Monday, September 6 top stories
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth. It’s Monday, September 6, which is Labor Day. I hope your holiday went well. Here are today’s top news briefs.
NBC News reported that the U.S. has recorded over 40 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The death toll is at 651,690.
On Sunday, there were 35,355 new cases and 279 new deaths. About 207 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 175 million are fully vaccinated.
News reports say about 9 million workers in the U.S. will lose Covid-19-related enhanced federal unemployment benefits today as three federal programs expire. An example of one payment is an extra $300 a week for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The benefits started about 18 months ago, and are ending now. The Biden administration said it has no plans to extend the program, and all 50 states do not plan to extend the enhanced benefits. In short, it’s back to normal unemployment benefits, there’s no more extra money because of the pandemic, even though we’re still in a surge of Delta cases.
The Justice Department announced today that it would protect people in Texas who are trying to receive abortion services. Texas recently passed a new law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy by allowing private citizens to sue anyone helping with getting an “illegal” abortion for up to $10,000. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the law to stand.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the DOJ would explore different options to challenge the Texas law. The DOJ said it would use a federal law called Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) to protect access to abortion, since FACE prohibits people from physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services.
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Today the Taliban said it has taken over Panjshir, which was the last province that showed resistance against the group taking over in Afghanistan. The Taliban showed images of fighters at the Panjshir provincial governor’s office with its Taliban flag flying in its capital. However, a spokesperson for the resistance group, called the NRF, said they haven’t given up and are still in strategic positions in the valley to continue the fight.
There are news reports that say the Taliban is blocking U.S. citizens who are still in Afghanistan from getting out of the country on flights. There are several planes that were prevented from flying out for several days, but it is not clear how many U.S. citizens are on them.
A news report said the U.S. State Department plans to send up to $2,275 for each evacuee from Afghanistan as a part of the process to relocate them in different parts of the U.S. The money is for housing, food, and enrolling children into school. The Biden administration is now working with over 200 private agencies to create a system to bring in about 40,000 Afghan evacuees.
On Sunday in southern Florida, a 33-year-old former Marine sharpshooter named Bryan Riley was arrested and charged with breaking into a home at 4:30 a.m. and fatally shooting a mother, her 3-month-old baby, the baby’s grandmother, and a man. A dog that belonged to the victims was also fatally shot.
When police officers responded, they were shot at by the suspect, leading into a gun battle where hundreds of rounds were fired. Riley was wearing tactical gear and finally surrendered after he was shot once.
A police officer rushed inside the home to rescue a 11-year-old girl who was shot seven times. She survived and is now in the hospital in stable condition.
When Riley was taken to the hospital to treat his wound, he tried to grab a gun off a police officer and had to be restrained and medicated.
Riley had no connection to the family and it seems like a random home invasion. Riley told police he was high on methamphetamines when he carried out the shooting.
News reports say Riley used to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. His girlfriend said Riley had post-traumatic stress syndrome and started to have worsening mental health issues over the past weeks.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-hits-40-million-covid-cases-delta-variant-spreads-n1278538
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/afghanistan-withdrawal-live-updates/?id=79482353
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/05/unemployment-benefits-economy/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/labor-day-2021-unemployment-benefits-jobless-aid/
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-business-health-texas-738cfb097227037ac0ce33ccb79c2e4f
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/9/3/us-to-give-each-incoming-afghan-evacuee-up-to-2275-in-aid
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/marine-held-bond-shooting-florida-family-79858656