Protests. A profile. And a very hungry penguin. It’s Thursday and here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Shimon Peres
He was known as Israel’s warrior for peace for tirelessly trying to accomplish the seemingly impossible: peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Shimon Peres, who held virtually every important office — from defense minister to prime minister to president — has died. The Nobel laureate never stopped believing, even after a wave of bombings derailed his peace process. “Peace is costly,” he once said. “Only thing is, war costs more.”
2. California police shooting
There’s been another fatal police shooting of an African-American man, this time in a suburb northeast of San Diego.The man was behaving “erratically” near a restaurant. Police said the man wouldn’t follow their commands and kept his hands in his pockets. An officer fired after the man apparently pulled out an object and got in a “shooting stance.” No gun was found.
3. Alicia Machado
Is Donald Trump backing down from criticizing Alicia Machado, the ex-Miss Universe he once called “Miss Housekeeping” and “Miss Piggy”? Nope, he’s doubling down. Yesterday, he said Machado had “gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.” GOP lawmakers scurried as far as they could and Machado struck back, saying she doesn’t care much for Trump; at least she can show her taxes. Now, a list of the Donald’s troubles with women.
4. Air pollution
There’s nothing better than getting up and stepping outside to breathe in that crisp, morning air. Not so fast. A new air quality map from the World Health Organization says pollution is such a big problem now that almost everyone on Earth is breathing in polluted air. The WHO says 92% of the world’s population lives in places where the air quality doesn’t meet guidelines. So you may want to grab an air mask before that morning run.
5. Fertility
A baby with three parents? It’s not science fiction; it’s science fact, and not everybody’s happy about it. A boy, born in Mexico, was conceived through a technique that combined his mother’s egg and father’s sperm with the DNA from another woman. The unusual procedure was an attempt to avoid Leigh syndrome, a severe neurological condition. Some scientists are seriously concerned about the ethical implications of this.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
Book ban
Used to be that sex and offensive language got books banned from school libraries. Books featuring “diverse” characters, such as transgender youth, were the ones folks went after most last year.
Hanging with Hanks
If you’re competing in the wedding photo wars, give up now. You’re not going to beat this couple’s pics, complete with a Tom Hanks photobomb.
Spray-on racism
A right-wing party in Denmark is catching heat after handing out anti-immigrant spray that’s supposed to protect people from migrant attacks.
Mission to Mars
Tired of life on Earth? Don’t worry about it. We’ve got other options, now that Elon Musk has laid out his plans for starting a colony on Mars.
Mystery meat
Tyson Foods is recalling 130,000 pounds of chicken nuggets because they might contain plastic. So that’s what chicken nuggets are made of?
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH
Here’s what’s coming up later
Commander in chief
President Obama sits down with CNN’s Jack Tapper for the “CNN Presidential Town Hall: America’s Military and the Commander in Chief” tonight at 9 ET.
Number of the day
$41 million
That’s the amount of stock awards Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf is kissing goodbye to as the fallout from the bank’s phony accounts scandal continues. This is us playing the world’s smallest violin.
AND FINALLY …
Walk it back
A man makes a video of himself moonwalking across Europe, but oddly he doesn’t pick Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” as the background music. Weird.