Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
Trump vs. WHO, Dorsey’s $1B Donation & Panda Mating
All the news you need in 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Blinkist.com/news
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...
Trump Threatens WHO Funding
President Trump wants to withhold funding from the World Health Organization. He accuses the United Nations agency of not being aggressive enough in confronting COVID-19 early on. Trump is mostly referring to guidance from the W.H.O. in January that said travel bans would not prevent the spread of COVID-19. President Trump cracked down on flights from China anyway. Trump’s critics are pushing back, saying the president should have done more than that in the early stages of the pandemic. At this point, it’s not clear if the Trump administration will follow through with the plan to cut U.S. payments. The W.H.O.’s budget relies on contributions from member nations.
Read More: NY Times, Politico
COVID-19 in NYC, Lockdown Lifted in Wuhan
The coronavirus pandemic is now responsible for at least 4,000 deaths in New York City alone. That means a thousand more New Yorkers have now died from COVID-19 than from the 9/11 terror attacks. However, the numbers of hospital admissions and patients receiving breathing tubes are dropping in New York City. The governor says those are signs social distancing measures are working.
In other parts of the world, there are signs the crisis is easing. China lifted the lockdown in Wuhan, where the outbreak began late last year. Also, in Italy, there was a lower number of new cases.
U.S. Case Count: Johns Hopkins
NY Death Toll Rises: AP, USA Today
International Updates: NY Times, Reuters, Newsweek
Top Officials Ousted
The person appointed to oversee the $2.2 trillion relief package spending has been reassigned. Last week, a panel chose Glenn Fine, Inspector General for the Defense Department, to lead the stimulus oversight committee. President Trump then removed him from that role. Trump chose a different federal official to take over: Sean O’Donnell, who has been the EPA’s inspector general for a few months.
Also, Stephanie Grisham stepped down as the White House Press Secretary. She’ll now act as Chief of Staff for First Lady Melania Trump. The new spokesperson for the White House is Kayleigh McEnany. She was formerly a spokesperson for the Trump 2020 campaign.
Finally, the Navy’s top leader has resigned. Several news sources report he was forced out. The controversy started last week when acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier, who requested help for more than 100 sailors with COVID-19. It seems Modly got in trouble for a profanity-laced speech, in which he called Capt. Crozier 'naive' and 'stupid.' For that, Modly has apologized and has now quit.
Watchdog Removed: NYT, AP, WaPo
WH Press Secretary Replaced: ABC News, Axios, Fox News
Acting Navy Secretary Resigns: NBC News, Washington Post, Politico, Axios
Olympians & Amateurs
The International Olympic Committee confirms athletes who already made the cut for the 2020 Tokyo games will be able to keep that spot for 2021. Other athletes have until June 29, 2021 to qualify. Remember, the games were rescheduled due to the global pandemic.
Also, amateur athletes can now get online help from one of the all-time great tennis players, Roger Federer. He tweeted out a helpful solo drill. Then, he encouraged people to take videos of themselves trying it, so he could offer tips.
Olympians Guaranteed Spot: AP, Olympic.org
Tennis Star Helps Amateurs: AP, Twitter
Twitter Founder Donates $1B
The co-founder of Twitter and founder of payment platform Square is donating $1 billion to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Jack Dorsey is shifting some of his equity in Square to a relief fund he created called Start Small. For now, the money is supporting COVID-19 relief, but when the pandemic eases a little, the fund will focus on other causes, like health and education for girls.
Read More: TechCrunch, Mashable, Twitter, Spreadsheet
Drive-Thru Testing & More
Walgreens announced it’s expanding drive-thru testing to 15 sites in seven states. All of them are going to be set up in regions seeing rising rates of COVID-19 cases. Walgreens expects to be able to test 3,000 people per day, starting later this week. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Mayo Clinic is going high-tech. It’s using self-driving shuttles to move COVID-19 tests from a Jacksonville, Florida testing site to a nearby processing center. The Mayo Clinic’s CEO says using artificial intelligence helps to protect staff from exposure to the virus and frees up time for treating and caring for patients.
Walgreens Expands Testing: Forbes, FOX Business, Walgreens
Self-Driving Shuttle for Tests: The Verge, Digital Trends, Mayo Clinic
WhatsApp & Misinformation
WhatsApp is trying to stop the spread of misinformation, especially about the coronavirus, so it’s cracking down on how quickly messages can be forwarded from person to person. Now, if a message has already been forwarded five times, you’ll only be able to share it with one person or in one chat at a time.
Read more: The Verge, Mashable, CNN
Facebook's New App for Couples
WhatsApp’s parent company, Facebook, just launched a new app, specifically for couples. It’s called “Tuned.” Couples can reportedly send each other text and voice messages through the new app, as well as photos and songs. It’s supposed to be a private space for significant others to connect, but Facebook’s data policy still applies. That means your communications could be collected for targeted ads.
Read more: Download 'Tuned', Mashable, The Information
Zoo Closes, Pandas Mate
Two pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le, have lived together for 13 years at a Hong Kong Zoo, but they've never mated until now. It happened while the zoo was shut down because of the pandemic. It’s too soon to see if there’s a new cub on the way. Female pandas reportedly can stay pregnant for more than 300 days, yet the earliest a pregnancy can be detected is about two weeks before birth.
Read More: ABC News, NY Times
Work Wednesday - Finding a Job
Even though unemployment has hit record highs, some companies are actually hiring right now. Indeed found searches for Amazon and Walmart jobs both tripled after the companies announced hundreds of thousands of new openings. LinkedIn says other jobs can be found at pizza and grocery delivery companies, tech companies like Salesforce, as well as health-related organizations and companies.
Glassdoor says identifying those growth industries is a great start for your job search. It also recommends setting a timeline for yourself, checking in with your online network, and considering whether online classes could help you get ahead of the competition.
Who’s Hiring: LinkedIn, Indeed
Remote Job Ideas: Money Mag
Job Search Tips: Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Money Mag