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Dose Of News Useful Today
Tuesday, March 9th
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📅 It’s News-day
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Welcome to Tuesday. Today, we’re covering a series of explosions in Equatorial Guinea, new CDC guidelines for fully-vaccinated folks, and SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts’ first-ever solo dissent. 📰👇
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 5.12 minutes to read. (Know someone who would enjoy the DONUT? Just forward this email.)
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Daily Sprinkle |
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
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⚖️ The George Floyd Trial
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The judge overseeing the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of killing George Floyd last May, paused jury selection for at least one day on Monday.
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The move came after prosecutors filed for a delay pending an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court over the possible reinstatement of a third-degree murder charge.
📝 Background:
There are three different ‘degrees’ of murder charges:
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First-Degree: Premeditated and intentional; felony murder
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Second-Degree: Unplanned but intentional (i.e., reacting in the heat of the moment); Main difference compared to first-degree is the intent or mindset of the defendant.
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Third-Degree: An unplanned, unintentional killing; Some states use “third-degree murder” and “manslaughter” interchangeably (not Minnesota).
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📅 A Brief Timeline…
State prosecutors initially charged Chauvin with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter last May for his role in Floyd’s death. Second-degree murder charges were added in June.
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October 2020: District Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the third-degree murder charge - historically used to prosecute drug dealers who sold deadly products - on grounds the statute only applies when more than one person is threatened by the act.
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February 1: The state Court of Appeals issued a potentially landmark decision in a shooting case by another police officer, finding that a third-degree murder charge could apply even when one person was threatened.
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Later in February: Judge Cahill rejected a motion by the prosecution to reinstate the third-degree muder charge, saying the appellate court ruling didn’t apply because it could still be appealed to the state's Supreme Court (which took up the case earlier this month).
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This Past Friday: The Court of Appeals rejected Judge Cahill’s argument, saying he must accept the court’s decision regarding third-degree murder as precedent. Chauvin’s lawyer said he intends to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
Judge Cahill planned to go ahead with the trial anyway yesterday, but ended up delaying the proceedings at least one day after prosecutors filed for a delay with the Court of Appeals.
⏭️ What’s Next?
The trial’s immediate future is currently unclear.
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Judge Cahill yesterday said he intends to proceed with other motions and jury selections in the lead-up to opening arguments - set for March 29 - unless the higher courts tell him to stop.
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In Monday’s appellate court filing, the prosecution argued the proceedings should be delayed until after the state Supreme Court considers the appeal of Friday’s ruling, which Cahill said would postpone the trial by at least 30 days.
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🦠💉 COVID + Vaccine Update
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Just over 40k Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project, with that number falling for the 54th straight day to its lowest level since October 20.
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The CDC published new guidelines yesterday for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, saying they can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without a mask and low-risk unvaccinated people from one other household. (Left-Center | Right-Center)
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⚖️ SCOTUS Declines 2020 Election Case
The Supreme Court denied former President Trump’s final pending appeal regarding the 2020 presidential election yesterday in an unsigned decision “without noted dissent.”
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The lawsuit argued Wisconsin's expansion of absentee voting in the 2020 election was unconstitutional, and that the case remained relevant even after Biden’s inauguration because Trump may run for president again in 2024.
Separately: Chief Justice John Roberts filed a solo dissent yesterday for the first time in his nearly 16 years on the Supreme Court, accusing his colleagues of “turning judges into advice columnists” in a case about free speech rights in Georgia. (From the Left | From the Right)
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🇲🇲 Myanmar Update
Thousands of protesters gathered in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, on Monday night for the first mass protests in defiance of a military-imposed curfew.
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Earlier that day, the military government canceled the licenses of five local media outlets and raided the offices of one of them in the evening – marking the first time officials of a media outlet have been targeted since the February 1 coup.
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All five had been offering extensive coverage of the protests, often with live video streaming online.
At least two protesters were shot dead elsewhere in Myanmar on Monday, bringing the death count above 60 since the beginning of February.
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⏰ Catch Up Quick:
🏫 New York City's public high schools will reopen for some in-person classes on March 22, with sports returning in mid-April. Read more.
