May 22 top stories
It is May 22. Here are today’s top stories.
Debt ceiling negotiations
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. must raise its debt ceiling by June 1 or risk not being able to pay its bills.
There are tough negotiations going on between President Biden and Republicans in the House. Republicans said they want to see the U.S. spend less money in fiscal year 2024 compared with 2023 and limit future spending for the next 10 years. Biden said they want to keep the spending amounts the same.
If the U.S. is not able to raise the debt ceiling, it may not be able to pay Social Security beneficiaries or make payments to veterans and military families. Federal employees and active-duty military may see their paychecks delayed. Businesses that are contractors with the federal government may not be paid on time.
Biden and House Speaker McCarthy plan to meet this evening.
Jim Brown dies at 87
Jim Brown, who many consider one of the greatest NFL running backs ever, passed away at the age of 87 on Thursday.
Brown played nine seasons for the Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. He led the NFL in rushing eight times. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
After Brown retired from football, he was an actor, appearing in at least 55 films or TV shows.
Smoke from Canada’s wildfires impacting U.S.
There are at least 83 wildfires across western Canada and the smoke is impacting several U.S. states. There are air quality alerts and advisories in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Minnesota.
The National Weather Service in Montana said the air outside is very unhealthy and recommended people stay indoors as much as possible and close their windows.
Indiana father killed by hand grenade blast
A father was tragically killed by a hand grenade explosion at a home in northwest Indiana on Saturday night.
The father and his two children were going through a grandfather’s belongings when they found a hand grenade. Someone pulled the pin and it detonated. The father was killed and his two children, an 18-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, were injured by shrapnel and hospitalized.
There was a bomb squad that went to the home to secure the area and check for any other explosives.
The father’s name was Bryan Niedert. It is not known why the grenade was at the home.
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SpaceX sends four to ISS
On Sunday, a SpaceX rocket with four people on it blasted off on a journey toward the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket was commandeered by a retired NASA astronaut named Peggy Whitson and it was a private flight with three paying customers.
Two of the people onboard are from Saudi Arabia, one of them Rayyanah Barnawi, who is a stem cell researcher and is now the first woman from the country to go to space. The other Saudi Arabian is Ali al-Qarni, a military pilot. Their trip was sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia. The fourth person is a U.S. businessman and former race car driver named John Shoffner.
NBC News said it is not known how much the three customers paid for their seats, but it could be about $55 million each.
The four will stay in the ISS for the week and then they will return home by splashing down off the Florida coast.
Judge enters not guilty pleas for Idaho stabbing suspect
The suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger, appeared before a judge today for his arraignment hearing. His defense attorney said they would stand silent and not enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
The judge then entered not guilty pleas for Kohberger. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 2nd. The trial may last six weeks.
European Union fines Meta/Facebook $1.3B
The European Union fined Meta/Facebook $1.3 billion for violating the European Union’s privacy rules by sending European users’ personal data to the U.S. The fine is the highest amount ever for the European Union.
Meta said it would appeal. It explained that the user data included names, email and IP addresses, messages, viewing history, geolocation data and other information it uses for online ads.
Meta’s European headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland. The European Union gave Meta five months to stop sending European user data to the U.S.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://sports.yahoo.com/legendary-browns-rb-jim-brown-dies-at-87-193052425.html
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/22/biden-mccarthy-debt-ceiling-meeting
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/21/business/yellen-debt-ceiling-deadline/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/21/canada-wildfire-smoke-hits-air-quality-us-states
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65674539
https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-data-privacy-fine-europe-9aa912200226c3d53aa293dca8968f84