Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, July 16, 2021:
MASKS UP IN L.A.
Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the U.S., is reinstating the indoor mask mandate for everyone -- regardless of vaccination status -- starting this weekend. County officials point to a rise in case numbers that puts L.A. into the “substantial” category of spread, according to the CDC. Just over half of L.A. County’s 10 million residents are fully vaccinated. LA TIMES
SPENDING BILLS
The Senate is expected to start the process of voting on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill next week, even though the legislation is still being negotiated and the bill itself hasn’t even been written. Democrats are also starting a push for a separate $3.5 trillion budget package that does not have Republican support and includes spending on things like child care, education and climate measures. The former bill needs at least 10 Republican votes to pass, while the latter can be rammed through on a party-line vote so long as no Democrats break off. POLITICO
CARIBBEAN TURMOIL
President Biden addressed the dual crises in Haiti and Cuba amid calls to take a stronger position on the turmoil unfolding so close to American shores. Biden said he would send Marines to protect the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince but a wider military operation to stabilize Haiti after the assassination of the president was “not on the agenda.” As for Cuba, Biden called the country a “failed state” and communism a “universally failed system.” He said the White House was considering ways to beam internet service into Cuba, where it is severely restricted by the regime. CNN
EUROPE FLOODING
At least 100 people have died in severe flooding in Western Europe caused by some of the heaviest rainfall in a century. Flash floods swept through towns in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, inundating villages, washing away houses and causing buildings to collapse. Germany is by far the hardest hit; there are still more than 1,000 people reported missing. Officials warned that these kinds of extreme weather events are going to become more common due to climate change. AP
NORDY SALE
The mega-popular Nordstrom Anniversary Sale starts today for members of the department store’s loyalty program before opening to the public on July 28. The upscale retailer is banking on customers flocking to the sale for new post-pandemic duds after a year in which sales plummeted 32%. Earlier this week, Nordstrom announced a stake in the online giant ASOS as a way to lure younger customers to its brick-and-mortar stores. WWD
SPACE RACE
When Jeff Bezos blasts off into suborbital space next week, he will be joined by an 18-year-old who will become the youngest person to ever reach space. Oliver Daeman, the son of a private-equity CEO, is taking the seat of the anonymous person who paid $28 million for the opportunity but can no longer go due to “scheduling conflicts.” Bezos, Daeman, Bezos’ brother Mark and Wally Funk -- the pioneering female aviator who will also become the oldest person in space -- will take a 10-minute trip in a Blue Origin rocket on Tuesday that will be the first-ever unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew. NPR
YANKEE COVID OUTBREAK
Last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game to kick off the second half of the MLB season was cancelled after several players on the Yankees tested positive for COVID. At least three tests came back positive, making this the Yanks’ second COVID outbreak of the season despite the team being among the first to hit the 85% vaccinated threshold. The Red Sox are one of the few squads that still have not reached that mark. PINSTRIPE ALLEY
LEBRON ON THE BIG SCREEN
The summer box office rolls on this weekend with the release of the Space Jam remake, starring LeBron James and the cartoon cast of Looney Tunes (less a cancelled Pepé Le Pew) in a hybrid live-action/animated reboot of the 1996 hit that doubled as Michael Jordan’s big-screen debut. The reviews range from mediocre to downright awful, with Rotten Tomatoes summing it up as “a shameless, tired exercise in IP-driven branding.” Space Jam: A New Legacy is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. CINEMA BLEND
SPOTTED...
...Julia Roberts’ 16-year-old daughter Hazel, making her red-carpet debut at Cannes: SEE PIC
…a rare “glass octopus,” caught on camera by a deep-sea underwater robot in the remote Pacific Ocean: SEE IT
LEFTOVERS: MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH
For the first time ever, researchers have been able to translate a person’s brain waves into sentences on a computer screen. Scientists in San Francisco successfully developed a brain implant for a man who was paralyzed in a car accident 15 years ago, allowing him to think in limited phrases that then show up as text on a monitor. The first-of-its-kind experiment uses a “neuroprosthesis” and the power of artificial intelligence and is thought to be a breakthrough that could change the lives of people who have lost the ability to communicate due to illness or injury. WATCH THE EXPERIMENT
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