The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey has surpassed 20,000; former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed; another tech company is announcing layoffs; and a major fast food chain is testing plant-based products. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Friday, Feb. 10, 2023.
Death toll from earthquake in Turkey surpasses 21,000
World leaders have called Monday’s historic earthquake one of the biggest natural disasters in our times. More than 21,000 people have died as of Friday morning.
Thousands of survivors are facing hardships of homelessness in below freezing temperatures. The United Nations is sending in aid and assistance as recovery efforts begin.
President Biden said Chinese spy balloon not a major threat
President Joe Biden, under fire from some House lawmakers, said Thursday he did not view the Chinese spy balloon as a major security breach. Biden said in a Noticias Telemundo interview that he did not regret shooting down the balloon sooner.
“It’s not a major breach. Look, it’s a violation of international law, it’s our air space and once it comes into our air space we can do whatever we want with it. I told them as soon as they can shoot it down, shoot it down. And they made a wise decision, they shot it down over water, recovered most of the parts,” Biden said.
Crucial surveillance equipment from the spy balloon is still sitting on the ocean floor as crews continue working to recover what they can. The already recovered parts are being investigated by federal officials.
Pence subpoenaed by special counsel
Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump, according to CBS News.
Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed in November to oversee the DOJ’s investigations into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
It’s not clear what information the special counsel is seeking in the subpoena.
Yahoo to cut 20% of workforce
Tech layoffs are taking another chunk of employees, this time at Yahoo. The company announced plans to lay off 20% of its workers, which is roughly 1,700 employees.
Yahoo says it will cut 1,000 jobs starting this week, adding to the more than 60,000 tech jobs that have been cut so far this year as companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet all predict an economic slowdown coming some time this year.
Brett Favre files defamation lawsuits
Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is suing two sports commentators and the Mississippi state auditor in newly filed defamation lawsuits.
The former Green Bay Packer was surrounded with controversy following a 2020 state audit that found tens of millions of dollars from Mississippi’s welfare program were misused.
Some of those millions went to Favre’s alma mater and directly to the quarterback for a speech he never gave.
Favre has been paying that money back to the state and has long denied knowing the money he received was coming from a welfare fund.
He’s suing for what he calls a “smear campaign in the media” over what became a scandal surrounding the NFL star.
Chick-fil-A testing cauliflower sandwich
Chick-fil-A has announced a soft-launch of a new plant-based sandwich that closely resembles its famous chicken sandwich. Instead of chicken, the fast food chain will be using “breaded and pressure-cooked cauliflower” in place of meat.
Hand-select stores in Colorado, South Carolina, and North Carolina will be first to test out the product starting on Monday.
