AllSides News Briefing: February 13, 2023

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Hello! I’m AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter. It’s Monday, February 13, 2023. Here’s your AllSides balanced briefing for today.

TODAY'S WEATHER

See today’s weather radar and temperature maps for your area from the NOAA.

TOP STORIES

• The United States military has now shot down four unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the past week. See our balanced Headline Roundup on the story.

• The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl by a score of 38-35. A controversial penalty call at the end of the game helped seal the win for Kansas City, its second Super Bowl win in five years.

• Thin ice is causing danger for ice fishermen. Three men died after falling through thin ice on Vermont's Lake Champlain in the past week, and the annual ice fishing derby at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire was postponed over concerns about the ice. Last week, the Coast Guard rescued 14 fishermen in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay who were stranded on an ice floe.

MEDIA BIAS ALERT

Was the U.S. military too slow to respond to the Chinese spy balloon? 

Left- and right-rated outlets both suggested that the situation may have been handled differently under the Trump administration – but in different ways. 

Some left-rated media framed Biden’s response as calculated and more careful than Trump’s hypothetically would have been. Right-rated media tended to do the opposite, framing the Biden administration’s response as sluggish and potentially damaging for national security.

See the full breakdown of the bias in coverage, and read our Story of the Week newsletter on how the balloons further complicate U.S.-China relations.

AROUND THE WORLD

See results from our Balanced Search of left, center, and right-rated sources on these stories:

• Survivors are still being pulled alive from the rubble after last week's earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The official death toll is over 33,000.

• Russian forces said they captured a settlement near Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city that Moscow has been pushing to take over since the beginning of the war.

• Thousands of Israelis protested outside the parliament building on Monday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a reform of the country’s legal system.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT LAST WEEK

See AllSides Headline Roundups of coverage from the left, center, and right on these stories that you might have missed:

• Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) was released from the hospital. Doctors don’t believe he suffered another stroke; Fetterman had a stroke last May that left him with cognitive issues.

• House Democrats filed a resolution to expel embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

• A New Jersey councilmember was murdered, the state’s second Republican councilmember shot to death in the past month.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

• January’s inflation data will be released on Tuesday.

• Republican Nikki Haley is expected to announce her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on Wednesday.

GOOD NEWS

If the Super Bowl isn't your thing, maybe the Puppy Bowl is. Over 100 rescue dogs competed in the annual competition, which seeks to raise awareness for rescue animals and help them get adopted. 

Have comments on this briefing? Email us!

Henry A. Brechter is the Managing Editor of AllSides. He has a Center bias.

This briefing was reviewed and edited by News Editor Joseph Ratliff (Lean Left bias) and Politics Editor Beth Hicks (Right bias).