POLITICS 🏛️

Rick Bright files whistleblower complaint 

• Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was ousted last month after pushing back against the Trump administration on their resistance to coronavirus preparation and later, the promotion of hydroxychloroquine 
• Bright has since filed a whistleblower complaint with the Special Counsel, and will reportedly testify on Capitol Hill in May, according to his lawyers
• The complaint details a list of wrongdoings regarding the coronavirus outbreak, accusing the Department of Health and Human Services of ignoring “scientific merit and expert recommendations and instead award[ing] lucrative contracts based on political connections”

TECH 📱

California sues Uber and Lyft 

• California is filing a lawsuit against rideshare companies Uber and Lyft for classifying their drivers as contractors as opposed to employees
• The classification effectively cheats workers out of benefits and employee safety nets
• The move is based upon 2019 California legislation that aims to give “gig workers” increased protections

BUSINESS 💰

Airbnb to fire 25% of employees 

• Community marketplace Airbnb has announced that it is set to lay off nearly 2,000 of its 7,500 employees. However, laid off U.S. employees will receive at least 14 weeks of base pay and 12 months of healthcare
• The company was hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, as travel dropped drastically. CEO Brian Chesky stated that that “travel in this new world will look different, and we need to evolve Airbnb accordingly”

WORLD 🌎

Report suggests earlier COVID-19 case in France 

•  A sample from a French patient with pneumonia taken in late December has tested positive for coronavirus, predating what was previously thought to be the first case in the country by nearly a month
• Doctors now suspect that this patient, a fishmonger named Amirouche Hammar, may have been the first case in Europe—revolutionizing the way we see the European infection timeline

US 🦅

Ruth Bader Ginsberg hospitalized for infection

• Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg was treated Tuesday for an infection caused by a gallstone, receiving nonsurgical treatment at John Hopkins Hospital
• She is now “resting comfortably” while participating in court proceedings via telephone. The Supreme Court resumed hearing oral arguments this week after their coronavirus-caused hiatus

HEALTH 💉

Coronavirus researcher shot to death 

• In what appears to be a murder-suicide, medical researcher Bing Liu was killed in Pennsylvania last weekend
• According to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Liu was on the “verge of making very significant” findings in his COVID-19 research
• A second person, Hao Gu, was found shot dead less than a mile away within the hour that Liu’s body was discovered. Detectives suspect that Gu killed Liu before committing suicide, although the motive remains unclear 

EXTRA BLING ✨

• Entertainment 🎞 . Tom Cruise to work on first movie shot in space 
• Literature 📖. Colson Whitehead wins second Pulitzer Prize for fiction 
• Space 🚀. Trump administration works on legal blueprint for mining the moon
• Music 🎵 . The Killers’ new album’s May release date pushed back 
• Wholesome 🥰. Study shows that otters juggle rocks when hungry

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