1. Death toll rises in Indonesia

2. There has been a sharp rise in the official death toll following Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Indonesia's national disaster agency said the number of people killed in the disaster in the city of Palu had risen to 1,234 on Tuesday. The toll is expected to climb in the coming days as bodies continue to be retrieved from the rubble. All normal services in the city have ceased to operate. Shops have either been destroyed or left empty, and food and fuel is scarce. Reports of looting are widespread, as groups of survivors search deserted buildings for essential supplies. Amid the long wait for supplies and aid, the search continues for survivors with reports of more than 700 houses buried under a mudslide in a nearby town. A full five days on from the first tsunami waves crashing into the city, bodies of victims remain unburied on the side of the roads. In a public cemetery on the outskirts of the city, workers continue to dig a mass grave the size of a football pitch in an effort to bury as many bodies as quickly as possible. An estimated 2.4 million people have been affected by the disaster. Authorities have also seen groups of children without parents close to the ruins in Palu. Countries from around the world have also begun to announce aid packages for Indonesia (including the United States).

3. In Other News
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (a member of the GOP) said, “The time for endless delay and obstruction has come to a close. Judge Kavanaugh's nomination is out of committee. We're considering it here on the floor. And, Mr. President, we'll be voting this week.” A week long investigation into Kavanaugh's background and the sexual allegations against him was launched on Friday.
Amazon is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all US employees. The change takes effect November 1 and applies to full-time, part-time and temporary workers. Amazon says the $15 minimum wage will benefit more than 250,000 Amazon employees, plus 100,000 seasonal workers. Amazon also said its public policy team will begin lobbying for an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has been $7.25 an hour since 2009.
A Georgia high school football player who came out of a game with an injury and then lost consciousness on the sideline has died. Dylan Thomas, a 16-year-old junior for the Pike County Pirates, came out of a game in the third quarter Friday night with an injury. As he spoke with athletic trainers and the team doctor, Dylan became incoherent and then passed out. Dylan reportedly fell off the bench on the sideline. After the teen went down, he woke up, said "I can't feel my body," and then passed out again. Dylan, a linebacker, was airlifted to a hospital in Atlanta. He was pronounced dead Sunday night from a head injury. The coach said officials were not sure when or how in the game Dylan was injured. He said they are reviewing video of the game to try to pinpoint what happened.
The Philadelphia Flyers unveiled their new mascot a week or so ago and saw a mixed reaction from Twitter users and sports fans alike. "Gritty," has continued to get a great deal of press. The name "Gritty" stems from his "possessing an attitude so similar to the team he follows," the Flyers said in a statement.
California will be the first state to require publicly traded companies to have at least one woman on their board of directors. The law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday, requires public companies whose principal executive offices are located in California to comply by the end of The minimum is two female directors if the company has five directors on its board, or three women if it has seven directors by the close of A state senator who supports the bill said, "It's my hope that corporations, rather than fight this, will acknowledge its value and take the lead on pulling together and bringing greater diversity into their boardrooms." According to reports, a quarter of the 445 publicly traded companies in California don't have a single woman on their boards. Companies that don't comply with the law will be fined $100,000; subsequent violations will draw a $300,000 fine.