Monday, August 5th, 2019
2 Mass Shootings, Flyboard Record & Instagram Name Change
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
Today's episode is brought to you by MM LaFleur.
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...
Two Mass Shootings: At least 29 people are dead and more than 50 were injured in two mass shootings over the weekend. The first one happened on Saturday morning in El Paso, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border. A gunman went into a Walmart and opened fire. The 21-year-old suspect from the Dallas area surrendered to responding officers and is now in custody. Prosecutors are investigating this shooting as both a hate crime and an act of domestic terrorism, and the suspect could face the death penalty. Just hours later, there was another shooting in Dayton, Ohio. The shooter was wearing body armor and had multiple rounds of ammunition on him. Police arrived quickly and killed the shooter about a minute after he opened fire. Investigators are working to find out the motive of the 24-year-old. In the communities affected, people are working to help and support each other. Many stood in line for hours to donate blood.
Read more: AP, NBC News, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, USA Today
Hong Kong Strike: A citywide strike is happening in Hong Kong today. It's disrupted transportation and cancelled hundreds of flights as well as forced businesses to close. The protests started over a proposed extradition bill that has been suspended, but protesters still want the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, to step down. Lam said Hong Kong is in crisis.
Read more: NYT, CNN, Washington Post
Record 'Flyboard' Flight: A French inventor made the first successful trip across the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard, called a Flyboard. The 22-mile trip from northern France to England took about 20 minutes, though he stopped for fuel. This was the inventor’s second attempt. He made the “Flyboard” himself. It has five small jet engines to propel the rider through the air. The French military is reportedly interested in the technology, and the inventor is also working on an idea for a flying car...
And speaking of flying cars, a Japanese company showed off its version that hovered for about a minute this morning. The large drone-like machine has four propellers.
Read more (Flyboard): CNN, Gizmodo, The Guardian, Thrillist
Read more (Flying Car): AP
Instagram Name Change: Instagram and WhatsApp will now be known as “Instagram from Facebook” and “WhatsApp from Facebook” in the Apple app store and Google Play store. It’s a way for Facebook to make sure everyone knows it owns those apps.
Read more: The Verge, TechRadar, The Information, CNET
Transgender Model: For the first time, Victoria’s Secret hired an openly transgender model. The 22-year old, Valentina Sampaio, is from Brazil. It’s a big change from just one year ago when a company executive said transgender and plus-sized models aren’t right for the brand. Sampaio has already made huge strides in the fashion world as the first transgender model to be on the cover of Vogue Paris.
Read more: Harpers Bazaar, Hollywood Reporter
A$AP Rocky Released: Rapper A$AP Rocky was released from jail in Sweden on Friday and is back in the U.S. He was accused of assault after a street fight in late June. A final verdict is expected next week, but a Swedish judge let him leave the country while they think things over. Remember: other celebrities and President Trump were calling for A$AP Rocky’s release. The U.S. even warned of “negative consequences” between the U.S. and Sweden if the case wasn’t resolved soon.
Read more: NBC News, TMZ
Box Office: The Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs and Shaw raced to the top of the box office this weekend. The movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham brought in $60 million in North America and $180 million globally. This is Universal’s fifth-highest grossing global launch ever.
Read more: Variety, Deadline