Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other going ons in Latin America and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
- Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
- Joe Biden held a moment of silence for the 500,000 lives that have been lost due to COVID-19 yesterday from the White House and reaffirmed his commitment to combating the virus. “We, as a nation, must remember them so we can begin to heal, to unite, and find purpose as one nation to defeat this pandemic,” he said. [Telegraph]
- The mother of Cristian Pineda, the 11-year-old boy who died on Tuesday after freezing weather and power outages hit Texas, has fled a wrongful death lawsuit in Jefferson County District Court. The Pineda family is accusing Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Entergy Corporation of gross negligence in the suit. [Independent]
- According to a policy alert published Monday, the Biden administration is rolling back a Trump-era civics test and reverted to a prior version from 2008. The Trump version had changed the test content, increased the number of questions on the test, and updated the number of questions applicants had to answer correctly to pass. [CNN]
- Jennifer Susan Wright, a Trump-supporting anesthesiologist in Florida, has been charged for a hate crime against a Latino man after assaulting him outside of a supermarket in Miami Dade County. The incident, according to police reports, happened on the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The Latino man had asked the woman in line to maintain social distancing in Spanish and then in English; she eventually followed him and scratched his car with her keys, called him a racial slur, punched him, and stomped on his phone. [NBC Latino]
- AOC called out West Virginia Senator for opposing Neera Tanden’s appointment to director of the Office of Management and Budget, which would make her the first Asian American woman to fill the role, and for expressing doubts over Deb Haaland, who could become the first Native American person to lead as interior secretary. AOC pointed out Manchin supported Jeff Sessions, despite concerns about racism throughout his career. [Guardian]
- Cardi B and Mariah Carey exchanged career advice and experiences during a recent one-on-one for Interview magazine. Carey offered her words of wisdom and even asked if the two of them could work on a song together someday. [Interview]