| | | Pfizer will vaccinate an entire Brazilian city, in an effort to better understand the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The murder trial for Burkina Faso’s “Che Guevara” finally starts more than 30 years after his assasination. President Biden pushes bold climate action through provisions contained in infrastructure and budget packages. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | 1 - COVID Experiment Pfizer vaccinates an entire Brazilian City as a part of a study In the Brazilian city of Toledo, Pfizer announced that it would fully vaccinate everyone in the city over the age of 12, in order to study the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Working with Municipal leaders, the local university, and the hospital, the study will follow participants for up to one year to investigate how long vaccine protection lasts against Covid-19 and new virus variants. It’s estimated over 600,000 people have died from COVID in Brazil. Sources: ( NYT, Axios ) |
| | | 2 - Navy Secrets Exposed U.S. Navy engineer and wife charged in attempt to sell nuclear secrets It's straight from a spy movie. Senior Engineer, Jonathan Toebbe and his wife attempted multiple times to pass the information on nuclear propulsion systems to a foreign government, according to a criminal complaint. Nuclear propulsion information is highly guarded by the U.S. Navy, in part because the reactors are fueled by highly enriched uranium, which can also be converted to bomb fuel for nuclear weapons. Until recently, when the U.S. shared this information with Australia, the United States had only shared the technology with Britain, starting in 1958. Sources: ( NYT, BBC, Reuters ) |
| 3 - Long Awaited Justice Africa's Che Guevara finally gets his murder trial in Burkina Faso After over 30 years, the charismatic Pan-Africanist leader, still celebrated today, will have his assassination tried. Sankara was assassinated at age 37 by soldiers during a coup on October 15, 1987, which resulted in his close friend, Blaise Compaoré, coming to power. Under Sankara’s government, education was a key priority; the literacy rate increased from 13% in 1983 to 73% in 1987, and he also oversaw a massive national vaccination campaign. He also redistributed land from feudal landlords and gave it directly to poor farmers, which led to a huge increase in wheat production. Sources: ( BBC, France 24 ) |
| 4 - Climate Action Now Twin bills pending in Congress have high stakes on climate action President Biden’s plan to combat climate change is embedded in two pieces of legislation currently working their way through Congress. The provisions, designed to quickly transition energy and transportation infrastructure to clean energy sources, would together amount to the most significant climate action ever undertaken by the United States. The first piece of legislation, a $3.5 trillion budget package proposed by House Democrats with no Republican backing, has been a focal point of debate because it’s filled with social programs including free community college, paid family and medical leave, and expanded Medicare. The second big bill in Congress, a $1 trillion infrastructure plan has bipartisan support. Source: ( NYT ) |
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| INTRIGUING | | | 1 - Cancel Chappelle? The award-winning comic stirs controversy Acclaimed comedian, Dave Chappelle, draws criticism for his latest stand-up special, The Closer. A self-proclaimed ally of the LGBTQIA community, the comedian has drawn ire of the trans community for comments that some are calling “transphobic” and “homophobic.” The criticism has stirred a larger conversation about the intersection of race, class, gender, and privilege within social justice movements. Despite some support including the family of late trans comedian, Daphne Dorman, two organizations and Jaclyn Moore, showrunner of “Dear White People” who is transgender, have called for Netflix to pull the comedian’s content from the streaming giant’s platform. Sources: (WashPo, Forbes, Bloomberg). |
| 2 - Powerful Change The US Mint unveils designs for quarters featuring powerful women A diverse group of female trailblazers from different eras will be featured in the new designs of quarters. Thanks to the US Mint’s American Women Quarters Program, the designs of the historical figures will be released on the tails of quarters between 2022 to 2025. The trailblazing women include civil rights activist and poet, Maya Angelou, astronaut and the first woman to travel to space, Dr. Sally Rider, Mexican-American suffragist and politician, Nina Otero-Warren, the first Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, and Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Sources: (NPR, CNN) |
| 3 - A.I. Rules Biden Administration works to prevent AI harms From facial recognition to algorithms that identify cancer in patients, it’s hard to keep up with how quickly data-driven technologies are transforming how we live. Alongside major advancements, challenging problems have arisen from rapid growth and lack of regulation. White House science advisers are exploring an “A.I. Bill of Rights” to govern and protect against the potentially harmful uses of A.I. technology. With this, the Biden Administration signals its first steps at creating safeguards to ensure our technologies abide by our democratic values and our pursuit of a just, free society. Sources: ( TheHill, Axios) |
| 4 - Climate Resistance Climate change activists take to the streets of Brussels Thousands of demonstrators marched through Brussels to protest the lack of action from government officials on climate change. Adorned with toy polar bears and signage with powerful and pointed rhetoric calls for global leaders to take more aggressive action in the fight. The protest comes ahead of the United Nations’s 26th Climate Change Conference of Parties, COP26, which starts on October 31st. Source: (Time) |
| | | 5 - Trick or Treat? Fauci gives the “ok” for the childhood pastime this holiday season Amid coronavirus concerns, one of the many questions on all parents minds’ is “is trick-or-treating this Halloween season safe?” Fauci seems to think so. NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci gives the green light for kids to be able to enjoy outdoor celebrations. With COVID numbers trending down this fall and higher vaccination rates around the country, the director encourages families to participate and have some fun though he falls short of giving guidance on family gatherings for the upcoming holiday season. Source: (WashPo) |
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