Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, May 27, 2021:
SAN JOSE SHOOTING
A gunman killed eight people and himself at a light-rail facility in San Jose, Calif., in the latest mass shooting in America. The shooter was a nine-year veteran of the railyard and appeared to have targeted fellow employees, according to police, and set his house on fire before the rampage. There’s no motive yet, but his exes told media outlets that he was a violent alcoholic and abuser prone to wild mood swings. SF CHRON
COVID ORIGINS
President Biden has asked the intelligence community to double down on efforts to figure out where the coronavirus originated amid new reports suggesting it may have accidentally come from a lab accident, rather than what had been the prevailing theory that the virus started circulating in Wuhan’s wet market in late 2019. Meanwhile, the Biden administration reportedly shut down a Trump administration-led investigation of the “lab leak” theory over concerns about the quality of the work. CNN
OLYMPIC OPPOSITION
A major Japanese newspaper has come out against holding the Summer Olympics, scheduled to open in Tokyo in less than two months. Asahi Shimbun is the first national paper in Japan to call for the games’ cancellation, and it follows growing calls from Japanese business leaders to scrap the already-delayed Olympics given the country’s latest COVID surge and poor vaccination drive. Public polls also show a vast majority of people in Japan oppose holding the events. For its part, the IOC says the games will go on. ESPN
CABLE CAR TRAGEDY
A cable-car accident in northern Italy that killed 14 people last weekend appears to have been entirely preventable. Italian authorities arrested three employees of the cable-car company, alleging that they disabled the emergency brake on the gondola as a quick repair so they wouldn’t have to shut the tourist attraction down for longer necessary repairs. When the lead cable snapped, the brake that would have kept the car from plunging to the ground was disengaged. Among those killed in the accident: five members of an Israeli family. The lone survivor of the crash, a 5-year-old boy from that family, is recovering in the hospital. REUTERS
BIG OIL RECKONING
May 26, 2021 may go down as a landmark day of reckoning for the fossil fuel industry. Three separate developments at three of the biggest oil companies in the world amounted to major victories for the climate movement. Shell was ordered by a Dutch court to drastically cut its CO2 emissions this decade in a ruling that could set a precedent for all of Big Oil. Separately, an activist hedge fund that’s taken a small stake in ExxonMobil in order to agitate for a greener strategy won two seats on the corporate board, the first time that's ever happened. Another coup happened at Chevron, where a majority of shareholders voted to force the company to cut carbon emissions. GUARDIAN
HIDE YOUR LIKES
All Facebook and Instagram users will be able to hide the likes on their posts. Facebook had been testing the option on Instagram as a way to address mental health concerns, particularly among teenagers. Now the company will expand hiding the like to count all billions of its users on both platforms, but as an optional feature. Here’s how to do it: READ
007'S FATE
The producers of the James Bond franchise have vowed to keep the movies in theaters despite Amazon buying the studio behind 007. It’s not clear if that means future Bond films will premiere “day and date” on Amazon Prime Video and in cinemas or if they will get an exclusive theatrical window. No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final turn as the British spy, is still scheduled to come out in October, nearly two years after its original release date. VARIETY
BACK TO BROADWAY
The Tonys have a date: Sept. 26, just as Broadway shows are set to reopen. The Tony Awards have been dark ever since the pandemic closed the curtain on the theater industry. In a change from past years, the primetime show on CBS will only show the biggest awards, devoting the rest of the telecast to performances. The bulk of the awards will be given out on Paramount+. BROADWAY.COM
AFTER ELLEN
Kelly Clarkson has been tapped to take over the daytime hour currently filled by Ellen DeGeneres. The Kelly Clarkson Show will air in the place of Ellen when that show ends its run next year. NBC already owns the Clarkson production, so it will come cheaper than the Warner Bros.-produced Ellen. THR
SPOTTED...
...a Super Flower Blood Moon, the most spectacular celestial event of the year, as seen from the western U.S. to eastern Asia: SEE PICS
...Shailene Woodley, Aaron Rodgers, Miles Teller and Teller’s wife, Keleigh, on a couples’ vacation in Hawaii: SEE PICS
...the first photos from Ariana Grande’s wedding, featuring the singer in a lily-white Vera Wang dress: SEE PICS
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