Jeff Bezos’ Hacked Phone, Coronavirus Hits the US, and More News
Credit to Author: Alex Baker-Whitcomb| Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2020 22:41:14 +0000
Catch up on the most important news from today in two minutes or less.
Jeff Bezos was hacked and a new virus is on the attack, but first: a cartoon about social media breakups. Here's the news you need to know, in two minutes or less.
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Everything we know about the Jeff Bezos phone hack
In May of 2018, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos received an unexpected text on WhatsApp from Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman: a video that reportedly extolled Saudi Arabia’s economy. But what Bezos didn't know was that the video file was loaded with malware. According to the UN’s findings, the Saudi regime began exfiltrating large amounts of data from the phone within hours of sending the tainted MP4 file. The attack raises questions about others who communicate with the crown prince—like President Donald Trump, who is known for using personal, consumer-grade smartphones.
Could China's new coronavirus become a global epidemic?
A month ago, a few dozen people fell sick with a mysterious cluster of respiratory illnesses in Wuhan, China. Now it's killed nine, sickened hundreds more, and spread to five other countries including the US. The first US case was a Washington man who had recently traveled to Wuhan but says he didn't visit the seafood market believed to be at the center of the outbreak—adding to the evidence that the virus can spread from person to person.
That's how many Americans are estimated to use the drug known as kratom, which they take for everything from quitting opioids to replacing morning coffee. But experts are divided on the safety of the drug.
So you want to have Amazon's voice assistant Alexa in your home, but you're not sure which speaker is best for you? We've got you covered.
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