Monday, November 28 top stories
It is Monday, November 28. Here are today’s top stories.
Hawaii volcano eruption
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, started erupting at its summit on Sunday night. There are lava flows but authorities said it is contained within the summit area and is not threatening communities that live on the mountain’s slopes.
The volcano’s alert level is now at its highest level at “Warning.” Authorities said lava flows can change rapidly and that it is unpredictable.
Reuters said Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984 and sent a flow of lava within 5 miles of the city of Hilo. The volcano is on the Big Island of Hawaii. Images on social media showed a glowing red sky.
China protests
In China, there are many people protesting the country’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
The protests started to spread after ten people died in an apartment fire on Thursday. Some people feel that China’s Covid-19 restrictions, which sometimes involve barricading apartment buildings or blocking emergency exits, caused apartment residents to be trapped and die in the fire.
Many Chinese nationals are expressing frustration with the Chinese government’s way of handling Covid-19 outbreaks, which often involves city-wide lockdowns and very strict restrictions on daily movement. Some protesters have called on the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to step down and many protesters have been detained.
The White House today said people should have the right to peacefully protest.
Plane crashes into power line
In Montgomery County, Maryland, a small private plane struck and became stuck in a power line tower early Sunday morning. The pilot and a passenger survived and were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash caused about 85,000 residents of Montgomery County to lose power for a while. ABC News said most of the affected residents now have their electricity back.
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WHO renames monkeypox as mpox
The World Health Organization (WHO) has renamed monkeypox to mpox, citing concerns that the term “monkeypox” may be considered discriminatory and racist.
The virus was first named in 1958 in Denmark when scientists observed that research monkeys had a pox-like disease. The disease has appeared from time to time in central and west Africa in people who have contact with infected animals such as rodents or squirrels.
There has been an outbreak of mpox this year that has affected mostly gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men with about 80,000 cases worldwide. Scientists say this year’s outbreak may have come from two large parties in Belgium and Spain.
Buffalo mass shooter pleads guilty
The 19-year-old man who carried out a mass shooting at a supermarket in a Black-majority neighborhood in Buffalo, New York pleaded guilty to 10 first-degree murder charges and to one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate.
The gunman’s name is Payton Gendron. He was 18 when he shot up the supermarket in May. He now faces a mandatory life sentence.
Eleven of the 13 people that Gendron shot were Black. He allegedly drove about 200 miles from his home to target this specific neighborhood due to his racial hatred.
USA and Iran soccer drama
The U.S. Men’s National Team will play against Iran on Tuesday in their last group game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. must win to advance into the knockout tournament, while Iran only needs a tie.
There was a drama that recently sprang up due to the US men’s soccer social media postings. They posted a table that showed the U.S.’ rankings compared with Iran and the other two countries in their group, England and Wales. The posting showed that the Iranian flag had the emblem of the Islamic Republic removed, only showing the country’s colors. The U.S. social media team said they did this to show support for protesters in Iran — who are angry about the death of a young woman who allegedly died while in police custody due to not wearing her hijab correctly. Members of the Iranian state media objected to the edited flag, calling on FIFA to kick out the U.S. from the World Cup.
The posting was deleted and the US team’s coach Gregg Berhalter apologized. He said he and his players had no idea about the posting.
The U.S. and Iran have not had good diplomatic relations for a long time and a lot of eyes will be on the game tomorrow as it feels like more than just a game. We’ll see what happens. The game is at 2:00 pm ET.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/28/china/china-lockdown-protests-covid-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/article/china-covid-protests.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/2-trapped-small-plane-after-strikes-high-tension/story?id=94068458
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/28/buffalo-shooting-guilty-plea
https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2022/11/28/23481887/usa-iran-world-cup-history-quotes