Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, November 30, 2020:

COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Anyone who traveled over Thanksgiving should “assume that you were exposed” to the coronavirus and get tested this week while avoiding contact with people who are elderly or have underlying conditions. That plea came from Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday, and followed Dr. Fauci’s warning of a “surge upon a surge” that will hit in the next few weeks. In an abrupt change, NYC will reopen public elementary schools a week from today and abandon the controversial 3 percent test-positivity threshold. Middle and high schools in the country’s largest public-school system remain online-only for now. NY TIMES

BIDEN TRANSITION

President-elect Biden has announced an all-female communications team to be led by Jen Psaki, a former Obama adviser, as White House press secretary. He is also said to have also chosen Neera Tanden, a divisive figure in Democratic circles, to lead the budget office. Arizona and Wisconsin are set to certify their election results today (a recount in Wisconsin is over and reaffirmed Biden’s win there). The president-elect will likely have to wear a boot for a while after he fractured his foot while playing with his dog over the weekend. NPR

IRAN VOWS REVENGE

The supreme leader of Iran is calling for “definitive punishment” over the killing of the country’s top nuclear scientist. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated by a 12-person hit squad near Tehran on Friday in a sophisticated plot that had all the hallmarks of being conducted by Israel’s Mossad. Iran’s hardline state media has been casting Fakhrizadeh, who will be buried with full honors, as a martyr. There is growing concern that the brazen killing could destabilize the region just as a new U.S. administration is coming in. One Iranian newspaper called in an op-ed for a strike on the Israeli port city of Haifa. Israel’s embassies around the world have been put on high alert. REUTERS

TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE

The European Union is reportedly working on a proposal for a new transatlantic alliance with the U.S. in the post-Trump era. The draft plan proposes rebuilding ties on issues from trade to digital regulation as a way to counter the rise of China. Relations between the U.S. and many EU member states have been strained under the Trump administration. FT

IN MEMORIAM: TONY HSIEH

Tributes continue to pour in across the business world for Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos.com who died on Friday from injuries he sustained in a house fire. Hsieh was known as a visionary entrepreneur who was among the first to understand how to get customers to buy things on the internet -- namely, through a fanatical devotion to customer service. He pioneered a famous employment policy in which Zappos would pay new employees $1,000 to quit. The idea being: if they took up the offer, they didn’t have the sense of commitment the company was looking for. Hsieh was 46 years old. INC

CYBER MONDAY

In a Covid world, is there even a difference between a Black Friday that primarily happened online and the typical Cyber Monday online sales event that takes place today? Who knows. But the deals are still aplenty. The hottest big-ticket items this year are arguably the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, but good luck finding them in stock, virtually or physically. CBS NEWS

FOOTBALL: HIGHS & LOWS

NFL IN DISARRAY: The NFL’s marquee regular-season weekend did not go smoothly. The Broncos played their Sunday game against the Saints with a practice wide receiver at QB after all of the team’s quarterbacks were all sidelined under the COVID-19 protocol. It did not go well. Meanwhile, the Steelers-Ravens matchup that was supposed to be the big Thanksgiving night game was postponed to Sunday and then postponed again until tomorrow. In the NFC East, the N.Y. Giants are in first place with a record of ... 4-7. SBNATION

HISTORY MADE: Meanwhile, history was made in college football on Saturday when Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play for a Power 5 team. Fuller, who is normally a goalkeeper for Vanderbilt’s soccer team, kicked off to open the second half in the Vandy-Mizzou game: WATCH THE KICK

'CROODS' CRUSHES

The box office just had its biggest opening of any movie since before the pandemic. The Croods: A New Age took in $9.7 million domestically, or $14.2 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, beating out Tenet for the best opening haul since Disney’s Onward in March. Box office analysts were shocked by the opening and say it shows that the movie theater experience is resilient and could be set for a huge rebound post-vaccine. VARIETY

SPOTTED...

...the actress Rebel Wilson, who has been chronicling her weight loss on social media, announcing that she has hit her goal weight for her “Year of Health” journey a month early: SEE PICS

LEFTOVERS: MISSING MONOLITH

A large, silvery metal monolith that mysteriously appeared in the Utah desert has just as mysteriously vanished. The Bureau of Land Management says the monolith was removed sometime on Friday. No one knows what it was or who put it there, though the art world has been speculating that it was the work of the late sculptor John McCracken, who reportedly wanted his art to be left in remote places to be discovered after his death. AP

Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!

Share:
More In Business
Satoshi Island Plans to Become the Crypto Capital of the World
Satoshi Island is looking to become the world's first blockchain-driven economy. James Law, the chief architect of the planned private community, joined Cheddar to discuss the vision for the potential crypto capital of the world and how it will be brought to life. For people looking to live on the island, Law said they will be able to purchase land and homes and even design their own dwellings both in real life and via the metaverse. "Satoshi Island has already been digitally scanned. We have an absolute digital twin already in our metaverse," he said. Citizenship applications are expected to be launched via NFTs, he told Cheddar.
Virgin Orbit Goes Public One Week Before 'Above the Clouds' Space Mission
Satellite launch service Virgin Orbit has gone public on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with NextGen Acquisitions with a valuation of about $3.2 billion. CEO Dan Hart joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" from in front of his LauncherOne rocket in New York City's Times Square to talk about what's next after the IPO, an upcoming "Above the Clouds" mission to deliver commercial and national security payloads, and the benefits of their rockets being launched from commercial 747 aircraft. "We can launch anywhere in the world," he said. "There are almost 80 space agencies across the world, for instance, and about 10 of them have space launch. We can give them a space flight capability overnight by taking a runway and turning it into a spaceport."
Apple CEO Tim Cook Raked in Nearly $99 Million in 2021
CEO Tim Cook made a staggering $98.7 million in total compensation for 2021. The majority of Cook's earnings came from stocks along with his salary of $3 million. Apple recently became the first publicly traded U.S. company to have crossed the $3 trillion valuation mark.
Sony Unveils New Electric SUV Concept at CES 2022
Tech and entertainment giant Sony appears to be getting serious about automaking. An electric concept SUV — the Vision S-02 — was unveiled at CES 2022 and is slated to be produced by a new subdivision, Sony Mobility. This comes after the company revealed the Vision S concept Sedan at CES 2020.
Despite Lower Than Expected December Jobs Report, Some Positive Economic Signs
According to the Labor Department December report, the U.S added 199,000 jobs as opposed to the more than 400,000 that had been expected. William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equality at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to talk about the state of the economy and noted that, despite the miss, the drop-off in the unemployment rate signaled to him that the economy is moving in the right direction. "There was an upward revision of about 100,000, a little more than 100,000, for the months of October and November, so, again, I'm not as worried or looking at this as negative as you all are," Rodgers added. He also noted the next three months would likely see slower growth due to the winter but stated that it would remain in a positive direction.
Cheddar Climate: The Fight for Change 2021 Year-End Special
The year 2021 saw numerous natural disasters around the world, including extreme heat and wildfires, rare deep freezes, and historic flooding. This year's United Nations COP26 conference was key for getting world leaders on board with emissions reductions and other climate-focused policies as the UN Secretary-General said the agency's report on global warming is a 'code red for humanity.' In the U.S., President Joe Biden has focused most of his domestic agenda on slashing emissions and building climate-focused infrastructure. Guests from The Economist, UNC-Chapel Hill, Global Rescue, and more join Cheddar Climate's year-end special to discuss how the climate changed in 2021, and what to expect in 2022.
Load More