 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Happy Tuesday, Daily Briefing readers! A rumpling dispute over an application to fly a Christian flag outside the Boston City Hall has reached the nation's highest court. Aid efforts are underway in Tonga after tsunami waves hit the Pacific island nation. And, could this be a real-live version of "Don't Look Up?" A "potentially hazardous" asteroid will whizz by Earth. |
| It's Jane and Steve, with Tuesday's news. |
| ⛄️ The winter storm that slammed much of the South with ice rolled north, bringing snow so furious even forecasters in Buffalo, New York, said "Wow!" |
| 🚨 A rabbi who endured a tense, 10-hour standoff at a Texas synagogue said Monday that he and the other hostages fled after he threw a chair at the assailant. |
| 🔴 "A space of grief and pain": Funeral services were held Monday for nine children and three adults who died in a Philadelphia fire, the deadliest blaze in the city in more than a century. |
| 🎾 Novak Djokovic returned home after being thwarted from defending his Australian Open title only to face a new predicament: He could be barred from the French Open too, if he's still not vaccinated against COVID-19. |
| 🔵 MLK wasn't born "Martin": The interesting history of the real name of Martin Luther King Jr. – and why it was changed. |
| 🐧 The Cincinnati Zoo paid tribute to Betty White on what would have been the late actress' 100th birthday by naming its month-old little blue penguin "Rose" after White's character on the NBC sitcom "Golden Girls." |
 | | The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden named its month-old little blue penguin after Betty White's character on the NBC sitcom "Golden Girls". | | Provided | |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear the latest from the voting rights fight as the Senate takes up legislation. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
High court to hear First Amendment case involving a Christian flag |
| The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a dispute centered around a group applying to hoist up a "Christian Flag" on an 83-foot pole outside of the Boston City Hall . For years the city of Boston rotated dozens of flags to celebrate veterans, paramedics, sports teams and LGBTQ pride as part of what it describes as an effort to promote diversity and civic engagement. But when a group applied in 2017 to hoist the Christian flag up, city officials said it wouldn't fly. The blue-and-white flag, with a red Latin cross in one corner, would violate the long-held principle of separation of church and state, they said. This dispute leads to a fundamental First Amendment question: Who is conveying a message when a third-party group's flag flies on a government flagpole? The group or the government? |
Senate to take up voting rights legislation |
| The Senate will take up House-passed voting rights legislation Tuesday, breaking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's initial deadline to vote on a rule change by the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Schumer cited a weekend winter storm and Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz's positive COVID-19 diagnosis for the delay in the vote. Without Schatz, Democrats don't have the 50 votes needed for a simple majority vote. The passage of a voting rights bill remains stymied by Republican opposition and Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who stand opposed to changing the Senate's rules to pass the law without GOP support. The upcoming vote comes after President Joe Biden's unsuccessful effort on Capitol Hill to persuade Senate Democrats to pass a voting rights bill. |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🔴 "They've covered it up": Backlash swells over Peace Corps worker's involvement in woman's death in Tanzania. |
| 🔵 Democrats put renewed focus on voting rights: What happened in 2021, and where do reforms stand now? |
| ⚖️ The majority of states' laws treat sexual assault perpetrators differently if their victims drank alcohol. |
| ⚓️ Opinion: The Navy can no more question the spiritual devotion of these SEALs than it can question their patriotism or their warfighting abilities. |
| 🦖 What is that? A T-Rex that appeared to reside at the home of Dwayne "The Rock'' Johnson was an unlikely guest for the 10th and final ManningCast of the show's inaugural season. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Vice President Harris' speech on MLK Day |
 | | Vice President Kamala Harris delivers livestreamed remarks honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at the White House in Washington, on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. | | AFP photo via Getty Images; USA TODAY graphic | |
| Major events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday included the annual service at the slain civil rights leader's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, whose senior pastor, Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, was hosting Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other politicians. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of King's family offered remarks in Washington. |
| In her speech, which was live streamed from Washington, Harris declared Americans' "freedom to vote is under assault," Harris honored King by demanding the Senate continue his work and pass the voting rights legislation currently stalled. |
Volcanic ash delays Tonga aid as scale of damage after eruption emerges |
