theNewsWorthy: Friday, July 20th, 2018
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...
PUTIN'S INVITATION
President Trump has invited the Russian president to Washington, D.C.
The invitation came as a bit of a surprise to at least one top official: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. He was on stage being interviewed when the news broke and his reaction got some laughs. He jokingly said, “That’s going to be special.”
The AP reports a White House visit could give Putin more legitimacy, since he’s typically been more isolated. Russia, of course, has taken not-so-popular actions dealing with Ukraine, Syria, and more, including U.S. election interference. But the White House says it’s to continue ongoing working dialogue.
The invitation was for this fall. As of early this morning, no RSVP from Russia yet.
Just before all that, lawmakers made it clear they are not on board with Putin’s suggestion to swap officials. Putin said Russia would give the U.S. access to Russian officials accused of crimes if the U.S. would give Russia access to some chosen American officials. Well, Congress voted 98-0 to say not gonna happen.
Read more: NYT, AP, WSJ, The Washington Post, FOX News
TRUMP ON THE FED
It’s being called “historically rare” for a president to criticize the Federal Reserve, but that’s what happened yesterday. President Trump says he’s just telling it how he sees it.
So, President Trump told CNBC he’s not happy with the Fed raising interest rates. He said he feels like every time he takes action to help the economy grow, the Fed raises rates.
Remember, the Fed raised rates twice already this year and says two more hikes could be coming soon.
Presidents typically don’t talk about this because financial markets are supposed to trust that the Federal Reserve’s decisions won’t be political. Trump says he gets that, and he’s not trying to influence decisions.
Read more: WSJ, CNBC, Bloomberg
AUTO TARIFFS
Today will be the second day of hearings about whether or not there should be higher tariffs on imported cars and tariffs from the EU. President Trump has proposed tariffs should be as high as 25%.
Auto industry leaders are not thrilled with the idea, and they made that known on day one of hearings yesterday. Industry research found car prices go could up as much as $7,000 a car and lead to hundreds of thousands of U.S. job losses, if the proposed tariffs go into effect. Reuters reports groups representing nearly all the major automakers were there to say don’t do it.
The Trump administration argues the tariffs are at least in part a negotiating tool, and some imports are a national security threat. TBD if the tariffs will actually go into effect.
Read more: Reuters, Forbes, CNBC, CBS News
CANNABIS GOES PUBLIC
It’s another win for the marijuana industry. MarketWatch reports a Canadian medical marijuana company just became the first cannabis company to go public on a major U.S. stock market.
Tilray made its debut on the Nasdaq this week. The CEO has big plans and says the industry is only going to grow. Others say it’s high risk and volatile for investors.
Of course, marijuana is still illegal in the U.S., at least according to federal law. So right now Tilray only sells cannabis to patients and companies in Australia, Canada, and Germany.
Read more: MarketWatch, TechCrunch, Reuters
Feel Good Friday
College student walks almost 20 miles overnight to get to first day of work;
CEO gives him his car
NFL PAUSES ANTHEM RULE
The NFL says it has agreed to hit pause on the national anthem policy, at least for now.
Remember, NFL players were protesting social injustice by kneeling during the national anthem before games and it caused a lot of controversy. So, in May, the NFL said players would be required to stand or stay in the locker room. The players' union wasn’t happy.
So now, ESPN reports the NFL and the players union put out a joint statement to say no rules about this topic will be issued or enforced for several weekswhile they’re in talks about it. The hope is they’ll decide together how to move forward.
Stay tuned.
Read more: ESPN
NETFLIX + SIRIUS XM
Netflix is getting into satellite radio. Netflix and Sirius XM are joining forces to bring you a new comedy radio station. It’ll be called “Netflix is a Joke Radio.”
CNBC says it’ll focus on stand up and highlights from stars of Netflix original comedy programming. Sirius XM hopes the new comedy content will give it an edge over the competition.
Read more: WSJ, CNBC
STARBUCKS 'SIGNING STORE'
Starbucks will be opening a “signing store” in Washington, D.C. -- signing as in sign language. Starbucks says the employees must all be proficient in American Sign Language, and the design will be catered to people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
It’s the first Starbucks of its kind in the U.S., although there is another one like it in Malaysia. The D.C. signing store will be close to Gallaudet University, which is a liberal arts school for the deaf.
You can still go to the Starbucks if you can’t sign; there’ll be instructions on how you can order. The new store is set to open in October.
Read more: Mashable, Starbucks, CNN
4-DAY WORKWEEK
How does a 4-day workweek sound? Well, the New York Times reports a New Zealand firm tried it out, requiring only 32 hours of work each week.
Apparently, it went really well. The company says productivity was higherand employees showed up and were on time more often. There’s now talk of making a permanent change.
You should probably share this email with your boss ;)
Read more: NYT
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