Midday rundown: China claims spy balloon, COVID drug creates mutations

KARAH RUCKER: A COVID DRUG IS SAID TO BE CREATING MUTATIONS OF THE VIRUS.
AND THERE’S A NEW APP THAT’S NOW THE FASTEST GROWING PHONE- APPLICATION EVER.
BUT WE BEGIN WITH OUR TOP STORY TODAY...CHINA HAS NOW CONFIRMED A SURVEILLANCE BALLOON FOUND HOVERING OVER THE U.S. IS CHINESE.

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN HAS NOW INDEFINITELY POSTPONED ANY POTENTIAL TRIP TO CHINA FOLLOWING THE CONTROVERSY.

THIS IS STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS.

BLINKEN POSTPONES CHINA AMID CONTROVERSY

CHINA IS CLAIMING THE BALLOON FOUND HOVERING OVER SENSITIVE SITES IN THE WESTERN U.S. WAS A WEATHER RESEARCH SATELLITE THAT HAD BLOWN OFF COURSE.

BLINKEN WAS SAID TO BE TRAVELING TO CHINA THIS WEEKEND FOR IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CHINESE PRESIDENT ABOUT THE WAR IN UKRAINE.

NOW THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE ON PAUSE AS THE U.S. MONITORS WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE A SPY-BALLOON BELONGING TO BEIJING HOVERING OVER THE COUNTRY.

MATTERS OF AIRSPACE SECURITY HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INTO QUESTION AND ALL EYES ARE ON HOW THE WHITE HOUSE WILL RESPOND.

TEXAS WINTERIZATION EFFORTS WORKING

HARSH WINTERS CAN BE A DIFFICULT CLIMATE FOR THE SOUTH TO BARE.

TEXAS HAS BEEN PUT TO THE TEST THIS WINTER WITH SEVERAL HARD FREEZES — ONE SEVERE ICE STORM HITTING PARTS OF THE STATE JUST THIS WEEK —

BUT SO FAR ENERGY EXPERTS ARE APPLAUDING THE STATE’S EFFORTS TO KEEP POWER ON.

IN 20-21 MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF THE STATE’S ENERGY GRID FAILING…ROLLING BLACK OUTS LINGERED IN BACK TO BACK ICE STORMS THAT BROUGHT TEMPS AS LOW AS 6 DEGREES.

SINCE THEN — TEXAS HAS INVESTED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN  UPDATES TO BETTER WINTERIZE THEIR FACILITIES.

GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT ALSO SIGNED LEGISLATION TO REFORM THE STATE’S POWER GRID AND OPERATIONS…SOMETHING OFFICIALS SAY SO FAR…SEEMS TO BE WORKING.

MERCK DRUG CREATING NEW COVID MUTATIONS

A DRUG GIVEN EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION BY THE FDA TO TREAT COVID-19 BACK IN 2021 IS CREATING NEW CONCERN WORLD-WIDE.

MERCK’S COVID DRUG IS CAUSING MUTATIONS OF THE VIRUS ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY.

WHILE THE NEW STRANDS ARE SAID TO BE HARMLESS  FOR NOW, RESEARCHERS SAY THIS IS HIGHLIGHTING THE RISK OF USING DRUGS THAT TINKER WITH COVID’S GENETIC CODE.

THE ANTI-VIRAL DRUG WAS INITIALLY SEEN AS A BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT. BUT IT WAS QUICKLY OVERSHADOWED BY A PFIZER COVID-PILL, SO IT HASN’T BEEN WIDELY USED IN THE U.S.

BUT IN CHINA…THEY JUST APPROVED THE USE OF THE MERCK DRUG.

SO RESEARCHERS WORRY WHAT COVID-MUTATIONS COULD — ONCE AGAIN — ORIGINATE IN CHINA AND SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD.

ROBOTS TAKING OVER AMAZON WORKFORCE

AMAZON’S WORKFORCE COULD BE TAKEN OVER BY ROBOTS BY 20-30. AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT ONE INVESTOR IS PREDICTING…THAT MORE THAN HALF OF AMAZON WORKERS 

IN JUST A SHORT 7 YEARS FROM NOW — WILL BE ROBOTIC. THE INVESTOR SAYS AMAZON IS ADDING ABOUT 1,000 ROBOTS EACH DAY. CALLING IT A ROBOT REVOLUTION.

ROBOTS ARE ALREADY EDGING OUT AMAZON JOBS FOR PEOPLE. RIGHT NOW, ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THEIR WORKFORCE IS A MACHINE.

THE INVESTOR SAYS GOING ROBOTIC IS SAVING COMPANIES BIG TIME – CUTTING COSTS BY NOT HAVING TO RELY ON HUMAN LABOR.

CHATGPT SETS RECORD AS FASTEST GROWING APP

IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF CHATGPT YET…YOU’RE QUICKLY FALLING BEHIND THE TIMES. THE AI CHAT-BOT IS TAKING OVER YOUR PHONE’S APP STORE.

100 MILLION PEOPLE USED THE APP IN JANUARY, AND AFTER LAUNCHING JUST TWO MONTHS AGO, IT’S NOW THE FASTEST-GROWING PHONE APP IN HISTORY.

FOR REFERENCE, IT TOOK TIKTOK 9 MONTHS TO REACH 100 MILLION USERS. AND IT TOOK INSTAGRAM 2-AND-A-HALF YEARS.

WITH SO MUCH POPULARITY, IT’S NOW TIME TO CAPITALIZE. THE COMPANY IS ROLLING OUT A 20 DOLLAR MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FOR USERS TO UNLOCK CERTAIN FEATURES OF CHAT GPT.

ARREST MADE IN DALLAS ZOO MONKEY THEFT

NOW TO A STORY WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING CLOSELY THAT HAS CONTINUED TO LEND BIZARRE HEADLINES. A MISSING LEOPARD. A DEAD VULTURE. AND STOLEN MONKEYS. ALL OUT OF THE DALLAS ZOO.

A MAJOR UPDATE TODAY. A 24-YEAR-OLD MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO ONE OF THESE MYSTERIES — THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TWO MONKEYS.

DAVION IRVIN HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SIX COUNTS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY RELATED TO THE MONKEYS MISSING FROM THE DALLAS ZOO.

THE MONKEYS WERE REPORTED STOLEN FROM THEIR HABITAT ON MONDAY. TUESDAY THEY WERE FOUND UNHARMED IN THE CLOSET OF AN EMPTY HOME.

THE DALLAS ZOO CONTINUES TO SEEK ANSWERS IN RECENT EVENTS.

MEANWHILE 12 MONKEYS WERE REPORTED STOLEN FROM A ZOO IN LOUISIANA THIS PAST WEEK.