10 things you need to know today: March 10, 2019

(Image credit: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying 157 people crashes shortly after take off
2. Warren and Klobuchar criticize tech industry at SXSW
3. Sanders closes in on Biden in Iowa caucus poll
4. Maduro, Guaidó hold rival rallies in Caracas
5. China promises U.S. that it will not manipulate its currency as sides near deal
6. R. Kelly released from jail
7. Roy Moore is considering running for the Senate again in 2020
8. Coast Guard rescue fishermen stranded on ice
9. North Koreans head to the voting booth for 'rubber-stamp' election
10. Raiders acquire WR Antonio Brown

published 10 March 2019

1. Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying 157 people crashes shortly after take off

An Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members crashed shortly after take off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, on Sunday. Despite search and rescue efforts, Ethiopia's state broadcaster announced that there were no survivors. The plane, a new Boeing 737 that was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in November 2018, was on a regularly scheduled flight en route to Nairobi when it lost contact with ground control about six minutes after take off. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Passengers on board hailed from 35 different countries, including eight people from the United States. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta both offered their condolences.

Multiple potential 2020 Democratic presidential nominees flocked to Austin on Saturday for the Texas city’s South by Southwest festival. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), both of whom have announced their candidacies, spoke at the festival, while former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who has yet to announce whether or not he’s running, also made an appearance, but did not speak on stage. Warren doubled down on her promise to break up tech giants such as Google and Amazon, while Klobuchar also criticized the tech industry without going so far as to endorse breaking up companies.

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The latest Iowa caucus poll conducted by the Des Moines Register, CNN, and Mediacom shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Although Biden has yet to announce that he will even run, he earned the support of 27 percent of those polled. But Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) was close behind at 25 percent. No other candidate polled in the double digits. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) were next in line at nine and seven percent, respectively. Biden and Sanders led in the last caucus poll in December, as well. Though at that time, Biden held a 13-point advantage over Sanders.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó held duel rallies amid a nation-wide blackout on Saturday. Guaidó, while addressing the crowd at an anti-Maduro protest, announced that he planned on embarking on a tour of the country with the intention of gathering his followers so they could all march on Caracas "very soon." Maduro, meanwhile, spoke at a pro-government rally, where he thanked the military for remaining loyal to the Socialist Party and defeating a "coup" sponsored by the United States, whom he also accused of orchestrating the power failure by way of a cyber attack.

Yi Gang, China’s central bank governor, said on Sunday that China and the United States are close to securing a currency deal as part of the two nations’ broader trade negotiations. As part of the agreement, Yi confirmed that China would not manipulate its currency. China’s management of its currency has remained a sticking point between Washington and Beijing for years. President Trump has accused Beijing of purposefully devaluing the yuan in order to gain a competitive advantage on the international trade market. Despite China’s official promise, it remains unclear how, exactly, the currency deal will be enforced.

R&B singer R. Kelly was released on Saturday from a Chicago jail, where he had been held since Wednesday for failing to pay more than $161,000 in child support. A spokeswoman for the Cook County Sherriff's Department, which operates the jail where Kelly was held, said that someone posted the money Kelly needed to make the payment. She did not know who posted the money. Kelly's arrest over the failed payments occurred just shortly after the 52-year-old was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four women, including three who were minors at the time of the alleged abuse. Kelly has denied any wrongdoing multiple times.

Roy Moore, the former chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and the Republican candidate in the 2017 Alabama special election for Jeff Sessions' Senate seat, said that he is "seriously considering" challenging Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in 2020. Moore was a heavy favorite when he ran against Jones in 2017, but allegations that he sexually assaulted or pursued teenaged girls while in his 30s derailed his campaign. Jones won the vote by a narrow margin. Moore spoke about the possibility on Friday during an appearance on the radio show Focal Point, a Christian-based program which airs on American Family Radio. Moore said that the 2017 election "was stolen" thanks to a "disinformation" campaign. He has denied the allegations against him.

The Coast Guard and other emergency agencies rescued 46 fishermen who were stranded on a piece of ice on Lake Erie more than a mile offshore on Saturday in Ohio. 146 fisherman were out on the ice when a chunk broke off the main sheet. 100 of them were able to make it to shore before the gap grew too large, but those remaining were stranded for an additional three hours. The Coast Guard reported that everyone left was brought to safety and, after medical examinations, it was determined that no one was injured.

Although just a formality, North Koreans went to the polling stations on Sunday to elect roughly 700 members to the national legislature. There is only a single approved candidate on each ballot, though technically voters have the opportunity to cross off that name. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is running for re-election in his Pyongyang district. Voting is regarded as a duty, despite the fact that voters ultimately have little, if any, say in the outcome. North Korean media reported a voter turnout of 99.97 percent in the last election in 2014. The candidates are selected by the ruling Korean Workers' Party, as well as some smaller coalition parties that wield little actual power.

After his nine-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers ended in a bitter divorce, All-Pro Wide Receiver Antonio Brown is headed to the Oakland Raiders. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Pittsburgh agreed to send Brown to Oakland on Sunday in exchange for two draft picks — a third-rounder and a fifth-rounder. Brown will also reportedly sign a three-year, $54 million contract extension, with $30 million guaranteed. The deal will make him the league’s highest paid wide receiver. The trade cannot be formally announced until Wednesday, when the new league year begins.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.