theNewsWorthy: Wednesday, May 15th, 2019
ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED - IN ONE PLACE.
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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...
Trump Lawyers & Trump Jr: House Democrats want to find out if any of Trump’s family lawyers helped Michael Cohen lie under oath in 2017. Cohen is in prison for lying to Congress, among other things, and he claimed that Trump’s other lawyers helped him lie. Also, President Trump’s son has now agreed to testify about his dealings with Russia in a closed-door meeting next month. It's in response to a Senate committee subpoena.
Read more (Lawyers): CNN, Washington Post
Read more (Trump Jr.): NPR, The Hill
Putin & Pompeo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. Pompeo told Putin that Russia cannot interfere in the 2020 election, while Putin says it's time to move on from the Russia investigation. There might now be a summit between President Trump and Putin as soon as next month, but nothing is finalized.
Read more: The Guardian, AP, Reuters, The Hill
AL Abortion Vote: Alabama lawmakers passed the nation’s strictest abortion ban, essentially making abortions at any stage of pregnancy illegal. Now, it’s up to the governor whether the bill is signed into law or not. Women’s rights groups say they’ll fight this, which is okay with supporters of the ban who are eager to see this issue make its way back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read more: CBS News, Washington Post
Facebook Restricts Livestream: Two months after a mass shooting in New Zealand was streamed live on Facebook, the company says it’s taking new steps to stop the spread of hate and violence on the site. Starting today, anyone who breaks certain rules or is considered 'dangerous' will be banned from using the livestream feature at all. The change is happening the same day the prime ministers from both New Zealand and France are meeting to talk about extremist content online.
Read more: NBC News, CNN
NASA Moon Mission: NASA released a video trailer featuring a voiceover by Star Trek actor William Shatner in anticipation of the next mission to the moon. The video is called “We Are Going,” and it explains why and how the U.S. will send astronauts to the moon again by 2024. Also, NASA and the White House asked Congress for an extra $1.6 billion in next year’s budget to make that 2024 deadline. The new mission is called Artemis, the name of the twin sister of Apollo.
Read more: CNET, The Verge, AP
NBA Draft Lottery: The New Orleans Pelicans will get the first overall pick in the NBA Draft next month. They won the NBA Draft Lottery last night. For the first time, the top four picks were part of the lottery instead of just the top three (Pelicans, Grizzlies, Knicks and Lakers). The NBA Draft is June 20th.
Read more: CBS Sports, NBA
Google Shopping, Ads: Google is taking on Amazon in an effort to become your new shopping destination. Google is launching a new shopping homepage that will be personalized based on users’ search history. The company will even start to allow people to buy things directly from searches and YouTube videos. You can also expect to see more ads when using Google on mobile.
Read more: Forbes, NYT, Reuters, The Verge
Alexa Guard: Amazon’s Echo devices now have a new feature called Alexa Guard. If Alexa hears something, like a smoke alarm or glass breaking, it will send you a notification. If the Echo has a camera or you have a Ring camera system, it will even send a short video. Once activated in the Amazon Alexa app, say “Alexa, I’m leaving” to turn it on. Alexa Guard cannot replace a security system since it won’t contact police.
Read more: Gizmodo, CNET
Disney & Hulu: Disney is taking over Hulu. Disney owned two thirds of the streaming service, while Comcast owned the rest, but the two companies have made a deal. Disney gets full control of the video streaming service now and will get to buy Comcast’s stake in the business in the years to come.
Read more: CNBC
AskMatch: Need a little human help with your digital dating life? The dating app Match is launching a new service called AskMatch to connect paid users to a human dating coach and let them chat over the phone. The new service is only in New York City for now, but Match says it plans to expand the program nationwide next year.
Read more: Engadget
Best State in the Country: The best state in America is… Washington! The U.S. News and World Report released its annual rankings of the best states based on things like healthcare, education, crime and the local economy. Finishing off the top five states are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah and Vermont.
Read more: USA Today, US News