‘Twas The Day Before Friday

Barrett Senate Hearings Conclude

Yesterday marked the last day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett (full video). After the hearings, Democrats are expected to delay a committee vote until Oct. 22, with a wider Senate confirmation vote likely following within the next week. As the situation currently stands, Senate Republicans are projected to have 51 “Yes” votes.

France Declares State Of Emergency

French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of emergency beginning on Friday at midnight in response to a resurgence of COVID-19. The declaration includes the imposition of a nightly curfew - punishable by a ~$160 fine - for at least one month on the areas hit hardest by the virus, including the region surrounding Paris.

More: Europe recently surpassed the U.S. in the number of new daily infections for the first time since early April.

U.S. Hostages Released From Yemen

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen released two U.S. hostages yesterday as part of a larger prisoner exchange. The Houthis reportedly agreed to release the two hostages, along with the remains of a third, in exchange for Saudi Arabia and its allies guaranteeing safe passage of more than 200 Houthi loyalists from the neighboring country of Oman back to Yemen. Most of the Houthi loyalists were stranded in Oman after traveling there to receive medical treatment as part of an UN-brokered gesture of goodwill.

Money In The Bank

Several major banks reported third-quarter earnings over the past two days. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs saw their quarterly profits increase year over year to $9.4B and $3.6B respectively, while Citigroup and Wells Fargo both experienced a drop-off but remained profitable, making $3.2B and $1.7B respectively.

Post Hoc Analysis

Facebook and Twitter separately made decisions to limit the distribution of a NY Post exclusive story published Wednesday. The article contains “smoking gun” emails regarding Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in connection with Ukraine, though some have questioned its accuracy. Facebook said it was limiting the story’s spread while third-party fact checkers investigated its authenticity, while Twitter - which blocked the URL from being shared on its site - cited its policy on hacked materials.

LEFT CENTER → CNBC                                      RIGHT CENTER → Reason

Brewing Up Change

Starbucks released a letter to employees yesterday laying out its diversity goals for the future. The company states that it wants to have at least 30% of its corporate workforce at all levels be composed of people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color by 2025. The coffee giant intends to accomplish this through increased community outreach and the establishment of mentorship programs.

🏈 You Kidding Me? Playoffs?!?! Amazon reached a deal with the NFL to stream one of two new “wildcard” playoff games this season on Amazon Prime Video, per the WSJ. (If the title has you yearning for the infamous press conference, here it is)

Not Enough Cooks In The Kitchen

The customers at a crowded Thai restaurant in North Island, New Zealand, began to grow impatient one night earlier this month as they experienced a seemingly endless wait for their food. Back in the kitchen, a lone chef was scrambling to fill meal orders, feeling frazzled due to an unusual problem – a family emergency had left the establishment severely understaffed, with no wait staff present to deliver orders to the patrons.

When the customers finally found out about the cook’s paralyzing predicament, they immediately jumped into action. The woman first in line to pay for her meal began waiting tables, and another stepped in to run the register. According to Emily Puhi, a patron who posted about the heartwarming scene on Facebook, the restaurant's whole atmosphere quickly changed from hostile to hospitable.

Helping Others Is Their Bread & Butter

Before the pandemic, an international magazine company known as the Big Issue was already active in preventing poverty in Tokyo, hiring people experiencing homelessness as the sole vendors of its publication in the city. However, with economic hardship proliferating among both individuals and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, the company innovated another way to help Japan’s homeless and tackle another issue – food waste.

On October 1st, the Big Issue opened a pop-up nighttime bakery in Tokyo selling bread leftover from the city’s popular bakeries, hiring only dispossessed locals to run the operation. The bakery, which will be open intermittently as it finds a permanent location, had a line of people waiting outside 30 minutes before opening and sold out its stock in just one hour.

Sea You Later!

Nicholas Lewis, a 41-year-old crab and lobster fisherman at Peel Bay on the Isle of Man, first met Shauna the seal in 2010, when the animal poked her head out of the water to look for fish. Just a pup at the time, the outgoing seal caught Nicholas’s attention. After he gave her some mackerel from the day’s catches, Shauna seemingly decided that she and the fisherman would be friends for life.

Over the past ten years, Shauna has visited Nicholas every day as he works, following one of his three boats around to say hello and enjoy a few tasty fish (video). Since the seal has gone blind over the past two years, Nicholas has devoted extra time and care to his special companion, whom he says he “loves very much” and treats as his child.

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