Wednesday, July 28th, 2021
Capitol Officers Testify, New Mask Guidance & Simone Biles Withdraws
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh.com/NEWSWORTHY14 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 about the latest happenings…
Jan. 6th Committee Public Hearing
It was an emotional first public hearing for lawmakers investigating the January 6h Capitol riot. Four police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol that day described how they were confronted by a violent, angry mob. They spoke about being beaten by rioters and thinking they were going to die. They begged the lawmakers to dig deeper into exactly how the attack happened. The committee plans to find out who coordinated the riot and figure out how to prevent another one. However, Republican lawmakers don’t want the committee to investigate at all. They say it’s politically-motivated and unnecessary since law enforcement agencies are on it.
Read More: AP, CBS News, Politico, Fox News, WSJ
Atlanta Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty
The man who shot and killed eight people in the Atlanta area back in March is going to be spending the rest of his life in prison. He pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 35 years. Back in March, he shot employees and customers at three different Georgia spas. Six of the eight people he killed were Asian women. The shooter still faces hate crime charges for targeting the victims based on their sex and race. If he’s convicted on those, too, he could get the death penalty.
Read More: AJC, CNN, WSJ, CBS News
New CDC Mask Guidance
The CDC now says if you live in a hotspot, you should go back to wearing masks indoors anytime you’re in public, even if you’re vaccinated. A place is considered a hotspot when it has at least 50 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. The CDC also reversed course and said masks should be required for all students, teachers, and staff at schools nationwide. The Biden administration says the recommendation might change again if a larger percentage of the U.S. gets vaccinated. For now, it says masks can help keep outbreaks from multiplying and forcing lockdowns or school closures.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, Axios, AP, CDC
U.S. Students Falling Behind
The pandemic put American kids about four or five months behind in school. That’s according to a new report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. It looked at test scores from the end of the last school year and compared them to student scores from previous years. It found students in grades K-12 were testing, on average, ten points lower in math and nine points lower in reading. The report says action needs to be taken so today’s students don’t face disadvantages over their lifetimes. Some experts are calling on schools to hire extra employees and come up with specific recovery plans for each student.
Read More: Axios, NY Times, McKinsey&Co
Simone Biles Drops Out of Team Competition
Star athlete Simone Biles, who is widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time, pulled out of the team finals in Tokyo. She left the competition after the first event. Biles seemed to get lost in the air during her routine, and she landed awkwardly. After that, she told her teammates they would have to go on without her. Biles said she didn’t have a physical injury, but she was struggling with her mental health. Early this morning, USA Gymnastics also announced that she won’t be competing in this week’s individual events either.
Read More: SI, The Guardian, Axios, WaPo, USA Gymnastics
Swimmer Katie Ledecky Wins Gold
Team USA is now leading the overall medal count at the Tokyo Olympics. Star swimmer Katie Ledecky added to that tally today. The American won a gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle. This is the first time women have been able to race that far at the Olympics, even though the men have been doing it for decades. There’s a lot more competition ahead. Some of today’s biggest events include women’s and men’s basketball, cycling, and diving.
Medal Count: Olympics
Read More: USA Today, NY Times, AP
Helmet to Shrink Brain Tumors
A team at the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute created a magnetic helmet that’s said to be able to dramatically shrink tumors. The researchers tested the therapy on a patient with end-stage brain cancer. The man wore the helmet between 2-6 hours a day for about a month. He ended up dying from an unrelated injury, but an autopsy showed the tumor in the man’s brain had shrunk by nearly a third in just a few weeks. The doctors who developed the magnetic helmet say they believe the treatment could one day replace radiation and chemotherapy, but more studies will need to be completed first.
Read More: Engadget, TechCrunch, Science Times, Houston Methodist
Tech Giants Report Record Profits
Tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft are pulling in some of their biggest profits ever. Combined, the three companies reported more than $50 billion in profits between April and June. Apple did the best, making almost $22 billion in those three months. Alphabet, which owns Google, reported a profit of more than $18.5 billion. That’s more than twice its profits from the same time last year. Microsoft’s profits increased by nearly 50% compared to last year. More big numbers from the tech industry are still to come this week. Facebook is expected to reveal its quarterly earnings today, and Amazon is on deck for tomorrow.
Read More: AP, The Guardian, WSJ, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNET
Instagram’s New Teen Safety Policies
Instagram is making changes to help protect its youngest users. From now on, accounts for kids younger than 16 will be private by default. Users can still switch to a public account if they choose, but they’ll be shown a notification first explaining the benefits of staying private. On top of that, the company says it’s using new technology to root out potential child predators. Advertisers will also be more restricted when targeting anyone younger than 18. Instagram says these enhanced privacy features will be lifted once a user turns 18.
Read More: Instagram, Mashable, Gizmodo, Axios
Work Wednesday: Americans Are Finally Using Vacation Days
After more than a year of working through a pandemic, it seems Americans are ready for vacations. They are requesting days off in higher numbers than usual. A recent survey from the U.S. Travel Association found nearly eight in ten employees are planning to use more vacation days this year than they usually do. The survey also shows more workers are planning to unplug from work during time off, meaning they’re avoiding business emails and phone calls. This trend is happening as more Americans report feeling increasingly burned out compared to last year. Some companies are even shutting down their whole offices to give workers a break.
Read More: WSJ, Human Resource Executive, Go Banking Rates