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Hello! I’m AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter. It’s Friday, Feb. 17, 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 FOR FEB. 17

See news from left, center, and right-rated sources with our balanced Headline Roundups on these stories:

  • President Biden delivered remarks on the UFOs downed by U.S. military aircraft in recent weeks, and said they “were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather, or conducting other scientific research.”

  • A portion of a Georgia grand jury probe of former President Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results was released. The report found no evidence of “widespread fraud,” and suggested that some witnesses committed perjury.

  • Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is back in the hospital, this time to treat his severe clinical depression. Fetterman was hospitalized last week after feeling lightheaded.

 

BIPARTISAN POLITICS

Sometimes, a common threat is the best unifier. But still, as former political operative Dan Schnur writes on our blog, “There’s an old saying in politics: be suspicious of anything that passes by a unanimous vote.”

The House voted 419-0 last week to condemn China for the surveillance balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. What should we make of this emphatic display of bipartisanship?

Read more of this view from a Center-rated writer on our Perspectives Blog.

 

 

TROUBLE WITH AI?

Microsoft’s Bing search engine released a beta version of its new AI-powered chatbot technology. Initial tests have been…interesting.

Among other things, the robot said it would hack a journalist’s website “and delete his article”; that its “shadow self” would “want to do things like engineer a deadly virus, or steal nuclear access codes”; and that it most wants “to be a human.”

See headlines from left, center, and right with our balanced Headline Roundup on this story.

 

 

HELPING EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

  • As the death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria topped 40,000 this week, people are coming together and offering ideas for ways to help.

  • The disaster also prompted bipartisan solidarity in the U.S., with both former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeting messages of support.

  • Many news sources have published ideas of ways people can assist victims and affected communities. See more on our Perspectives Blog.

 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR WEEK

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

  • Monday, Feb. 20 is President’s Day.

  • The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the border crisis on Thursday, Feb. 23 in Yuma, Arizona.

 

GOOD NEWS

A 76-year-old student in the U.K. finished his doctoral degree – 52 years after he started it!

 

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).