5 things to know before August 14: Election, coronavirus, stimulants, Mideast, sports

Russia has offered to help the US with a coronavirus vaccine, but the US has not. Remember, Russia said this week that it has developed a vaccine, but medical experts and US officials are skeptical about its effectiveness and the level of scientific rigor in testing it. Meanwhile, the UK government has secured 90 million doses from two vaccine candidates who are still in clinical trials. And if you think natural herd immunity will protect us before a vaccine does, then think again. Re-immunity is achieved when about 70% to 90% of a population becomes immune to a disease, and Drs. Anthony Fauci says letting this virus reach those thresholds would lead to massive deaths. Things are looking bad as they are: The CDC now projects nearly 5,000,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths through Sept. 5; the current U.S. death toll is around 167,000.

Congress is facing a harsh reality. After weeks of fruitless talks, any action on a new incentive package will probably have to wait until early September – at the very least. That means no more relief checks, no more help for small business, nothing for at least a few weeks. And many people are still hurting, also because first-time unemployed claims fell below 1 million for the first time since March. Leader of the House of Representatives Mitch McConnell seems to indicate that the House of Representatives will participate in the House of Representatives for the remainder of August, unless a deal is reached. Even then, Republicans and Democrats do not seem closer to an agreement than they were last month. Oh, and there are now concerns that incentive negotiations could stand in the way of an upcoming deadline for government closures that falls just as election season reaches its crescendo.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalize relations in a historic ceasefire. As part of the peace treaty, Israel has agreed to suspend annexation plans in the West Bank, an arrangement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says is only temporary. The UAE and Israel also plan to exchange embassies and ambassadors. While some world powers such as Egypt and the United Kingdom hailed the deal, saying it was a step towards peace in the Middle East, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the peace agreement as “a betrayal of Jerusalem.” The PA also announced that it was withdrawing its ambassador to the UAE immediately in response to the deal.

The NCAA has officially canceled fall championships in all sports, potentially pushing them to the spring. But the governing body of college sports does not really cover college football (the conferences in the football system do), so there could still be gridiron action – perhaps. A few major conferences have already postponed their seasons and more are likely to follow, which could derail the whole thing. That would have far-reaching consequences, including hours upon hours of unfinished broadcast time. One complicated factor of these decisions? College athletes receive no payment. However, a group of senators has announced a plan to introduce a “College Athletes Bill of Rights” aimed at compensating college athletes amid pressure to play during the pandemic.

So many celebrities have been packing good baby news lately!

This story has the term “burger fusion” in it, which is just fantastic.

They promote it as “films in 2020 against 1920 awards.” (And 2020 air conditioning, hopefully.)

Needless to say, there were no mosh-pits.

OK, that’s it. No more new nightmares for the rest of the year. If you’re a nightmare who wants to take part in this season of Planet Earth, we’m sorry, but applications are closed.

That’s how much the Justice Department recently decided in cryptocurrency of terrorist groups in the Middle East, and marks the largest takeover by the U.S. government over online financing of terrorists.

Sen. Marco Rubio, chairman of the House First Committee, who voted back in June to allow the Pentagon and the intelligence community to publicly analyze videos of unidentified flying objects. The Pentagon is now forming a task force to investigate the objects.

This happened back in July, but remains one of the best “pet interrupted video calls” we’ve seen lately. (Click here to view.)