Tuesday, July 16th, 2019

New Asylum Rule, Alzheimer’s Blood Test & First Female 007

All the news you need in less than 10 min:

Today’s episode is brought to you by ZOLA.

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 Asylum Rule: A new rule is making it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. It will mostly affect people coming from Central America. From now on, migrants who pass through another country on their way to the U.S. border will need to try to seek asylum in that country first. If they don’t, they will not be eligible for protection in the U.S. The Trump administration says the goal is to crack down on people who are mis-using the asylum system. Critics call the rule 'inhumane.' Human trafficking victims and people who were denied protection in another country will be exceptions to the rule.
Read more: AP, NBC News, Fox News, The Hill

Resolution Vote: Today the House is expected to vote on a resolution to officially condemn the president’s tweets from over the weekend. The resolution says they were “racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.” The four Congresswomen targeted by the tweet held a press conference yesterday to respond, but President Trump defended his attacks. Trump is facing some pushback now from his own party, though Republican lawmakers have mixed reactions.
Read more: Politico, The Hill, WSJ

China Economy Slows: The tariff war between the U.S. and China seems to be taking a toll on the Chinese economy. The second-largest economy in the world grew a little more than six percent in the second quarter compared to a year ago.
Read more: Fox Business, CNBC, Reuters

Amazon Protests: It’s the second and final day of Amazon’s big Prime Day, but some Amazon workers around the world are protesting. Workers in five countries protested yesterday to fight for better pay and working conditions. The largest was apparently in the U.S. at a Minnesota warehouse. Some employees say the company is testing its physical limits and Amazon needs to hire more people. Amazon says its critics use Prime Day to promote their own causes, and employees make an industry-leading $15/hour minimum wage.
Read more: CNET, TechCrunch, Business Insider

Sports Update: Boxer Pernell Whitaker, also known as “Sweet Pea,” has died. He was hit by a car over the weekend. Whitaker won world titles in four weight classes and was an Olympic gold medalist. He was 55. Also, NBA star Ben Simmons just agreed to a big contract with the Philadelphia ‘76ers. The $170 million, five-year contract extension still needs to be finalized.
Read more (Pernell Whitaker): ESPN
Read more (NBA Deal): NBA

Alzheimer’s Blood Test: Scientists are on their way to making a blood test to screen for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia a reality. Researchers used a blood test to detect if someone had Alzheimer's, and it was accurate nearly 90 percent of the time. Doctors typically use brain scans and spinal fluid tests to check, but they aren’t practical for regular check-ups.
Read more: AP

Giant Jellyfish Spotted: A giant jellyfish the size of a human was spotted near the U.K. The cream-colored barrel jellyfish was about five feet long, the largest species of jellyfish in the British seas. Video of the jellyfish got a lot of attention and experts hope it encourages people to care more about marine wildlife.
Read more: USA Today, CBS News, CNN

Waze Toll Pricing: Waze has a new feature to help drivers figure out how much money they need for tolls. The navigation app will now list every toll’s actual price along with a free option. The idea is to give drivers the option to avoid the tolls or give them a chance to find out how much the trip will cost. This has been a long-requested tool. The update is available on both iOS and Android phones.
Read more: Business Insider, The Verge

Twitter Update: Twitter’s website is getting a big update, which is supposed to make the site faster, easier to use, and more customizable. The goal of the update is to make the site look and feel like the mobile app. The key features including notifications, direct messages and explore will be available are on a large sidebar.
Read more: TechCrunch, Engadget

First Woman 007: For the first time, a woman may play the role of 007. A “movie insider” told the Daily Mail that Lashana Lynch will play the role in the next Bond movie. If it’s true, she will be the first black woman and first female to take on 007. Though Daniel Craig will still play James Bond, Lynch’s character will take over his famous codename.
Read more: E News, Daily Mail UK