Thursday, December 30th, 2021
Socialite Convicted, At-Home Test Accuracy & Champagne Shortage
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.com/newsworthy and Schwab.com/plan
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 peruse the latest happenings...
Ghislaine Maxwell Found Guilty
A British socialite who, for years, has been accused of heinous crimes could end up spending the rest of her life in prison. A jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of federal sex trafficking charges. The jurors sided with prosecutors, who say she played a pivotal role in recruiting and grooming teenaged girls to be sexually abused by her close friend, Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was a multi-millionaire who was supposed to go to trial on sex-trafficking charges himself, but he died by suicide in a federal detention center. Maxwell could get up to 65 years in prison.
Read more: AP, WaPo, WSJ, NBC News, CNN
Biden/Putin Meeting Today
For the 2nd time this month, President Biden is getting ready for a high-stakes meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Today’s conversation between the two leaders is about what one American official described as a “moment of crisis”. That official was talking about how Russia's military forces have been surrounding Ukraine. It’s fueled fears that Russia could be planning to invade the American ally. A few weeks ago, Biden warned Putin there would be tough economic penalties if an invasion did happen. The U.S. embassy in Ukraine’s capital is reportedly making emergency preparations and asking for more staff.
Read more: WaPo, ABC News, Politico, NPR, WSJ, White House
FDA Authorized Another At-Home Test
At a time when the U.S. is running low on at-home Covid-19 tests, another option is hitting the market. The FDA authorized a new at-home testing kit from Siemens Healthineers. It is expected to be available next month. This is just the latest of several over-the-counter tests that have gotten the green light from federal regulators, but production is still lagging. The demand is especially high right now. So last week, President Biden promised to address the problem.
Read more: Reuters, The Hill, FDA
Antigen Tests vs. Omicron
The over-the-counter rapid tests still aren’t as accurate as PCR tests that take longer to process and cannot be done at home. Now, the FDA says the at-home options are even less likely to detect the highly-contagious omicron variant than earlier versions of Covid-19. The agency says the tests do detect omicron, but they’re a little less sensitive to it. Health experts suggest taking more than one at-home test on separate days. Also, if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone with Covid-19, you should go with a PCR test to be safe. Still, the FDA says every authorized test is still a useful tool to keep a lot of people safe.
Read More: CNN, Fox News, Politico, CBS News
Flu Comeback
While most of the world is focused on Covid-19, it’s easy to forget about the other threat this time of year: the seasonal flu. Flu cases are on the rise after reaching an all-time low last year. Health experts credited masks and more people staying home for last year’s low rates. Now, they think the total number of cases could reach pre-pandemic levels since more people are back to work, school, travel, and social activities. Plus, some research suggests flu shots may not give you as much protection against this year’s flu strain as vaccine makers hoped. They still say it will protect you from serious flu cases that could be deadly.
Read more: NBC News, AP, Axios, USA Today, CDC
Blood Donations Needed
The Red Cross is hoping to convince healthy Americans to donate blood by offering a chance to go to the Super Bowl. The non-profit is warning of historically low blood supply levels. Some locations are down to less than a day’s supply. Organizations are largely blaming the pandemic, which is causing blood drives to be canceled. Staffing shortages are also to blame. So, to get more donors, the Red Cross will give away two tickets to Super Bowl 56 in February. If you donate blood at a center in January, you will automatically be entered to win.
Read more: Red Cross, ABC Action News, Fox Business
Champagne Shortage Ahead of NYE
It could be hard to find your favorite brand of bubbly to ring in the new year. The senior editor of Wine Spectator says supply chain problems have been impacting the industry in what she called the perfect storm. She and other experts blame shipping delays and the truck driver shortage. For wine and champagne, there are also shortages of things like bottles, boxes, and labels. And the industry has been dealing with severe drought and other weather issues. Wine Enthusiast says the U.S. is in the early stages of a champagne shortage that’s expected to last several years.
Read more: Wine Enthusiast, Fox Business, Forbes, Today
Another T-Mobile Breach
For the second time in a few months, T-Mobile is dealing with a cyberattack. This one is much smaller than in August when a data breach exposed nearly 50 million customers’ data. The company confirmed it again and says a small number of customers who were impacted have been notified. Reports say customers may have fallen victim to what’s called a SIM-swapping attack. That’s when your phone number is stolen and assigned to a new SIM card. That means your number could then be used to bypass security measures and access other accounts. Customers may have also had their personal plan information exposed.
Read more: The Verge, CNET, The T-Mo Report, Engadget, 9to5Mac
Alexa Suggests Dangerous Challenge
Amazon now says a problem with Alexa is fixed, but not before the virtual voice assistant told a child to do something that could've turned deadly. A mom says she and her child were doing fun challenges, and her kid asked Alexa for a challenge. The virtual assistant responded with, “touch a penny to the exposed prongs of a phone charger plugged into a wall”, which could have led to electrocution. The device reportedly pulled the answer from an article that described it as a dangerous TikTok challenge. Amazon confirmed this happened and told the BBC the issue was fixed.
Read more: BBC, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Gizmodo
Vinyl Sales Soar
Even with streaming widely available, it seems Americans are feeling nostalgic for the old ways of getting their music. As Billboard reports, more than 2 million vinyl albums were sold in the U.S. just last week. That made it the top sales week for vinyl since 1991. It was fueled by holiday shopping leading up to Christmas. However, the trend has been growing for a while. Last week was the sixth week in a row of at least a million vinyl albums sold. The top-selling vinyl album of the last few weeks has been Adele’s latest album, “30”.
Read more: Pitchfork, Billboard
Thing To Know Thursday: Differences Between Flu, Cold, Covid Cases
It can be tough to distinguish between a regular cold, the flu, and Covid-19. They can all cause symptoms like a sore throat, runny nose, and muscle aches. However, doctors say there are differences. With a cold, symptoms tend to build up over a few days, and adults are unlikely to get a fever. However, flu symptoms tend to come more suddenly and can feel severe right away. With Covid-19, some of the signs are extreme fatigue, chest pain, night sweats, and a loss of taste or smell. Although, some doctors say if you feel sick in any way, assume you have Covid-19 unless a test proves otherwise. It’s safest to isolate yourself until you know for sure.
Read more: CNN, Today, Newsweek, Deseret News