Monday, November 21 top stories
It is Monday, November 21. Here are today’s top stories.
Mass shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado
On Saturday night, a gunman entered an LGBTQ-friendly nightclub in Colorado Springs and opened fire with his AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and injuring 25 others.
Witnesses said two people inside the bar were able to stop the gunman by grabbing a handgun from him and striking him with it. Others pinned him down. The suspect’s name is Anderson Lee Aldrich (22).
The bar’s name is Club Q and it is described as the only LGBTQ bar in the conservative-leaning Colorado Springs area. The venue planned to host a drag brunch on Sunday to honor the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Club Q said it was a “hate attack.”
Three of those who were killed were identified as Daniel Davis Aston, who was a transgender bartender and a supervisor. The second was Derrick Rump, who was also a bartender. The third is Kelly Loving, who was a patron.
Aldrich was charged with hate crimes on top of his five counts of murder.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who is the first openly gay male governor in the U.S., said his heart is broken. He applauded the brave individuals who stopped the gunman.
The shooting brought back memories of the horrific shooting at Pulse, an LGBTQ bar in Orlando in 2016 in which a gunman killed 49 people.
Deadly earthquake hits Java, Indonesia
Today a powerful 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Java island, Indonesia and killed at least 162 people and injured hundreds more.
News images show collapsed buildings and first responders attending to those who were injured. The quake also caused landslides.
Sadly, many of those who died were children who were taking classes in buildings that collapsed. A witness said the earthquake happened suddenly without any kind of warning.
Joe Biden turns 80
President Joe Biden turned 80 on Sunday. CNN said he is now the “first octogenarian to ever serve in the highest office of the United States.” There was a small birthday party at the White House.
On Saturday, the Biden family hosted a wedding at the White House for Joe’s granddaughter Naomi Biden and her husband Peter Neal.
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Iran players silent during national anthem
The Iranian national soccer team played today against England in their first game of the 2022 World Cup. During the pregame ceremonies, the Iranian team remained silent while their national anthem was played and news analysts said it seemed to be a showing of solidarity for Iranian protesters.
Iran has been going through unrest for the past several weeks over the death of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the country’s “religious” police because she did not wear her hijab the correct way.
It was a powerful message from the team. Iran lost their game 6-2. Iran will play against the U.S. tomorrow (Tuesday). (***Correction: Iran will play against the U.S. on Tuesday, November 29 not “tomorrow.”)
Musk reinstates Trump on Twitter
On Saturday Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk announced he would reinstate Donald Trump’s account from permanent suspension.
Musk had said before he bought Twitter that he believed that Trump should be reinstated. Trump was banned for life after making multiple false claims of election fraud that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Several days ago Musk ran a poll on Twitter asking if Trump should be brought back. Over 15 million people voted with 52% saying “yes” and 48% saying “no.”
Now Trump’s account is restored, with his 87 million followers. But he has not tweeted so far. His last tweet on his timeline is on Jan 8, 2021, in which he said he would not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The NAACP condemned Musk for allowing Trump back and called on advertisers to stop buying ads on Twitter. Trump is running for the presidency in 2024 so we’ll see if he will use his account to gain attention.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
***Correction: Iran will play against the U.S. on Tuesday, November 29 not “tomorrow.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-18-injured-shooting-colorado-club-officials/story?id=93658669
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/20/colorado-springs-shooting-lgbtq-club-q
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63705862
https://abcnews.go.com/International/deadly-earthquake-strikes-java-indonesia/story?id=93705350
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/21/earthquake-indonesia-java