Free speech victory: Nobel Peace Prize goes to journalists
Happy Friday, Daily Briefing readers! The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, two pioneering journalists from the Philippines and Russia for their work "to safeguard freedom of expression." The Senate ended days of drama, passing a deal to raise the debt ceiling into December. And if you're into stars, you're in luck: The Draconid meteor shower will light up the night sky. ✨
It's Steve and Jane with Friday's news.
🔵 New this morning: It's not just Britney Spears. 1.3 million Americans are under conservatorships. Activists want reform.
💰 The Senate last night ended a partisan stalemate over the nation's debt ceiling that had threatened to roil global financial markets, agreeing to a temporary extension that portends another showdown in early December.
🔵 Also new this morning: The Not F---ing Around Coalition, an all-Black militia, burst into view during last year's protests against police brutality. Now the group is struggling to attract attention as prosecutors pursue charges against its leader, Grandmaster Jay.
🔴 "It's ruining her life": The mother of the woman who was videotaped dancing near Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer in Columbus, Ohio, said she is worried about her daughter's wellbeing.
🚙 "We're going to create an ecological paradise": Tesla is moving its corporate headquarters from California to Austin, CEO Elon Musk said, a stunning announcement that continues the Texas city’s rise as a technology hub.
⚽️ Ricardo Pepi scored two goals, becoming at 18 the youngest American to score in consecutive World Cup qualifiers as the U.S. dominated Jamaica in a 2-0 victory.
🎓 Student loan forgiveness: Here's who's eligible and how to apply under President Joe Biden’s overhauled relief program.
📰 How well did you pay attention to the news this week? Take our quiz!
🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear how this year’s Nobel Prize winners are changing the world. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
Here's what's happening today:
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists from Philippines, Russia
The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression." In 2012, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused “critical attention on the (President Rodrigo) Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign,” the Nobel committee said. Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993. “Novaya Gazeta is the most independent newspaper in Russia today, with a fundamentally critical attitude towards power,” the Nobel committee said. The prize for literature was awarded to U.K.-based Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah. There's more to come: The Nobel Prize for economics will be announced Monday.
After a disappointing August, US hiring may have risen in September
America's employers may have stepped up their hiring in September after a slowdown in August. But COVID-19's fingerprints will likely still be found on the September jobs report being released Friday. Economists have forecast employers added 488,000 jobs last month, according to data provider FactSet via The Associated Press. That's about half the gains in both June and July, when a sharp drop in new infections spurred more traveling, shopping and spending, but well above August's sluggish growth of 235,000 jobs after economists had estimated that 750,000 would be added. A big question surrounding the September report is whether employers managed to find enough people to fill a record-high number of open jobs.
What else people are reading:
🗞 Adele has returned. The 33-year-old British singer is the cover star for the November issue of both American Vogue and British Vogue, something that has never happened before.
📺 "It wasn't funny": "Shark Tank" judge Barbara Corcoran apologized to Whoopi Goldberg after body shaming her during an appearance on "The View."
💰 Maya Angelou, Sally Ride and other trailblazing American women will be featured on new 2022 quarters. Here's what the designs look like.
🦍 Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla who once went viral for a selfie has died at 14 in the arms of her caretaker, said the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Biden to restore 3 national monuments reduced by Trump
President Joe Biden will restore two national monuments in Utah that have been at the center of a long-running public lands dispute, and a marine conservation area in the Atlantic Ocean that has been used for commercial fishing. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments cover vast expanses of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings. Former President Donald Trump invoked the century-old Antiquities Act to cut two million acres from the two monuments, calling restrictions on energy production a "massive land grab" that "should never have happened." The White House announced the changes Thursday. Biden's official schedule has him delivering remarks on "restoring protections for national monuments" Friday afternoon.
Newsmakers in their own words: How the Facebook outage affected some
Facebook's apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus shut down late Monday morning on the East Coast and didn't return until about six hours later in the evening. For many people that meant more than five long hours of silence during emergencies and emotional events.
Noriel Garcia moved to Texas from Mexico with a work visa seven months ago, leaving behind his pregnant wife and family and hoped to witness the birth of his daughter via video chat. The little girl was born during the outage and he missed it.
MLB playoffs in full swing with all 8 teams in action
All eight teams left in the MLB playoffs will take the field Friday in their respective best-of-5 division series. In Houston, the Astros look to take a 2-0 series lead in the American League Division Series over the Chicago White Sox (2:07 p.m. ET, MLB Network). Houston cruised to a 6-1 win Thursday. Later, the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of their National League Division Series (4:37 p.m. ET, TBS). Back in the AL, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays face off in Game 2 (7:02 p.m. ET, FS1) with the Red Sox looking to even the series at 1-1 after getting shut out 5-0 Thursday. Finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers will travel north to face the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of their matchup (9:37 p.m. ET, TBS).
Fact check: Let's clear up a few things
✔ The claim: Pennsylvania state House Democrat Chris Rabb introduced a bill requiring vasectomies for certain money. Our rating: Missing context. Rabb announced he plans to introduce legislation requiring vasectomies for men, but it's a parody bill.
✔ The claim: A video shows a man running away from people trying to give him the COVID-19 vaccine. Our rating: False❌
✔ The claim: A photo shows a man hanged by the Taliban in front of his son. Our rating: False❌
✔ The claim: Apple is removing the popular private messaging app Telegram from iPhones. Our rating: False❌ Spokespeople from both companies said Apple is not taking that action.
🔵 Did you know we have a whole newsletter dedicated just to fact checks? Sign up here so you can get the real story.
Look up! You could catch the Draconid meteor shower Friday night
Stargazers are in for a treat this week: The Draconid meteor shower is expected to peak Friday. Researchers say skywatchers will have a clear, ideal view of the meteor shower this year, thanks to the crescent moon. The thin, waxing moon is expected to set before nightfall – a perfect time, because the meteors are best viewed when it becomes dark, according the American Meteor Society. The Draconid meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, appears every October, but unlike most meteor showers, it occurs earlier in the night. The shower is capable of spewing hundreds of meteors per hour. In 2011, European stargazers witnessed more than 600 meteors an hour.
ICYMI: Some of our top stories Thursday
💸 Money doesn't always buy happiness. In fact some lottery winners have experienced bankruptcy, divorce, prison time and have even been murdered.
🎓Student loan forgiveness: Half a million people are to benefit from an overhaul, some of them immediately.
🏀 More than a dozen retired NBA players have been indicted for defrauding a league health care plan, according to federal court records unsealed Thursday.
📸 Photo of the day: Rays star steals home in Game 1 win over Red Sox 📸
Tampa Bay Rays rookie outfielder Randy Arozarena made history Thursday night by becoming the first player in playoff history to hit a home run and steal home in the same game during the Rays' 5-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of their American League Division Series.
And it was the first straight steal of home in a playoff game since Jackie Robinson ducked under the tag of Yogi Berra in Game 1 of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers-New York Yankees World Series.
Click here to see more photos from Arozarena's historic night and head here to see more photos from the 2021 Major League Baseball playoffs.
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Contributing: The Associated Press