Friday, December 20
It is Friday, December 20. Here are today’s top stories.
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Government shutdown may happen
A partial government shutdown may happen after midnight.
There was previously a funding bill that had bipartisan support but it was opposed by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Trump wanted an increase in the U.S.’ debt limit.
There was then an alternative spending bill proposed, but almost all House Democrats opposed it and almost 40 House Republicans opposed it, mainly because it would increase America’s debt without there being spending cuts.
It’s a little complicated right now because Democrats still control the Senate and the White House, but within a month, it’ll be entirely GOP-controlled.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he’s working on a plan to reach a deal and keep the government open.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/20/government-shutdown-bill-house-trump-musk/
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Amazon workers go on strike
Amazon workers who are part of the Teamsters union started striking on Thursday at seven of Amazon’s delivery hubs across the nation.
It doesn’t look like a large-scale strike that affects Amazon deliveries nationwide — the company said it doesn’t expect its holiday shipments to be affected.
AP News explained that the Teamsters have demanded negotiations for higher wages and better benefits for delivery drivers who work for contractors, but Amazon isn’t negotiating because it doesn’t consider the drivers to be its employees.
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-workers-strike-teamsters-packages-39b86c286d67219e42309566f3975cba
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Update on Luigi Mangione’s court appearance
Here is an update on suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione and his court appearance yesterday in a federal court in New York City.
He is facing federal charges of murder through use of a firearm and other related charges. He is also facing state charges of murder / terrorism. His state case is expected to proceed first before the federal case.
Prosecutors said a notebook found in Mangione’s possession had several handwritten pages where he said “the target is insurance.”
Federal prosecutors said Mangione could face the death penalty if he is convicted on his murder charge.
Mangione is popular with the public who may sympathize with his anger at the health insurance industry. While he was in jail in Pennsylvania, he received over 150 deposits into his commissary account and over 50 letters.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/20/us/luigi-mangione-notebook-trial-whats-next/index.html
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Starbucks workers go on strike
About 11,000 Starbucks baristas have started a five-day strike to demand better pay and working conditions. Some workers are walking out at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle.
Starbucks said it wants to go into negotiations to reach agreements.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevgzweexdno
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Delphi man sentenced 130 years for murders
Richard Allen, who was found guilty of murdering two teen girls in Delphi, Indiana in 2017, was sentenced to 130 years in prison. Allen is 52 years old so it is like a life sentence for him. The girls’ names were Abby Williams (13) and Libby German (14). Allen denied killing the girls but prosecutors showed evidence that he was the guy — evidence such as a Snapchat video recorded by one of the girls and a bullet found near the girls’ bodies that matched with Allen’s gun.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/delphi-murders-convicted-killer-face-victims-families-sentencing/story
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Biden forgives $4.2B in student loans
President Joe Biden announced he is forgiving about $4.2 billion more worth of student loan debt for about 55,000 workers who are enrolled in a public service loan forgiveness program. Those people work in jobs like firefighting, nursing, or teaching and have expected their loans to be forgiven if they have paid their payments for 10 years. This new forgiveness now means the Biden administration has forgiven about $180 billion of student loans for about 5 million Americans.
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That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.