The debates are finally here. More on that Washington mall shooting. And a weekend of big losses. It’s Monday and here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Campaign 2016
The first presidential debate is finally upon us. Obviously everyone’s hyping it up to be a huge battle of wits, so here’s a breakdown of Clinton and Trump’s biggest debate strengths and weaknesses going into tonight. Oh, and all of this is happening while the candidates are in a virtual dead heat in the polls. If you want to be REALLY cynical at your debate-watching party, perhaps you should be asking: Are all of these crazy expectations a farce?
2. Syria civil war
Long story short: It’s a mess. That ceasefire is long gone. Two hundred airstrikes, and that’s just this weekend. At least 85 dead in Aleppo. Diplomats are at each other’s throats. And as if it couldn’t get worse, another devastating photograph is bringing the horror of this war back into sharp focus. How has the world failed Syria so completely? Here’s an explanation.
3. Washington mall shooting
Why did 20-year-old Arcan Cetin turn up at a Macy’s in Burlington, Washington, and kill five people? Did he know them? Was this an act of terror? We may learn more more today when Cetin appears in court. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, however, to find out the ID of the five victims, the coroner says.
4. North Carolina shooting
Charlotte police finally released video of Keith Lamont Scott’s shooting death. Sadly, it answered …pretty much nothing. Neither the dashcam nor body-camera footage shows Scott pointing a gun at officers. One video shows Scott with his arm by his side, but it’s unclear if there’s a gun. The release came in under the wire: A new NC law goes into effect next month that blocks the public from seeing such recordings.
5. Nigeria abducted girls
Remember the 300 girls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014? There’s a new, discouraging twist to the story. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a new video to mock the parents of the girls and the Nigerian government after the army said it killed him last month. “To the despot Nigerian government: Die with envy. I’m not dead,” Shekau says in the video.
Breakfast Browse
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
Jose Fernandez dies
The baseball world and beyond is mourning the superstar Miami Marlins pitcher, 24, who died early yesterday in a boating accident.
Arnold Palmer dies
The golf legend passed away yesterday too. He was 87.
Buckwheat Zydeco dies
The Louisiana music icon, whose real name was Stanley Dural Jr., left us Saturday at 68.
Ugh. We need SOMETHING happy
Need to cheer up now? Here’s an elderly couple reuniting in a nursing home.
Number of the Day
$45,000
How much writer Truman Capote’s ashes sold for at auction this weekend.
And finally …
Giving up…plastic?
Literally almost everything you eat and love is covered in plastic. Could you go a whole MONTH without using the stuff? It’s harder than it looks.
