Monday, December 13 top stories
It is Monday, December 13. Here are today’s top stories.
At least 77 people died overnight Friday and Saturday from several powerful tornadoes that ripped through Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, and Mississippi. One of the tornadoes may have traveled for about 240 miles through four states. There were 64 deaths in Kentucky alone with the victims’ ages ranging from 5 months to 86 years old.
A candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky was completely destroyed with eight workers killed. An Amazon warehouse in Illinois was hit and at least six workers passed away.
Kentucky Gov. Beshear said the state would provide $5,000 for burial expenses to each Kentucky family that lost a member from the storms.
President Biden will visit Kentucky on Wednesday. Biden promised that the federal government would provide support to Kentucky and other states impacted.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an indoors mask mandate for the state that will continue up to January 15. The only exception is if a place of business has a vaccine mandate for entry — then they do not have to require masks for people who are indoors. So this means in New York, it will feel like 2020 again, with everyone wearing masks indoors. Gov. Hochul said on Sunday, “Just wear a mask… It doesn’t have to be that big a deal… I’m just asking people to do something that is common sense.”
New Covid-19 cases in the U.S. are nearly double compared with two weeks ago. On Sunday, there were 119,000 new cases and almost 1,300 deaths. The omicron strain has been detected in at least 30 U.S. states. The CDC said most cases of omicron are mild with the most common symptoms coughing, congestion and fatigue.
In South Africa, where omicron was first identified, omicron is now the dominant strain of Covid-19. South Africa’s president Ramaphosa tested positive for the Covid-19 but has mild symptoms. It is not known whether he contracted the omicron strain. In Europe, one person in the U.K. died from the omicron strain, and it is the first known fatality in the world from omicron. Omicron cases are spiking in the U.K. with 44% of all Covid-19 cases in London blamed on the omicron.
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Chris Wallace, one of the top journalists for Fox News, on Sunday announced he will be leaving Fox News. He said he wanted to try something new and to have a new adventure. CNN announced that Wallace would be joining them on their new CNN+ streaming service. It was a shocking announcement and there was a mixed reaction on social media with either praise or criticism.
Mark Meadows, the chief of staff for former President Donald Trump, is likely going to be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House Committee. Meadows’ attorney said he is protected by executive privilege and has filed a lawsuit against the committee. The committee said Meadows sent an email on January 5, the day before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, that the National Guard would be present to protect pro-Trump people. The committee said they wanted to ask Meadows about the email and what he meant by the National Guard protecting pro-Trump people, but they’ve been stonewalled.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/13/tornado-deaths-damage-live-updates/
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/13/world/covid-omicron-vaccines?
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/13/world/covid-omicron-vaccines
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chris-wallace-fox-news-cnn-plus/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/13/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/