Current Events Summary By Sarah Dougherty
● Congress affirmed Joe Biden’s victory on January 7th, hours after pro-Trump rioters breached the US Capitol. The proceedings were disrupted as a violent and destructive mob attempted to overturn the presidential election. These events led to a multitude of injuries, including 56 officers, as well as a death toll of 5. Additionally, the lack of adequate response from Capitol police officers has sparked fury after the Black Lives Matter protests resulted in 14,000 arrests and the use of excessive crowd-control methods. (CNN)
● After being accused of inciting violence to his supporters, an abundance of democrats call for Donald Trump’s removal, whether through impeachment or using the 25th amendment. These events have led to the resignation of many of Trump’s aides and cabinet members, as well as a permanent ban on Trump’s social media accounts. (CNN)
● On a celebratory note, Georgia held its US Senate runoff elections, with results in favor of democratic candidates Raphael Warnock, for the special election, and Jon Ossoff for the regular election. Both wins are historic, as Warnock is the first Black senator to be elected in Georgia and Ossoff is the first Jewish senator from Georgia, among many other records. Their victories have also given democrats control of the Senate, as Kamala Harris will be the tiebreaking vote for the 50-50 split. (NPR)
● Covid-19 cases are at an all-time high in the U.S, with 22 million total cases and 369,000 deaths. Los Angeles County is having a surge, reaching roughly 18,000 cases per day as of January 8th. There is also growing concerned for a more contagious variant of the virus that has forced the U.K. to enact a strict lockdown. So far, there are 50 cases of this strain in the U.S. (NBC News)
● Elon Musk took Jeff Bezos’ place as the richest man in the world on January 6th as his net worth hit $186 billion. Bezos, who has held the spot since late 2017, is now $1.5 billion behind Musk. Confirming the news, Elon Musk tweeted “how strange” and “well, back to work ...” later that day. (Inc.)
● Six months after the last Covid relief package, taxpayers are finally going to receive a second stimulus check of $600. However, not only has the amount created a widespread backlash for being too low, millions of stimulus payments for TurboTax customers have been sent to the wrong accounts. Although it is expected to be fixed soon, a glitch in the distribution has led as much as 13 million people to wait even longer for payments. (CNN)
● Friday’s episode of “Jeopardy!” closed with a 90-second tribute to the late Alex Trebek after the episode was the last that he had hosted before passing on November 8th. The montage celebrates his 36 years on the show through sentimental and light-hearted moments. (CBS News)
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