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Monday, October 31, 2022

Wake-Up Call: S. Korean Halloween Crush Kills 153


An estimated 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon on Saturday as the end of social distancing, mask mandates and other anti-Covid rules allowed the first Halloween party in three years. The victims are largely in their 20s, according to the National Fire Agency, and Two Americans were among the 19 foreign nationals who died according to ABC News. Authorities said thousands of people have called or visited a nearby city office, reporting missing relatives and asking officials to confirm whether they were among those injured or dead after the crush.

➤RUSSIAN MISSILE ATTACKS HIT UKRAINE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had repelled a “brutal” offensive by Russian troops in the eastern Donetsk region. The president said a military unit from Chop in western Ukraine had fought off the offensive, but did not say where fighting had took place. In recent weeks, however, intense fighting has centered around Avdiivka and the strategically-important town of Bakhmut. Ukraine’s National Police said multiple buildings had been destroyed and people killed and wounded after intense shelling in the region. Meanwhile, global wheat prices have started to rise following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain export deal last weekend.

➤PELOSI ATTACKER UPDATE: The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was carrying zip ties with him when he broke into the couple's San Francisco home and was calling out 'Where's Nancy?', echoing the January 6 Capitol riot. The San Francisco Police Department has also confirmed that there were just two people in the Pelosi home at the time of the attack, not three. The suspect and the Democratic leader's 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, did not know each other before the attack. The assault, coming less than two weeks before the November 8 election, was an unsettling reminder of the nation's toxic political climate. 



Authorities said the suspect, identified as David DePape, 42, confronted Paul Pelosi in the family's Pacific Heights home early Friday. The two men struggled over a hammer - which DePape brought as well - before officers responding to a welfare call to the home saw DePape strike Paul Pelosi at least once, police said. DePape was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary. Prosecutors plan to announce the charges on Monday during a news conference and expect his arraignment on Tuesday.


➤LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA WILL BE BRAZIL'S NEXT PRESIDENT: Luiz Inacio da Silva will return for a third term as president of Brazil after beating Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off on October 30th. With nearly all votes counted, da Silva won with 50.9% of the votes vs Mr Bolsonaro’s 49.1%. It's the tightest margin since Brazil returned to democratic elections in 1989 and also it is the first time that an incumbent failed to win re-election.

➤TWITTER MAY CHARGE FOR BLUE VERIFICATION:
Just days after taking over Twitter, Elon Musk has issued an ultimatum to engineers over a new project. According to a new report from The Verge, Musk wants to launch a pay for play verification system in which verified users are charged $20 per month. The kicker is that engineers have until November 7 to launch the scheme or face being fired. Employees were only told of the project on October 30. The Verge report says that the price of the verification is subject to change. The price will also cover so-far unspecified other features. 

Since Musk first offered to buy Twitter, the world's wealthiest man has made it clear of his plans to shake things up at the social media giant. Hours before The Verge report emerged, Musk tweeted: 'The whole verification process is being revamped right now.' There are close to 400,000 verified users on Twitter. Making them pay could help the platform stay afloat after reports that bots make up five percent of all users and 'heavy tweeters' make up less than 10 percent of the site's monthly users. Less active users mean less eyeballs for advertisers. During the court battle to acquire Twitter, Musk himself claimed that fewer than 16 million users are able to see the vast majority of ads.

➤NYC AGREES TO SETTLE LAWSUITS WITH TWO MEN EXONERATED IN MALCOLM X KILLING: New York City has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by two men who were exonerated in the assassination of Malcolm X last year. The city will pay $26 million for the wrongful convictions of Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, who spent decades in prison following their convictions for the 1965 slaying. The state of New York will also pay an additional $10 million according to reports.
 

➤FEDERAL JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF BIKINI BARISTAS OVER DRESS CODE ORDINANCE: An Everett, Washington's dress code ordinance that said bikini baristas must cover their bodies at work has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.  U.S. District Court in Seattle found Everett’s dress code ordinance violated the Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. The Court also found that the ordinance was, at least in part, shaped by a gender-based discriminatory purpose, according to a 19-page ruling signed by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. The court directed the city of Everett to meet with the plaintiffs within 14 days to discuss next steps.

➤A POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ASTEROID WILL ZIP THROUGH EARTH'S ORBIT ON HALLOWEEN: A newly discovered asteroid called 2022 RM4, which is almost the size of the world's tallest skyscraper, is set to zip past Earth on Halloween. The "potentially hazardous" asteroid's estimated diameter is between 1,083 and 2,428 feet (just under the height of Dubai's 2,716-foot-tall Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world). It will zoom past our planet at around 52,500 mph or roughly 68 times the speed of sound, according to NASA.


