ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED - IN ONE PLACE.

(in less than 10 minutes!)

Today’s episode is brought to you by the podcast Everyday Einstein.

Want more? I got you.

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...

State of the Union:  President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. EST. It’s happening a week later than originally planned due to the government shutdown. From what the White House has released so far, it looks like the president plans to call for unity and bipartisan cooperation. It’s almost certain he’ll mention immigration and the need for border security. Trump is also expected to talk about the success of the economy and highlight the criminal justice reform bill that passed with support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The response will be given by Democrat Stacey Abrams, who made national headlines last year when she ran for governor in Georgia.
Read more: USA Today, Vox

Inaugural Committee Subpoenaed:  An investigation into Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee is moving forward. Federal prosecutors have now subpoenaed documents from the committee in order to look into how $100 million were actually raised and spent. One major question: did anyone give money in exchange for political favors, access or influence? A spokeswoman for the inaugural committee said they’re reviewing the subpoena and plan to cooperate.
Read more: ABC News, WSJ, The Washington Post

Interior Secretary:  President Trump selected former oil lobbyist David Bernhardt to lead the Department of the Interior. Bernhardt is the current Deputy Chief and acting Secretary, stepping in when Ryan Zinke resigned. If approved by the Senate, Bernhardt will oversee federal land, including protected wildlife areas and national monuments. Supporters say he’s experienced and right for the job, but critics from environmental groups are concerned about his ties to the oil industry.
Read more: NYT, The Hill

Pope’s Trip:  Pope Francis has made history as the first pope to visit the Arabian peninsula. The visit to the United Arab Emirates has two purposes: to improve relations with the Muslim world and to offer support to Catholics living in the area. He spoke to leaders from a variety of religions, saying they must come together for the future of humanity. Pope Francis is also holding mass. It will be the largest Christian celebration ever held in the U.A.E.
Read more: NBC News, ABC News, NYT

Lunar New Year: Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year). This year is the year of the pig - considered a positive one. More than a billion people around the world are celebrating with food, fireworks, parades and performances.
Read more: Newsweek, BBC, CNN, The Guardian
 
Super Bowl Audience:  Not only was Super Bowl LIII the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history, it was also the least watched in a decade. Ratings were down more than 5 percent from last year. That said, it’s still the most-watched TV event of the year (by far) with more than 98 million people tuning in.
Read more: Reuters, Bloomberg

21 Savage Arrest:  Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage is facing deportation after being arrested for being in the U.S. illegally. Many people thought the 26-year old rapper was from Atlanta, but he apparently came to the U.S. from the U.K. as a teenager on a visa in 2005. Though his visa expired a year later, he never left. His attorney says he never hid his status from the government, and that he applied for a visa in 2017. He’ll have to appear in federal immigration court.
Read more: USA Today, CNN
 
GM Cuts Jobs:  General Motors is expected to cut about 4,000 jobs by tomorrow - before GM releases its latest earnings report. Last year, GM offered buyouts to thousands of employees and began restructuring to close five production plants in North America and shift focus to electric cars.
Read more: CNBC, Reuters
 
Cheap Electric Cars:  An electric pickup truck for less than $9,000? It could happen this year, but it may not be what you expect. The Chinese electric truck is tiny and can only go up to 28 miles per hour. Kaiyun Motors hopes to sell 10,000 of the Pickman trucks in the U.S. this year. The mini-trucks cost about one-tenth of an F-150 but have limited range and don’t offer much crash protection.
Read more: Bloomberg, Quartz, FOX News
 
Slack’s IPO:  Workplace chat tool Slack is going public. It’s still in the beginning stages, but the company has taken the first steps to be a publicly traded company five years after it launched. Slack has 10 million active users a day and was valued at $7 billion in 2018. Uber, Lyft, Pinterest and Airbnb are also expected to go public this year.
Read more: Business Insider, TechCrunch
 
Flickr Warning:  Today is the last day for users to either pay to keep their pictures on Flickr or save and delete photos before Flickr starts deleting them for you.
Read more: USA Today, Gizmodo
 
Domino’s AI App:  With Domino’s new loyalty program, you can earn free pizza even if you buy from a competitor. Users just need to scan any pizza with the Domino's app. If the app can detect sauce, cheese and crust using artificial intelligence, you get 10 points. Sixty points gives you a free medium Domino’s pizza. The promo runs until April.
Read more: CNBC, Thrillist
 
Oprah in Times Square: Oprah and several A-list celebrity guests will be in Times Square today. Oprah will be interviewing Bradley Cooper, Michael B. Jordan, Melinda Gates, Lisa Borders and Beto O’Rourke (who some say might run for president). The conversations will happen in front of a live audience and will eventually air on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Read more: Oprah.com, Deadline