Monday, May 17 top stories
Hello, it is Monday, May 17. Here are today’s top stories.
A survey in Japan that asked about 1,500 adults whether they supported or opposed the country hosting the postponed Olympic Games had 80% saying they opposed it.
43% wanted the Olympic Games to be cancelled and 40% wanted it to be postponed.
France 24 reported that organizers of the Olympic Games say it will be safe because they have implemented tough anti-virus measures, regular testing of athletes, and a ban on overseas fans.
The Olympics are set to kick off in 10 weeks.
The National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., issued a statement on Friday that condemned CDC for making new recommendations that fully vaccinated Americans didn’t need to wear masks.
The union said the new guidance is not based on science and threatens the lives of nurses and patients, especially those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The NNU said the pandemic is not over and would prefer to use the highest level of protections until they know for sure something is safe.
The CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Sunday that real-world data shows that vaccinated people rarely contract the virus.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would lift its mask mandate for fully vaccinated people on Wednesday. Axios said it’s a milestone for the state, because it was one of the first to issue a broad mask mandate in April 2020.
CBS News reported that at least 42 people were killed in Gaza on Sunday from Israeli airstrikes that flattened three buildings in residential and business areas.
One Israeli man was killed when a rocket hit his home.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he would keep on pushing his military to attack Hamas for launching rockets towards Israel. He said it’ll take time to degrade Hamas’ abilities.
Israel said it targets buildings where Hamas militants have worked out of, but there is criticism for the airstrikes, because they cause great damage to Palestinian civilians who were already living in poverty.
The Biden administration has been mostly hands-off in this crisis, saying they support Israel’s right to defend itself.
In Chicago on Sunday, there were thousands of people who protested in support of Palestinians.
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China’s space agency successfully landed a six-wheel rover on Mars on Friday-Saturday, making them the second country after the U.S. to land a Mars rover. The rover is named Zhurong, named after a god of fire. It is China’s first time on Mars.
“Physics World” explained that the rover was launched in July 2020, reached Mars in February, and orbited the red planet for three months to search for the best location to descend.
AT&T and its WarnerMedia division is merging with Discovery in a $43 billion deal that engadget.com said will enable it to compete with Netflix and Disney for streaming subscription dollars.
CNN business analysts said today investors and companies are very focused on streaming services and that it’s a different media world today compared with just a few years ago.
NBC News said the tiger seen roaming in Houston neighborhoods has been found, is secured, and will be transported to a ranch with an owner who is experienced in caring for tigers.
The tiger is 9 months old and named India. The tiger went viral last week when residents filmed a young man dragging the tiger into a home as an off-duty cop pointed a gun at them.
That young man, Victor Cuevas, was out on bond in relation to a murder case from 2017 and is now back in jail. His attorney released images showing Cuevas playing with the tiger when it was a baby inside of a home and said he was the caretaker, not the owner.
The real story behind all of this is still a mystery, but the tiger is no longer roaming in Houston.
The Biden administration announced that monthly child tax credit payments for 39 million families would begin on July 15. The government will pay up to $300 for each child under 6 and up to $250 each for each child 6 to 17 years old through the 2021 tax year.
News reports explained that the child tax credit payments are normally given annually as tax refunds worth $2,000 per child under 17, but now the amount of money given out is increased to up to $3,600 and is spread out monthly in accordance with the coronavirus relief package that was signed into law in March. The money is paid “in advance” instead of waiting until the end of the 2021 tax year.
Around 80% of families that qualify already have direct deposit set up and do not need to do anything. The other 20% of families will get payments by check or debit card. The payments will stop if the child turns 18 during the 2021 tax year.
President Biden said he wants the child tax credit increases to continue into 2025, but that requires Congress’ approval.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
Nurses Union: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nurses-condemns-cdc-rollback-of-covid-protection-guidance
https://www.axios.com/covid-masks-new-york-cdc-guidance-55e6f321-156a-4334-95ca-96e132f31fa4.html
Israel/Gaza: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-gaza-airstrikes-kill-42/
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-conflict-blinken-4aba5c0a3d4aeb07934b1993b62cc3fc
China: https://physicsworld.com/a/china-successfully-lands-zhurong-rover-on-mars/
ATT: https://www.engadget.com/att-spins-off-warner-media-in-a-merger-deal-with-discovery-123716979.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/media/warnermedia-discovery-deal/index.html
Child Tax Credits: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/monthly-child-tax-credit-payments-start-hitting-bank-accounts-july-n1267535