Monday, July 19 top stories
Hello! It is Monday, July 19. Here are today’s top stories.
A Florida man was sentenced eight months in prison for being a part of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. His name is Paul Hodgkins. Authorities said Hodgkins entered the Senate chamber about 3 p.m. on January 6.
A few weeks ago he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. Axios said it’s the first felony case which may set a benchmark for hundreds of other cases that are now pending.
The judge who sentenced him said his waving of a Trump flag on the Senate floor symbolized his loyalty to a single individual over the nation.
Hodgkins said in court that he is regretful of his actions and recognizes Joe Biden as the president of the U.S.
In Haiti, the interim prime minister Claude Joseph announced he would step down and hand power to Ariel Henry, who was appointed as the prime minister one day before the Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home.
When Moïse died, it caused confusion on who was the leader of the country — the interim prime minister or the recently-appointed prime minister. Now it seems like Ariel Henry is the clear leader. News reports said foreign governments had influence on this decision.
The postponed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo is set to begin on Friday and there are concerns about athletes being infected with Covid-19.
One female U.S. gymnast, who is an alternate, tested positive for the virus after she arrived in Japan and will now have to be quarantined.
U.S. tennis star athlete Coco Gauff announced yesterday that she tested positive for Covid-19 and would pull out of the competition. In similar news, U.S. men’s basketball star Bradley Beal said he is pulling out because of Covid-19.
CBS News said there are multiple other athletes from various countries who are forced to pull out or quarantine because of Covid-19 infections, and that it is casting a shadow on the games, which will have no fans due to a coronavirus emergency in Tokyo.
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On Friday, a federal judge in Texas said the DACA program, which was established under the Obama administration and provides undocumented immigrants who came into the U.S. when they were children permits to live and work in the U.S., is a violation of U.S. law. The judge said former president Barack Obama overstepped his authority in creating the program.
The judge said the U.S. cannot approve any new DACA applications. His ruling does not revoke the permits that DACA recipients currently have.
President Biden said he is deeply disappointed with the decision and that the Department of Justice would appeal the decision.
President Biden said on Friday afternoon that the Facebook platform is killing people with misinformation on coronavirus.
Facebook responded in a statement that Facebook is actually saving lives by providing “authoritative information” on Covid-19 and helping people to find where and how to get vaccines.
Today Biden tried to clarify. He said it is his understanding that a handful of people on Facebook are reaching many people with bad information about vaccines and that itself is killing people. Biden said he hopes that Facebook will do something about the misinformation.
The Canadian government said beginning August 9, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to enter Canada. International travelers can enter Canada beginning September 7 if Covid-19 conditions remain at current levels. Travelers will have to prove they are fully vaccinated.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/capitol-rioter-felony-sentence-6df18447-a580-428c-8abf-f5a83ea281ec.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/world/americas/claude-joseph-haiti-stepping-down.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-doj-appeal-daca-ruling-2021-7
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/world/us-canada-border-opening/index.html