Friday, April 8th, 2022
High Court History, NFL Lawsuit Grows & Metaverse for Kids
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code) and Zocdoc.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...
KBJ Confirmed
It’s official: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. When she’s sworn in, it will also be the first time in American history that the majority of justices will not be white men. The Senate confirmed her nomination yesterday. All Democrats and three Republicans voted ‘yes’, so the final vote was 53-47. Today, the future Supreme Court justice and President Biden will speak at an event celebrating her confirmation. Jackson will replace Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires this summer.
Read More: WaPo, Reuters, Fox News, CBS News, Politico
Russia Suspended from UN HRC
In response to the war in Ukraine, the United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the organization’s leading human rights body. The Human Rights Council is supposed to spotlight and approve investigations of civil rights violations, among other things. Most members decided Russia should no longer have a voice because they’ve seen evidence of Russia committing war crimes in Ukraine. That made Russia the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to have its membership revoked from any part of the UN.
Read More: AP, NPR, Fox News, CBS News, UN, White House
Congress Targets Russian Trade
The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Russia’s ally Belarus. That means there will be higher tariff rates on some imports from both Russia and Belarus. Congress also decided to back up President Biden’s executive order that banned Russian oil imports. However, that’s mostly a symbolic step because it’s already happening.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, Reuters, Axios
EU/NATO Commitments
The European Union approved the fifth package of sanctions against Russia, and it includes a ban on Russian coal imports. That’s estimated to be worth about $4.4 billion a year. The EU is still considering banning oil imports, too. By the way, as the western world takes more away from Russia, it gives more to Ukraine. NATO members agreed to increase their supply of arms to Ukraine so it can keep defending itself against the Russian invasion.
Read More: NBC News, AP, NPR, NATO
Senate Bill Opposing Title 42
There’s backlash growing on Capitol Hill about the White House lifting Title 42. That’s the rule that lets border officials turn away undocumented adults without giving them a legal hearing. It was meant to prevent Covid-19 from spreading, but the CDC says that’s no longer necessary. However, critics are worried that the U.S.-Mexico border will become overwhelmed. This week, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced a new bill that would prevent Title 42 from being lifted until the Homeland Security Department submits a plan to Congress about how the government will address a spike in migrants crossing the border.
Read More: CBS News, Fox News, Axios, U.S. Senate
Major PR Power Outage
Power crews in Puerto Rico are scrambling to respond to a major outage that impacted people all across the island. A fire at a main power plant caused the biggest blackout so far this year. It left about 1.5 million people without electricity. About 170,000 were without water. Some roads and schools had to close, too. The power is slowly coming back on now. Crews are cleaning up the power plant where the fire broke out, and they ordered replacement parts needed to get things back up and running.
Read More: CNN, WSJ, AP, NBC News
First Private Mission to ISS
It’s a first-of-its-kind trip to the International Space Station. This morning’s launch marks the first fully private crew to ever visit the ISS. The crew is flying with a commercial aerospace company called Axiom Space, and they’re hitching a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. A former astronaut who is now an Axiom employee will serve as the commander. The three others onboard each reportedly paid $55 million for a seat. They’ll spend eight days on the space station, doing science experiments and research and taking in one-of-a-kind views of Earth. Axiom hopes it’s the first of many similar flights to come.
Read More: The Verge, CNN, Space.com, Reuters
More NFL Coaches Join Discrimination Lawsuit
Two more NFL coaches are joining a racial discrimination lawsuit against the league. Former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores was the first to sue the NFL a couple of months ago. Now, two more coaches have signed on: former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Steve Wilks and longtime Defensive Assistant Coach Ray Horton. They are accusing the league and certain teams of a few things. For example, they say they either weren’t given a fair enough chance to succeed or that they were put through sham interviews with teams who had no intention of hiring them. The NFL has called these kinds of claims “without merit.”
Read More: ESPN, NBC News, Axios, USA Today
Academy Meets about Will Smith
Today is the day the Academy could decide if and how to further punish Will Smith for the now-infamous slap at the Oscars. The Academy Board of Governors moved their virtual meeting up to today. Already, Smith resigned from the Academy, meaning he can no longer vote on who can win an Oscar. It’s not clear what other punishment if any, Will Smith may face for hitting and cursing at Chris Rock during the Academy Awards last month.
Read More: Variety, Deadline, CNN, The Hill
Pink Floyd Comeback for Ukraine
For the first time in nearly three decades, the iconic rock band Pink Floyd is releasing new music. The band members reunited to create something that would raise money for the people of Ukraine. They came up with a new single called “Hey Hey Rise Up”, which comes out today. It mixes the sounds of Pink Floyd members with vocals from a Ukrainian singer singing a patriotic Ukrainian song. All the proceeds will go to the Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief Fund.
Read More: AP, Variety, The Guardian, Reuters, NME
Epic/Lego Metaverse for Kids
There is a new effort in the works to make a metaverse just for kids. Fortnite developer Epic Games teamed up with Lego to create the new virtual space. So far, they haven’t said a lot about the project, like what it will look like or when it might be available. However, they are promising whatever they end up building will be safe and family-friendly. They’re just the latest in a series of companies who have announced plans for the metaverse. They include virtual worlds to work, socialize, and play.
Read More: WaPo, The Verge, TechCrunch, Epic Games
Feel Good Friday: HS Athlete Raises Money for Classmate
Two high schoolers in Georgia are showing the world what friendship looks like. Jordan Sloan and Marcos San Miguel were both stand-out athletes until Jordan took a hit to the head during a football game. He was left with brain trauma that was so bad that he couldn’t move his arms or legs. He’s been getting better by working with a team of therapists, and Marcos is helping, too, by taking advantage of his basketball skills. He takes pledges for every charge he takes in a game. So far, he’s raised more than $16,000. All of that money has gone to help Jordan’s family buy things insurance won’t cover.
Read More: CBS News, WXIA, The Week
Make a Pledge: Rally Up