Tuesday, April 9, 2024

4/9 WAKE-UP CALL: Millions See Total Eclipse


Throngs of skywatchers across North America gazed upward at a blackened sun in the midday dusk on Monday, celebrating with cheers, music and matrimony the first total solar eclipse to darken the continent in seven years.

From a Mexican beach resort close to where the eclipse made landfall to the banks of the Ohio River and farther north beyond the roaring cascades of Niagara Falls at the U.S.-Canadian border, spellbound crowds reacted to the sight of "totality" with jaw-dropping expressions of awe and joy.

The eclipse wowed people across the U.S., leaving cities in its path dealing with throngs of spectators seeking the best view. The total solar eclipse began just before 12:30 p.m. local time near Dallas and ended in northeastern Maine around 4:40 p.m. local time, according to NASA. Locals and tourists marked the occasion by observing zoo animals’ reactions, wearing eclipse-themed shirts and taking lots of photos. More than 30 million people live in the so-called path of totality, where the moon completely blocked the sun from view for as long as 4½ minutes. Authorities in those areas took precautions to cope with the eclipse-chasing hordes; for example, many Texas counties declared states of emergency. This was the first time a total solar eclipse passed over the continent since 2017. The next one is Aug. 23, 2044.

➤BIDEN ADMIN SEEKS TO SLASH STUDENT DEBT:  The Biden administration’s new student-loan forgiveness plan seeks to slash student debt for nearly 30 million Americans. The proposal would cancel up to $20,000 in interest charges for certain borrowers whose balances are larger than the initial loans because of accruing interest. The plan would also forgive debt for people who have held their student loans for decades without paying them off. Republicans who helped kill President Biden’s earlier attempt at a large-scale loan cancellation are set to challenge the new program in court. The proposal marks a major effort to appeal to progressives and young voters.

➤TRUMP..STATES SHOULD DECIDE ON ABORTION: Donald Trump said that abortion should be left to the states. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee previously floated a 15- or 16-week ban but in a campaign video didn’t outline a number of weeks after which the procedure would be prohibited. The stance likely won’t please religious conservatives who want tougher restrictions. Abortion is a key issue in the 2024 election, and state access to abortion varies greatly.

➤JUDGE REJECTS TRUMP BID: Donald Trump on Monday lost an 11th-hour bid to delay his criminal “hush money” trial as he seeks to get the case moved out of Democratic-heavy Manhattan. A New York appeals court judge rejected the last-ditch effort from the former president’s attorneys following an emergency hearing called Monday, exactly a week before the April 15 trial is set to start. Trump’s lawyers also asked the court to pause a gag order barring him from publicly ripping witnesses and the judge’s family, but New York’s Appellate Division, First Department did not immediately rule on that appeal.

➤DOJ REJECTS REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS' REQUEST: The Department of Justice rejected requests from House Republicans for the audio recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s interviews with President Joe Biden, with department officials balking at GOP lawmakers' threat to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if they don't comply. The Justice Department contended that it has already given House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., all the information the GOP needs and that the department has fully cooperated. Their threat to hold Garland in contempt, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote to Jordan and Comer on Monday, “is difficult to explain in terms of any lack of information" based "the Department’s actual conduct.”

➤U-S TRIES TO BROKER CEASE-FIRE: A new U.S. cease-fire proposal in Gaza calls for the release of 40 of Hamas’ 100-plus hostages. That would be in exchange for 900 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 100 convicted of terrorism charges, and approval for up to 150,000 displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. Israel, which is afraid Hamas militants will mix in with civilians, had previously offered to let 60,000 Palestinians back. Hamas had no immediate reaction. Meanwhile, the militant group has clashed with rivals the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, raising questions about what a postwar government in Gaza might look like and how long it might last.

🏀UCONN DOMINATES PURDUE: Tristen Newton scored 20 points and dished out seven assists as UConn won its second straight national championship, beating Purdue 75-60 on Monday night. Stephon Castle added 15 points and Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan contributed 11 apiece for the top-seeded Huskies (37-3), who found a way to limit the Boilermakers on offense outside of center Zach Edey. Edey, the two-time National Player of the Year, scored 37 points on 15-of-25 shooting, but much of his scoring in the second half came with Purdue (34-5), another No. 1 seed, facing a sizable deficit.

UConn was quicker, more efficient from the field and tougher on defense compared to the Boilermakers, who stayed close until early in the second half, when the game started to get away from them. The Huskies are the first team to secure back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles since Florida did so in 2006-07. Edey missed his first three shots of the second half, and UConn went ahead by nine when Castle converted a putback for a 43-34 lead with 16:08 to play. A lob from Newton to Samson Johnson for a dunk gave the Huskies a 47-34 advantage.

➤TRANSGENDERS BARREDS FROM WOMEN'S SPORTS: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is barring all transgender athletes from competing in women's sports as part of its new transgender participation policy. The NAIA, the governing body of 241 smaller colleges and universities, announced Monday that "only NAIA student-athletes whose biological sex is female" and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to compete in women's sports. According to the policy, athletes who have begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in workouts, practices and team activities "at the discretion" of the school at which the athlete is enrolled, but not allowed in interscholastic competition.

➤TUESDAY'S WEATHER MAP:




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