news,english
Judy Woodruff:
In the day's other news: President Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to redouble efforts aimed at pinpointing the origin of COVID-19.
He asked for findings in 90 days, and pressed China to cooperate, amid fresh reports that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese lab.
At a White House briefing, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said it's vital to get answers.
Karine Jean-Pierre:
We need to get to the bottom of this. As we all know, we have lost almost 600,000 Americans to COVID-19. And we have to get a better sense of the origin of COVID-19 and, also, how do we prevent the next pandemic?
Judy Woodruff:
Jean-Pierre also made a bit of history at that session. She is the first openly gay woman and the first Black person in 30 years to deliver the daily White House briefing.
A tropical cyclone roared ashore today in Eastern India, forcing more than a million people to flee and killing at least six. The storm made landfall in Odisha state with winds gusting near 100 miles an hour. Huge waves battered the coastline as heavy rains flooded streets. Another storm struck India's West Coast less than two weeks ago.
A court in the Netherlands has issued a landmark climate ruling. It ordered the oil and gas company Royal Dutch/Shell to cut carbon emissions by a net 45 percent by 2030. The court found that Shell's current emissions plans are not enough. Climate change activists cheered the outcome outside the court in The Hague. They said it will have a ripple effect worldwide.
Roger Cox:
We're very, very happy that we now have this groundbreaking ruling where the court is crystal clear in the fact that corporations should indeed contribute to solving the climate crisis based on human rights law.
Judy Woodruff:
Also today, ExxonMobil shareholders voted to replace at least two board members over climate policy. The dissidents argued the company has failed to commit to greater use of clean energy over fossil fuels. The company had defended its efforts.
E-commerce giant Amazon made it official today: It's buying the media company MGM for nearly $8.5 billion. The deal adds thousands of MGM's feature films and TV programs to Amazon's streaming service. It's the latest major move in the media industry, as other services try to gain ground on Netflix and Disney+.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 10 points to close at 34323. The Nasdaq rose 80 points, and the S&P 500 added seven.
People across the Pacific region of the world got a special view overnight, a so-called super blood moon overnight. New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Western North America had the best views. A time-lapse of stills showed a total lunar eclipse that gave off a reddish-orange color. You can see it here. The full moon was also closer to Earth than usual, making it brighter.
from:pbs