theNewsWorthy: Friday, August 10th, 2018
ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED - IN ONE PLACE.
(in less than 10 minutes!)
Want more? I got you.
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...
SPACE FORCE
It's like the Air Force but for outer space.
Vice President Mike Pence laid out a plan this week to create the new military branch by 2020 and wants Congress to allocate $8 billion to the plan over five years.
Congress would have to give the OK to create a new military branch. The Washington Post reports White House officials are already getting started, even without lawmakers.
They’re working to create a US Space Command as a first step and want that ready to go by the end of this year. They’re also going to start pulling space experts from other military offices to start buying and developing new tech.
President Trump’s tweet: “Space Force all the way!” The idea is to prep the US to deal with an increasing number of threats in space. Critics say it’s too expensive, and too much of a distraction. They say the current military branches who deal with space threats now should be the ones to focus on it.
Read More: The Washington Post, USA Today
NASA'S SOLAR SPACECRAFT
Some more space news today: this weekend, NASA’s newest spacecraft will get closer to the sun than any other human-made object has gotten before.
The Verge reports the craft will get within just 4 million miles of the sun, and it’ll be hot, with some particles that can reach 3 million degrees Fahrenheit! It has some serious protection with a heat shield and a cooling system inside. The new spacecraft is the size of a car and is called the “Parker Solar Probe.”
The point of the mission? To try to solve some sun-related mysteries, like why that area of the atmosphere is actually hotter than the surface of the sun.
The spacecraft heads to the center of our solar system this Saturday morning.
Read More: The Verge, Space.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE MARKS ONE YEAR
This Sunday marks one year since the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
ABC News reports the governor of Virginia has declared a state of emergencyin order to have extra resources on hand throughout the weekend.
The National Guard will even be ready in case violence breaks out in and around Charlottesville and outside Washington, D.C. CNN says authorities faced backlash for not having enough resources for the rally last year.
Several protests and parades are already planned throughout the weekend.
Remember: there were hundreds of counter-protesters at the so-called ‘Unite the Right’ rally last year. A car rammed into them, killing activist Heather Heyer. One year later, a nonprofit has been established in her name. NPR reports it provides scholarships to students who want to study positive, nonviolent social change.
Read More: ABC News, NPR, CNN
PUERTO RICO DEATH TOLL
Turns out the real number of fatalities from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was 20 times that of the official toll announced a while back.
The government in Puerto Rico is now acknowledging the new number with a report posted online. It says more than 1,400 people died in the hurricane’s aftermath; much more than the original official count of 64.
The new report happened because of quite a bit of backlash about that original number, including a New York Times article in December that questioned the 64 number, especially considering the months of power outages that followed the hurricane.
Another study about it is underway. The government says it’ll update the official numbers depending on what that study finds.
Read More: New York Times, Associated Press, Puerto Rico’s Report
MELANIA TRUMP'S PARENTS U.S. CITIZENS
The first lady’s parents are now officially US citizens. They were sworn in yesterday.
The Associated Press says they’ve already been living in the U.S. as permanent residents. Melania Trump sponsored their green cards. Their lawyer says they applied on their own and didn’t get any special treatment.
In fact, reports say, they used a part of the immigration system that President Trump is trying to get rid of. His latest proposal from last week would limit immigrants from sponsoring anyone but their spouses or underage children – this means no parents, adult children or siblings.
Melania Trump and her parents are from Slovenia.
Read More: Associated Press, People
MEDIA MERGER LAWSUIT
A major media merger is officially dead and now involves a $1 billion lawsuit. Tribune Media is suing Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Tribune owns 42 TV stations; Sinclair is the largest TV broadcasting company in the U.S., with 193 TV stations.
Originally, the plan was for Sinclair to takeover Tribune, but now Tribune is saying never mind and claims Sinclair was overly aggressive with the Justice Department and FCC in trying to get approval for the deal.
Sinclair says the lawsuit is ridiculous.
Variety reports the merger would have combined two of the country’s largestbroadcasters. Critics say that would hurt competition and the FCC wasn’t really on board.
Read More: Bloomberg, Variety, CNET
AMAZON HEALTH CLINICS
Amazon is taking another step in the healthcare space, this time to test out actual health care clinics.
CNBC reports that Amazon will open primary care clinics for a small set of employees at its headquarters in Seattle, as soon as later this year. They then hope to expand the pilot program next year.
Amazon has said it wants to figure out a way to bring down health costs in the U.S. This test will be part of that.
Remember: Amazon has teamed up with JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to try to create new healthcare systems.
Read More: CNBC
GALAXY NOTE 9 AND GALAXY WATCH
Pre-orders officially begin today for Samsung’s newest phone: the Galaxy Note 9.
The Verge says the phone has “the best specs you’ll find in any flagship Android phone.”
Although it says it feels like a “giant phone in your hand,” the report says it has a bigger screen than the previous model, and an upgraded S Pen. You can get it in either blue or a pink-purple color in the U.S. The price tag starts at $999.
Also of note: the new Galaxy Watch. It’s set to be available in the U.S. on August 24th.
Read More: The Verge, Engadget, Business Insider, TechCrunch
BTS HISTORY
Korean boyband BTS is expected to make more history.
This time, Billboard reports, they plan to become the first Korean artists to perform a stadium show in the US. It’s happening in New York City at Citi Field in October.
They already became the first-ever K-pop act to top the Billboard 200. Tickets go on sale next Friday, August 17th.
Read More: Bilboard, TIME
An email a day keeps the boring away.
Sign up for FREE to get episodes sent straight to your email inbox so you're always in-the-know:
© theNewsWorthy, Inc. 2018 | All Rights Reserved | Contact