Monday, November 14 top stories
It is Monday, November 14. Hope your weekend was good. Here are today’s top stories.
3 killed in shooting at University of Virginia
On Sunday night there was a shooting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville that killed three student-athletes who played on the football team. The students were shot on a charter bus as it was returning to campus from a play in D.C. Two others were wounded. A witness said she heard six shots fired.
The suspect is Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. He was arrested this morning after a manhunt. It is believed that he used a handgun in the attack. Jones used to be on the UVA football team in 2018 but did not play in recent years.
The three victims are D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler.
It is not clear why the suspect wanted to shoot others. Richmond.com reported that someone previously reported Jones to the university’s student threat assessment team after they heard Jones telling someone else that he had a gun. CBS News said Jones was involved in a criminal incident in 2021 involving a concealed weapon violation outside of Charlottesville. The motive is unclear.
UVA’s president said he is “devastated” at this violence.
Democrats hold Senate; House likely going to Republicans
In Nevada, incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto defeated her Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
Arizona’s incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly defeated his Republican challenger Blake Masters.
This means the Senate will remain under the control of the Democratic Party because they have 50 seats and hold a tiebreaker with Vice President Kamala Harris. If there is a 50-50 tie, Democrats have the tiebreaker.
There is one more Senate seat at play in Georgia. That seat will be decided on whoever wins the Georgia runoff between Herschel Walker (R) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D).
News analysts said one of the biggest implications of Democrats keeping control of the Senate is that President Joe Biden can continue to appoint and have the Senate confirm federal judges at all levels.
Control of the House is still at play with about 20 races still uncalled, mostly in California, Arizona and other Western states. At the time of signing this news, Republicans have 212 seats to Democrats’ 204. The magic number to control the House is 218. Most news analysts and President Biden predicted that Republicans will arrive at that “218” number.
If Republicans win the House, they will have the power to establish committees to investigate whatever they feel is worth investigating. They will also have the power to impeach.
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Eight billion humans on Earth
The U.N. announced that the world population will reach 8 billion people on November 15. China has the most people at 1.4 billion and India is not far behind. Earth’s population has doubled since 1974.
The U.N. said “this unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries.
Jay Leno suffers face burns
TMZ reported that Jay Leno suffered a serious burn injury to the left side of his face from an unexpected burst of flames that came from a car that he was working on. Leno is known for his collection of vehicles.
Leno is at a burn center at a hospital to get treatment. TMZ said the burns did not penetrate his eye or his ear. Leno has canceled all of his engagements this week.
Amazon to lay off 10k; Bezos wants give away money to charity
News reports said Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees beginning this week. The jobs would come from Amazon’s corporate and technology sectors. If this does happen, it would be the largest layoff in Amazon’s history. Amazon has almost 1.6 million full- and part-time employees as of the end of last year.
In separate but related news, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he plans to give away most of his $124 billion to charity during his lifetime. Bezos said he wants to help fight climate change and support people who can unify humanity through social and political divisions. This is the first time Bezos has announced he wants to give away most of his money.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/09/midterm-election-results-2022-senate-control
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/midterm-elections-live-updates/
https://www.un.org/en/dayof8billion
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/14/global-population-8-billion-data-world-humans-un
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/12/wakanda-forever-box-office-friday-night
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/14/us/uva-shooting
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/14/business/jeff-bezos-charity/index.html
https://www.tmz.com/2022/11/14/jay-leno-car-fire-burn-center-serious-injury-cancel-vegas/