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
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