Trade War Tensions, Ninja’s Switch & Epic Universe 

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...

New Tariffs: President Trump plans to increase pressure on China by adding a 10% tariff on another $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. This means nearly all goods coming into the U.S. from China will have an extra tax. The latest round of tariffs will target more consumer goods, from iPhones and laptops to sneakers and children’s books, and they're set to start next month.
Read more: AP, NYT, Fox Business, CNBC, The Washington Post, NRF

Budget Deal: Both the House and Senate have now passed a two-year, $2.7 trillion budget deal. It’s headed to the president’s desk, and he's expected to sign it into law. The deal sets new federal spending levels, increasing both military and non-military spending. Top Republicans and Democrats negotiated for weeks to come up with this compromise. Critics say it's too much government spending.
Read more: NPR, NBC News, WSJ, Politico

Puerto Rico Governor: Puerto Rico’s governor is set to resign today, yet it’s still not clear who will replace him. Next in line is supposed to be Puerto Rico’s secretary of state, but he resigned last month. Governor Ricardo Roselló wants Pedro Pierluisi to be sworn in as secretary of state (in order to take over as governor), but the island’s political leaders don’t all agree that he’s the best new pick. Next in line is Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez, but she doesn't want the job. Roselló has said he'll resign at 5pm today. Stay tuned.
Read more: NPR, NBC News, AP

Saudi Arabia’s New Law: A new rule announced today in Saudi Arabia will allow women over 21 years old to apply for a passport and travel abroad withoutpermission from a man. Even with the change, the custom of women having a male guardian will still be in place. The new law is set to take effect in October.
Read more: WSJ, BBC

Ninja Leaves Twitch: Fortnite megastar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is leaving his profitable and popular partnership with live-streaming platform Twitch. He'll be gaming exclusively on Microsoft's platform Mixer instead. It's a surprise move that could give Mixer a big boost. He’s already made millions playing Fortnite and other video games on Twitch and YouTube. Blevins will host his first Mixer livestream today. The esports industry is expected to become $1 billion industry this year.
Read more: ESPN, The Verge, Geekwire

Apple, Siri & Privacy: Apple is changing its practices after facing criticism last week. Apple hired a company to listen to some conversations with Siri as a quality control measure. Though the checks are said to have happened on a small percentage of recordings, it still brought up privacy concerns. Apple now says it'll suspend the quality checks and is planning a future software update to allow users to choose whether to allow Apple to have access later on.
Read more: TechCrunch, The Verge, The Guardian

New Fitbit: A new Fitbit is in the works, and it may work with Amazon’s Alexa. If it’s true, users would be able talk to the Fitbit on their wrists like they can with Apple and Samsung watches. An upgraded watch could be ready before summer is over.
Read more: The Verge, Engadget

Google SOS Button: Google is rolling out a new feature on Pixel phones and some Android devices that will send an automated voice message to first responders with one tap of a button. Users can choose medical, fire or police without having to speak, which will be helpful in dangerous situations or for people with disabilities.
Read more: Engadget, Google

Universal Theme Park: Another Universal Studios theme park is in the works. Epic Universe is being built in Orlando, Florida a few miles from Comcast’s other attractions. It’ll be the largest single investment the company has ever made in its theme park business. There aren’t a lot of details yet, but it will include hotels, restaurants and shops.
Read more: CNBC, Gizmodo