It’s a new day and these are the biggest stories on the internet.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met Xi Jinping on surprise visit to China
Kim traveled to the Chinese capital because he felt compelled to personally inform President Xi Jinping of the rapid diplomatic developments on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. The visit is a stunning shift for Kim, who appears to be fashioning himself as a leader in search of a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
The US needs to borrow almost $300 billion this week
The United States plans to sell about $294 billion of debt, according to the Treasury Department. That’s the highest for a week since the record set during the 2008 financial crisis. Federal revenue is declining because of President Trump’s tax cuts, so the government needs to borrow more to make ends meet.
Google loses Android battle and could owe Oracle billions of dollars
An appeals court said on Tuesday that Google violated copyright laws when it used Oracle’s open-source Java software to build the Android platform in 2009. Tuesday’s ruling is the latest development in a topsy-turvy eight-year battle between Google and Oracle .
US general warns of hypersonic weapons threat from Russia and China
In a series of unusually candid remarks, the US general in charge of the nation’s nuclear arsenal has issued a stark warning that Russia and China are “aggressively” developing new high-speed, or hypersonic, weapons that the US currently has no defense against.
Why is China building ECOWAS a $32 million headquarters?
Accepting the grant, the president of ECOWAS, Jean-Claude Brou, thanked China and confirmed the organization’s commitment to promoting future ECOWAS-China cooperation. A press release said that Brou called this a mark of goodwill from China. But critics questioned the Asian economic powerhouse’s motives for the donation, which positions it at the center of West African politics.
Playboy: We’re quitting Facebook over data scandal
The move was announced late Tuesday by Playboy’s chief creative officer, Cooper Hefner, who is the son of the magazine’s late founder, Hugh Hefner. He complained that Facebook’s content guidelines and corporate policies contradict Playboy’s values and that the platform “in our opinion continues to be sexually repressive.”
An unheard-of problem: The President can’t find a lawyer
Five large law firms are passing on the opportunity to represent the President after a shakeup last week on his private defense team and as he anticipates giving possible testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Well-known Washington lawyers cited several reasons for declining the President in recent weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with their decisions.
More than 4,000 eggs and embryos lost in Cleveland fertility clinic tank failure
The University Hospitals Fertility Clinic also said about 950 families were affected by the storage tank failure earlier this month. At the time, the facility in Cleveland said it believed about 700 families were affected. In a letter sent to the families, dated Monday and obtained by CNN on Tuesday, University Hospitals said it was sharing the updated information with a “heavy heart.”
Kim Jong Un Met With Xi Jinping, China Confirms
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in secret with China’s Xi Jinping this week in Kim’s first overseas trip since assuming power, Chinese state news reported Wednesday. The news confirms widespread rumors that Kim had unexpectedly traveled to China via an armored train in his first foreign trip as leader of North Korea.
Top Banks Pumped Billions More Into The Dirtiest Fossil Fuels Last Year
Some of the world’s biggest banks continue to lend money to support the dirtiest fossil fuels, despite global commitments to tackle climate change, according to a report published Wednesday, which picks out U.S. and Canadian banks as the worst offenders.
Lawyers Explain Why It Might Be Smart Not To Have Donald Trump As A Client
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump seems to be having difficulty finding lawyers to represent him in the widening probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Last week, Trump’s lead attorney for the special counsel investigation, John Dowd, tendered his resignation, prompting a White House search that has yet to yield a suitable replacement.
Further Proof Meghan Markle Was Meant To Be In The Royal Family
An old home video shows that Meghan Markle was not only fated to become an actress, but that she was also meant to be a part of the royal family. The clip shows the future “Suits” star, then age 8, playing queen at her friend Ninaki Priddy’s birthday party in 1990, according to the Daily Mail.
No charges for US police in fatal shooting
Two white officers who shot and killed a Louisiana black man in 2016 will not face criminal charges, officials say. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the officers acted reasonably under “existing law and were justified in their use of force”.
5 songs you didn’t know were about God
According to a report in The Sun, Justin Bieber is recording a religious concept album. The pop star is said to be on the lookout for songs with a Christian message after reconnecting with his faith through the Pentecostal megachurch Hillsong Church.
Teen hits lottery jackpot on 18th birthday
A Canadian teenager has struck the jackpot after buying her first lottery ticket to mark her 18th birthday. Charlie Lagarde, from the province of Quebec, bought the scratch ticket along with a bottle of champagne to celebrate turning 18 on 14 March.
French children to start school at three
Children in France will start school at the age of three instead of six, under new reforms announced by President Emmanuel Macron. The change will give France one of the lowest compulsory school starting ages in Europe. But it will only affect a small number of children, as the majority of French families already choose to send their children to school at three.
Will Ferrell is also deleting Facebook
Very soon, you won’t find Will Ferrell on Facebook. The comedian declared on Tuesday he would be deleting his account within 72 hours, following revelations of Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of personal data from the social network’s users. In a Facebook post, Ferrell wrote that he “always had an aversion to social media,” but used it to promote projects from himself and colleagues.
Dude escapes from prison Indiana Jones style by ducking under a closing door
It’s something straight out of an Indiana Jones movie: guy is captured, guy gets out of his restraints, ducks under a closing door, and guy manages to escape. Except, it’s from an actual video released by the Porter County Sheriff’s Department. Michael Maldonado was arrested on Monday during a traffic stop and brought into the Porter County Jail.
A SpaceX rocket launch blew a temporary hole in Earth’s upper atmosphere
On August 24, 2017, the charged particles of Earth’s ionosphere were doing what they typically do: hanging out between 37 and 620 miles above the Earth’s surface, basking in incoming ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Suddenly, and rather rudely from the ionosphere’s perspective, many of these particles were blown apart as a massive shockwave swept through this layer of the atmosphere.
Intel used fatal Uber crash footage to show what its self-driving software would do
After a self-driving Uber crashed and killed a woman walking her bike across a Tempe, Arizona, road last week, the technology behind autonomous vehicles has been questioned and scrutinized. Intel, the company behind the driver-assistance software Mobileye – which is used in certain autonomous cars, but not in Uber – took the footage Tempe police released from the crash and ran their software through the fatal incident.
