The Daily Moth 12-9-19

Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! I’m going to do several top news briefs from here in Italy as I cover the 2019 Winter Deaflympics. I will be doing that during the weekdays.

The first news — there was a volcanic eruption on Monday afternoon in New Zealand’s White Island that have killed at least five people with 8 people missing and feared dead.

White Volcano, as known as Whakaari in the Maori language, is an active volcano that is also a popular tourist destination.

CNN reported that when it erupted, there were up to 50 people who were on or near the volcano, including around 30 passengers from a Royal Caribbean cruise.

31 people were hospitalized, some with serious burns.

There are now search and rescue operations, but New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there have been no signs of life so far. The island is full of volcanic ash.

There were tourists from the United States and around the world who were visiting the island.

The second news — the Justice Department’s Inspector General released a report that said the origins of the 2016 investigation into Russia, that started under the Obama administration, was not influenced by political bias or improper motivation.

Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr has already launched his own investigation on the origins of the Russia investigation. He said he does not agree with all of what the inspector general concluded.

The third news — the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) agreed to ban Russia from participating from major international sports for the next four years over reports that there was a cheating scheme during the 2014 (hearing) Winter Olympics in Sochi in which urine samples were replaced to bypass anti-doping tests.

I want to be clear I’m talking about the “hearing Olympics” and hearing sports here.

Russian athletes can still compete if they appear in neutral uniforms — like during the 2018 Winter Olympics in which individual athletes were named “Olympic Athlete from Russia.”

The Prime Minister of Russia said Russian officials should appeal and that the ban felt like a continuation of anti-Russia hysteria.

This ban would affect the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 World Cup (soccer).

The fourth news — Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player was diagnosed with ALS disease when he was 27 — and helped to spread the viral “ice bucket challenge” in 2014 that raised over $115 million — passed away today. He was 34. He is hailed as someone who gave hope for all.

That is all the top stories for today. I will see you tomorrow. Stay with the light!

White Volcano: https://edition.cnn.com/australia/live-news/new-zealand-volcano-live-intl/index.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7770695/Volcano-erupts-coast-New-Zealand.html

DOJ Inspector General: https://www.axios.com/ig-report-justice-department-russia-investigation-63467682-0b54-4cfa-ad48-de3be5e940a6.html

Russia Olympics: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/sports/russia-doping-ban.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

ALS Pete Frates: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/acc/2019/12/09/pete-frates-boston-college-dies-34-als-ice-bucket-challenge/2632813001/