May 9 top stories
Hello, it is May 9. Here are today’s top stories.
AstraZeneca to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccine
AstraZeneca is withdrawing its highly successful coronavirus vaccine, citing the availability of a plethora of new shots that have led to a decline in demand.
The vaccine – called Vaxzevria and developed in partnership with the University of Oxford – has been one of the main Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, with more than 3 billion doses supplied since the first was administered in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2021.
The company said: But the vaccine has not generated revenue for AstraZeneca since April 2023. It has not been used in the United Kingdom for some time.
AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorizations for Vaxzevria within Europe. The European Medicines Agency also announced the withdrawal, which means that Vaxzevria is no longer authorized to be marketed or sold in European Union countries.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene fails to oust Speaker Johnson
House Speaker Mike Johnson was saved on Wednesday with the help of Democrats after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) failed to grow her ouster campaign beyond a handful of votes.
Greene introduced her resolution on Wednesday evening after two days of closed-door conversations this week with Johnson.
Her motion was quickly blocked 359-43, passing with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
Republican hardliners brought the motion after Johnson passed a $95 billion aid package that included military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine.
Democrats largely praised the move and said they did not want to punish Johnson for doing the right thing.
Miss Teen USA resigns days after Miss USA stepped down
Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava gave up her crown on Wednesday just two days after Miss USA resigned.
Srivastava said she’d grappled with the decision for months and had chosen to resign because her “personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.” She did not specify which values were not in alignment.
Srivastava was crowned in September of last year. The organization said she was the first Mexican-Indian Miss New Jersey Teen USA.
Miss USA Noelia Voigt, who is a Venezuelan American and from Utah, stepped down on Monday, citing her mental health. She posted a message to social media urging people to prioritize their mental health. She was crowned Miss USA in November 2023.
Officials are reviewing plans for the transition of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA responsibilities to a successor. A new Miss USA and Miss Teen USA will be crowned soon.
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Disney, Hulu and Max streaming bundle will soon become available
In a rare moment of solidarity, two rival entertainment giants are teaming up to try to get consumers to stop canceling their streaming services so frequently.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Wednesday that they would start offering a bundle of their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services this summer.
The companies said that the bundle would be available to buy on any of the three streaming platform’s websites (Disney owns Disney+ and Hulu; Warner Bros. Discovery owns Max) and that there will be a commercial-free version as well as one featuring ads. The companies did not announce prices or a date when the offering would become available.
The monthly retail price for subscribing to commercial-free versions of all three services is currently $48; the plans with ads cost a combined $25. A bundled offering is likely to cost less.
Disney has introduced a bundle for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The company has said it has seen good results from that offering.
In February, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox said they were forming a joint venture to create a streaming service dedicated to their sports offerings. It is expected to debut in the fall.
See Alex’s story about sperm whales’ abilities to communicate with each other.
Sperm whales communicate through a 'complex phonetic alphabet,' study finds
Thanks, Callie.
Scientists who researched about 60 sperm whales in the Caribbean Sea discovered that they can communicate with each other in an advanced, complex way.
The scientists found that the whales are able to combine and modify different clicks and rhythms to create complex calls, which is similar to human language.
They discovered almost 9,000 different groups of clicking sounds that are usually less than two seconds in duration. You could say it’s like they have a vocabulary. The sounds happen when the whales are near other whales and not in isolation.
Sperm whales have the largest brains of any animal species on Earth. They are deep divers and can go down over 1,000 feet and remain underwater for about an hour before returning to the surface to breathe for around ten minutes.
So, this is an interesting finding and it’s cool to imagine these whales talking to each other in their own way.
Thanks for that brief. That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
AstraZeneca to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccine
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene fails to oust Speaker Johnson
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/politics/greene-johnson-vacate.html
Miss Teen USA resigns days after Miss USA stepped down
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/05/08/miss-teen-usa-umasofia-srivastava-resigns/
Disney, Hulu and Max streaming bundle will soon become available
Sperm whales communicate through a 'complex phonetic alphabet,' study finds