HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

Tuesday 09.07.21

A toddler has been found three days after he went missing in the Australian wilderness, authorities confirmed. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.
 

By Dominic Rech

Capitol riot

Law enforcement needs to take the upcoming right-wing rally in support of jailed January 6 rioters "very seriously" as concerns mount about more potential violence on Capitol Hill, ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said. "They should take it more seriously than they took the same sort of intelligence that they likely saw on January 5," he told CNN. Law enforcement officials in Washington are steeling themselves against possible unrest at the "Justice for J6" rally -- planned for September 18 -- which aims to support the insurrectionists charged in the riot. Homeland Security intelligence chief John Cohen previously told CNN that recent online extremist rhetoric is strikingly similar to the buildup to the January 6 attack, with increasing calls for violence linked to conspiracy theories and false narratives. It's still unclear how many protesters plan to attend next week's rally, which falls on a Saturday when the House will be in recess, so far fewer lawmakers or staff will be around.

Coronavirus

Covid-19 cases have been on the rise in much of the US, and the seven-day average of new cases yesterday was more than 300% higher than Labor Day of last year, Johns Hopkins University data shows. The jump in cases has translated into overcrowded hospitals and a rise in infections among children -- of particular concern as many students return to their classrooms. And experts fear the holiday weekend could make matters worse. Meanwhile, a potential outbreak of Covid-19 in Singapore is undermining the city's plan to try to "live with" the virus. The number of new Covid-19 infections in Singapore doubled in the past week, according to the country's Ministry of Health, rising to more than 1,200 cases for the week that ended Sunday.

9/11

Pretrial hearings in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been accused of being the lead plotter behind the September 11 attacks, and four other detainees at Guantanamo Bay are set to resume today. The last in-person hearing in the case was in February 2020. The five are accused of plotting and executing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. If convicted, all five could receive the death penalty. Charges against them announced by the US government in 2012 include "terrorism, hijacking aircraft, conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, and destruction of property in violation of the law of war." The hearings come the week of the attacks' 20th anniversary, and some victims' relatives are in Guantanamo Bay to observe them.

Ida 

City officials will go door to door to ensure people in New York get the federal relief benefits they need after torrential rain from Hurricane Ida's remnants caused deadly flooding, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The announcement came after President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the area, which New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called "the fastest (he's) seen a major disaster area declared." Additionally, Louisiana's lieutenant governor is promising changes after seven nursing home residents died after being evacuated before Ida to a warehouse with hundreds of other people. The temporary shelter, a warehouse in Independence, Louisiana, was overwhelmed after receiving more than 840 people on August 27 ahead of the Category 4 hurricane, officials said. "To pack that many people into one warehouse is just unthinkable," Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told CNN. 

Guinea

A Guinean military officer broadcast a statement on Sunday announcing that Guinea's constitution has been dissolved in an apparent coup. An adviser to President Alpha Conde told CNN that Conde is under arrest and that a coup has taken place in the West African country. "We will no longer entrust politics to a man. We will entrust it to the people. We come only for that; it is the duty of a soldier, to save the country," Guinean army officer Mamady Doumbouya says in a video. Doumbouya added that they have arrested 83-year-old Conde and suspended the constitution, the government and all other institutions. He also announced the closing of land and air borders. Aluminum prices have reached their highest level in more than a decade after the coup in Guinea, a major supplier of the main ore used to produce the metal. The location of Conde, who won a heavily disputed election last year, is still unclear.

People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.

Divers find pipeline that likely triggered Gulf of Mexico oil spill
They used underwater sonar to discover the dislodged pipeline.

Michael K. Williams, 'Wire' actor, found dead
He was found dead in his New York City apartment, a law enforcement official told CNN. "Michael K Williams was a beautiful, passionate, expansive soul ..." Aisha Tyler wrote. "He burned so very bright."

Kanye West grabs 10th No. 1 album on Billboard
He's the seventh artist to have 10 No. 1 albums, according to Billboard. And that's not all.

Stanley Tucci had cancer and was successfully treated
He added that his cancer was unlikely to come back.

Watch a plane fly through a tunnel (and set a Guinness World Record)
In total, Dario Costa set five records with his feat. 

A Chinese-Canadian national named Tse Chi Lop faces extradition after his arrest this year in the Netherlands on accusations he was running a methamphetamine cartel earning an estimated $17 billion a year in Asia. As prosecutors prepare their case against Tse, CNN has investigated his early years to better understand the man Australian authorities claim is one of the most successful meth masterminds of the 21st century. This is the story of Tse's first syndicate: how it thrived in US prisons; how police from around the world tore it apart; and how, from its ashes, this seemingly unassuming man allegedly was able to lay the groundwork for a multibillion-dollar drug empire from a prison in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

11 

The number of years in prison to which a Belarusian court sentenced Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent opposition figure who led mass street protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, the latest move in a widespread crackdown on government critics following a contested election last year. Kolesnikova and another opposition activist, Maxim Znak, were charged in a trial held in the capital Minsk behind closed doors, Belarusian state media reported.

This is a rare and complex operation performed so far in the world only about 20 times, and for the first time in Israel. 

Mickey Gideon, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Soroka Medical Center, on the complexity of the surgery performed on twin girls in Israel. The two 1-year-olds were separated after being born joined back-to-back at the head. 

Extreme $500,000 game of tag
Because we all need an excuse to release that inner child? This is a game of tag like no other (oh, and there is cash in play.) (Click here to view.)