Israel update

Following last week’s election where no party received an outright majority, President of Israel Reuven Rivlin formally granted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu four weeks to form a coalition government. If Netanyahu does not succeed, the mandate could fall to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz or any candidate that can garner majority Knesset support.

U.S.-Japan trade agreement

The U.S. and Japan signed the first stage of a trade agreement yesterday. The agreement expands market access for both countries and is focused on farm goods and digital products.

U.S. & Honduras

The U.S. and Honduras signed an asylum agreement at the U.N. General Assembly yesterday. The agreement is similar to what the U.S. and El Salvador agreed to last week and gives the U.S. permission to send asylum seekers to Honduras if they traveled through the country and did not seek asylum there.

K.C. and The Juul Brand

Juul CEO Kevin Burns stepped down from his role yesterday and will be replaced by Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite - the vaping giant also announced the suspension of all broadcast, print and digital advertising in the US. In other tobacco news, industry giants Phillip Morris and Altria have ended their ~$200 billion merger discussion amid widespread vaping backlash.

Lost bid

eBay CEO Devin Wenig announced his resignation from the online marketplace yesterday, citing conflicts with the company’s board of directors. Wenig has been the company’s CEO since 2011 and will be replaced in the interim by CFO Scott Schenkel.

Austin goes autonomous

Ford Motor Company has announced the launch of its commercial autonomous vehicle business in a third city: Austin, TX (in addition to Miami and DC). The company will begin to map the city in mid-November and test its Ford Fusion Hybrid autonomous vehicles through next year before officially launching the operation in 2021.

Alexa, where’s my super suit?

Amazon held its annual hardware event yesterday, announcing more than a dozen new Alexa-enabled products. Check out a full list of the company’s new releases by clicking the link below (including an Alexa feature that mimics celebrity voices like Samuel L. Jackson).

Right place, right time

Chick-fil-A manager Tauya Nenguke was working the drive-thru this past week when he noticed something strange in the parking lot. Drawn to a disturbance outside a parked car, Tauya put his order-taking tablet aside and sprinted across the parking lot to investigate.

When he arrived at the car, he found a man inside the vehicle unresponsive and not breathing. Immediately, Tauya drew on the knowledge he obtained from taking pre-nursing classes and began to perform CPR on the man to jumpstart his heart and lungs. Together with the man’s friend, he continued to perform chest compressions until the paramedics arrived.

After the paramedics whisked the unresponsive individual to the hospital (where he is alive and recovering), they told one of Tauya’s coworkers that he was instrumental in saving the man’s life. As an aspiring nurse, Tauya told KGTV, "This was honestly a really big calling to be in health care because it was like instinct took over."

A grande gesture

Catherine Pearlman, a California mom of two, was running into Starbucks as a favor for a friend when she saw a flyer on the community board that would change her life… and even more so, the life of Eli Valdez, a complete stranger.

Eli was suffering from kidney disease and desperately awaiting a donor – a transplant was the only thing that was going to save his life. His wife, Monica, was determined to find a donor before Eli’s time ran out and posted flyers all across town outlining the situation. Catherine was moved by the flyer and went home to discuss it with her husband. They decided there was no harm in having the tests done to see if she was an unlikely match for Eli.

After a couple of months and countless tests, the results came back – she was a match! So this past May, still never having met each other, the two underwent the kidney transplant operation. The operation was successful and ended up saving Eli’s life… all because a passing angel noticed a random flyer in a Starbucks.

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