Friday, March 6th, 2020
Travel Trouble, Percy Goes to Mars & Spring Forward
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Zola.com/newsworthy and www.MagicSpoon.com/newsworthy.
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...
Coronavirus Impact:
As fears grow over COVID-19, more people are cancelling trips and the travel industry is making adjustments. Several airlines have had to cancel flights and are also now making policies more flexible, such as waiving change fees. Meanwhile, labs around the country are still waiting on testing kits for COVID-19. A new shipment is expected to go out today, with enough kits to test 400,000 people. Meanwhile, the Senate passed an $8.3 billion emergency funding measure, sending it to President Trump’s desk.
U.S. Status: CNN, AP, NBC News, Al Jazeera
Travel Issues: NYT, USA Today, WaPo
Economic Impacts: WSJ, CNBC, Politico, CNBC
Mueller Report Review:
U.S. Attorney General William Barr is facing harsh criticism from a federal judge over his review of the Russia investigation. The judge claimed Barr’s summary of the findings didn’t match the facts from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Now, the judge wants to see how the Justice Department redacted the report to see if any more of it should be released to the public.
Read more: AP, Fox News, CNN
Warren Drops Out:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the latest democratic candidate to drop out of the 2020 presidential race. She announced the end of her campaign after a disappointing Super Tuesday. So far, she has refused to endorse anyone else.
Read more: ABC News, Reuters
President Trump to Tennessee:
Today, the president is set to tour the damage from six tornadoes that hit Tennessee earlier this week. President Trump already approved a disaster declaration, which makes federal funding available for the affected areas. The storms killed 24 people and injured many more.
Read more: ABC News, Accuweather, USA Today
Daylight Saving Time:
Get ready to spring forward. Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday. That’s when we lose an hour of sleep, but we’re adding an hour of extra sun to our afternoons.
Read more: USA Today
Mars Rover New Name:
The new Mars rover will be called “Perseverance,” or “Percy” for short. A 7th grader from Virginia chose the name. He was one of 28,000 students to suggest names through a NASA contest. The rover is supposed to be launched into space this summer. It’s meant to study the climate and geology on the red planet and look for signs of past microbial life.
Read more: NBC News, CBS News
Space Tourism:
SpaceX plans to launch tourists into orbit next year. Three people will spend 10 days in space. They’ll travel to the International Space Station and share space with the astronauts who live and work there. Right now, tickets are $55 million. At least one person has already booked a spot.
Read more: The Verge, NYT
Campaign Ads Removed:
Facebook has removed some Trump campaign ads for being misleading. The social media giant said the ads looked like the 2020 census, but when clicked, users would be sent to a Trump campaign page. Critics said they were concerned people would think they were actually part of the census, and would end up unknowingly donating to President Trump.
Read more: Washington Post, ABC News
DIY Hand Sanitizer Discouraged:
Despite what some articles may suggest, health professionals say homemade hand sanitizer isn’t a good idea. One expert told CNN it’s difficult to make hand sanitizer correctly so it actually works and doesn’t irritate the skin. So for now, soap and water is still the best option to keep your hands clean.
Read more: CNN, Fox News, Twitter
National Day of Unplugging:
The dating app, Hinge, has a unique promotion for today’s “National Day of Unplugging.” It tells users if they pause their Hinge profiles and go on dates with matches, they’ll send e-gift cards for $100. They just have to fill out forms about the dates they went on.
Read more: Mashable, Nat’l Day of Unplugging, Hinge
Feel Good Friday- Birthday “Arrest”
Police officers helped grant the wish of a North Carolina woman on her 100th birthday. She told officers she always wanted to go to jail. So they showed up at her nursing home, presented a fake arrest warrant. They drove her to the police station with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Once she got to jail, she got her mugshot taken, got an orange uniform and spent a few minutes behind bars. It was all just for fun. Then, officers took her home for a birthday party.
Read more: AP, WRAL