Monday, August 2nd, 2021
Vaxxed People Spread Delta, Tourists Evacuate Turkey & Back to School Shopping
All the news you need in about 10 min:
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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 to review the latest happenings...
New CDC Report on Delta Variant
It’s another unfortunate twist in the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC released a report that found fully-vaccinated people can spread the new Delta variant of COVID-19 just as easily as unvaccinated people. This doesn’t mean the vaccines aren’t effective anymore. The vast majority of the people dying or going to the hospital with COVID-19 are still unvaccinated. However, this does explain why even vaccinated people need to wear masks. It’s to help prevent other people from getting sick and overwhelming the health care system. Both new cases and deaths are now on the rise in the U.S., as are vaccinations.
Read More: NY Times, WaPo, Reuters, AP
Fauci: Delta to get Worse
Almost half of the American population is fully vaccinated and the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says that should be enough to keep the U.S. from needing to do any more lockdowns. However, it’s not enough to crush new outbreaks. He said because of the Delta variant, “things are going to get worse.” Fauci again urged people in hot spots to wear their masks, and he pleaded with the nearly 100 million eligible Americans who haven’t gotten their shots yet to get them now.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, AP, Fox News
Congress to get Trump Tax Returns
Congress may finally get to see former President Trump’s tax returns. Trump has been trying to keep these records private for a long time, but now, the Justice Department says the Treasury needs to turn them over to the House panel that’s been after them for more than two years. The House Ways and Means Committee wants to see Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020. The committee wants to know if Trump had any “business entanglements” that might have impacted his decision-making in the White House. Neither former President Trump nor his lawyers have commented about this latest request yet. They have until Wednesday to respond.
Read More: CNBC, NY Times, AP, WSJ, DOJ
Trump’s PACs Raise Millions
Former President Trump still has a ton of support around the country. New federal filings show his political committees brought in $82 million online in the first six months of this year, and they have more than $100 million in the bank. That’s more than what any former president has ever raised in American history, and it’s on par with what the main political committees like the RNC and DNC are bringing in. Analysts say this money could be critical in next year’s midterms and beyond. Trump has already endorsed some midterm candidates, and he’s been teasing a possible presidential campaign in 2024.
Read More: Politico, Axios, WSJ, NBC News, FEC
Turkey Wildfires
Wildfires are raging in popular Turkish tourist destinations. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from coastal resort towns, and at least eight people have died. Wildfires are common in Turkey during the dry summer months, but this week’s fires have been the worst in years. Other wildfires are growing in Italy and Greece. Fire crews are also dealing with especially high temperatures and high winds. Local firefighters are getting support from several other countries, and they’re reportedly starting to make some good headway to get the fires under control.
Read More: Reuters, AP, BBC, NBC News
Progress on Western Wildfires
In the U.S. there are now more than 90 large wildfires burning, mostly out west. However, the tens of thousands of firefighters who’ve been battling them have made good progress. The largest fire is still the Bootleg fire in southern Oregon, but it’s now 74% contained. The biggest one in California, the Dixie fire, is now about 32% contained. Evacuation orders were lifted yesterday. Other people are still evacuated from wildfires in Montana. Monsoon season could change things though.
Read More: AP, Fox News, CNN, InciWeb
Western U.S. Thunderstorms
Some western states are seeing thunderstorms, and the hope is they bring some relief since much of the west has been exceptionally dry this year. However, they also bring a threat of mudslides, flash flooding, and lightning that could spark more wildfires. Parts of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Washington, and more are under flood watches. They’re expected to last for at least the next couple of days.
Read More: USA Today, CNN, NWS
U.S. Swimmers Make History
Team USA kept on adding to the medal count at the Olympics this weekend. American swimmer Caeleb Dressel is now one of only four men to win at least five gold medals at a single Olympics. Just this weekend, Dressel won the 50-meter freestyle, and he was part of the team that won the 4 by 100-meter medley relay. Another American swimmer, Katie Ledecky, also closed out her Olympic Games with a gold medal in the women’s 800-meter freestyle race on Saturday. With that swim, Ledecky became the first woman to win six individual gold medals in her career.
