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Monday 08.09.21

The Tokyo Olympics just ended, but can you believe the Beijing 2022 Winter Games are less than six months away? Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.
 

By AJ Willingham

A medical worker rests last week at a Covid-19 ICU ward in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Coronavirus

The average number of new coronavirus cases in the US has increased ninefold since the beginning of July, and hospitalizations are at their highest rate since February. In some parts of the country, hospitals are at capacity, and loved ones of those battling the virus are pleading for access to life-saving equipment. As if the situation isn't bad enough, new concerns are starting to arise: Dr. Anthony Fauci says the continued spread of the virus could allow new variants -- possibly ones more resistant to vaccines -- to emerge and spread if more people don't get vaccinated. Experts are already seeing more cases of the Lambda variant, which is designated by WHO as a coronavirus "variant of interest."

Afghanistan

The Taliban has seized five provincial capitals in Afghanistan and let loose a string of violence as foreign forces, led by the US, complete their withdrawal from the country. Among the areas now under Taliban control is Kunduz, a strategically important provincial capital that marks the first major city to fall to the Taliban since it began its offensive in May. Afghanistan's swift descent into violence has been alarming and follows international warnings that a foreign troop withdrawal could lead to a Taliban resurgence. Now, there is concern that even the country's capital of Kabul could fall. In the past week, the US has increased airstrikes against Taliban positions in a bid to halt its advances.

Infrastructure

The Senate has voted to cut off debate on the massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, clearing the way for a vote on the final passage of the bipartisan bill. Sixty-eight senators, including 18 Republicans, voted to invoke cloture (quickly halting the debate) to break the filibuster and push the process forward. The Senate is now expected to hold a final vote tomorrow morning. Senators are confident the bill will pass, but there's been some recent shuffling of necessary Republican support of the bill. If it passes, it wouldn't just be a win for President Biden's agenda; it would also be a win for both parties, which have worked for months to come to an agreement on the bill. An affirmative Senate vote wouldn't make it a done deal, though. The bill would still face significant challenges in the House. 

Climate

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just released a new report, and the message is clear: Deadly and irreversible effects of climate change are already here. Unlike previous assessments, the report also concludes it is "unequivocal" that humans have caused the climate crisis. It states the world has rapidly warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels and is now careening toward 1.5 degrees -- a critical threshold that world leaders have agreed should represent the upper limit of global warming. Scientists say the only way to keep from reaching this point of no return and to prevent even more catastrophic damage is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero. 

Andrew Cuomo

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing increasing pressure -- often from within his own Democratic Party -- to answer for multiple claims of sexual harassment. Brittany Commisso, an assistant to Cuomo and one of 11 women whose claims of sexual abuse were substantiated by a report last week by the state attorney general, went public with her accusations this weekend. The New York legislature is now poised to move ahead with impeachment proceedings, and the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee will meet to discuss a potential timeline. However, Cuomo has indicated he will not go down without a fight and has denied having "touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances." Cuomo's top aide resigned late yesterday amid the growing controversy. 

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Reminisce about the best moments of the Tokyo Olympics
We liked the part where all the international demigods completed mind-boggling physical feats. 

Meet Japan's Olympic pin obsessives
Collecting really cool pins: the next Olympic sport

New Orleans Jazz Fest cancels fall event due to Covid-19
This is all feeling very "beginning of 2020" again, and we don't like it. 

Actress Julie Bowen of 'Modern Family' helped rescue a hiker who fainted
This poor hiker fainted, hurt her face, then met a kind celebrity -- all in one day. 

Loyal Ikea customers can win a candle that smells like its famous meatballs
Give us the meat candle! Wait ... or don't? Do we really want this? Yes, OK, we want this. 

260 million

That's how many people in the US are forecast to experience high temperatures of at least 90 degrees by the end of the week as a new heat wave settles over parts of the country.

And if you see a crime, report a crime. But if you see people -- Black people, any minority -- don't report people doing normal things.

Roy Thorne, a Black man in Michigan who along with his son and a Black real estate agent, was handcuffed by police as the agent showed them a house. Thorne says it felt like the incident was an example of the risks Black people assume just by doing normal things. 

one more thing

Yesterday's newsletter misstated what prosecutors have said about the timing of the killing of Susan Berman. Robert Durst is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Berman, hours before she was set to talk to investigators about the disappearance of Durst's first wife.

Fire feast
Paan is a popular Indian food eaten at the end of a meal to help digestion. For some people, that's not enough -- they eat it literally flaming hot! (Click here to view.)