5 things to know for Aug. 19: DNC, Middle East, Severe weather, Covid-19 vaccines, Yacht disaster

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

(CNN) — The combination of a supermoon and blue moon will peak at 2:26 p.m. ET today, treating sky-gazers worldwide to a rare celestial sight. The last time this lunar event occurred was August 2023, and the next super blue moons are projected for January and March of 2037.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

1. DNC

The Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago today, where Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept her party’s nomination to become the next commander-in-chief. President Joe Biden is slated to pass the torch to Harris in a speech later this evening in front of thousands of delegates and party members. The president is expected to use his remarks to lay out his argument for Harris and describe the record they’ve achieved together. In addition to Biden, the convention is set to feature a “who’s who” list of speakers, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker confirmed that “about 250” members of the state’s National Guard will be on standby as tens of thousands of protesters prepare to march on the convention this week.

2. Middle East

Seven members of the same family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Sunday, medical officials said, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel to push for a ceasefire and hostage deal. The top US diplomat said this is “probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.” A new ceasefire plan drawn up by the US, Qatar and Egypt was presented on Friday following two days of high-stakes talks in Doha. Israel’s campaign in Gaza — launched following the Hamas attacks of October 7 — has killed more than 40,000 people and reduced much of the territory to rubble. Adding to Gazans’ woes, doctors last week detected the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years.

3. Severe weather

Heavy rainfall caused a flash flood emergency on Sunday in the Connecticut counties of New Haven and Fairfield, according to the National Weather Service. At least 100 people were evacuated from unsafe conditions by urban search and rescue teams, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. David Stark of the National Weather Service in New York told CNN Weather there had been 6-10 inches of rainfall across southwestern Connecticut in a span of about six to nine hours Sunday, the bulk falling in the afternoon. Monroe, Connecticut, received 9.98 inches of rain, a one-in-200-year event for the city. Separately, the southern US is bracing for potentially record-breaking heat this week. Heat alerts are currently in place for over 20 million people across southern Oklahoma and much of Texas and Louisiana, which will likely be expanded in the coming hours.

4. Covid-19 vaccines

The FDA may greenlight updated Covid-19 vaccines as soon as this week, sources tell CNN. A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency can’t comment on the timing of product applications but noted that it “anticipates taking timely action to authorize or approve updated COVID-19 vaccines in order to make vaccines available this fall.” The mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech will target the leading variants in circulation as the country experiences its largest summer wave in two years. In June, the CDC recommended that everyone over 6 months old receive updated Covid-19 and flu vaccines this year because protection provided by the shots appears to wane over time.

5. Yacht disaster

At least one person is dead and six others are missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily today, Italian authorities said. A tornado hit the vessel around 5 a.m. local time while the yacht was anchored about half a mile from the port of Porticello on the Mediterranean island. Fifteen people have been rescued from the scene and one child was airlifted to a children’s hospital. The captain is among the survivors, according to a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard. The 56-meter yacht called the “Bayesian,” which flies under a British flag, had mostly British passengers and crew, in addition to two Anglo-French, one New Zealander, one Irish and one Sri Lankan.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Hollywood heads to Chicago for the Democratic convention
Several A-list actors are scheduled to speak on the convention’s main stage. But with no major performer announced, speculation has run rampant that Taylor Swift or Beyoncé may appear.

A billionaire is about to lead the first private spacewalk
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission will carry four people with no prior spaceflight experience on a risky journey into the radiation belt. The crew is expected to attempt the first spacewalk carried out by private citizens.

How much is too much to spend on jeans?
Actress Blake Lively recently wore a pair of $19,000 jeans. Many on social media said the price seams excessive.

Nearly 600-pound ice age mammoth tusk discovered in Mississippi
A fossil hunter was scouring a Mississippi creek for remnants of the past when he came across the discovery of a lifetime — a tusk from an ice age Columbian mammoth.

Kasia Niewiadoma wins Tour de France Femmes
Katarzyna ‘Kasia’ Niewiadoma won a thrilling edition of the Tour de France Femmes by just four seconds.

TODAY’S NUMBER

20
That’s how many people were injured after a Ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival in Germany, police said. Images show two of the ride’s carriages on fire as smoke billows into the air near the city of Leipzig.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible.”

— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirming Sunday that his forces blew up a second bridge in the Russian border region of Kursk. Zelensky explained the strategic ambitions of the operation, saying he aims to create a “buffer zone” in Kursk that could prevent some cross-border attacks by Moscow.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY …

At 150 years old, see why this luxury train is still worth a ride
Take a look inside the Caledonian Sleeper — Britain’s oldest overnight train service. Running between London and the Scottish Highlands, it offers unique views across some of the UK’s most stunning scenery.

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