Day: August 9, 2019

Ferguson residents attend a memorial service to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s shooting on August 9, 2015. | Scott Olson/Getty Images Michael Brown’s death made America more aware of police violence. But police reform is still a work in progress. August 9 marks the fifth year since Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was killed in a police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. In the years since that shooting, national awareness of the ways…

A photo of Javier Rodriguez (second from left), 15, and friends adorns a memorial for victims of the Walmart shooting in El Paso, Texas, on August 6, 2019. Rodriguez was one of 22 people killed. | Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images “They were praying, ‘Please! Please! Don’t shoot me.’” The El Paso shooter told a detective after his arrest that he was targeting Mexicans when he opened fire at a Walmart on Saturday. The shooter, who surrendered…

SoulCycle. | Nick Tininenko/Getty Images for American Express Why Stephen Ross’s Trump fundraiser is hitting SoulCycle riders and instructors so hard. The next great American culture war is taking place on the candlelit, grapefruit-scented fitness battlefield known as SoulCycle. Under the supervision of a trainer, up to 60 people or so gather in these cycling studios, channeling their frustration, bad days, and pent-up energy into sweat and screams on bikes that go nowhere. But now,…

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez waves as she arrives to the Supreme Court, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, August 7, 2019. | Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/AP She’s a controversial figure, for one. After a series of musical chairs, Puerto Rico has a governor that may stick around for more than a few days. Secretary of Justice Wanda Vázquez, who was next in the line of succession after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló stepped down last week,…

South Korean protesters participate in a rally to denounce Japan’s new trade restrictions in front of the Japanese embassy on August 3, 2019, in Seoul. | Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images This dispute is all about colonialism and historical grievances. South Korea and Japan are embroiled in a bitter trade war that could have consequences for a global economy that is already suffering from another trade war between the US and China. Last month, Japan announced it…

Congress members Elijah Cummings (D-MA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) plan to introduce a bill limiting facial recognition tech. | AFP/Getty Images Two top lawmakers are drafting a new bipartisan bill that could seriously limit the use of the technology across the US. Facial recognition is having a moment. Across the US, local politicians and national lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have started introducing rules that bar law enforcement agencies from using facial recognition…

Getty Images The billionaire jumped in the race late. Here’s his background and platform. California billionaire Tom Steyer jumped into the Democratic presidential contest relatively late, announcing his campaign in July. And though he’s never held or run for elective office before, he’s a noteworthy figure in the race for one main reason: He’s a billionaire. Steyer says he plans to spend at least $100 million on his campaign, which is far more than any…