Stranger Than Fiction

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• Florida reported 15,300 new cases on Sunday, the highest statewide single-day increase on record, bringing its total to 269,811. “45 more reported deaths were confirmed by the state since Saturday for a total of 4,242 since the start of the pandemic.”

• Poland’s Nationalist President Duda, a Trump Ally, Narrowly Wins Second Term “Poland’s nationalist President Andrzej Duda narrowly defeated his liberal challenger to clinch a second term, a razor-thin election whose results spoke to the European country’s intense political polarization.”

• EPA to Retain Ozone Standard Set by Obama Administration “The Trump administration plans to retain a national limit of 70 parts per billion for the pollutant ozone, the standard set by the Obama administration five years ago after business groups fought tougher standards.”

• The Taliban are in the midst of staging a major attack on an intelligence complex in an Afghan city.

WHAT I’M READING + WATCHING + LISTENING TO

• 🎧 LISTEN: Talking Sopranos - Sopranos co-stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa host the definitive Sopranos re-watch podcast. Michael and Steve follow the Sopranos series episode by episode giving fans all the inside info, behind the scenes stories and little-known facts that could only come from someone on the inside. 

• Jalan Alston, 18, gave his life Friday night to save two women in the ocean off Ventnor. They were caught in rough waters brought by Tropical Storm Fay, the Coast Guard and Ventnor police said.

• “The knowledge that the United States and other Western democracies are going to be on your case often deters authoritarian leaders from taking these kinds of actions,” America has abandoned that role, currently.

THE COMMENT

“Betsy DeVos, you have no plan. Teachers, kids and parents are fearing for their lives. You point to a private sector that has put profits over people and claimed the lives of thousands of essential workers. I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child.” - Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)

THE STRANGEST

• A group of partygoers were slapped with a $26,000 fine for breaching coronavirus stay-at-home restrictions in Melbourne last week after police tracked a 20-meal KFC order back to the gathering.

THE AV ROOM