Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
Prosecutors Protest, COVID-19 Meaning & Best in Show
All the news you need in 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...
NH Results In, Yang and Bennet Out:
Sen. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, while former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar came in second and third. Meanwhile, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado dropped out of the race yesterday, leaving nine candidates in the running. President Trump won the Republican primary in New Hampshire.
NH Primary Results: NYT, AP, WaPo
Andrew Yang & Michael Bennet Out: ABC News, The Hill
Prosecutors Protest:
All four prosecutors in the case against President Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone just quit the case. They left after the Justice Department overruled their team’s recommendation for how long Stone should spend in prison after he was found guilty of lying to Congress, witness tampering and trying to sabotage the investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia. It’s rare for the Justice Department to intervene like this, and critics think it’s politically motivated. A judge will have the final say during the sentencing on Thursday, February 20th.
Read more: AP, NBC News, WaPo, FOX News
New Name for Coronavirus:
The World Health Organization has given the new coronavirus an official name: COVID-19. The name is pretty technical since “coronavirus” refers to a large family of viruses. When naming the specific strain, the WHO avoided referring to a location, animal or group of people to avoid stigmatization. Health officials think it will take a year-and-a-half to develop a vaccine. So far, COVID-19 has killed more than 1,100 people and sickened more than 45,000 others.
Read more: NPR, CNBC, Reuters
T-Mobile & Sprint Deal:
A federal judge in New York approved a major merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, rejecting a challenge from more than a dozen states who said the takeover would mean less competition among carriers and higher prices for consumers. The deal still needs a few more approvals before it’s finalized and the transition may take a few years. Both companies say the deal will mean a faster roll-out of the new 5G mobile network across the country.
Read more: AP, USA Today, Reuters
FTC Investigates Tech Mergers:
The Federal Trade Commission wants Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft to hand over all acquisition records from the last decade. It’s mostly to learn how big tech companies use the purchases to gain power, but regulators also want to know if any antitrust laws were broken. So far, the tech companies haven’t commented.
Read more: Engadget, CNBC, Washington Post
Samsung's Reveal:
Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Z Flip, which has glass inside and a small outside display for notifications. The phone will be available this week for about $1,300. Samsung also has a new Galaxy S20, which comes in three different sizes and supports 5G. The S20 starts at $1,000 and will be available in March. The company also announced a new version of its Galaxy Buds.
Read more: USA Today, TechCrunch, CNET
Broom Challenge:
The so-called “broomstick challenge” is making the rounds on social media. People have been posting pictures of their brooms standing up on their own and claiming it could only happen because of a unique gravitational pull on February 10th. NASA confirms it’s not true. NASA called the challenge “harmless” and said people should do their research before believing what they read online.
Read more: NBC News, CBS News, Insider
NASA Recruiting:
NASA will start accepting applications for its next group of astronauts in March. Applicants have to be U.S. citizens, have a master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math and two years of related experience. They’ll also have to pass an online assessment and a physical exam for a chance to get the job. NASA hopes to choose the next astronauts by the middle of next year.
Read more: CNET, Florida Today
Best in Show!:
Siba the Standard Poodle was named Best in Show at the 144th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night. It’s the fifth time a standard poodle has won. Bourbon the Whippet was the runner-up.
Read more: FOX Sports (video), USA Today, Sporting News
Birds of Prey New Title:
The superhero movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has had its name changed to simply Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey on ticket websites after its disappointing opening weekend.
Read more: Entertainment Weekly, CNN
Work Wednesday - Millennials & Job-Hopping:
Despite what some experts thought, a new survey from Zapier says millennials and Gen Z-ers actually plan to stay where they are for at least six years and don’t want to hop from job to job. Past surveys have shown the opposite. Of those surveyed by Zapier, more than half said their job is a major part of their personal identity and they aren’t going anywhere.
Read more: Zapier, HRDive