Read More: AP, Sporting News, CBS Sports
More Gymnastics Medals & New Fastest Runners
American gymnast MyKayla Skinner won a silver medal on the vault. Skinner’s teammate Sunisa Lee also added to her medal collection. Lee won bronze on the uneven bars. On the track, American Fred Kerley came in second place in the men’s 100-meter dash. He was just four-hundredths of a second behind the winner, a Texas-born Italian sprinter named Lamont Marcell Jacobs. Athletes from Team USA also won medals in shot put, cycling, diving, fencing, golf, shooting, and the triathlon race. Team USA is currently leading the medal count.
Read More: WaPo, NPR, ESPN, People, NY Times, NBC News, Olympics
Listen to MyKayla Skinner’s Interview on the Newsworthy (10 minutes in)
Square to Buy Afterpay
The payment platform Square is acquiring “buy now, pay later” giant Afterpay for $29 billion in stock. The “buy now, pay later” model has become more popular around the web since younger people seem to be moving away from traditional credit cards. Apple is reportedly working on a similar service of its own, but for now, Afterpay is the biggest name in the game, letting you get your products right away while paying for them in installments. It has more than 16 million customers around the world. Square and Afterpay expect their deal to close early next year. Once it’s done, an Afterpay director will join Square’s board.
Read More: WSJ, Reuters, The Verge, TechCrunch, Square
Twitter is Paying Hackers to Find Algorithm Biases
Twitter says it wants to root out racial and gender bias in its algorithms, and it’s asking hackers for help. Right now, the social media giant is focusing on its image-cropping algorithm. This is the tool that decides how a larger photo should look in a preview. The algorithm tries to pinpoint the “most interesting” part of the picture for the preview, but critics say the tool tends to crop out black people and men. The social media giant says it wants to fix the problem, so it’s running a contest and offering cash prizes to people who can identify any bias within the code. The contest is open through Friday.
Read More: Business Insider, Engadget, Mashable, Reuters, Twitter
Zoom Agrees to Settle Privacy Lawsuit
The video chat platform Zoom agreed to pay $85 million to settle a privacy lawsuit. Customers say Zoom shared their data with Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn without permission. In the class-action lawsuit, users also claimed Zoom didn’t do enough to stop something called “Zoom bombing,” when hackers take over meetings and often share disturbing content. Under the settlement, Zoom subscribers get a 15% refund, or $25, whichever is larger. Zoom promises to beef up its security and to be more transparent with customers about data sharing. A district judge still has to approve the settlement.
Read More: NPR, Reuters, The Street, Bloomberg
Melinda Gates & MacKenzie Scott Donations for Women
Melinda Gates and Mackenzie Scott are giving away more than $40 million to help empower women. It’s part of a project they launched last year called the "Equality Can’t Wait Challenge." They asked people for ideas of projects that can lead to real change for women over the next decade. Four winners were picked out of more than 500 applicants. They’re getting $10 million each to advance their projects. The winning organizations focus on gender equality in tech, higher education, caregiving, and helping to grow businesses owned by minority women.
Read More: Forbes, GeekWire, CNBC, CNN, Equality Can’t Wait
Money Monday: Back to School Shopping More Expensive
Kids are heading back to school soon. To get them ready, parents are spending more money on supplies than ever before. The National Retail Federation says families will spend more than $37 billion this year, which equals about $850 per family. College students are expected to spend an average of $1,200 each. Technology is driving the average up, with the survey saying about half of families plan to buy a laptop or tablet before school starts. New clothes and shoes are also adding up. A lot of people have mentioned that things cost a lot more since the last time they went back to school shopping due to high demand and shortages of items.
Read More: Business Insider, NPR, National Retail Federation