| Thick ash on an airport runway was delaying aid deliveries to the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, days after a huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami. New Zealand's military is sending much-needed drinking water and other supplies, but said the ash on the runway will delay the flight at least a day. A towering ash cloud since Saturday's eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand also sent a navy ship to Tonga Tuesday with another planned to leave later in the day and pledged an initial $680,000 toward recovery efforts. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano on Saturday occurred roughly 40 miles north of the capital of Nuku'alofa. The eruption cut the internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world anxiously trying to get in touch. UNICEF Pacific also said they are ready to send emergency supplies like water, hygiene kits and tents to the nation. |
| 🌊 First reported death in the disaster: A British woman who went missing after tsunami waves hit the Tonga has been found dead, her family said. |
 | | In this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, and released by the agency, an undersea volcano erupts near the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. The eruption sent large waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. | | Japan Meteorology Agency via AP | |
'Potentially hazardous' asteroid to fly past Earth |
| A "potentially hazardous" asteroid bigger than any building in the world will pass by Earth Tuesday. Not only is it the biggest known asteroid coming within 2.3 million miles of Earth this year, but it's so massive that you might be able to see it in the sky. The asteroid, named 1994 PC1, has an estimated width of 3,600 feet. It is one of several massive asteroids to pass by Earth in recent weeks. First discovered in Aug. 1994, if it were to hit Earth, it would cause "complete catastrophe" and destroy nearly everything within a 25 mile radius of the impact. While it sounds terrifying though, there's no need to expect a situation like in the "Don't Look Up" disaster movie, as it will still be 1.2 million miles away from Earth while traveling at 43,754 miles per hour. |
NFL playoffs: Rams wrap up Wild Card round by torching Cardinals |
| Monday night's NFL Wild Card playoff game provided little drama as the Los Angeles Rams overwhelmed their NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals, 34-11, to advance to the divisional round to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. |
| But it was a night of many firsts for the league as it was the first NFL playoff game at SoFi Stadium, the first time the NFL had a postseason game on MLK Day and the first ever postseason win for Matthew Stafford. |
 | | Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. catches a touchdown pass against the Arizona Cardinals. | | Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports | |
| More coverage from Monday night's game and beyond: |
| 🏈 Whoops: A microphone caught Peyton Manning uttering an expletive during the ManningCast of the NFC wild-card playoff game on ESPN2. |
| 🏈 32 things we learned from 2021 NFL wild-card round: Is more excitement ahead next weekend? Nate Davis writes that with the divisional round now set, let's hope less is more as the number of teams continues to dwindle. |
| 🏈 "I honestly didn't feel the cold because I was just so happy": One fan described the viral photo he took with a shirtless Ryan Fitzpatrick during the Buffalo Bills' win over the New England Patriots in frigid Western New York Saturday. |
| 🏈 Looking ahead for the bettors: The Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans are only slight favorites in their upcoming AFC divisional playoff games. |
Boston Bruins to retire jersey number of NHL's first Black player |
| The Boston Bruins will retire Willie O'Ree's No. 22 jersey on Tuesday night, the 64th anniversary of his becoming the National Hockey League's first Black player. O'Ree, 86, played two games in the 1957-58 season and 43 in 1960-61 before finishing his career in the minor leagues. He has been the NHL's diversity ambassador since 1988 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. O'Ree will be the 12th Bruins player to have his number retired, though he will participate in the ceremony remotely from his San Diego home because of the pandemic. "To find out that my jersey is going to be retired and to hang in the rafters there with the local icons and legends that are up there at the present time – it's just simply amazing," he said. The ceremony had been scheduled for early 2021, but the NHL asked the Bruins to postpone to ensure fans could be in the building when it happened. |
 | | Former Boston Bruins player Willie O'Ree tips his hat as he is honored by the team in 2018. | | The Associated Press | |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🏈 Opinion: Dak Prescott's postgame blunder was even worse than squandering the clock in Cowboys' loss. |
| 💉 The increase in antibodies produced by a fourth shot of COVID-19 vaccine is not enough to prevent infections from the omicron variant, according to preliminary research at an Israeli hospital. |
| 🔴 Jordan Cashmyer, who appeared as a teenager on MTV's reality show "16 and Pregnant" in 2014, has died at age 27, her representative confirmed. |
📸 Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated around the country 📸 |
 | | Savion Bates leads the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. March from Washington Park in Fort Collins, Colo. Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. | | Jon Austria, The Coloradoan / USA TODAY NETWORK | |
| People across the nation gathered to celebrate and honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. The federal holiday commemorating the civil-rights icon, who was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, was observed for the first time in 1986. |
| Savannah, Georgia, postponed its Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade for the second year running because of the coronavirus, but still commemorated King Saturday by unveiling a bronze bust of him at a new park bearing his name. |
| Tap here to see our gallery of just some of the commemorations. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
| |
| |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment