Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
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- The first $600 stimulus checks, a result of the pandemic relief bill that Trump eventually signed after delaying, were expected to hit bank accounts last night for people enrolled in direct deposit, according to the Treasury Department and the IRS. The government will start sending paper checks today. [Politico]
- A member of the Colorado National Guard is the first reported U.S. case of COVID-19 variant that is considered highly contagious. A second case is suspected in another Guard member. This strain of the coronavirus was first identified in Britain and has also been found in several other countries. [AP]
- Argentina has passed a landmark bill to legalize abortion in the country, a move that many believe could have a ripple effect across Latin America, where many socially conservative nations have stricter policies on abortion, if they allow them at all. Previously, Argentina permitted abortion in cases of rape or if the pregnancy posed a risk to a woman’s health. [NYT]
- Luke Letlow, a Republican who was elected to represent Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District in the House of Representatives, died on Tuesday evening of complications from COVID-19. He was 41. [NYT]
- The death toll in Latin America COVID-19 topped 500,000 and cases soared above 15 million, in part because of Brazil cases spiking. More than a third of the deaths occurred in Brazil, which reported its worst daily death toll from the novel coronavirus since September. [Reuters]
- Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has announced that he will object when Congress counts the Electoral College votes next week, forcing a vote in the House and the Senate in which lawmakers will decide to confirm Joe Biden’s victory. The vote is not expected to change the outcome of the election, but will simply delay an affirmation. [CNN]
- Selena Gomez shared a sharp message on social media directed at Facebook, in which she took the company to task for not taking harder policies on misinformation that could contribute to COVID-19 outbreaks, as well as hate, misinformation, racism and bigotry. “Scientific disinformation has and will cost lives. @Facebook said they don’t allow lies about COVID and vaccines to be spread on their platforms,” she said. [Billboard]