Tuesday, March 10th, 2020
Tax Cuts?, Mini Super Tuesday & Sleep-Streaming
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Rothys.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 Update
President Trump is working with lawmakers on a plan to limit the impact COVID-19 is having on the economy. He’s expected to reveal a plan today that will include tax cuts and other measures. It comes after one of the worst days on Wall Street since the 2008 recession. The Dow fell another 2,000 points. The S&P 500 crashed nearly 8 percent. Also, Italy issued a nationwide lockdown.
Read More:
Economic impacts: USA Today, Business Insider, CNBC, Fox News
Italy Lockdown: Sky News, Bloomberg, Politico, NYT
Fraudulent Prevention/Treatment: FDA, WaPoNew Study: WSJ
Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal
The U.S. started withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as part of the historic U.S.-Taliban peace deal. Still, this drawdown comes amid a dispute over a prisoner swap. The agreement said the Afghan government would release Taliban prisoners, but Afghanistan’s president hasn’t agreed to those terms. The main part of the deal calls on the Taliban to renounce terrorist groups like Al Qaida and be willing to negotiate with the Afghan government. The U.S. must withdraw all 13,000 troops from Afghanistan by sometime next year.
Read More: BBC, Al Jazeera
Super Tuesday II
It’s another important day for the top two Democrats in the presidential race. Voters in six states will go to the polls: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington. Former Vice President Joe Biden got another important boost before the primaries. A former candidate, Sen. Cory Booker, is now endorsing him. Both Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders are still hoping to get the endorsement of the most recent dropout, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Read More: WaPo, Newsweek
Pete Buttigieg Tries Comedy
Former Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg is trading politics for comedy, at least for one night. He’s hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” this Thursday. Kimmel will be off hosting another show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”.
Read More: Mashable, USA Today
Studying Air Pollution from Space
NASA announced it’s working with South Korea and the European Space Agency to improve our understanding of air quality around the world. It’s bringing together a “virtual constellation” of space-based instruments. The first one was launched last month. They’ll all come together by 2023. When they’re all together, they’ll be able to monitor air pollution hourly, instead of daily.
Read More: NASA, The Verge
Coronavirus Prevention
A new digital map is meant to make it easier to track the new coronavirus. Johns Hopkins University created it to show where cases are popping up in real time. Also of note, cities are getting creative to stop the spread of COVID-19. New York is paying prisoners to make 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer a week. It’s meant to fight back against price gouging and make it more readily available.
Read More: CNN, NYPost
Johns Hopkins Tracking Map: Here
Greener Starbucks Cup
Starbucks is testing new cups in an effort to become more environmentally friendly. The coffee giant will still use paper cups, but it’s swapping the plastic inside for a liner made of renewable materials. This way, the whole cup can be easily recycled. For now, they’re being tested in cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
Read More: The Verge, WSJ
Cross-Posting Stories
Facebook is testing a way to cross-post stories to Instagram. The goal is to make it easier and faster for people to share on both platforms. It’s not clear yet if the new feature would eliminate re-runs, meaning once you see a story on Facebook, will you still see it on Instagram?
Read More: TechCrunch, Engadget
Streaming Sleep
Hundreds of people on TikTok are live-streaming themselves sleeping. It’s not just a viral trend; they’re actually making money doing it (at least a little). Some streamers have gained thousands of followers overnight, just from sleeping, but only about $10 from fans who donate. Something similar is happening on another live-streaming platform. Some Twitch streamers made several thousand dollars for live sleep-streaming.
Read More: NYT, Wired