Friday, March 5th top stories

Hello! I’m Renca and will be taking Alex’s place for today’s top news. Today is Friday, March 5th. Are you ready to see the top news?

President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package is expected to pass out of Congress this weekend and be signed into law. It will provide a third stimulus check of $1,400 to eligible individuals who earn up to $80,000. Parents will get $1,400 each eligible child. If you received a stimulus check in the past, then this one will probably go into your bank or mailbox the same way.

The New York Times reported that aides to Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) intentionally edited the number of nursing home deaths in the state in June. The aides saw that it was over 9,000 deaths and changed it to numbers 50% less. To be clear, the deaths were still counted, but it seemed like the deaths happened at hospitals or other places. The reason why? Cuomo’s team didn’t want President Trump to investigate them. But now there is a new federal investigation on Cuomo, and now the New York State government is looking into this.

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Pope Francis (84) is now visiting Iraq making it the first time a pope has ever visited that country. Pope Francis said that he comes to Iraq as a “pilgrim of peace.” Iraq’s president invited Pope Francis to come in 2019 in hope that it would help heal the country after many years of struggling from war and terrorism. He is there to encourage the Christians to stand strong because the numbers have been dwindling since 2003 due to persecution. He will visit some Biblical historic sites. Pope Francis also will meet with top political and religious officials. In articles, it mentions that a lot of people in Iraq are thrilled that the pope has come to visit. He already has been fully vaccinated in mid-January, but there are some concerns that the draw up of large crowds to see the pope will increase the risk of COVID-19 outbreak for the Iraq people.

Three earthquakes struck the Kermadec Islands which is about 500 to 600 miles north of New Zealand. There are no people living on Kermadec Islands, but three earthquakes were strong enough to cause fear of a tsunami for New Zealand and the other surrounding islands. Within 8 hours, all three earthquakes were over 7.1 and the last one was 8.1. For New Zealand and the surrounding islands, people were told to evacuate from their homes because of the tsunami warnings. Now, the tsunami warning has subsided and people can return to their homes, but they are encouraged to stay off the beaches because of the strong waves.

That’s all for now! Have a great weekend and remember to stay with the light!

https://www.axios.com/senate-relief-ron-johnson-schumer-e53be482-4483-4915-8774-5c7f157965a0.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/third-stimulus-checks-covid-relief-bill-here-s-how-get-n1259487

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/pope-francis/pope-francis-begins-historic-iraq-visit-despite-security-coronavirus-risks-n1259704

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/world/middleeast/pope-francis-iraq-explained.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/world/new-zealand-quake-tsunami-warning-intl/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56285659