Thursday, August 5 top stories
Thursday, August 5 top stories
It is Thursday, August 5. Here are today’s top stories.
Florida governor criticizes Biden over Covid-19
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) went viral for a speech he gave on Wednesday in which he criticized President Biden for failing to shut down the coronavirus pandemic and for targeting his state over Covid-19.
The governor blamed the coronavirus crisis on people illegally crossing the southern border. DeSantis said he didn’t “want to hear a blip about COVID from Biden until he gets the border secure.”
Here are some facts. The CDC says the coronavirus is having a high rate of transmission in nearly all Florida counties. There were almost 17,000 new cases yesterday.
An Orlando news channel said Florida has over 11,500 patients in the hospital from Covid-19, the highest number ever. DeSantis predicts that hospitalizations will drop in the next couple of weeks and believes the spike in cases is seasonal because Floridans are spending more time indoors to escape the heat and humidity.
DeSantis said he would stand in Biden’s way if he tried to impose mask mandates, lockdowns, or vaccine mandates.
Political analysts say DeSantis would be a popular choice for the Republican nomination for the presidency if Trump does not run in 2024.
Fauci fears Covid-19 mutations
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is concerned that the coronavirus will continue to mutate into a new variant that is even more transmissible than Delta and cause much more severe illnesses. He said “we are very lucky that the vaccines that we have now do very well,” but we would be in trouble if the virus continues to spread due to insufficient vaccination rates. Fauci pointed out that vaccines are not only about the individual but about everyone else.
Axios reported that there are already other variants coming up with two cases of “Delta Plus” in South Korea and the Lambda variant from Peru.
Spirit Airlines cancellation chaos
Spirit Airlines is going through chaos right now because it has cancelled over 1,700 flights over the past five days. News videos show hundreds of frustrated customers in airports and piling luggage.
Spirit Airlines said they sincerely apologize and blamed the cancellations on weather, technology outages, and staffing shortages. Over 400 flights were cancelled today.
USAToday said there was a similar situation with JetBlue in February 2007 when 1,000 flights were cancelled over a five-day period.
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Rihanna a billionaire
Analysts from Forbes said Rihanna, the singer and businesswoman, is officially a billionaire based on the success of her cosmetics company, Fenty Beauty, which offers 50 shades of foundation for all skin types.
Rihanna’s real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, so that’s where the company name came from.The bulk of her $1.7 billion fortune is tied to her businesses, while a small percentage is based on her earnings as a musician and actress.
California town destroyed by wildfire
A small town in northern California named Greenville was severely damaged by wildfires. A news image shows the downtown area scorched. Many buildings were over 100 years old. The fire that hit Greenville is called the Dixie Fire and it is currently California’s biggest wildfire and the sixth-largest in state history. There were evacuation orders on Wednesday night for about 1,000 residents, but first responders said not everyone evacuated. A firefighter said the town was gone in two hours as flames came in from a wooded mountainside.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
Florida Gov: https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/08/04/ron-desantis-blasts-president-joe-biden-singling-out-florida-over-coronavirus/
https://www.wesh.com/article/watch-live-gov-desantis-and-deo-secretary-provide-update-on-state-of-floridas-economy/37223004
Fauci: https://www.axios.com/fauci-delta-variant-covid-d1c0d550-6624-417d-bde6-33c8f56deaba.html
Spirit: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/08/05/why-is-spirit-airlines-canceling-flights/5494487001/
Rihanna: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2021/08/04/fentys-fortune-rihanna-is-now-officially-a-billionaire/?sh=46a5b8cd7c96
Greenville: https://www.axios.com/california-town-greenvile-destroyed-dixie-fire-e40ae2e5-a7b8-4b9c-88b2-1508c1de3a84.html
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/05/weather/greenville-california-dixie-fire/index.html