theNewsWorthy: Thursday, February 28th, 2019
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All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...
(Scroll down to read more about our Thing to Know Thursday topic …)
Vietnam Summit: President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrapped up a two-day summit in Vietnam without reaching an agreement. Early on in the talks, Kim Jong-un answered an American journalist’s question – likely for the first time ever – to say he wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t open to denuclearization. Still, plans for a joint agreement-signing ceremony were scrapped, but the White House Press Secretary called the meetings “very good and constructive.”
Read more: AP, FOX News, The Hill
Cohen Testimony: Today is Michael Cohen’s third and final day of testimony, this time behind closed doors. Yesterday, Trump’s former lawyer publicly called Trump a liar, a racist and a con man. Cohen said Trump reimbursed him for payments meant to cover up sexual allegations by two women, which may have violated campaign finance regulations. Cohen also brought up the leaked Hillary Clinton emails, claiming that Trump knew the emails would be leaked days before they were. Cohen said he doesn’t have any “direct evidence” that the Trump administration colluded with Russia. President Trump tweeted that Cohen is a liar.
Read more: CNN, AP, C-Span
India-Pakistan Conflict: Tensions are growing between Pakistan and India after both countries claim to have shot down each other’s military planes. The U.S. is stepping in, calling on both sides to de-escalate the situation.
Read more: Reuters, BBC
Chicago Mayor: It was the most crowded mayoral ballot in Chicago history with a total of 14 candidates, but now we know, for the first time, Chicago’s next mayor will be a black woman. It’s between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle. The race heads to a runoff in early April.
Read more: USA Today, Chicago Tribune
Rent Control: Oregon is poised to become the first state in the nation to put a limit on how much landlords can raise rent. Assuming the governor signs the bill and it becomes law, it will prevent landlords from raising rent more than seven percent per year in addition to inflation.
Read more: NYT, NPR
TikTok Trouble: The popular video app TikTok is being fined $5.7 million for violating children’s privacy. Users will now have to verify their age; children under 13 will now be taken to a more restricted version of the app, which protects personal information and doesn't allow video publishing. TikTok was originally known as Musical.ly.
Read more: TechCrunch
Tesla CEO Trouble: Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased some big news on Twitter without providing details. We’ll find out what it is this afternoon. Also, Musk is facing more possible legal trouble: the SEC claims Musk violated their settlement and should be held in contempt. A judge has given Musk two weeks to prove he didn’t break the agreement. He has already been fined and removed as chairman from his company because of past tweets.
Read more: Forbes, FOX Business
Tesla Rival: Tesla has some new competition: Volvo’s high-end car brand Polestar just revealed its all-electric model. The Polestar 2 can travel nearly 300 miles on a single charge and can go from 0 to 60 MPH in less than five seconds. It’s also one of the first cars in the world to be powered by Google’s Android system, with Google Maps and Google Assistant built-in. Production starts in 2020.
Read more: The Verge, CNBC
A Star Is Born Comeback: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born is coming back to the big screen on Friday. This time, it will have an extra 12 minutes of brand-new footage. The new version will have an extended performance of the Oscar-winning song “Shallow,” plus some other extra-long scenes.
Read more: ET
Thing to Know Thursday:
The Good, The Bad & The Future of Drones
Today’s Guest: Arthur Holland Michel
Arthur Holland Michel is a founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone, a research institute at Bard College in New York State. He has written about drones, surveillance, artificial intelligence, and robots for Wired, Vice, The Verge, Fast Company, Motherboard, Al Jazeera America, U.S. News, Bookforum, Mashable Spotlight, and an Oxford Research Encyclopedia, among other outlets. His first book, EYES IN THE SKY, about the rise of advanced aerial surveillance technology, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in June 2019.