Month: June 2019

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a new plan on Friday to “level the playing field for entrepreneurs of color” by providing business grants to minorities in order to close the startup capital gap — the difference in capital available to white entrepreneurs versus entrepreneurs of color.

Warren argues that “every American should have a fair shot at starting a small business,” but says the playing field is currently drastically uneven, with entrepreneurs of color starting businesses with far less money than their white counterparts. Warren writes that disparity severely affects minority-owned businesses’ ability to attract investors, apply for …

Night two of the first Democratic presidential debate will feature a lot of familiar faces: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris.

It will also feature someone even few political junkies had heard of until very recently: Andrew Yang.

Yang, a startup veteran and founder of the nonprofit Venture for America who has never run for elected office before, has made a $12,000-per-year basic income for all American adults the centerpiece of his campaign. He averages 1 to 2 percent in public opinion polls, but as of this writing, he’s surged on prediction markets, with bettors giving him better odds …

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New York eliminates religious exemptions to vaccination requirements; thousands of Swiss women protest for gender equality.

No more religious exemptions from vaccines

George Frey/Getty Images

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Thursday that eliminates religious exemptions to vaccination requirements, which he hopes will help combat the current measles outbreak. [WSJ / Tyler Blint-Welsh]
• Until yesterday, parents were allowed to

Kim Kardashian West and President Donald Trump have a new plan to help former inmates tackle unemployment, one of the largest obstacles to their reentry to civilian life.

Their plan: a new partnership with ride-share giant Lyft that would provide formerly incarcerated people with gift cards for transportation to job interviews, work, and family visits.

In a surprise appearance, Kardashian West announced the program Thursday at a White House event that promoted giving former inmates “a second chance at success.”

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Trump is under fire for saying that he would receive information about political rivals from foreign actors; UK signs Julian Assange’s US extradition papers.

Trump is open to receiving dirt from foreign actors

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

• President Donald Trump is under fire after he said he would receive information about 2020 candidates from foreign actors. [ABC News / Lucien Bruggeman]
• In

There’s a lot to unpack in the first trailer for Doctor Sleep, starting with what it actually is. The forthcoming film, slated for a Halloween premiere, is an adaptation of the 2013 horror novel by Stephen King — but this isn’t just any Stephen King horror novel.

Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining. The film stars Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance, Jack Torrance’s trike-riding, “Redrum”-intoning son. Now he’s grown up and being haunted by demons from his past, while also experiencing new occurrences of “the shining,” the strange psychic power that allows him to communicate telepathically …

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would accept information from foreign actors about his 2020 Democratic opponents.

And Trump said he would not necessarily let the FBI know if he did so, either.

“It’s not an interference,” Trump told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. “They have information. I think I’d take it.”

When Stephanopoulos told Trump the FBI’s director said the bureau ought to be called if a foreign government offers a candidate information, the president responded, “The FBI director is wrong.”

Trump also said a foreign government offering damaging information isn’t interference: “It’s not interference, it’s information,” and …

When an abortion law makes headlines in 2019, it’s usually as a ban.

Aggressive abortion restrictions have passed in numerous states in recent months, with some banning the procedure at six weeks or even earlier.

But this week, Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill that will actually expand abortion access in the state by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants, not just doctors, to perform the procedure. As clinics in other states are at risk of closing, the Maine law will increase the number of clinics able to perform abortions.

Maine’s law is part of a …

Ev Williams, CEO of the publishing platform Medium, may be best known for co-founding social media giant Twitter. But he sometimes misses simpler times on the internet, when people didn’t seek out instant retweets, “Likes,” and comments.

“Part of the beautiful thing about blogging was you were always looking for feedback but you didn’t get it as momentarily — things could marinate,” said Williams, who was speaking onstage at Code Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday with Vox founder and editor-at-large Ezra Klein. “Now, there’s an addiction to short-term feedback that is detrimental sometimes to thought.”

Williams, who is now …