Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, January 25, 2021:
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Almost exactly a year after the first confirmed infection, the U.S. has reached 25 million coronavirus cases. But vaccinations are accelerating and hospitalizations are either plateauing or dropping in most of the country. President Biden will reinstate travel restrictions on foreigners from dozens of countries that were lifted in the final days of the Trump administration. The White House is expected to add South Africa to the list due to concerns about the variant spreading in that country. AP
SCHOOL REOPENINGS
Superintendents across the country are weighing the risks of returning to in-person classes against the risks of long-term remote learning. Las Vegas is moving to reopen schools after a rash of student suicides. At least 18 students in Clark County, Nev. -- including a 9 yr. old -- have taken their lives in the last nine months. New Jersey quietly loosened its restrictions on when schools should reopen. In Chicago, teachers are defying an order to return to the classroom until vaccinations are more widespread. President Biden signed an executive order last week to establish national guidelines for reopening schools and the White House is pushing for $130 billion in aid to districts to get students back in the classroom. NY TIMES
TRUMP LATEST
The GOP is in open revolt over what to do about former President Trump. The Senate impeachment trial is set to start on Feb. 9, though a growing number of Senate Republicans are opposing holding the trial at all, and it is increasingly unlikely there would be the 17 Republican votes to convict and bar Trump from running for public office again. New reporting over the weekend revealed that he was planning to replace the acting AG and use the Justice Dept. to undo Georgia’s election results. That plan was reportedly put to a stop only when the DOJ’s top leaders said they’d resign in protest. AXIOS
RUSSIA PROTESTS
More than 3,000 people were arrested in more than 100 cities in Russia over the weekend during large-scale protests against the government, the largest seen there in years. Tens of thousands of Russians braved freezing temperatures and aggressive police crackdowns to rally in support of Alexei Navalny. The protests spread across all 11 of Russia’s time zones, signaling how deeply unpopular the Putin regime has become. SEE PICS
GLOBAL ECONOMY
China’s progress toward becoming the center of the global economy has been rapidly accelerating as a result of the pandemic. China has now overtaken the U.S. as the number one spot for foreign investment, according to new UN figures. Investments from overseas businesses into the U.S. were halved in 2020, while they grew for China. China is also projected to overtake the U.S. in terms of GDP by 2028, five years earlier than originally anticipated. FORBES
GOOGLE SEARCH
Google is rolling out a major redesign of its search engine on mobile. Search results will show bolder text, Google’s own font and take up more of the width of the screen to make it easier to scan and find info and reduce clutter. Different colors will be added to guide users to important information. SEE HOW IT LOOKS
SUPER BOWL BOUND
Tom Brady is going to his 10th Super Bowl at the age of 43. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LV in two weeks. It’s the first time ever that a team will play in a Super Bowl at its home stadium. Brady will go up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, defending their title. This year’s Super Bowl will host 22,000 fans, including 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers who are getting free tickets. PREVIEW
OLYMPIC STATUS CHECK
Olympic organizers are insisting that the Tokyo Games will take place this summer, a year after they were originally planned. But with less than six months until the opening ceremony, there are a lot of questions about the feasibility of putting on a major international sporting event in a city that’s now seeing its worst wave of coronavirus infections yet. Tokyo was put under a state of emergency this month as it hit about 1,000 new cases a day, and isn't projected to reach herd immunity until months after the games. NBC NEWS
SPOTTED...
…a classic clip of Larry King interviewing Jerry Seinfeld, going viral in the wake of King’s death on Friday at 87. The legendary broadcaster famously asked a shocked Seinfeld if his show had been cancelled, leading to a hilarious back-and-forth. Seinfeld tweeted that he was “just having fun with [King’s] little mistake”: WATCH
...a petition circulating for the Atlanta Braves to change their name to the Atlanta Hammers in honor of Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who died on Friday at 86. Aaron overcame intense racism to capture the MLB’s home run record, for which he got the nickname “Hammerin’ Hank.” READ IT
LEFTOVERS: COLLECT YOUR WINNINGS
Someone in Michigan won a billion dollars this weekend. The question is: who? The single winning ticket for Friday’s $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot was sold at a Kroger in Novi, Mich. It was the third-largest lotto prize in U.S. history. The winner has not come forward yet. MLIVE
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