Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

Mormon Church Accused, Free Public Transportation & Apps of the Decade

All the news you need in less than 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 perusing the latest happenings...

Deadly Winter Storm Cont’d: 
More dangerous weather is expected today. The storm has stretched from Kansas to New Hampshire and put 60 million people under weather alerts. Eleven people have died on icy roads in the Midwest. In the Deep South, tornadoes are blamed for killing three people and causing extensive damage. Today, heavy snow is heading to Boston, parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
Read more: USA Today, CBS News, Weather Channel, AccuWeather

Mormon Church Accused: 
A whistleblower complaint against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accuses the Mormon church of keeping donations meant for charity and stockpiling $100 billion in tax-free funds. Church leaders are accused of using the money to prop up private businesses and possibly breaking federal tax laws. The man who filed the complaint is a former investment manager for the church. A church spokesman said they don’t provide information about specific financial decisions.
Read more: Washington Post, Axios

Protests Over Citizenship Law: 
Violent protests are breaking out in India over a new law that makes it easier for people of certain religions to become citizens. The new law leaves out Islam, and now some of the country’s 200 million Muslims are fed up and taking to the streets. Reports say police have turned violent. The UN and others, including U.S. officials, are calling the law clearly discriminatory.
Read more: NYT, Washington Post, BBC, CNN

Boeing Suspends Production: 
Boeing plans to stop production of the 737 Max jetliner next month – at least temporarily. The reason? The FAA says its investigation will continue into 2020 after two deadly crashes led to the grounding of the aircraft in March. Boeing has continued to manufacture the 737 Max, but now, the company says it'll focus on delivering the 400 planes it has in storage before making more.
Read more: CNBC, WSJ, NBC News, Reuters, NYT

Obamacare Deadline Extended: 
The deadline to sign up for insurance plans for 2020 under the Affordable Care Act has been extended. The deadline was Sunday but has been extended until 3 a.m. EST Wednesday. Enrollment is down six percent from last year, but it is expected to increase with the extended deadline.
Read more: Reuters, The Hill, Healthcare.gov

Free Public Transportation: 
Kansas City, Missouri is set to become the first major U.S. city to offer free public transportation. The city council has signed off on free bus rides to help people get around and boost the local economy. Frequent riders could save money, but it’s unclear whether the move will increase ridership.
Read more: Curbed, Salon

Instagram Flags Offensive Captions: 
Instagram will use the same type of artificial intelligence it uses to warn against harmful comments to tackle potentially offensive photo captions. The app will detect when someone is about to post something that could be hurtful and then send a warning. It works by identifying captions that look similar to others that have already been flagged as bullying.
Read more: The Verge, TechCrunch

Apps of the Decade: 
Instagram was one of the most-downloaded apps of the decade, along with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Facebook (all owned by Facebook). TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter also made the list. By the end of this year, people around the world will have downloaded a record 120 billion apps on Apple and Android devices and spent about $90 billion this year alone.
Read more: CNET,  TechCrunch

Android’s New Messaging: 
Google is rolling out next-gen text messaging called RCS, which will be similar to Apple’s iMessage. It replaces traditional SMS messaging and will allow Android users to send messages over Wi-fi, see when people are typing, turn on read receipts and more.
Read more: USA Today, Engadget

Solar Headphones: 
JBL is working on wireless headphones that never need to be plugged in for a charge. The solar-powered headphones self-charge with exposure to indoor and outdoor light. The charge can last up to 68 hours on less than two hours of sunlight. The headphones should be available by next October.
Read more: TechRadar, Engadget

Mariah Carey Hits No. 1: 
After 25 years, Mariah Carey’s song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. It’s the longest it's taken a song to reach Billboard’s top spot. It also marks Mariah Carey’s 19th No. 1 song on the Hot 100, the most by a solo artist, and second-most by any artist behind The Beatles.
Read more: Billboard, Variety