Wednesday, May 19th, 2021
‘Justified’ Police Shooting, New Cancer Screening Age & Pre-Flight Weigh-ins?
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by and Ritual.com/newsworthy and 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 reading about the latest happenings…
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Updates
The second week of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict is taking a huge toll on the region. The Israeli military is still hitting the city of Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes and Palestinian militants are still firing thousands of rockets across the border into Israel. So far, the fighting has killed more than 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. The rockets coming into Israel have hit mostly civilian areas. Israel says it’s only targeting the militant group Hamas, but the UN says civilians are getting killed by the Israeli strikes too. Sewer systems have also been destroyed, and water pipes, hospitals, and schools have been damaged.
Read More: NY Times, AP, WSJ, Reuters
Anthony Brown Jr. Shooting “Justified”
It turns out the sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed a Black man in North Carolina will not face criminal charges. Anthony Brown, Jr. was shot in his car. Deputies were executing a drug-related search warrant at the time. Family members who watched body camera footage say Brown was trying to drive away from deputies when they shot him. However, the local district attorney has been investigating and says Brown hit a deputy with his car and nearly ran him over as law enforcement officers told him to get out of the vehicle. For that reason, the DA says the deputies were “justified” to shoot him.
Read More: AJC, CBS News, Fox News, AP
South Central U.S. Flooding
More than 30 million Americans are threatened by historic flooding this week. It’s already affecting parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas following several rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms. At least five people have died in Louisiana. Hundreds more had to be rescued from their cars or homes. The flooding has also shut down highways and forced people to evacuate buildings. Unfortunately, more strong storms are on the way, and rain is expected to drench the south-central U.S. until at least tomorrow.
Read More: USA Today, CNN, Weather Channel, Fox News
Vaccine Rates Lag in Rural Areas
A new CDC study found people in rural areas are getting the COVID-19 vaccine at a lower rate than those in urban areas. The study looked at data showing how many U.S. adults got at least their first dose of a vaccine between December 2020 and April of this year. It found about 39% of people in rural counties had gotten the shot, compared to nearly 46% of those in urban counties. The CDC says this can slow down progress toward ending the pandemic since people living in rural counties make up almost one-fifth of the U.S. population.
Read More: CNN, CNBC, USA Today, CDC
New Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines
Medical experts say everyone 45 and older should start getting tested for colorectal cancer. Until this week, the standard was 50, but the federal task force that sets this recommendation lowered it because of an “alarming” rise in cases popping up in younger people. The number of people in their 40s with colorectal cancer has gone up by about 15% over the last 20 years. Colorectal cancer is now the third-most deadly cancer in the U.S., but experts say it’s also one of the most curable types of cancer when doctors catch it early.
Read More: ABC News, NBC News, NPR, AP, USPSTF
Airlines May Start Weighing Passengers
The next time you board a plane, you may be asked to step on a scale first. An advisory from the FAA says airlines have to run routine weight and balance checks for their planes every 36 months. The document says “surveys of passengers or bags” need to be part of these tests. The airlines use that data to figure out how many people can safely fly on certain aircraft. However, the weight estimates keep going up. The FAA recommends airlines ask passengers to step on a scale or ask them how much they weigh. However, it says surveys should be voluntary.
Read More: Fox Business, View From the Wing, WTRF, FAA Advisory, Air Insight
BOA Raising Minimum Wage
The second-biggest bank in the U.S. is making a change to attract new workers. Bank of America says it will raise its minimum wage to $25 an hour by the year 2025. Plus, vendors and suppliers that work directly with the bank are required to pay their employees at least $15 an hour. The new minimum wage will put Bank of America ahead of its competitors. The number one bank in the U.S., JP Morgan Chase, set its minimum wage between $16-20 earlier this year. Citigroup pays a $15 minimum wage.
Read More: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNN, Bank of America, USA Today
Lamborghini’s Hybrid Transition
Volkswagen-owned Lamborghini says by the end of 2024, every new model it offers will be a plug-in hybrid. This means the new models will combine electric motors and powerful batteries with more traditional engines. Lamborghini plans to spend nearly $2 billion to develop the hybrid fleet. That’s the largest investment the company has ever made. However, Lamborghini says it will help them reach a goal of cutting emissions in half over the next four years. Competitor Ferrari offers a plug-in hybrid already and another supercar brand, McLaren, has one coming soon.
Read More: TechCrunch, CNN, Car and Driver, Bloomberg
Google I/O Announcements
Google had a ton of announcements at its big, annual developers conference this year. For example, it showed off something called Project Starline. It’s a high-tech video chat booth that makes the person you’re talking to appear in 3D. That’s still being tested and isn’t available to buy yet. Another one expected to launch this year is a health tool that could help you identify skin, hair, or nail conditions. You take a picture of the problem and answer some questions and it pulls up a list of things it might be. Many of Google’s existing products are getting upgrades too.
Read More: Cnet, The Verge, TechCrunch, BBC
Watch Full Developers Conference: Google
Work Wednesday: Top Jobs for New College Grads
Millions of new college graduates are entering the workforce at an unusual time. There are a record number of job openings, but also a lot of competition. The class of 2021 will be going up against millions of people who were laid off in the last year as well as 2020 grads who started looking for jobs at the worst time of the pandemic. Still, certain skills are in high demand. Some of the industries looking for new entry-level talent include finance, tech, manufacturing, and health care. A new report from LinkedIn says the career with the highest expected salary for an entry-level position is software engineering.
Read More: LinkedIn, Tech Republic, WSJ, WalletHub