1 Simone Biles And Other Gymnasts Accuse FBI Of Doing Nothing About Abuse Allegations Against Larry Nassar
Gymnast Simone Biles gave an emotional, tear-filled testimony yesterday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the handling of sexual abuse complaints against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. Biles was joined by fellow gymnasts McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman; all four gymnasts blasted the FBI for ignoring their complaints over the years, along with USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Biles broke into tears as she gave her testimony, saying “I don’t want another young gymnast or Olympic athlete to experience the horror I and hundreds of others have endured,” referring to the over 250 women that have accused the convicted pedophile of sexually abusing them. Maroney said the FBI not only ignored her accusations but actually lied about her statements saying “when they eventually documented my report 17 months later they made entirely false claims about what I said.” Biles suggested the trauma of the FBI’s lack of attention played a part in her withdrawal from the Olympic team final and several individual events at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Nassar is serving up to 175 years in prison on sex assault charges on top of a 60-year sentence for child pornography charges.
2 SpaceX Launches First All "Tourist" Crew
It was another historic first for SpaceX last night when the Inspiration4 blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center just after 8 p.m. Eastern. The historic part of the launch was the fact that the ship is crewed entirely by tourists; it’s the first space launch ever to not have at least one trained astronaut on board. The passenger list includes 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman, who financed the entire trip, Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor, and St. Jude physician assistant, Sian Proctor, a geologist and community college teacher with a doctorate, and Chris Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin employee that won his seat in a raffle. The crew will spend three days in orbit 350 miles above Earth, and every hour of their time is scheduled for them. The 13-foot-wide crew capsule, Resilience, has only been used one other time…for the Crew-1 mission that took four astronauts to the ISS.
3 Biden Announces Security Pact With The UK And Australia
President Joe Biden announced a new security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom last night in an attempt to counter the rising power of China. One of the first things that will happen as part of the agreement is that the U.S. will help Australia purchase nuclear submarines; only a handful of countries, including China and Russia, have the technology. A senior administration official called the pact “historic,” and said it wasn’t aimed at any one country, but President Biden has pointed to China as one of the biggest national security threats facing the U.S. Biden said the U.S. would be working with Australia over the next 18 months to go through every element of the nuclear submarine acquisition process.