theNewsWorthy: Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED - IN ONE PLACE.
(in less than 10 minutes!)
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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...
Mueller & Barr: Attorney General William Barr is in the hot seat today on Capitol Hill. He's set to testify about how he handled the Mueller report, and he's expected to be grilled about a new report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller himself wasn’t happy with Barr’s summary of the report.
Read more: NYT, WSJ, The Washington Post, FOX News
Trump Meeting, Lawsuits: President Trump and top Democrats met yesterday and now say they're excited to work together on a $2 trillion infrastructure plan (details on how to pay for it are TBD). At the same time, President Trump is taking more action to block Democrats from seeing his financial records. He’s suing two big banks to make sure they keep his records private. Why? Democrats in Congress subpoenaed the banks for his financials.
Read more: NPR, AP, Reuters, CNN
UNC Charlotte Shooting: A shooting at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte left two people dead and four others hurt – three of them, critically. A 22-year-old former student is now accused of opening fire in a classroom building yesterday. Police were able to disarm him and take him into custody.
Read more: USA Today, CNN, TIME
Venezuela Tension: In an effort to seize power, opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for a military uprising yesterday and is planning more protests today. Dozens of people have already been injured in a violent street battle. Guaidó took to the streets, asking the military to leave current President Nicolas Maduro and join his side. Maduro says military leaders show “total loyalty” to him. President Trump quickly showed his support for Guaidó.
Read more: NYT, AP, The Guardian
May Day: Around the world, today is May Day or International Workers’ Day. Many countries are preparing for large protests, including France and Germany. There are also some protests planned in the U.S, but it's not as recognized here. May Day actually started in the U.S. in the 1800s as part of a movement to fight for fair labor rights and an eight hour workday.
Read more: History.com, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian
FDA Approves iQOS: After two years under review, the FDA approved a new cigarette alternative called iQOS. It’s basically a tube that heats up (instead of burns) a stick of tobacco. Philip Morris makes the device and wants to convert traditional smokers to the new, less-harmful alternative. The American Cancer Society cautions that most of the research about the new device has been funded by the same company, and some health experts worry it could be attractive to kids.
Read more: CBS News, Reuters
Facebook (& IG) Facelift: Facebook is getting a facelift. The redesign marks the biggest change to the platform in at least five years. Facebook is ditching its iconic blue menu bar in favor of a simpler design. It’ll focus more on private groups and visual stories, encouraging users to spend less time on the main news feed. Facebook also announced a new dating feature to come to the U.S. by the end of the year. Also, Facebook-owned Instagram is implementing changes, like more shopping options, updates to the in-app camera, and – in Canada only – hiding the number of likes on posts.
Read more (Facebook): WSJ, Gizmodo, Quartz, Engadget
Read more (Instagram): The Verge, Techcrunch, Quartz
Obamas & Netflix: The former president and first lady launched High Ground Productions last year, and they struck a multiyear production deal with Netflix. Now the Obamas are revealing which series, documentaries and movie they're working on to spotlight race, class, democracy and civil rights. Click the link below to read more about each one...
Read more: CBS News
Billboard Awards, Tony Nods: The Billboard Music Awards are happening tonight. Kelly Clarkson is hosting for the second time, and Taylor Swift will perform her new single with a live performance. It all starts at 8:00 p.m. on NBC. Also: the Tony nominations are out. The new musical Hadestown dominated with 14 nominations.
Read more (Billboard Awards): Billboard
Read more (Tony Nominations): NYT