Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Trump Impeached, Fourth Largest Carmaker & New Smart Home Standard

(+ Best ‘Good News’ of 2019) 

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...

Trump ImpeachedIt happened. President Trump has been impeached. After 12 hours of debate, most Dems in the House voted to impeach him for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. All Republicans voted against it. Next up: the Senate gets to decide later if he should be removed from office. Meanwhile, Trump held a rally in Michigan.
Impeachment: Washington Post,  NYT, NBC News, The Hill, CNN, CBS NewsTrump Rally: AP, PBS

Sixth Dem Debate: 
The sixth Democratic presidential debate is tonight -- on the heels of yesterday's impeachment vote. This has the smallest number of candidates on stage with only seven qualifying. It all starts at 5pm PST / 8pm EST.
Read more: Vox, Politico, PBS, CBS News

Obamacare Mandate Unconstitutional:A big setback for the Affordable Care Act. A federal appeals court ruled the government cannot penalize people for not having health insurance. The court called the mandate 'unconstitutional.' That said, it now goes back to a lower court to see if other parts of the law can still stand.
Read more: CNN, WSJ

Drug Imports from Canada: 
The Trump administration is moving forward with a plan to allow states to import prescription drugs from Canada for the first time. The goal is to bring down prices of expensive drugs for diseases like HIV, MS and Hep C. It won't happen anytime soon, though. States would still have to submit proposals. 
Read more: NYT

Australia's Hottest Day Ever:
Australia just had its hottest day on record this week, and the temps could continue to rise. It was 105 degrees Fahrenheit -- beating the record from 2013. The country is also dealing with drought and fires.  
Read more: ABC News, USA Today, Weather Channel

Deal Makes Fourth Largest Carmaker: 
Two auto giants are now officially saying they'll merge: Fiat Chrysler and PSA Peugeot. Together, they'll make the fourth largest automaker in the world. They still have to win over regulators before it's fully finalized.
Read more: Business Insider, CNBC, NPR

Apple, Amazon, Google Partnership:
Several big tech companies are joining forces in a rare partnership. Their goal is to create a new standard so all the different smart home devices have an easier time talking to each other.
Read more: Business Insider, TechCrunch, Cnet

Amazon Expands Free Returns: 
Amazon is expanding its free returns policy -- just in time for the holidays. Millions of additional items will now have a free return option, as long as they're sold and fulfilled by Amazon and weigh less than 50 pounds.
Read more: The Verge, CNN

Instagram Bans Vaping Promos
For the first time, Instagram will limit what 'influencers' can post on their private feeds. Instagram already banned more traditional ads from promoting vaping, tobacco products or weapons, but advertisers used a loophole by paying influencers to promote them instead. Now, IG says that's no longer allowed. 
Read more: CNBC, Engadget

Blue Light & Sleep: 
You've probably heard that blue light from smartphones before bed may keep you awake at night, but now a new study is casting doubt. Researchers found we may be more affected by warm colors, like yellow light (including blue light filters), before bed. They believe our brains associate that with daytime, while blue light resembles twilight and may not be so impactful. That said, the study was only in mice. Experts say it's still probably best to stay away from screens at bedtime.
Read more: Cnet, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Harvard Medical School (past studies)

Thing To Know Thursday

Best ‘Good News’ of 2019

Read more: Terrorism Deaths Down, Divers Clean Up Trash, 3D Printed Neighborhood

Guest: Branden Harvey

Branden Harvey is a storyteller focused on the good in the world. He's the host of the podcast Sounds Good, the creator of the Goodnewspaper, a printed newspaper full of good news, and built an online community over more than 250,000 world changers. He's helped brands and organizations like Disney, Square, Southwest Airlines, and (RED) tell meaningful stories with heart all over the world. He's also been featured in Fortune Magazine, Seventeen Magazine, The Washington Post, and Mashable.