Friday, May 13th, 2022
NATO Expanding?, Fed Chair’s Fears & Blood Moon Eclipse
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Indeed.com/newsworthy 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...
Flags at Half-Staff for Covid Deaths
President Biden ordered flags be flown at half-staff at all public buildings. It’s to mark a grim milestone: one million American lives lost to Covid-19. In a statement, the president said, “As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow. To heal, we must remember.” He also asked everyone to stay vigilant against the pandemic to save as many lives as possible. These days, the U.S. is averaging around 365 deaths a day from Covid-19. Several months ago, that average was in the thousands.
Read More: NY Times, NPR, ABC News, Axios, White House
Finland Supports Joining NATO
The president and prime minister of Finland say they support applying for NATO membership since they think it will mean more security for their country. That’s a big deal since if Finland does join NATO, it would more than double the length of the alliance’s border with Russia. The Russian government isn’t happy about it. Russia has blamed its war in Ukraine in part on NATO expanding closer to its territory. In response to the latest news, the Russian government issued a statement, saying, “Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps.”
Read More: AP, WSJ, Reuters, CNBC, Finland President
Fed Chair Confirmed to 2nd Term
Jerome Powell will be staying on as the head of the central bank. The Senate confirmed his second four-year term as Federal Reserve chairman. The final vote was 80-19, and he had a lot of support from both Democrats and Republicans. With that, it will be up to Powell to keep trying to battle the highest level of inflation in four decades.
Read More: WSJ, Reuters, CNBC, NPR
Fed Chair’s Warning
Chairman Powell warned Americans that getting inflation under control could cause some economic pain. As Powell has said before, it’s a balancing act between cooling inflation without causing a severe recession. Pulling that off is what Powell calls a “soft landing”. However, for the first time this week, he acknowledges that might not be possible because of things out of the Fed’s control, like the war in Ukraine. Still, he told NPR’s Marketplace, “We have a good chance to have a soft or softish landing.” The plan is still to raise the interest rates a few more times this year to bring supply and demand back into balance over time.
Read More: Marketplace, AP, CNBC, Reuters
CA Semi-Automatic Gun Rule Lifted
A controversial law is changing in California. It kept anyone younger than 21 from buying semiautomatic firearms. The same law kept people of all ages from buying more than one semiautomatic weapon per month. However, this week, a federal appeals court ruled that those kinds of policies violate the constitution’s second amendment, the right to bear arms. The California attorney general says his office is reviewing the decision.
Read More: LA Times, NY Post, CNN, Fox News
Texas Social Media Censorship Law Reinstated
In Texas, a different federal appeals court put a controversial law back on the books. This is a law that keeps the internet’s biggest social media platforms from banning people over their political viewpoints. It says anyone in Texas can sue tech companies over allegations of censorship. Trade groups who represent the tech platforms say this law will only bring more hate speech, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, and more online. Still, an appeals court just said the law can stay. It might not stay for long, though. Both sides have promised to keep up the fight in court.
Read More: Texas Tribune, The Verge, WSJ, CNN
Milky Way Black Hole Image
Scientists unveiled the first image of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The photo was taken by the Event Horizon Telescope project that’s operated by hundreds of researchers across the world. They’ve been working to get the image for several years. Now that it’s here, people can see what looks like a bright orange-yellow ring around a dark center. By their nature, black holes are unseeable, but their boundaries cast a shadow against the bright backdrop of hot gas and dust around them. Now, researchers say they are hoping to learn more about the environment around the black hole to see how it changes from year to year.
Read More: The Guardian, Reuters, NY Times, WSJ, Space.Com
Total Blood Moon Eclipse this Weekend
A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red this Sunday night. Almost everyone in the continental U.S. will get to see it, assuming the weather cooperates. A total lunar eclipse happens when the moon, Earth, and sun line up perfectly, so the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. Earth’s atmosphere bends sunlight and indirectly lights up the moon, giving it a reddish-orange glow. It’s safe to look at directly without eye protection, unlike a solar eclipse. You can expect the moon to be fully immersed in Earth’s shadow starting at around 11:30 p.m. ET. It will last for about 90 minutes.
Read More: ABC News, WaPo, NPR, People, NASA
Crypto Crash Continues
The price of bitcoin fell to its lowest point since 2020. The most popular cryptocurrency fell below $26,000 yesterday. It’s not the only one going down, either. Several major cryptocurrencies have lost a lot of value in this selloff, wiping more than $200 billion from the total market cap over 24 hours. Cryptocurrency prices have been sliding since they reached a peak late last year, but the collapse of the stablecoin Terra USD added to investors’ fears.
Read More: NY Times, CNET, CNBC, Marketwatch, CNN
Coinbase Outage
One of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, Coinbase, had some technical issues recently. Some customers reported having problems trading and accessing their accounts. Now, Coinbase says funds are safe, and the issue has been fixed.
Read More: The Verge, Newsweek, NY Daily News, Coinbase
Best Month for Casinos
U.S. casinos just had their best month ever. The American Gambling Association says commercial casinos brought in more than $5.3 billion in March, the highest single-month total in history. That doesn’t include tribal casinos that report their income separately. However, they are also expected to have high numbers. The industry took a hit in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, but it seems gamblers were eager to get back. Revenue from sports and internet betting is also growing quickly.
Read More: WSJ, AP, NY Daily News, American Gaming Association
Rich Strike Won’t Run Preakness
Horse racing won’t have a Triple Crown winner for the fourth year in a row. That’s because Rich Strike’s owner announced he will not run in the Preakness Stakes. Remember Rich Strike is the horse that won the Kentucky Derby. It was one of the biggest upsets in racing history. However, the owner and trainer decided the horse should get a full five weeks to rest and recover before the Belmont Stakes. So it seems the Preakness later this month is anyone’s race.
Read More: WaPo, ESPN, Bleacher Report, AP
Feel Good Friday: Refugees Reunite with Kind Stranger
Three women had their lives changed forever when they sat next to each other on a flight from Europe to the U.S. Tracy Peck sat next to Ayda Zugay and her sister, Vanja Contino. They were fleeing war-torn Yugoslavia in hopes of finding a better life. Peck gave the young sisters a $100 bill and a note that said, “I hope your stay in America will be a safe and happy one for you.” That meant so much to the girls that they’ve spent about a decade trying to find Peck to thank her. CNN covered their story, and Peck saw it. Less than a day later, Peck reunited with Zugay and Contino for an emotional Zoom call. They’re all planning to meet in person soon.
Read More: CNN, Star Tribune, KMSP