Nobel Peace Prize, September jobs report, Draconid meteor shower: 5 things to know Friday

Editors
·5 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists from Philippines, Russia

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression." In 2012, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused “critical attention on the (President Rodrigo) Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign,” the Nobel committee said. Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993. “Novaya Gazeta is the most independent newspaper in Russia today, with a fundamentally critical attitude towards power,” the Nobel committee said. On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine to Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries on how the human body perceives temperature and touch. The prize for literature was awarded to U.K.-based Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah. There's more to come: The Nobel Prize for economics will be announced Monday.

Prefer to listen? Check out the 5 Things podcast:

After a disappointing August, US hiring may have risen in September

America's employers may have stepped up their hiring in September after a slowdown in August. But COVID-19's fingerprints will likely still be found on the September jobs report being released Friday. Economists have forecast employers added 488,000 jobs last month, according to data provider FactSet via The Associated Press. That's about half the gains in both June and July, when a sharp drop in new infections spurred more traveling, shopping and spending, but well above August's sluggish growth of 235,000 jobs after economists had estimated that 750,000 would be added. The unemployment rate is expected to have dropped from 5.2% to 5.1%. During August, the delta variant caused a sharp pullback in travel and any subsequent hiring in those industries. A big question surrounding the September report is whether employers managed to find enough people to fill a record-high number of open jobs.

Biden to restore 3 national monuments reduced by Trump

President Joe Biden will restore two national monuments in Utah that have been at the center of a long-running public lands dispute, and a marine conservation area in the Atlantic Ocean that has been used for commercial fishing. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments cover vast expanses of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings. Former President Donald Trump invoked the century-old Antiquities Act to cut two million acres from the two monuments, calling restrictions on energy production a "massive land grab" that "should never have happened." The White House announced the changes Thursday. Biden's official schedule has him delivering remarks on "restoring protections for national monuments" Friday afternoon. The plan also restores protections in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In a joint statement, Gov. Spencer Cox and other Republicans in Utah called Biden's decision "disappointing, though not surprising."

MLB playoffs in full swing with all 8 teams in action

All eight teams left in the MLB playoffs will take the field Friday in their respective best-of-5 division series. In Houston, the Astros look to take a 2-0 series lead in the American League Division Series over the Chicago White Sox (2:07 p.m. ET, MLB Network). Houston cruised to a 6-1 win Thursday. Later, the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of their National League Division Series (4:37 p.m. ET, TBS). Back in the AL, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays face off in Game 2 (7:02 p.m. ET, FS1) with the Red Sox looking to even the series at 1-1 after getting shut out 5-0 Thursday. Finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers will travel north to face the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of their matchup (9:37 p.m. ET, TBS). The longtime California rivals combined for a staggering 213 wins in 2021 with the Giants winning 107 games and the NL West crown.

Catch the Draconid meteor shower Friday night

Stargazers are in for a treat this week: The Draconid meteor shower is expected to peak Friday. Researchers say skywatchers will have a clear, ideal view of the meteor shower this year, thanks to the crescent moon. The thin, waxing moon is expected to set before nightfall – a perfect time, because the meteors are best viewed when it becomes dark, according the American Meteor Society. The Draconid meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, appears every October, but unlike most meteor showers, it occurs earlier in the night. The shower is capable of spewing hundreds of meteors per hour. In 2011, European stargazers witnessed more than 600 meteors an hour.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nobel Peace Prize, September jobs report: 5 things to know Friday