🐘 Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) announced he will not run for reelection in 2022, becoming the fifth incumbent GOP senator to opt against running in the next general election. (Left-Center | Right-Center)
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☝️ 1 Last Thing…
At least 98 people died from injuries sustained in a series of four explosions in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday afternoon, according to government officials – more than triple earlier estimates.
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A fire near a weapons depot containing dynamite is believed to be the cause of the blasts.
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💰 Come Fly With Me
American Airlines announced plans to raise $7.5B by borrowing against its frequent flyer program to replace a loan of the same amount it took from the U.S. Treasury Department under the Cares Act.
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Last year, American said its AAdvantage program was valued between $19.5B and $31.5B.
More: Airlines make money from their frequent flyer programs by selling miles to banks, which customers can earn by using their credit cards.
Even More: United borrowed $6.8B against its frequent-flier program last June, while Delta raised $9B in September backed by its SkyMiles loyalty initiative.
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📈📉 Market Mania
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The Dow reached a record high during intraday trading yesterday before closing up 1%.
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The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.4% (Apple -4.2% | Tesla -5.8% | Alphabet -4.3% | Netflix -4.5%), pulling the index into correction territory.
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The S&P 500 closed down 0.5% after gaining as much as 1% during intraday trading.
Read more.
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🤝 General Partnership
General Electric is reportedly nearing a deal to combine its aircraft-leasing business with Irish company AerCap, per the WSJ.
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The deal would establish the world’s largest jet-leasing business, featuring a fleet of nearly 3k jets and a valuation north of $30B.
More: Shares of AerCap rose 13.25% yesterday, while GE rose 4.2%.
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⏰ Catch Up Quick:
🎮 GameStop’s board of directors appointed Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen to serve as chairman of a special committee to help the brick-and-mortar retailer shift to e-commerce. GameStop shares rose over 41% yesterday.
📺 Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drew 17.1M live viewers when it aired on CBS Sunday night, per preliminary Nielson data. Stream it here (with ads).
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💄💻 A Cosmetic Call to Help
Online shopping sales have become more and more popular the past year, boosted by COVID lockdowns around the world.
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Unfortunately, so have at-home domestic violence cases, with many victims unable to call for help due to quarantining with their abuser.
Thanks to 17-year-old Krystyna Paszko of Poland, victims of domestic abuse are able to access help in a safe and indiscreet way.
Launched on Facebook last April, online cosmetics shop Camomiles and Pansies is a site where victims can reach out to professionals while appearing as though they are online shopping.
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When a “customer” asks to buy a product, they are connected with a psychologist on the other side who will ask how long their “skin problems” have been going on for, along with other coded questions.
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If someone places an order and supplies their address, authorities will be sent to the home.
With the help of the Women’s Rights Centre, Krystyna has been connected with multiple professional psychologists and lawyers to help run the site, which has assisted more than 350 people since its launch.
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The project won the EU’s Civil Solidarity Prize last month, which rewards organisations addressing the ongoing consequences of Covid-19.
(If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic abuse, you can reach the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 800-799-7233.)
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💨 It’s A Bird, It’s a Plane... Singapore-based company Kelley Aerospace unveiled the Arrow – a new supersonic combat drone made of carbon fiber and capable of reaching speeds of more than 1,500 mph. (Pictured here.)
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🌎 Ready To Rock... Icelandic startup Carbfix is working to achieve net negative carbon dioxide emissions by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, dissolving it in water, and injecting the mixture into the ground – where it turns into stone in less than two years.
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🚩 Fair and Square
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Apart from Vatican City, what is the only country with a square flag?
A) Norway
B) Belarus
C) Egypt
D) Switzerland
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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Dose of Knowledge Answer |
D) Switzerland
The Swiss flag is square-shaped and consists of a white cross on a red background (often confused with the International Red Cross symbol). It is one of three non-rectangular sovereign state flags in the world, alongside Vatican City (image) and Nepal (image), which takes the shape of two triangular pennants representing the Himalayas.
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