Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, September 25, 2020:
TRANSFER OF POWER
Senate Republicans moved to distance themselves from President Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he were to lose the election. Trump continued to sow doubt in the integrity of the election, saying he’s not sure it could be “honest.” Democrats have started to talk seriously with state election officials and armies of lawyers about what might happen if the president were to refuse to relinquish power, or the growing possibility that a contested election would end up in the courts. WASH POST
ECONOMIC STIMULUS TALKS
Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Sec. Mnuchin have agreed to restart stalled negotiations over another economic rescue package. House Democrats are prepping a bill that would be narrower in scope than the $3.4 trillion package they passed in May that then died in the Senate. The jump-started talks come as bars and restaurants around the country are failing and the airline industry faces the imminent threat of mass layoffs. Another 870,000 people filed for unemployment last week, a sign the recovery is slowing. BLOOMBERG
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
With cases once again on the rise in the U.S., scientists say the virus may be mutating to become more contagious (but not more lethal). The new spike in infections is mostly in the West, Midwest and Texas; 20 states have seen at least a 5 percent spike in caseloads over the last two weeks. Overseas, Israel’s nationwide lockdown begins today. Rio’s famous Carnival parade will not happen in February, the first time it’s been delayed since 1912. Health officials in Spain are warning that Madrid and its surrounding suburbs face “tough weeks ahead” as the virus resurges there. GUARDIAN
MASTERPIECE FOR SALE
The high-end auction market will get its first major post-COVID test when an extremely rare Botticelli goes on the block at Sotheby’s in January. The painting of a young nobleman by the Renaissance master (one of just 12 he’s known to have produced) is expected to fetch at least $80 million. AP
AMAZON IN-HOME DRONE
Amazon is prepping for the upcoming Prime Day and holiday season with a new slate of devices and services. Among the new products, a surveillance camera mounted on a tiny drone that automatically launches and flies around your home if the alarm is triggered. Amazon also announced a new cloud-gaming service, new Echo and Fire TV devices and an Alexa-powered dashcam that can record traffic stops. CNET
APPLE CRITICS COME TOGETHER
Spotify, Epic Games, Match Group and other companies have come together to form an alliance in order to pressure Apple over its App Store rules. The Coalition for App Fairness says it's open to any developers, especially smaller ones without the resources to take on Apple by themselves. The alliance is intended to mobilize protests against three issues: the 30 percent cut Apple takes from app purchases, the lack of other ways to distribute apps on iOS beyond the App Store, and claims that Apple favors its own services over the competition. THE VERGE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Pac-12 Conference, home of USC, Oregon and Stanford, will play a seven-game football season starting Nov. 6. It’s the last of the “Power Five” conferences to commit to a restarted season in the fall, though it will have the latest start. The decision comes just ahead of the SEC’s return to the gridiron this weekend. YAHOO SPORTS
LIVE FROM NEW YORK...
Chris Rock has been tapped to host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live next weekend. Megan Thee Stallion is the musical guest. Rock is starring in the new season of Fargo, which returns Sunday after a three-year hiatus. DEADLINE
SPOTTED...
...Selena Gomez, modeling a swimsuit with the scar from her 2017 kidney transplant surgery visible. Gomez says she finally feels confident showing off the scar in public: SEE PIC
LEFTOVERS: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Police in Vietnam raided a factory that they say was recycling used condoms to be packaged as new. Authorities found 320,000 condoms that had been discarded, washed, reshaped and then repackaged for sale in a local market. CBS NEWS
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