Tuesday, October 25 top stories
It is Tuesday, October 25. Here are today’s top stories.
Brittney Griner appeal denied; begins 9 yr sentence
A court in Russia denied WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession, which means Griner will have to start serving her prison term.
Griner was arrested in February in Russia a short time after Russia started invading Ukraine. Griner was in Russia to play in a professional basketball league during WNBA’s offseason. She admitted to having cannabis canisters in her luggage and her attorneys said it was for her chronic pain. Cannabis is illegal in Russia.
The Biden Administration said Russia’s judicial proceeding is a sham and that President Biden is willing to make tough decisions to bring Americans home.
The WNBA Players Association said Griner is very clearly a hostage.
AP News said there could be a high-stakes prisoner swap coming soon between Moscow and Washington.
Adidas ends partnership with Ye
Adidas said it is terminating its partnership with Ye, as known as Kanye West. Adidas said his “recent comments and actions have been unacceptable” and that “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.”
Ye made a string of social media posts earlier this month that were antisemitic such as statements that Jewish people were controlling people and were greedy. The final straw for many was when he tweeted, “I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” which looked like an open and violent threat against Jewish people.
Adidas said it would stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas predicted that they would lose about $250 million this year due to dropping designs created by the partnership, especially before the holiday shopping season.
Ye’s billionaire status is also gone, as Forbes said his net worth has dropped from an estimated $1.9 billion to $400 million.
Rishi Sunak becomes the U.K.’s prime minister
The U.K. now has a new prime minister and their third prime minister this year: Rishi Sunak. He is the U.K.’s first prime minister of color and the youngest PM since 1812 at 42 years old. He was chosen as the leader from a vote among members of the Conservative Party.
King Charles III asked Sunak to become prime minister to make it official. It is the first time that King Charles has invited someone to become a PM. The last PM, Liz Truss, was appointed by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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Leslie Jordan dies at 67
Actor Leslie Jordan, who was known for his roles in “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story,” passed away at the age of 67 on Monday morning. His BMW crashed into the side of a building in Hollywood. He was behind the wheel and declared dead at the scene. News reports said he could have suffered a medical emergency beforehand.
Jordan had a role as a gay baker on the Fox sitcom “Call Me Kat” in its third season this year. Many people mourned his passing in tributes posted on social media.
Update on St. Louis school shooting
Here is an update on the high school shooting in St. Louis on Monday morning that killed two people.
Police said the gunman was 19-year-old Orlando Harris. He was shot and killed by police. Harris graduated from the high school, Central VPA High School, in 2021. He had no criminal history but had a history of mental health issues.
The two people who died in the shooting are 16-year-old high school student Alexandria Bell and 61-year-old health teacher Jean Kirk Kuczka.
Police showed an image of the gun Harris used, which is an AR-15-style rifle. He had about 600 rounds of ammunition with him.
Police said inside his car, there was a handwritten note that said he was very lonely and that this “was the perfect storm for a mass shooting.”
Broken elevator strands group at Grand Canyon Caverns
On Sunday, an elevator at the Grand Canyon Caverns, a tourist destination in Arizona that is about 21 stories underground, malfunctioned. Some visitors took the stairs out of the cave, but there were five people who couldn’t use the stairs.
They were stuck underground overnight and finally brought back on Monday night with the help of a search and rescue team.
The cave does have a hotel suite that can fit six people, so the group was able to remain comfortable and safe. NBC News said the group was pulled up by a “tripod apparatus with a rope that fed down the elevator shaft to hoist the party up 210 feet to the surface.”
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/25/rishi-sunak-uk-prime-minister
https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1584857712868806656/photo/1
https://heavy.com/news/orlando-harris/
https://www.kmov.com/2022/10/25/what-we-know-about-cvpa-shooter-timeline-events/