Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
San Ysidro Border Crossing Closes After Fence Breach Attempt
US Customs and Border Protection closed the Mexican border at the San Ysidro port of entry on Sunday after a group of asylum seekers in Tijuana tried to breach the separation fence. The rush of migrants — around 500, according to CNN — eventually resulted in agents shooting tear gas.
According to a statement from US Customs and Border Protection, the port was closed “to prepare for the possibility that additional groups would also break off from demonstrations for a possible attempt or attempts to rush illegally through the port of entry.”
The incident came after weeks of “thousands of migrants” from Central America gathering at the Tijuana border with hopes of entering the US, The Los Angeles Times reported. President Trump, however, has said he wants to seal off the border to prevent any migrants from entering the country before they go through the immigration process.
National Climate Assessment Describes Bleak Future
A National Climate Assessment is released every four years, and the latest — a nearly 1,700-page report produced by 13 federal agencies — warned of thousands of deaths, a damaged economy, and more. “Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities,” the report’s overview stated. “The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future—but the severity of future impacts will depend largely on actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur.”
If greenhouse emissions aren’t reduced significantly, the annual average global temperature is at risk of rising by 9 degrees Fahrenheit or more by the end of the century. The report said that higher temperatures will kill more people, especially in the Midwest since it’ll have the largest increase in extreme temperature. What’s more, the report “suggests no facet of life — whether it’s global trade, national security or personal health — will be safe. And it says every nightmare scenario will feed into another: The disasters from climate change will start to compound each other, as will the consequences,” CBS News reported.
The report was actually supposed to be released in December, but the Trump administration made the decision to release it on the day after Thanksgiving. Just two days prior, Trump tweeted, “Whatever happened to Global Warming?” keeping with his stance that climate change isn’t real.
George Papadopoulos Denied Prison Term Delay
A federal judge rejected former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos’ last-minute bid to delay his two-week prison term on Sunday. Now, he’ll have to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Monday. “Papadopoulos waited until the eleventh hour to seek relief; indeed, he did not file his second motion — the stay request — until the last business day before he was scheduled to surrender to serve his sentence,” wrote US District Court Judge Randolph Moss. “He has only his own delay to blame.”
Back in the spring of 2016, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his communications with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential campaign, the Associated Press reported. While working for Trump’s campaign, Papadopoulos was allegedly told that Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton; however, he said he’d made a “terrible mistake” at his sentencing hearing in September.
Papadopoulos is the first person sentenced in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
What to look for…
Snow. Millions across the US are facing blizzard warnings and winter storms.