Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022
Storms Hit Deep South, Judge Jackson Grilled & ‘Super-Earths’ Found
All the news you need in about 10 min:
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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 reading about the latest happenings…
Deep South Storms
A dangerous severe storm outbreak is still making its way across the southern U.S. Most recently, several tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. At least one of them tore through the city of New Orleans. At least one person died, and several others were hurt nearby. Houses are damaged and destroyed. There are also downed trees and power lines and damaged gas lines. Today, the system is headed east, but it’s expected to be less widespread and less intense. The biggest concerns are rain and some localized flooding.
Read More: Weather Channel, NBC News, AP, NY Times, NWS
More Russia Sanctions Coming
Today, President Biden is leaving for the most important overseas trip of his presidency so far. He’ll be talking with NATO allies in Belgium and Poland to talk about Russia’s war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis that’s followed. That starts with more punishments against Russia. Top White House officials say President Biden and his western allies are preparing more economic sanctions. The group is also set to consider adding more security on the eastern edge of NATO, how to make Europe less dependent on Russian fuel, and more.
Read more: WSJ, AP, Reuters, The Hill
Zelensky Floats Compromises/Fighting Continues
Nearly a month into the war, Ukraine’s leader says he’s ready to make new compromises. Ukrainian President Zelensky says he would consider dropping his country’s request for full NATO membership. That was one of Russia’s demands before the invasion started. In return, Zelensky wants Russian troops to leave his country. Plus, he wants a cease-fire and a guarantee of Ukraine’s security. Once again, he’s asking to meet with Russian President Putin. So far, Putin has refused direct talks. In the meantime, Russian forces are escalating their attacks against Ukraine from the ground, air, and sea.
Read more: Axios, CNN, AP, NY Times
Russia Censorship Law/Navalny Sentence
The Russian government is still working hard to control the narrative of the war within its country. Just this week, the Russian parliament tightened its censorship law. It’s now a crime to discredit any government leaders or agencies, even those working abroad. The law bans terms like “war” or “invasion” to describe what’s happening in Ukraine. Anyone who breaks the law could get up to 15 years in prison. Also this week, Russia’s leading opposition leader was sentenced to another nine years in prison. Alexei Navalny is already serving a 2.5-year sentence for fraud, but the case is widely seen as politically motivated.
Read more: WaPo, ABC News, Axios, WSJ
Senators Grill KBJ
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is in for another day of grilling from Senators. Things already got heated for the Supreme Court nominee yesterday, with questioning lasting more than 13-hours. Some Republicans asked Jackson if she had been too lenient with defendants, like in child sex abuse cases. To that, she said, “nothing could be further from the truth.” Others asked Jackson if she had a “hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system.” She said that the issue doesn’t come up for her as a judge. While Republicans asked tough questions, Democrats mostly praised her. Because of that, experts say she’s on track for confirmation.
Read more: NY Times, AP, WSJ, NPR, NBC News
NASA Found 5,000 More Planets
In a cosmic milestone, NASA confirms it has now discovered more than 5,000 planets besides the eight we all learned about in school. These are outside our solar system, so they’re called “exoplanets”. NASA says some are gas giants that are even larger than Jupiter. There are also “super-Earths,” which are similar to our planet but bigger. Then, some worlds are orbiting two stars at once, so they basically have two suns. That’s all pretty impressive, considering it wasn’t until the 90’s that humans discovered any planets outside our solar system. They now hope they can one day find another planet where life could exist.
Read more: CBS News, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, NASA
Okta Hacking Investigation
Hackers got into Okta, the company that manages 100 million logins. Okta confirmed it was hacked months ago and is just now telling its customers. The scope of the breach isn’t clear, but it could have major consequences since more than 15,000 clients rely on Okta to protect their networks. A group of hackers got access to one of Okta’s employee laptops for five days in January. The disclosure came after a hacking group posted screenshots of Okta’s internal system online, seemingly trying to prove it hacked the company.
Read more: Reuters, CNN, The Verge, Forbes, Okta
Microsoft Hacking Investigation
The same hacking group that hit Okta bragged about stealing data from other big companies like Samsung and, most recently, Microsoft. Last night, the tech giant confirmed the hack, but it said its security teams interrupted the group mid-attack. The hackers only got access to one account. Microsoft said that’s not severe enough to cause an “elevation of risk.” The company did say, though, it had been tracking the group for weeks, trying to nail down how it’s been hacking into these massive companies.
Read more: Gizmodo, The Verge, Engadget, Microsoft
New Netflix Games
Netflix is getting three more mobile games, including its first-ever first-person shooter game. That means that players view the action as if it’s through the eyes of the characters they’re controlling. In this one, you’ll be able to fight waves of zombies. It’s not out yet, but Netflix says it’s coming soon. Two of the other games are already available. They are a brick-breaking game and an educational role-playing game.
Read more: The Verge, Variety, Engadget, Netflix
Zoom Launches Avatars
Zoom released new virtual avatars that let you show up to meetings as an animal. That means you can pick between a few different creatures, like a dog, rabbit, fox, cat, or cow. Instead of your image, the animal will appear, and it will mimic your movements. To use the new furry friends as your avatar, you’ll need Zoom 10.5 or later.
Read more: 9to5Mac, Engadget, The Verge, Zoom
MacKenzie Scott’s Largest Donation
Habitat for Humanity just got a multi-million dollar boost. One of the world’s richest women, MacKenzie Scott, donated $346 million to the organization, so it can keep building affordable housing around the world. That marks her biggest donation ever publicly disclosed. While the money is going to different chapters, several of them say it's their largest donation ever received. Habitat for Humanity says the money will help boost affordable housing and homeownership in Black and minority communities, among other things.
Read more: AP, Reuters, Forbes, Star Tribune, Oregon Live, Habitat for Humanity
Work Wednesday: Women Getting Biggest Pay Raises
It looks like the workers getting the biggest pay raises these days are women. The Atlanta Federal Reserve says women’s wages were up 4.4% last month from a year before. Men also got raises, but not as much. Their wages went up 4.1%. This marks the 6th straight month women’s pay bumps were higher than men’s. Still, even after these gains, the latest government data shows the average woman’s full-time weekly earnings are just 83% of what their male counterparts make.
Read more: WSJ, CNBC, Atlanta Fed, Labor Dept