Friday, October 18th, 2019

Ceasefire Fail?, Brexit Vote & Lyft’s Free Rides

All the news you need in less than 10 min:

Today's episode is brought to you by www.NativeDeodorant.com

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...

Mulvaney’s Comments & G7 Summit Controversy:
President Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged the U.S. withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country’s leaders to investigate Democrats. Mulvaney later walked back his comments and blamed the media.
Also, the White House announced next year’s G7 summit will be held at one of Trump’s resorts in Florida. The company says it won’t take a profit, but critics say it’s a major conflict of interest.
Read more (Mulvaney): NYT1, NYT2, FOX News, Washington Post, NBC News
Read more (G7): The Hill, ABC News

Turkey Ceasefire?:
VP Mike Pence says a ceasefire agreement with Turkey’s president has been made, but in developing news this morning, the AP reports fighting appears to still be happening. The ceasefire was meant to last at least five days so the Kurds could leave the area. In exchange, the U.S. would drop economic penalties against Turkey. Dems called the deal a "sham."
Read more: AP, WSJ, ABC News, CBS News, Reuters

Rep. Elijah Cummings Dies:
Representative Elijah Cummings from Baltimore passed away. The powerful Democrat represented Maryland for more than two decades. Cummings recently led the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. He was 68.
Read more: USA Today, Washington Post, Fox News, The Hill

Brexit Deal:
The British Prime Minister and the E.U. have agreed to a new divorce deal ahead of the Oct. 31st deadline, but the U.K. Parliament still needs to sign off. A vote is expected in a special session this Saturday.
Read more: CNN, BBC, WSJ, NBC News

Bomb Cyclone:
The bomb cyclone that hit the Northeast left more than half a million people without power and set an October low pressure record.
Read more: CBS News, Weather Channel, NYT, USA Today

All-Female Spacewalk:
NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will make history this morning as they travel outside the International Space Station for the first-ever all-female spacewalk.
Read more: CBS News, Reuters, CNBC, NASA Live

Juul E-Cig Sales:
Juul says it will stop selling fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. The flavored pods will be unavailable in stores or online until the FDA reviews them and decides how to move forward. The Trump administration is pushing to ban flavored e-cigarettes due to the teen vaping epidemic.
Read more: USA Today, CNBC, The Verge

Venmo Credit Card:
Venmo is introducing a branded credit card via PayPal (who owns Venmo) and Synchrony Financial. Users can apply for the card in the Venmo app. The card will launch sometime next year.
Read more: Engadget, Fox Business, MarketWatch

Google Maps Update:
Drivers can now report road closures, construction, speed traps and more in the Google Maps app. The feature is already available on Android phones, and Google will start rolling out the popular feature to iPhones this week.
Read more: TechCrunch, 9to5Google

Lyft’s Free Rides:
Lyft is working with non-profit groups to give people free or discounted rides to job interviews and professional training programs. Lyft also wants to take new employees to and from work for the first three weeks or at least until the first paycheck comes in. Lyft hopes this will help veterans, people with disabilities and young people. The program will be available in about 35 U.S. and Canadian cities.
Read more: Engadget, Quartz