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Shooting In Canada: We lead with the sad news out of Canada. Yesterday, a shooter dressed up as a police officer went on a rampage in Nova Scotia, in which he set fires, and killed 16 people. This incident is the largest mass shooting in Canada's history. The shooter is also confirmed to be dead. Today, Justin Trudeau said that he would be supporting new gun-control legislation.
Shake Shack Returns Money: In a unique move, Shake Shack announced they will return the 10 million dollars the business received in stimulus loans. This comes as many have criticized large businesses for benefiting from loans that, in many's opinions, should be going to small businesses. Shake Shack operates 189 outlets according to the New York Times.
It's Virtually The Same: This year's NFL Draft will be held without a physical gathering of fans, in stark contrast to the 600,000 who attended the Draft last year in Nashville. Vegas was ready to host a party. The plan was to have a floating stage at the Bellagio, and each player would be brought to the stage on a boat. Unfortunately, the Corona-virus has curbed those plans. This years Draft will be held virtually. Don't worry, it'll still be aired on ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network. The Draft Starts on Wednesday, with the headliner being Joe Burrow. Burrow is expected to be drafted by the Cincinatti Bengals. If you would like to hear the post-draft reaction, subscribe to this podcast for Not Nice Sports Sundays, released by 6 PM.
Yesterday afternoon in his press conference, President Trump announced that he would be halting the funding of the World Health Organization. This comes as many have critizied Trump for his handling of the Corona-virus response. Many also critizised his actions yesterday. President Trump said that the W.H.O was being "politically correct", and also suggested that they were covering up information on behalf of China. Reports in the New York Post and National Review, known to be traditionally conservative, said that the China did not release any sort of warning for at least 6 days. National Review went farther, and suggested that China didn't do anything for 6 weeks as opposed to 6 days.
Joe Biden has received a string of endorsements in the last few days. Monday came with the endorsement of Bernie Sanders, and Tuesday featured the endorsement of Barack Obama. Today, Elizabeth Warren endorsed Joe Biden. This shows how truly the race has narrowed in the last couple of months. It seems not that long ago that we might have a contested convention, but that is surely behind them. This was being described as a progressives versus moderates battle, but the Democrats have seemingly put their differences behind them to achieve a common goal.
Apple has announced a new iPhone that is available for pre-order on April 17th. It is comparable to the design of the iPhone 6, 7, and 8. It has a homebutton, with fingerprint scanning, something that some people have missed.
Yesterday afternoon, President Trump held a bizarre Corona-virus briefing, in which he attacked the media by playing Hannity-compiled clips of the media downplaying the virus. In the same White House video, which CNN pointed out was payed by tax dollars, Trump tried to show that he was responding to the virus quickly. At certain points, CNN said that Trump was trying to "rewrite history", called the briefing a "propaganda session", and said "Trump melts down". On both sides, this is not the kind of blame game we need in the middle of a pandemic. Point fingers after this is over, but don't tout your response while people are dying, and don't call briefings propaganda sessions. Overall, it was a very disheartening display in the James Brady Press Briefing Room.
In a rare move of collaboration, Apple and Google announced on Friday that they would be teaming up to launch a Corona-virus tracking system in the next few months. However, certain privacy questions and concerns have emerged. Questions range from how does this work, to how vulnerable is this to hackers? Google published documents explaining the technology. According to Google, the system utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy, and only logs devices that come within a certain distance from each other. Each user is anonymous, each list of contacts stays on the phone, and participation is only granted with explicit user consent, Google says. The system will notify you if you've come into contact with someone who has reported to the system they have Corona-virus. The platform will work on both iPhones and Android phones.
We have now hit grim Corona-virus milestones. The United States now leads the world in confirmed cases, at over 500,000 as of this morning, and leads the world in deaths, at over 22,000. This comes as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a briefing Sunday that the number of new severe cases was on the decline, with about 70 people per day needing ventilators, down from 200 to 300 a week ago, according to NBC News.
Also, California launched a COVID-19 antibody test at scale over the weekend, testing 900 people on Friday and Saturday. The tests were conducted in a drive through. It is believed that those who have survived the Corona-virus build an immunity to the virus. The hope is that those who are cleared through these tests will be able to get back to work, and help restart the economy.
On Sunday, OPEC negotiated the end of an oil price war waged by Russia and Saudi Arabia. This move came among pressure from the United States. Opec said it would cut 9.7m barrels a day in oil production in May and June, equivalent to almost 10 per cent of global supply, according to the Financial Times. Trump, in a tweet this morning, suggested that the deal actually cut 20 million barrels a day.
Also in this episode: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sailor-from-uss-theodore-roosevelt-dies-from-covid-19-11586783549?mod=hp_lead_pos4
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