulate in Chengdu, which is a direct response to the imminent closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas. A spokesman from the Chinese foreign ministry put all the blame on the US, and accused staff at the Chengdu location of “interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming China’s national security interests.” In between these dueling consulate closures, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lobbed more strong words at the country after a top Chinese diplomat at the Houston consulate suggested the staff there may defy US orders to vacate. He appeared to cast these vacillating US-China tensions as a modern-day Cold War, saying that “securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time.”
5. ISIS
ISIS appears to be exploiting security gaps in Iraq caused by the pandemic in order to launch more attacks in the country and its neighbor, Syria. A new report submitted to the UN Security Council says the group is consolidating in Iraq and Syria, which used to make up its core region. Its activities there appear to be getting more brazen as well, suggesting the group is more confident in its ability to successfully carry out attacks. Iraq has seen a huge surge in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, and just surpassed 100,000 cases. The country’s military leaders have long warned that a major outbreak there would reduce their ability to counteract ISIS activity.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
Princess Cruises cancels sailing until mid-DecemberÂ
If your idea of getting away from it all involves a cruise ship, your short-term options are dwindling.
Disney delays big ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Avatar’ movie releases
Because, let’s face it, they’ll be best enjoyed with a crowd.
TikTok has unveiled a $200 million fund to pay its creators
The company wants to keep its platform’s top talent, so people will keep scrolling (and scrolling and scrolling).
The newest NHL team has a name, and it’s the Seattle Kraken!
Release the “Release the Kraken!” jokes!
The Washington football team has a new interim team name and it’s …
… the Washington Football Team.
TODAY’S NUMBER
701 million
That’s how many tons of plastic waste will be polluting the environment by 2040, and that’s if the world embarks on an immediate and globally-coordinated effort to reduce consumption. If not, that number could be much higher.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“As one of the leaders of this league, I want her family to know, and I want the state of Kentucky to know that we feel for her and we want justice. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong.”
NBA star LeBron James, who is among a growing number of NBA players taking time during media interviews to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed during a police raid of her Kentucky apartment in March.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here>>>
AND FINALLY
Incredible trick shots, from simple to mind-blowing
No plans this weekend? You could always try to recreate some of these nifty trick shot setups. (Click here to view.)
