theNewsWorthy: Tuesday, August 7th, 2018

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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...

IRAN'S SANCTIONS

It’s official: as of midnight, the US is out of the Iran nuclear deal and sanctions against Iran are back in place.
 
Remember: President Trump has not been a fan of the Iran deal made back in 2015. The deal was meant to freeze Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the US and other countries lifting economic sanctions. Trump has called it a “horrible, one-sided deal.”
 
So, the US is now out of the deal. The Washington Post says he signed the order yesterday to put sanctions back in place. He said it’s about putting maximum economic pressure on the leaders in Iran.
 
US allies who were also part of the deal are not happy. The Wall Street Journal reports European officials have said they’ll do their best to work with Iran and continue receiving exports of oil and gas, in the hopes that Iran will keep up their part of the deal, too.
 
Iran, by the way, is already dealing with a financial crisis.

Read More: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, FOX News, Washington Post, DW, Axios
 

STAR WITNESS TAKES THE STAND

The star witness in the criminal case against Paul Manafort will take the stand again today, and he’s already testified that he committed crimes with Manafort.
 
Remember: Manafort is the former Trump campaign chairman whose trial for tax and bank fraud is happening now (the charges are for things before he worked on the Trump campaign, but this is the first trial that stems from the Russia investigation).
 
The guy testifying this week is Rick Gates, who used to be Paul Manafort’s right-hand man. He was also once a Trump adviser. Now, Reuters reports, Gates is testifying that he helped Manafort cheat on his taxes and hide foreign income. Manafort's lawyers say it was actually all Gates.
 
To be continued...
 
Read More: Reuters, CNBC
 

OHIO'S SPECIAL ELECTION

There’s a special election happening today in Ohio’s District 12. TIME reports this special election is to fill a seat in the US House of Representatives that has been filled by Republican lawmakers for more than 35 years.
 
Now, there’s a chance that could change: a recent poll showed the race is neck-and-neck, and the country is watching. Some see it as a sign of how the November midterm elections could go.
 
Also going to the polls today are voters in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan and Washington State.
 
Read More: TIME, FOX News, CNN, PBS
 

CA WILDFIRES UPDATE

The AP reports, two large wildfires in NorCal have grown to become the largest wildfire in California history. The fires are only a few miles apart at this point, so they’re being treated as one.
 
This fire, the Mendocino Complex fire, is actually different than the Carr Fire, in and around Redding. That one is smaller, but has also proven deadly and destroyed more homes.
 
The Weather Channel says there are 18 major fires burning throughout the state now.
 
President Trump approved federal disaster aid for the state, but he also did something else: he tweeted about it. He said the fires are worse because of bad environmental laws in California, which are preventing large amounts of water from being readily available. Reuters cites fire officials who say it’s not true.
 
Read More: Associated Press, The Weather Channel, Reuters
 

FACEBOOK + YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

Facebook is hoping to get more of your financial data. The Wall Street Journal reports Facebook wants big banks to join its Messenger service.
 
The idea? Facebook brings banks more customers, and banks bring financial data to Facebook.
 
The report says it would be a new service on Messenger; for example, banks could give you your account balance or fraud alerts through Facebook’s messaging platform.
 
A Facebook spokesperson talked to CNN that Facebook is not actively asking for financial data. Instead, they’re focused on partnering with companies to offer services like customer chat and account management.
 
Of course, Facebook has already faced quite a bit of backlash over privacy issues.
 
Read More: Wall Street Journal, CNN
 

"ALEXA, TURN ON ANSWER UPDATES."

Amazon has a new feature for its smart speakers, like the Amazon Echo, called Answer Updates. 

VentureBeat reports that once the feature has rolled out to everyone over the next week, you’ll have to say, “Alexa, turn on Answer Update.” It will then give you alerts when Alexa knows the answer to a question you’ve asked in the past that it didn't know back then.
 
Read More: VentureBeat
 

MOVIEPASS CHANGES

More changes are coming to MoviePass, and there’s good and bad news.
 
The good news? A few things: MoviePass is ditching plans to raise the monthly fee, stop you from seeing big releases and using “peak” pricing.
 
The bad news? You can only see three movies a month, starting August 15th.
 
Before, MoviePass let subscribers see as many as one movie a day, all for just $10.00 per month. But the company could not keep it up: it was going through too much cash and has had to take out an emergency loan.
 
So… three movies a month it is, starting next Wednesday, August 15th. The CEO of MoviePass told the Wall Street Journal that only 15 percent of subscribers were seeing more than that anyway.
 
Read More: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, MoviePass
 

BEYONCE'S VOGUE COVER

Beyoncé gets personal in the latest cover story for Vogue.
 
She’s on the cover of the September issue out now and wrote an article revealing new details about her pregnancy, feelings about her body, planning for concerts and more.
 
For example, she said she used to believe society about how her body should look post-pregnancy, but not anymore. She’s been more about self-love and self-care lately, especially after an emergency C-section with her twins.
 
The historic cover is the first Vogue cover shot by an African-American photographer.
 
Read More: Vogue, TIME, Washington Post

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