Monday, November 16 top news briefs

RENCA DUNN:

Hello! I’m Renca. I will take Alex’s place for today’s top news stories. Today is Monday November 16th, ready for our top news?

Space X launch

Yesterday, Space X launched 4 astronauts (3 from USA and 1 from Japan) to the International Space Station (ISS).

This historical launch is the second crewed mission to launch to ISS through Ellon Musk’s private space-faring firm Space X. The first one was last May with two astronauts. It is also exciting for USA because in the past, NASA has depended on Russia for seats to space. So, the launches last May and yesterday were the first time in a while to set launch from U.S. soil and return to U.S. soil.

President Elect Joe Biden tweeted his congratulations for a successful and historical launch. President Donald Trump tweeted that it was a great launch.

Hurricane Iota approaching Central America

Hurricane Iota, recently became category 5 is making its way to Central America. Iota is expected to hit Nicaragua tonight near where hurricane Eta struck two weeks ago. Iota is now the strongest hurricane of 2020. The National Hurricane Center warns that the wind guests could go up to 160 mph, heavy rainfall, mudslides, and flash flooding are expected. People are bracing for the storm. Our thoughts are with people in Central America.

Airplane hits a brown bear in Alaska

Last Saturday, an Alaskan Airline jet was landing on a strip in Yakutat, Alaska. This jet struck a brown bear and killed it. No one was hurt, but the plane was damaged with the left engine cowl. That brown bear was a mother bear because a cub, about 2 years old, was found.

The airport crew members said they had cleared the runaway and followed the protocols. They did not see any signs of wildlife. It was also after dark. The pilots said they saw the two bears crossing the runaway as the plane was landing. It was too late and the mother bear was hit.

In Alaska, planes have been reported to hit deer, geese, caribou, and others, but this was the first time a bear got hit.

TV show “Friends” reunion to be rescheduled to March

If you love the “Friends” TV show then you will be excited to know that “Friends” will have a reunion that is scheduled to film in March. It originally was supposed to happen this recent July, but because of the pandemic, they had to hold it. Many fans were waiting for the rescheduled date. Finally, they announced it will be in March. The co-creator Marta Kauffman mentioned that she wants a live audience for this special reunion. She said even if it is a socially distanced live audience, the show “Friends” must have some kind of audience because “Friends” cannot do without them. This special will air on HBO Max.

Transgender Awareness Week

Every year from between November 13 to 19, people and organizations participate in Transgender Awareness Week to raise visibility about transgender people. So, this is the week of Transgender Awareness Week. On November 20th, it is Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) to honor the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of violence. A non profit organization named GLAAD (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) encourages people to watch a documentary named DISCLOSURE on Netflix. It explains the history of trans representation in TV and film.

People have been using the hashtag #TransDayOfVisibility and #TransAwarenessWeek across social media platforms. You can look at the hashtags and see many information and stories.

That is all for today. I’ll see you later. Stay with the light.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/astronauts-set-launch-iss-historic-nasa-spacex-mission/story?id=74134522

https://abcnews.go.com/US/catastrophic-hurricane-iota-caribbean-category-storm/story?id=74230322

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/11/16/jetliner-hits-brown-bear-while-landing-southeast-alaska/6308141002/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/entertainment/friends-reunion-delayed-matthew-perry/index.html

https://www.glaad.org/transweek