Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Dem Debate Highlights, New Election Law & Netflix Big Budget Films
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
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Story Summaries
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...
Rather read? Here's an overview of what we're talking about:
Dem Debate: Tonight is night two of the Democratic presidential debates. The first ten candidates took the stage last night to debate issues like health care, immigration, gun control and climate change. Top candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are all in on Medicare-for-all, but not all candidates agree. Others, like John Delaney and Governor Steve Bullock called it a bad idea, while Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke were more in the middle. There were similar big differences within the party about student debt relief and how much the government should cover college costs. The candidates seemed to agree on other issues though, like wanting stricter gun laws. The next 10 candidates will debate tonight, including frontrunners former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. You can watch night two of the Democratic presidential debate this week on CNN at 8:00pm ET.
Read more: CNN, Washington Post, WSJ, NYT, Vox
CA Election Law: If President Trump wants to be on California’s ballot in the primaries, he’ll have to release his tax returns. That's at least according to a new law signed by the state’s governor yesterday. Candidates who refuse to release federal tax returns won’t be included on the states’ primary election ballot. The law is supposed to go into effect right away but will likely face legal challenges. Trump’s campaign calls the move “unconstitutional.” Supporters say it's a win for transparency and accountability. Trump could get out of it by not participating in the California primary, and experts say he'd still likely win the Republican nomination.
Read more: CBS News, The Hill, Politico
North Korea Missile Tests: North Korea fired another round of short-range missiles. They put South Korea’s military on alert. The recent test launches could be a message that the north is not happy about a joint military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea, which is planned for next month. Trump has not responded, but he didn’t seem too concerned about last week’s launch and said many countries test short-range missiles.
Read more: NBC News, Vox, Washington Post
Hurricanes Near Hawaii: Two hurricanes are headed toward Hawaii. Hurricane Erick was a Category 4 storm yesterday, although it's expected to weaken before hitting Hawaii. Still, it'll cause high surf and heavy rain. Hurricane Flossie will follow Erick and could hit Category 3 or stronger by tomorrow. Like Erick, the storm is expected to weaken as it gets closer to land but still bring bad weather.
Read more: AccuWeather, USA Today, Weather Channel
NFL “No Call” Lawsuit: The controversial call that some believe cost the New Orleans Saints a trip to the Super Bowl is now headed to court. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and three referees from that game in January will be questioned under oath because a New Orleans lawyer is alleging NFL officials committed fraud. The NFL hasn’t commented yet. The next hearing is set for late August, and the questioning will likely happen in September.
Read more: CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated
History-Making Coach Resigns: The U.S. Women’s National soccer team head coach Jill Ellis is stepping down. She was the first coach in history to win back-to-back women's World Cup titles. She will leave the role in October. Ellis will go on to be an ambassador representing U.S. soccer at events and speaking engagements.
Read more: US Soccer, ESPN
Facebook + Brain Implants: Facebook wants to help develop technology that lets people type by just thinking about they want to say. The tech giant is partnering with researchers at several universities to find a way to decode speech from brainwaves in real time. During testing, researchers were able to instantly see a word or phrase on a computer screen that a participant was thinking. Thy used implanted electrodes. Next, Facebook wants to offer a non-invasive device, but it will likely be a decade before people can actually use this technology. Some critics worry about privacy since the device can tap directly into the user's brain. Scientists hope this can help people with conditions that make it hard to communicate.
Read more: TechCrunch, CNN
First Artificially Conceived Rhino: An artificially-conceived rhino was born for the first time in North America. A southern white rhino was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park last weekend. The birth gives scientists hope that they can save another rhino species, which is close to extinction. They hope to artificially inseminate southern white rhinos and use them as surrogates to breed northern white rhinos.
Read more: AP
No More Mini Toiletries: Intercontinental Group is getting rid of miniature toiletries, making it the first global hotel brand to do so. Intercontinental owns Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Kimpton and says it will take the small bottles out of its 840,000 rooms, pointing to environmental reasons. The chains will replace the mini bottles with bulk-sized items.
Read more: CNN, BBC, Market Watch
Netflix Movies: Netflix is investing more than $520 million in three big-budget films. Dwayne Johnson’s action movie Red Notice, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and the film 6 Underground are bigger in budget and scale than any original film Netflix has released. Netflix lost U.S. subscribers for the first time in nearly a decade and hopes these new movies will help keep current subscribers.
Read more: WSJ, Business Insider