Friday, April 2nd, 2021
COVID-19 Fourth Wave?, Travel Turning Point & Siri Voice Change
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Stamps.com (Listen for the discount code) and Noom.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 reading the latest happenings...
COVID-19 Cases Increase
New coronavirus infections are on the rise again all across the U.S. Over the past week, an average of about 63,000 Americans a day have been diagnosed with COVID-19. That’s a 17% increase from the week before. The biggest spikes are happening in Michigan and New York, possibly because of new strains like the one first found in the U.K. Scientists say that one is more contagious than the original and possibly more deadly, but they say the vaccines should work against it.
Read More: Axios, ABC News, WSJ, Johns Hopkins
Jobless Claims Rise
The number of first-time unemployment claims from last week went up from the week prior and were higher than expected. Nearly 720,000 people filed for jobless benefits for the first time and overall, more than 18 million Americans were receiving some kind of jobless aid. Economists say this could be a sign layoffs are still relatively high. However, hiring is going up too. The March jobs report comes out today and economists expect it will show the economy added more than 600,000 jobs and that the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 6%.
Read More: CNBC, AP, FOX Business
Food Banks Busy
Food banks are still extremely busy. The nonprofit organization Feeding America says it expects to give out six billion meals this year, about the same as it did in 2020. That’s a 40% increase from 2019. Also, Meals on Wheels says it’s serving 60% more seniors now than it did before the pandemic. Things have been especially hard on families too since a lot of kids don’t attend in-person school every day, so they’re not getting consistent school lunches. To address that problem, the USDA announced it will extend food programs this summer to reach all children across the country.
Read More: AP, NY Times, WSJ
Chauvin’s Supervisor, Paramedics Testify
Today is the fifth day of the murder trial against former police officer Derek Chauvin who was seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Yesterday, jurors heard from a retired police sergeant who was Chauvin’s supervisor the day Floyd died. He explained that police sometimes do have to use force against people, but that it should stop once the officer gets control of the person. After reviewing body camera footage, that supervisor testified that Chauvin should have stopped using force sooner than he did, as soon as Floyd stopped resisting. The trial resumes today.
Read More: NBC News, CNN, WaPo
France Lockdown Begins
Starting this weekend, France will go into a third national lockdown. Schools will close for at least three weeks, a curfew will go into place, and people will not be allowed to travel within regions. The government is hoping to push back against a new wave of COVID-19 infections there. Officials say France's intensive care units are at capacity with more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients and hospitalizations have already surpassed the second wave of this past winter. They are on track to surpass even the first deadly wave of last spring.
Read More: NPR, Bloomberg, BBC
Travel Up, United Airlines Hiring Pilots
Here in the United States, travel is starting to pick up again. The TSA has screened more than a million travelers each day since March 11th. At this time last year, fewer than 200,000 people were flying in the U.S. each day. Now, United Airlines says it’s going to start hiring hundreds of pilots again. It’s bringing back 300 pilots who were offered jobs last year but had their start dates pushed back or canceled because of the pandemic. United is the first large U.S. airline to restart the hiring of pilots which CNBC calls a “turning point in the pandemic.”
Read More: NY Times, CNBC, The Street, TSA
CDC Easter Sunday Guidance
Millions of Americans are celebrating Easter this Sunday. As we’ve seen ahead of other big holidays over the last year, the CDC released new guidance about celebrating safely. The federal health agency says most Americans should still avoid traveling if possible. It suggests more virtual gatherings and a lot of churches are making that possible by offering online services. The only exception to the guidelines this time is they say people who are fully vaccinated can get together even without masks.
Read More: Fox News, WSJ, CDC
UNC Head Coach Retires
One of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time is retiring. Roy Williams, who is now 70 years old, spent the last 33 years as an NCAA head coach, including 18 years with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Williams has more than 900 wins to his name, including three national championships with the Tar Heels. However, the last two seasons have been less than stellar. In the 2019-2020 season, his team had a losing record for the first time in his career, and this year, they lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Williams says he’s stepping down because he no longer feels he’s the right man for the job.
Read More: AP, Fox Sports, UNC, NBA, NCAA
Apple’s Siri Changes
IPhone users will soon be asked how they want their virtual assistant Siri to sound. Ever since Siri debuted in the U.S. in 2011, it’s defaulted to a female-sounding voice. However, a critical study from the United Nations found AI systems with automatic female-sounding voices and names may reinforce negative stereotypes. Some fear having a female voice implies that women are meant to be obedient and submissive. No matter where you live, you’ll have a choice soon. The next round of software updates is expected sometime this spring.
Read More: TechCrunch, CNBC, The Verge
Best Pandemic Movie Opening
Godzilla vs. Kong had the best opening day of any movie since the start of the pandemic. Variety says the monster movie brought in nearly $10 million on day one at the U.S. box office. This comes as more theaters welcome back guests for the first time in many months and more are opening soon. For example, the second-biggest movie theater chain in the country, Regal Theaters, is starting to reopen today. For now, it’s only about 500 locations, but all Regal locations will be open by the end of next month.
Read More: CNBC, Deadline, Variety, Regal Theaters
Feel Good Friday: Group Saves French Family from Fire
A group of young people in France scaled a burning building to rescue a family trapped inside. A six-month-old baby girl and her parents were stuck on the third floor, so the good samaritans formed a human chain stretching up to the third-floor balcony, helping the parents escape. The baby had to be thrown down though, landing on a mattress outside. Thankfully, the baby is expected to be okay, as well as both adults. Now, people are asking the french president to honor the good samaritans in some way. More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition asking for the heroes to be formally recognized.
Read More: BBC, ABC News, Change Petition