While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
1. Monkeypox cases show signs of increasing
Top health leaders say we're far from another pandemic, but cases of monkeypox are not showing signs of going away.
There are a total of 27 cases in Florida, according to the latest figures from the CDC.
However, doctors say that unlike COVID-19, monkeypox can be easily contained if those who have the rash, which is typically found on the hands and feet, isolate themselves from others.
2. Ghislaine Maxwell gets 20-year sentence in Epstein sex abuse case
Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
Judge Alison J. Nathan noted as she imposed the prison term and a $750,000 fine that Maxwell never expressed remorse for her crimes. The judge said she wanted the sentence to send an “unmistakable message" that nobody was above the law.
Addressing the court earlier, Maxwell stood at a lectern and said she empathized with the survivors and hoped her punishment would bring them peace. But she did not admit culpability and laid blame for the abuse on Epstein, saying meeting him was the “greatest regret of my life.”
3. Witness says Trump was insistent on going to Capitol on Jan. 6
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, offered damning testimony before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday.
Hutchinson said former President Donald Trump knew some of his supporters were armed at his rally and demanded that they not be screened because they didn't want to hurt him.
Following Jan. 6, Hutchinson described efforts to get Trump to release a statement condemning the attack. Hutchinson claimed Trump was resistant to the idea. She said he wanted to mention pardons for the rioters, but that idea was knocked down by aides and legal teams in the White House.
4. Record number of toxic toads posing threat to Florida pets
Pet owners need to keep an eye out for bufo toads as they surge in numbers.
Bufo toads are not native to Florida, but they are moving into the area by the thousands and can pose a significant threat to pets.
The toads release a toxin that when consumed by a dog, can cause seizures and possibly be deadly.
5. Jury selected in Parkland school shooter's sentencing trial
A jury of seven men and five women was chosen Tuesday to decide the sentence for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, capping a nearly three-month selection process that began with 1,800 candidates.
The jury will decide whether Cruz, 23, receives the death penalty or life without parole for the murders of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment.
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On This Day In History
On June 29, 1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
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