Monday, December 19 top stories
It is Monday, December 19. I am sure that it is December 19. Ready for today’s top stories?
Argentina defeats France to win 2022 FIFA World Cup
Argentina and its star player Lionel Messi defeated France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday in Qatar. Argentina started the game strong, going up 2-0. But France and its star player Kylian Mbappe tied the game in the last 10 minutes to send it to extra time (overtime). Both sides scored goals to send it to penalty kicks, and Argentina came out on top.
Many people considered it the most exciting World Cup final of all time.
Messi brought home the World Cup 36 years after Argentina’s Diego Maradona won in 1986 in Mexico. It is likely the last time we’ll see Messi play on this stage.
The next World Cup will take place right here in North America with games spread out across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
Jan. 6 committee makes criminal referrals against Donald Trump
The Jan. 6 House Committee voted to make four criminal referrals against Donald Trump to the Department of Justice. This is related to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the Jan 6. Capitol attack.
The four charges are: aiding an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to make false statements, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
The committee does not have power to charge Trump, but they are hoping that the DOJ will prosecute Trump. They are providing the DOJ with evidence based on their investigation.
The committee also referred former Trump lawyer John Eastman with criminal charges for coming up with an idea that Vice President Mike Pence could reject electors who represented states that voted for Joe Biden.
Axios said the referrals are “non-binding and do not require the DOJ to take any additional action.”
There is already an investigation by the DOJ on Trump’s role on Jan 6., which is led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is also overseeing the Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation.
Amber Heard to pay $1M settlement to Johnny Depp
Amber Heard will pay Johnny Depp $1 million to settle their defamation lawsuit. Defamation is when someone makes up false allegations that damage a person’s reputation. They appeared in a trial in June that was live-streamed to a wide audience.
The jury sided with Depp on the most serious allegations of defamation but sided with Heard on one count of defamation. It was a mixed result but Depp “won” with the damages awarded to him about $15 million and Heard being awarded $2 million.
BBC News explained that Heard, earlier this month, filed an appeal in the case. But now she has decided to settle. Heard said in a statement that she doesn’t want to go through a retrial so she’s settled. She said she’s lost faith in the American legal system.
Depp’s lawyers said they are happy to “formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp.” The lawyers said Depp would donate the $1 million to several charities.
Epic Games fined $520M over violations of children’s privacy
Epic Games, which created the popular game “Fortnite,” will pay a $520 million settlement to resolve a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company collected personal data of children playing the game without first obtaining the consent of their parent or guardian. FTC also accused Epic Games of tricking children into making in-game purchases. Finally, FTC accused Epic Games of exposing children to bullying through the game’s live voice and text function.
NBC News said as a part of the settlement, Epic Games neither confirmed nor denied the allegations but the company said it would make many changes. Epic is one of the top video game developers in the world with its value about $30 billion.
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Flight turbulence seriously injures 11
AP News reported that there was severe turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu that seriously injured 11 people.
Images showed that there were several areas of cracked paneling on the ceiling of the cabin, which was likely caused by passengers or attendants’ heads slamming against it.
AP said the flight was full with 278 passengers and 10 crew members. A passenger said her mother had just sat down and did not have a chance to buckle her belt when the turbulence hit. Her mother flew up and hit the ceiling.
There was a weather advisory for thunderstorms in the area where the plane was flying and this may have caused the turbulence.
20 people, including three flight attendants, were taken to hospitals in Honolulu. One person was unconscious but all others were awake and talking when they received medical attention.
An official with Hawaiian Airlines said they are very happy and feel fortunate that there were not any deaths or other critical injuries and hope that all will make a full recovery.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
Five killed in Toronto-area shooting
There was a mass shooting at a condominium in the Toronto area that killed five people on Sunday night.
Police said the gunman was a 73-year-old man who used a handgun. An officer shot and killed him during a confrontation.
The incident was in Vaughan, Ontario. Police said they found multiple people dead on several floors of the condo. One person was injured.
CTV News reported that the suspected gunman’s identity is Francesco Villi and that he was a resident in the building. Police said they are not able to provide a motive yet.
The Toronto Sun reported that Villi posted a video on his Facebook shortly before the shooting. Villi was complaining about the company that built the condo building and criticizing the condo board members and officers. He believed that the condo’s electrical room, which was underneath his unit, was causing him to have health ailments. He had an ongoing legal case against the condo and was supposed to appear in court today.
Vaughan’s mayor said the community is horrified and in absolute shock.
Twitter poll tells Elon Musk to step down
There was more chaos with the Twitter company over the weekend that led to Elon Musk asking his followers on a poll if he should step down as the head. There were 17.5 million votes with 57% saying “yes.’ Elon said he would abide by the results of this poll, but at the time of writing this news, he hasn’t made an official announcement.
The latest chaos was a new policy by Twitter that banned users from sharing their other social media pages in their profile section. This meant nobody could tell others to “also follow me on Facebook or IG.” Those who did so would have their accounts suspended. This idea was criticized heavily. Twitter ended up scrubbing the policy less than 24 hours later.
Prior to that, Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists for confusing reasons. Some of these accounts have been reinstated. So it was chaotic.
Elon Musk, who was seen at the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday with Jared Kushner, posted on Sunday night the poll on whether he should step down.
Musk’s other company, Tesla, has seen its value plunge since November. The company is down 60% in value this year. Many analysts believe Elon’s handling of Twitter is negatively affecting Tesla’s value.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/12/19/january-6-committee-trump-criminal-charges
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/19/tech/twitter-elon-musk-deletes-policy/index.html
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1604617643973124097
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64031252
https://apnews.com/article/health-phoenix-honolulu-432c1e2bfdf05cd15636fb8c26698255
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/18/world/condo-shooting-vaughan-canada/index.html