Lebanese PM resigns

After 13 days of mass protests, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned yesterday. The leader’s resignation has been a central demand of demonstrators, who have been asking for an end to corruption and economic mismanagement.

Boeing Congressional Testimony

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg testified in front of the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday regarding the aerospace company’s response to two crashes involving its aircraft that killed a combined 346 people. Muilenburg will testify in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today.

Protests in Iraq

Eighteen protesters were killed during clashes with security forces in the Iraqi city of Karbala yesterday. This follows a month of anti-government protests, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 220 demonstrators.

Fair Play, says NCAA

The NCAA’s top governing board voted unanimously yesterday to allow college athletes to be compensated, in a major shift for the organization following the passage of California’s “Fair Pay to Play Act” last month. The decision will allow student-athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness, though the specific rules and guidelines surrounding the process will be left to the three NCAA divisions to decide before a January 2021 deadline.

Goin’ down to HBO Max

WarnerMedia announced details of its new streaming service, HBO Max, on Tuesday - the service will launch in May 2020 and cost $14.99 a month, with an ad-based on-demand alternative expected in 2021. In related news, HBO Max acquired exclusive streaming rights to animated comedy South Park for an undisclosed price.

Keep it Fresh

Amazon will offer two-hour grocery delivery to all of its Prime members at no additional cost - until now, Prime members had to pay an additional $14.99 a month for the service (Amazon Fresh). The new benefit will be released in phases, starting as an invite-only service for a select group of Prime members before becoming available to all members.

E-Work

In the aftermath of its failed initial public offering and SoftBank bailout, Bloomberg reports that We Co. - parent company of WeWork - is in the early stages of forming an electronic gaming enterprise. The company is reportedly seeking a Play By We trademark, and has hired a handful of staffers in preparation.

Not leaving the NEST

As a fifth-grader, Shreyaa Venkat was already very active as a volunteer in her community, but wanted to do more. So at just 10 years old, Shreyaa decided to start a nonprofit, NEST, to address hunger among the homeless population. She’d recently learned about food waste, and Shreyaa figured that by talking to different local businesses, she could redistribute the food that would otherwise be thrown out in order to feed people who’d otherwise go hungry. A win-win.

In the seven years of her nonprofit’s existence, Shreyaa has branched out, creating three other organizational arms to address different community needs. One connects volunteers with children in need of tutoring, another collects much-needed supplies for school kids, people experiencing homelessness, and those affected by natural disasters, and the last one throws birthday parties for low-income children and families.

Now, at 17, Shreyaa’s ready to head to college. She chose John Hopkins University, but not just because it’s got fabulous opportunities in her field of biomedical engineering and public health - she also picked it because it’s located in Baltimore, which has a high homeless population. “I can continue my work there,” Shreyaa told Reader’s Digest. “Whatever I do in the future, I know I want to keep helping people.”

Message of hope

At 19, Chastity Patterson had to go through something no one should have to face at such a young age – her father figure passed away. In the four years since, she’s found some comfort in continuing to text him with updates, nearly daily, on how her life is going. And since he died, she’s accomplished a lot: she won her battle with cancer, graduated college with honors, had her heart broken, and then fell in love again.

Little did she know, there was someone on the receiving end of her messages. One day, she got an unexpected response from someone named Brad, who was given her dad’s number after his death. As it turned out, Brad had lost his daughter in a 2014 car accident. Receiving Chastity’s messages each day has kept him going, he said, and reminded him that he wasn’t alone.

Overwhelmed, Chastity posted screenshots of their conversation on social media. It was quickly shared by many people who said they, too, had lost a parent or child and were moved by Brad and Chastity’s exchange. In her post online, Chastity said: “Today was my sign that everything is okay and I can let him rest!”