promoearn: A new era in New York

Tuesday, August 24

Kathy Hochul was sworn in as governor of New York on August 24, 2021.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has made history, the Tokyo Paralympics are set to start and more news to start your day.

Happy Tuesday, Daily Briefing readers! A new era has begun in New York, with Kathy Hochul being sworn in as the state's governor – the first woman to hold the office.

Elsewhere in the world, the Paralympics begin in Tokyo after they were postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's Julius here, with Tuesday's news.

🏠 New this morning: President Biden's COVID-19 eviction freeze is back at the Supreme Court. Here's how it got there.

⛔ Hawaii Gov. David Ige is urging tourists not to visit the state through October due to a surge in COVID-19 cases that has the state's hospitals at capacity.

💉 The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine became the first to gain the FDA's full approval. Here's what that could mean moving forward.

🔵 The U.S. Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 during the insurrection was cleared of wrongdoing.

🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear about a new Taliban threat if the U.S. doesn't meet next week's deadline to leave Afghanistan. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

Kathy Hochul makes history as governor of New York

Kathy Hochul was sworn in as New York's governor early Tuesday, replacing Andrew Cuomo, who resigned under the weight of a sexual harassment scandal that engulfed his administration and derailed his political future. After officially taking office, Hochul makes history as the first woman to serve as New York's governor. She will take part in a small ceremonial swearing-in at 10 a.m. Tuesday and an inaugural address at 3 p.m. Hochul, a democrat from Buffalo, will be in office for the remainder of Cuomo's term, which runs through 2022.

Paralympics in Tokyo start Tuesday

The Paralympics will take center stage in Tokyo on Tuesday as the Summer Games officially kick off in Japan. As with the Olympics, the Paralympics were postponed a year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, more than 4,000 athletes representing at least 134 nations will pursue medals across 540 events, including 240 athletes representing the U.S. The 2021 U.S. roster features 129 returning Paralympians and 105 athletes making their Paralympic debut. The delegation holds a combined 233 medals from 51 Paralympic champions. The Games will run through August 4.

Mohammad Abbas Karimi is chasing gold at the Paralympic Games.

Getty Images

What else people are reading:

🔵 Proud Boys leader sentenced: Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to five months in prison for burning a Black Lives Matter banner and bringing two high-capacity firearm magazines into Washington, D.C.

📺 'Jeopardy!' host: Mayim Bialik will fill in as host of the quiz show after Mike Richards stepped down following backlash about his previous offensive comments.

🔵 Donald Trump booed: The former president was booed at a rally after telling his supporters to "take the vaccines."

🏡 Homeownership for more? More people may be able to own homes as Fannie Mae says it will consider rent payments in its mortgage approval process.

🔵 Former NHL player dies: Jimmy Hayes has died at age 31. He played on the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils over the course of his career.

Britain to push US on Aug. 31 exit from Afghanistan

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to press President Joe Biden Tuesday at an emergency meeting of Group of Seven leaders on the U.S. deadline to leave Afghanistan on Aug. 31. Britain says that without Americans, other countries will have no choice but to stop their own operations to help people fleeing the Taliban takeover. Some U.K. military leaders have said Britain should keep troops at Kabul airport to continue the evacuation effort even if the Americans leave. But Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said "there is a hard reality that there would be no international airlift without the way that the U.S. are underpinning it." Biden has not ruled out extending the airlift beyond the Aug. 31 deadline he set before the Taliban's swift takeover in Afghanistan, but he said he hoped it would not be necessary.

Twitter flagged Trump's tweets on election fraud. They still spread.

A New York University study of Trump tweets published Tuesday raises new questions about the safeguards used by social media companies to halt the flood of falsehoods in elections. The researchers examined tweets from Nov. 1, 2020 through Jan. 8, 2021 that were flagged by Twitter. Blocking engagement with Trump's tweets limited their spread on Twitter but not elsewhere, as his tweets were posted more often on other social media platforms, researchers found. And when Twitter added a warning label on Trump's tweets, they were more popular than those with no label, researchers said.

Pumpkin Spice season is here

It's unofficially fall. Coffee giant Starbucks is bringing back its Pumpkin Spice Latte on Tuesday, a day earlier than last year . For some, the return of the drink – dubbed "PSL" for short – signals the end of the summer season, despite the heat. Starbucks' Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew also rejoins the seasonal lineup for its third year alongside the fall menu's pumpkin bakery assortment. Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice launch comes after competitor Dunkin' rolled out its seasonal menu last week.

Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew return Aug. 24, a day earlier than in 2020.

Starbucks

ICYMI: Some of our top stories published Monday

🛍️ More Disney Stores are closing: The Walt Disney Co. is shuttering 60 more of the stores in September. Check here to see if your store is closing.

🔵 Sick at work: A waitress came in sick to work over the weekend. An Ohio U.S. Senate candidate tweeted about it. Then things got ugly.

🔵 Tallest man in U.S. dies: Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the U.S., died of heart disease on Friday. The 7-foot-8 Ukrainian man was 38.

📸 Photo of the day: Northeast deals with impact of Tropical Storm Henri 📸

A woman walks her dogs the morning after heavy rain from Tropical Storm Henri caused a tree to uproot across Mountain Ave in Ridgewood, N.J. on Monday Aug. 23, 2021.

Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com

A woman in New Jersey walks her dogs after rainfall from Tropical Storm Henri caused damage to a tree. AccuWeather estimated total damage and economic losses from Henri at $6 billion to $8 billion, down from a previous estimate of $8 billion to $12 billion. Hazards from Henri were expected to end by Tuesday.

For more on Henri's impact, head over to this gallery.

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Contributing: The Associated Press