➤TUBERCULOSIS CASES RISE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS: According to a report by the World Health Organization, the number of people infected with tuberculosis, including the kind resistant to drugs, rose globally for the first time in years. The U.N. health agency said more than 10 million people worldwide were sickened by tuberculosis in 2021, a 4.5% rise from the year before. The World Health Organization said about 450,000 cases involved people infected with drug-resistant TB, 3% more than in 2020.

➤NEW FEATURES EXPECTED WITH IOS 16.2 IN DECEMBER: Developers and public beta testers started to test the first beta of iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 last week. Some of the new features, changes, and improvements to look forward to are, live activites for TV shorts games, lock screen sleep widget, a free form app and external display support on iPadOS16.


🎥‘BLACK ADAM’ HOLDS TOP SPOT AT DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE OVER HALLOWEEN WEEKEND: According to Deadline, people don’t spend as much time at the theaters during Halloween weekend. Black Adam held on to the top spot at the domestic box office, bringing in $27.7 million. The outlet reports that this is a steep drop compared to its first week, but that the film is still seeing success by surpassing the $100 million mark domestically. Box Office Numbers from Friday (October 28th) through Sunday (October 30th):

1. Black Adam, $27.7 million
2. Ticket to Paradise, $10 million
3. Prey for the Devil, $7.02 million
4. Smile, $5.05 million
5. Halloween Ends, $3.83 million
6. Till, $2.81 million
7. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, $2.83 million
8. Terrifier 2, $1.8 million
9. The Woman King, $1.11 million
10. Tar, $1.04 million

🏈NFL SCORES:
  • Denver Broncos 21 Jacksonville Jaguars 17
  • Atlanta Falcons 37 Carolina Panthers 34
  • Dallas Cowboys 49 Chicago Bears 29
  • Miami Dolphins 31 Detroit Lions 27
  • Minnesota Viking 34 Arizona Cardinals 26
  • NOLA Saints 24 Las Vegas Raiders 0
  • New England Patriots 22 New York Jets 17
  • Philadelphia Eagles 35 Pittsburgh Steelers 13
  • Tennessee Titans 17 Houston Texas 10
  • Washington Commanders 17 Indianapolis Colts 16
  • San Francisco 49ers 31 Los Angeles Rams 14
  • Seattle Seahawks 27 New York Giants 13
  • Buffalo Bills 27 Green Bay Packers 17

MNF: Bengals at Browns (8:15 ESPN)

🏈DERRICK HENRY SETS FRANCHISE TD RECORD: Derrick Henry rushed for over 200 yards and two touchdowns for his fourth consecutive game against the Houston Texans, becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 150 yards in four consecutive games against the same opponent. Henry also tied former Titans running back Eddie George for the most consecutive games with at least two rushing touchdowns. His 75th career touchdown on Sunday also passed George for the Titans' franchise record.


🏈BILL BELLICHICK MOVES TO SECOND PLACE ON NFL CAREER WINS LIST: Sunday, Bill Belichick won his 325th game as a head coach, placing him as the second-winningest head coach behind Don Shula and surpassing Bears' legend George Halas. Belichick is 22 wins behind Shula for the winningest head coach.

🥊LE'VEON BELL LOSES PRO BOXING MATCH DEBUT: Le'Veon Bell's professional boxing debut didn't go as well as his boxing debut last month vs former running back Adrian Peterson. The former Pittsburgh Steelers running back lost by unanimous decision against former UFC fighter Uriah Hall on Saturday. All of the judges scored the 4 round fight 40-36.


⚾ASTROS MARTIN MALDONADO USED ILLEGAL BAT IN GAME ONE OF THE WS: Houston Astros catcher Martín Maldonado reportedly used an illegal bat during Game 1 of the World Series vs the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. During the Game 2 broadcast of the World Series, Tom Verducci broke the news, "Martín Maldonado is using a different bat today here in Game 2. He found out from MLB today that the bat he used last night was not a legal bat. It was a model that he obtained from Albert Pujols."   The concern was the size of Maldonado's bat barrel, which was over the maximum limit allowed since MLB placed a rule change during the 2010-11 offseason.

⚾ROYALS HIRE MATT QUATRARO AS MANAGER: The Kansas City Royals hired Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as manager Sunday. Quatraro, who is the 18th full-time manager in franchise history, was previously the assistant hitting coach for the then-Cleveland Indians before being hired by the Rays to be their third base coach. He then was promoted to to be the Rays bench coach after the 2018 season.







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