National News – 05-03-2021

• President Joe Biden indicated on Friday that he may order that all U.S. military forces receive the coronavirus vaccine
• Currently it is unclear whether Biden has the political mandate to do so and the White House seems uncertain whether he can proceed with the mandate
• Most members of the military are required to receive a series of vaccinations and other shots in part to their service but the Defense Department is not mandating the coronavirus vaccine as it is under “emergency authorization by the FDA

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• The latest states to advance bills to enact laws that ban these requirements based on vaccination status are Arkansas and Montana
• Republican Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson signed various measures to prevent state and local governments from requiring proof of vaccination as a condition of employment or to access goods and services on April 28
• Governors of five other states (which include Arizona, Idaho, Florida, Texas, and South Dakota) have also issued executive orders to prohibit vaccination passports/requirements
• Most of the measures are pending and some – including bills in Virginia and Wyoming – have failed, but one will soon become law in Utah

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• Expected to be soon signed into law, the bill would limit who can return a completed mail-in ballot and create additional restrictions for ballot drop box use
• The bill would limit ballot drop boxes to just early voting hours unless the boxes were located at election supervisors’ offices, and all drop boxes will be required to be staffed in person by election supervisors’ office workers if they are in use
• SB90 also limits who can hand out any item, including food and water or election-related materials, to voters waiting in line to vote
• The legislation restricts third-party voter registration groups and requires voters to request mail-in ballots regularly

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With 100 Days In, Has Biden kept his Promises on Covid, immigration, or policing?

• At the 100 day mark, Biden has accomplished many of his campaign-era promises but setbacks, including on immigration and gun control, have meant that other promises remain unmet
• In regards to the promises he kept, he has: Rolled back “Trump-Era policies, provided Covid-19 relief and vaccinations, and committed to cutting the U.S. Global warming emissions
• The promises that are still a work in progress include: reversing Trump’s immigration policies, Reopening majority of elementary middle schools, and passing the equality act
• The promise that Biden has not kept was to establish a police oversight commission within the first 100 days

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• In Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX has safely returned four astronauts from the International Space Station today on Sunday which makes the first U.S. crew splashdown in the darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot
• The Dragon capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, just before 3 a.m.
• This flight has ended the second astronaut flight for SpaceX with an express trip back to Earth for 6 ½ hours
• The astronauts, three American and one Japanese, flew back in the same capsule  named Resilience
• The 167-day mission was the longest for a crew capsule launching from the U.S.

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• Across 16 of America’s largest cities and counties, there was a 164% increase in anti-Asian hate crime reports to police in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2020
• New York saw the greatest increase, 223%, with the number of incidents reported to police rising from 13 to 42
• San Francisco saw a 140% increase from 5 to 12 and other reported incidents in Los Angeles and Boston increased 80% and 60%

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• Stimulation checks along with increased demand combined and increased vaccination rates has led to demand for new styled clothing
• According to industry executives, shoppers, and analysts, many people gaining or losing weight during a pandemic are expected to boost clothing sales
• Many major retailers like TJ Maxx and Macy’s are seeing a great recovery in the “comfortable” style clothing department

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• International tensions over access to Covid-19 vaccines have intensified as supply hiccups disrupt mass rollouts of shots
• the world’s major vaccine producers rely on each other for the essential ingredients to manufacture vaccines through a web of cross-border supply chains in complex chemicals, fatty acids and glass vials
• If governments restrict vaccine exports, they risk retaliation from other members of this exclusive club of vaccine makers, who could withhold vital supplies
• According to Simon Evenett, professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, The members of the vaccine club source on average 88.3% of the imported ingredients from other club members

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• Amazon.com Inc reports first-quarter sales hit $108 billion, which is a 44% increase from the same period a year earlier
• Amazon said it expects sales from April to June to reach between $110 billion and $116 billion
• Amazon shares shot up about 5% in after-hour trading Thursday
• The largest U.S. tech companies report drastic growth last year as consumers and businesses relied more on online shopping, software, cloud services, smart devices, and video streaming
• The combined revenue for Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft grew by one-fifth to $1.1 trillion
• The collective market capitalization of these companies rose to almost $8 trillion at the end of 2020

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