Friday, November 18 top stories
It is Friday, November 18. Here are today’s top stories.
Major snowstorm in Buffalo
The Buffalo, New York area was hit with at least three feet of lake-effect snow. The Buffalo Bills had to move their home game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit’s Ford Field. A photo of the Bills stadium shows it is completely caked in snow.
Axios explained that there is a rare weather pattern that is causing frigid air to dive southward from Canada and across the lower 48 states.
World Cup to kick off this weekend
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will kick off this weekend in Qatar. This is the sign. 32 countries, including the U.S., will compete for the World Cup Trophy. The defending champions from 2018 in France.
The U.S. is in Group B with England, Wales, and Iran. Their first game is on Monday, November 21 against Wales. The U.S. will then play against England and then Iran.
Only the top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16, which begins on December 4. The final will be on December 18.
Qatar is the first Muslim country in the Arab world to host the event. It was recently announced that no alcohol will be sold at the eight stadiums that will host the games.
Special counsel appointed for Trump-related investigations
The Department of Justice said it has appointed a special counsel to oversee two areas of investigations related to Donald Trump. The first area has to do with Mar-a-Lago classified documents and the second is on the January 6 Capitol riot.
The special counsel’s name is Jack Smith. He is a prosecutor at The Hague (the International Criminal Court) and a former federal prosecutor. Smith’s job will be to decide if anyone violated the law by trying to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is running for the presidency again and has denied wrongdoing and said the investigations against him are a weaponization of the justice system.
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Gabby Petito’s family wins $3M wrongful death suit
NBC News reported that a Florida judge awarded the parents of Gabby Petito $3 million in their wrongful death lawsuit against the parents of Brian Laundrie. Gabby’s parents believe Brian killed Gabby last year during a cross-country road trip.
Gabby’s parents took legal action because they believe that Brian’s parents hindered the search for Gabby and knew that their son murdered Gabby.
The Petitos’ attorney said Brian did not have $3 million but whatever money they receive will go to the Gabby Petito Foundation
Maryland probe find 158 abusive Catholic priests
AP News reported that an investigation by Maryland’s attorney general identified 158 Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore who has been accused of sexually and physically abusing more than 600 victims over the past 80 years.
The attorney general said “for decades the Church covered up the abuse rather than holding the abusers accountable and protecting its congregations. The Archdiocese of Baltimore was no exception.”
Baltimore’s archbishop issued an apology to “those who are harmed by a minister of the Church and who were harmed by those who failed to protect them.”
Biden asking Supreme Court to intervene on student loan plan
Axios reported that the Biden administration today asked the Supreme Court to lift the lower court ruling that blocked their student loan forgiveness plan. Former students could have received up to $20,000 in debt cancellations.
The Biden administration is arguing that they do have the authority to forgive student loans and that if their plan doesn’t roll out, there may be a historically large increase in federal student loan delinquency and defaults.
We’ll see what the Supreme Court decides.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.
https://www.inquirer.com/sports/betting/world-cup-schedule.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/politics/justice-department-trump-special-counsel/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/lake-effect-snow-warning-buffalo
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/biden-scotus-student-debt-plan