U.S. & China Sign Trade Deal

President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed an initial “Phase One” trade deal at the White House yesterday. Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. agreed to roll back some tariffs on Chinese imports, while China committed to boosting purchases of U.S. goods by $200 billion over the next two years.

Epstein Sued by Virgin Islands

The U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the convicted sex offender of abusing hundreds of girls and young women up until 2018. The suit seeks the forfeiture of his two Virgin Islands properties (valued at $86 million) and is the first filed against Epstein by a government entity.

Russian Government Shakeup

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed constitutional changes to limit the president’s power after 2024, when Putin is required by law to step down. Putin later named a successor to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who unexpectedly announced his resignation following Putin’s proposal.

Think Small, Spend Big

On Wednesday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the company’s intentions to invest $1 billion to help digitize small and medium businesses in India. On Monday, an Indian antitrust watchdog ordered an investigation into whether Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart have violated competition laws.

Mobile Gone Global

Analytics company App Annie’s annual “State of Mobile” report found that consumers around the world downloaded a record 204 billion apps in 2019. Consumers also spent $120 billion on mobile apps, more than twice that of the global music market. The report predicts that the mobile industry will contribute $4.8 trillion to the global GDP by 2023.

First Blood

Fitbit has reportedly activated the blood oxygen monitoring feature on several of their wearable devices, making the company the first to offer the feature. Blood oxygen readings are useful for detecting unusual breathing patterns during sleep, which may be a sign of sleep apnea.

Maine Message

Sometimes, even life’s biggest problems can be solved by members of a community all coming together to share a meal - which is exactly what happened for one beloved senior earlier this month. Last summer, a con man swindled 95-year-old Barbara Hinckley of Auburn, Maine out of $16,000 in a phishing scam. Ever altruistic, Barbara reported the theft to local news outlets to make sure that it never happened to anyone else, but ended up with the surprise of her life.

Former Maine Governor John Baldacci caught wind of Barbara’s story. He immediately leaped into action, organizing a spaghetti dinner fundraiser in her honor to earn back the money that was stolen. Amazingly, the dinner garnered $18,000 at night’s end, an amount $2,000 greater than Barbara lost. This stalwart community gave back what they could to a woman who didn’t deserve to be swindled, motivated by an easy pasta dish and the goodness of their hearts.

I Am Your Density

It’s not often in life that you know you’re in the right place at the right time. Nebraska native Terry Ingram was out taking photographs of local eagles when his moment struck - a nearby car lost control and crashed upside down into an icy pond right before his eyes.

Terry could see that three men were trapped inside of the car, which was rapidly submerging below the frigid waters. He acted quickly, diving into the pond and opening the door to the car, which enabled him to free all three men and pull them safely ashore. Terry says he feels grateful to have been there to help the men in their time of need, and his incredible actions prove that real life superheroes do indeed walk among us.