The US just posted a record GDP growth rate, but we’re still not back to our pre-pandemic numbers. The rest of the recovery, experts warn, could be slow going.
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US coronavirus cases hit a daily record high yesterday, with 88,521 new diagnoses and 971 deaths. With the way things are going, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine says the daily death rate could triple by January. If states don’t respond with more safety measures, and people don’t abide by them, the IHME says more than 500,000 Americans could die of the virus by that time. Other countries like Germany and Russia are also experiencing record high case numbers, and Europe has once again become the “epicenter” of the virus, according to the World Health Organization. Worldwide, coronavirus cases just surpassed 45 million.
President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are crossing paths in the final days of the presidential election. They both campaigned in Florida yesterday, with Biden holding a drive-in event in the reliable Democratic enclave of Broward County, and Trump holding a rally in Tampa. Their paths will overlap again today as they both campaign in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Those are important states for Biden to cover, since Hillary Clinton was criticized for neglecting blue collar voters in the same region in the final days of her 2016 campaign. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has ruled that mailed-in ballots in Minnesota must be received by elections officials no later than Election Day and suggested voters consider other options for casting their ballots if they think they’re too late.
Philadelphia’s City Council has passed a bill banning police use of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray during protests or other First Amendment protected activities. Though the legislation was a response to protests over the summer following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, it comes as new protests roil in the city following the police shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr. Wallace’s family believes the city failed them, a family attorney said, but they are not calling for the police officers who fatally shot him to be charged with murder because they believe the officers were improperly trained and equipped for their jobs. In response to the ongoing protests in Philadelphia, Walmart has announced they are removing firearms and ammunition off some sales floors as a precaution.
France is reeling from a second brutal knife attack as it contends with what President Emmanuel Macron called “Islamist and terrorist madness.” Three people were stabbed to death at a church in the French city of Nice yesterday, and authorities say it was the work of an Islamist terrorist. The suspect, a Tunisian national, was shot at the scene but survived, and has been taken into custody. The attack comes on the heels of the grisly murder of a French history teacher on October 16. The murder of Samuel Paty, who was teaching a lesson using cartoons published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Mohammed, ignited nationwide controversy over free speech, freedom of religion and Islamic extremism.
At least 140 migrants have drowned off the coast of Senegal in the deadliest recorded shipwreck this year. The vessel was carrying about 200 people on their way from the Senegalese town of Mbour to Spain’s Canary Islands. That’s a common route for migrant voyages. In fact, there have been about 11,000 migrant boat departures from West Africa to the Canary Islands this year alone, a four-fold increase over recent years, according to estimates from the UN International Organization for Migration. The IOM estimates 14 boats carrying 663 migrants attempted to make this journey in September alone, and more than a quarter of them were shipwrecked or had an incident.
Starbucks’ sales have fallen, but the company expects them to grow again next year
As long as there is work to be done, we’re going to need coffee.
Netflix is raising prices for its standard and premium plans
Your couch routine just got a bit more expensive.
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost are married
A match made in talented, beautiful people heaven.
Beyoncé’s latest Ivy Park x Adidas gear finally drops online
That sound you hear is people furiously updating their Christmas lists.
Tupperware profits soar as more people are eating at home during the pandemic
Yet somehow we still lose the lids.
$9.9 million
That’s how many Americans are not up-to-date on their rent or mortgage payments, and have little to no confidence that their household could pay next month’s rent or mortgage on time.
“New Zealand has become a more compassionate and humane society. Thousands of New Zealanders who might have suffered excruciating deaths will have choice, dignity, control, and autonomy over their own bodies, protected by the rule of law.”
New Zealand’s ACT political party, whose leader David Seymour sponsored the controversial End of Life Choice Act. The country’s citizens just voted in favor of legalizing euthanasia for people with a terminal illness, clearing the way for the proposition to become law in 2021.
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Happy Halloweekend!
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Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.