Thursday, May 28th, 2020
100K+ Deaths, China Expands Power & IGTV Ads
(+ When a Contact Tracer Calls You)
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.FunctionofBeauty.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 perusing the latest happenings...
U.S. Death Toll Tops 100,000
As of early this morning, the U.S. death toll was up to 100,442. Many experts think the real number is even higher than that, since it’s only a best estimate. Reuters reports an average of 1,400 Americans have died every day in May. That’s down from the peak in April. Right now, the U.S. has the most confirmed deaths of anywhere in the world, but when you look at “deaths per capita,” the U.S. ranks 8th.
Read More: Johns Hopkins, AP, WaPo, Reuters
House First Proxy Vote
For the first time in history, lawmakers in the U.S. House voted by proxy. That means if a lawmaker isn’t physically at the U.S. Capitol, they can assign another lawmaker to cast their vote for them. The rules changed recently because the Democratic majority was hoping to avoid bringing all 435 house members together. Still, most did show up. Only 70 representatives cast their votes by proxy. All of them were Democrats.
Read More: LA Times, Reuters, FOX News, AP
Hong Kong Security Law
Early this morning, China approved a national security law over Hong Kong. Since the 1990s, China and Hong Kong have had a “one country, two systems” arrangement that was supposed to remain in effect until 2047. However, this new law will likely override that one. Specifics are still being hashed out, but already we know one key part of the law concerns pro-democracy or anti-government protests. Under the legislation, they become illegal when the law goes into effect. That will likely happen in September.
Read More: NY Times, Al Jazeera, Reuters, ABC News, WSJ, Statement
Minneapolis Violent Protests
For the second night in a row, protesters got out of control in Minneapolis. They’re upset over the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck. That officer and three others involved in the arrest were fired. Now, protesters are demanding they face criminal charges. Some people reportedly broke windows of a police precinct last night, set fires, and looted nearby businesses. Law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowds.
Read More: Minneapolis Star Tribune, WSJ, The Hill, NBC News
Rocket Launch Delayed
The historic astronaut launch planned for yesterday was delayed because of bad weather. Two NASA astronauts were planning to blast off into orbit on a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, thunder and lightning got in the way. The launch is now scheduled for Saturday afternoon. It will mark the first time a private company will send American astronauts into space.
Read More: AP, NPR, USA Today
Drones Delivering Masks to US Hospitals
Drones are now being used in North Carolina to deliver medical supplies to a hospital just outside Charlotte. A California company, Zipline, is behind this. The FAA has signed off. The drones are reportedly loaded up with four pounds of face masks and other protective equipment. Then, they’re flown roughly 15 miles to the hospital, where supplies drop out of the sky using parachutes. The company says it eventually wants to deliver COVID-19 treatments and vaccines to virus hotspots.
Read More: Axios, CNBC, TechCrunch
Thousands of New Job Losses
American Airlines is reportedly cutting 30% of its management and administrative staff. That’s on top of tens of thousands of American Airline employees who already took unpaid leave or retired early to help cut costs. Also, airplane manufacturer Boeing is looking to cut 10% of its workforce, mostly in the U.S.
American Airlines Cuts: WSJ, CNBC
Boeing Job Cuts: CNN, NBC News, ABC News
Boeing Resumes Production of 737 Max Jets
Boeing is resuming production of the grounded 737 Max Jetliner. That’s the aircraft involved in two deadly crashes about a year and a half ago. The company spent $18 billion trying to fix the issue that likely contributed to the crashes. Now, Boeing says it’s improved the systems enough to work on them again.
Read More: The Verge, Boeing
Instagram to Share Ad Revenue with Creators
Expect Instagram’s IGTV to look a little different. For the first time, Instagram will run ads on IGTV and the platform will start sharing the money it makes from them with the video creators. Similar to how Google’s YouTube works, Instagram will give creators 55% of ad revenue. The social media network will first test the concept with just a couple hundred influencers starting next week. The goal is to eventually expand the option to more users worldwide.
Read More: The Verge, 9to5Mac, Instagram
17-Year Cicadas
Millions more cicadas are expected this summer. After 17 years underground, a big, red-eyed type of the insect is slowly emerging on the east coast. They’re harmless to humans, but noisy. USA Today reports they can be as loud as a lawnmower. That’s a mating call. They’re popping up in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. They surface to mate, but will leave again soon to go back underground for another 17 years or so.
Read More: USA Today, FOX News
Thing to Know Thursday: Human Contact Tracing
Read more: CDC, UCSF, SF Chronicle, CNBC, Johns Hopkins Course
Apply for Remote Contact Tracing Jobs: National, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia
Guest: Dr. Mike Reid
Mike Reid, MD is leading the contact tracing efforts on behalf of the University of California San Francisco in collaboration with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He's also the Chief Medical Officer for the California Department of Public Health's virtual training academy for contact tracers.
Learn more: https://medicine.ucsf.edu/people/mike-reid