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Today’s best stories
Closing arguments concluded today in the government’s antitrust lawsuit against Google. The Justice Department accused the tech giant of illegally abusing its monopoly power by paying billions to companies like Apple, Samsung and Mozilla to be the default search engine on their devices, which pushed competitors out of the market and left customers with a lower quality experience. . Google claims that it is the most popular search engine because it is the best, not because of its business dealings. Here’s what you need to know about the current situation.
The Justice Department and a group of 35 states sued Google in 2020 for allegedly using anticompetitive tactics to monopolize online search. The trial is over and closing arguments are underway.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The Justice Department and a group of 35 states sued Google in 2020 for allegedly using anticompetitive tactics to monopolize online search. The trial is over and closing arguments are underway.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
- On FirstNPR’s Dara Kerr says the judge asked some very pointed questions and poke holes in the arguments of both sides. “So the judge really gave no indication which side he would take,” Kerr reports. If he believes that Google acted illegally, the judge could fine Google or dissolve the company. “This decision has the real potential to change the way we experience the Internet,” says Kerr.
After more than a week of silence, President Biden addresses pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses yesterday. In a short speech, he stressed the need to find a balance between freedom of expression and the rule of law. He defended protests against the Gaza war taking place at universities across the country, but stressed there was no place for anti-Semitism or hate speech in America.
- “Biden very clearly has a lot of work to do “to convince young progressive voters who are disillusioned with his approach to war,” said NPR’s Tamara Keith. But she says that didn’t seem to be his goal yesterday, as he said the protests didn’t force him to reconsider its policy.
Stay update on campuses to protest the war in Gaza here.The protests also shook the Georgian nation since several weeks. Protesters reject a bill parliament is considering that would require organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, a requirement opponents see as authoritarian and modeled on Kremlin.
- The United States and Europe have urged the Georgian government to reconsider the law. as they warned, it would harm Georgia’s long-term prospects for joining the EU and NATO, NPR’s Charles Maynes said. But Maynes says the problem is that the government already backed down on the law last year due to massive protests, and it appears determined not to bow to public pressure a second time.
Listening of the day
Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne in the studio behind the microphone, 2007.
Stephen Voss/Stephen Voss
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Stephen Voss/Stephen Voss
Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne in the studio behind the microphone, 2007.
Stephen Voss/Stephen Voss
NPR’s Steve Inskeep celebrates 20 years in the Morning edition host president today. He is joined by a familiar face: Renée Montagne, who co-hosted the show with him from 2004 to 2016.
Listen to archival clips of Steve’s most iconic stories and interviews as he and Renee look back on the last two decades of his career. Congratulations, Steve!
Weekend Picks
Ryan Gosling is the Colt Seavers in The guy who hits the spot.
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Ryan Gosling is the Colt Seavers in The guy who hits the spot.
Universal images
Find out what NPR watch, read and listen this weekend:
Movies: Ryan Gosling is a wonderfully expressive idiot in The guy who falls just in time. He plays Colt Seavers, a stuntman who returns to work under mysterious circumstances after a life-threatening injury.
TV: NPR’s David Bianculli is convinced that Elisabeth Moss is playing her best role yet in The veil. The new FX series follows several different spy agencies as they try to uncover the details of a new alleged 9/11 terrorist plot.
Books: Many philosophical ideas are aired in Rachel Khong’s latest novel, Real Americansincluding the existence of free will and the ethics of modifying genomes to select for “favorable” hereditary traits.
Music: Kendrick Lamar is Drake’s biggest hater. He recently released a six-minute track targeting Drake as a rap artist and an assassination of Drake’s character on a human level.
Podcast: All things Considered host Rachel Martin has a new podcast. Wild Card is part interview, part existential game show, as guests are invited to play a game about life’s biggest questions. Listen now to the first episode with comedian and actress Jenny Slate.
Quiz: My second perfect score on NPR’s current affairs quiz is just as enjoyable as the first. How well will you do?
3 things to know before you leave
When amateur photographer Michael Sanchez took this photo of a subspecies of blue thrush on the northern Oregon coast last week, he didn’t know how rare the bird was until he publishes it on social networks.
Michel Sanchez
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Michel Sanchez
When amateur photographer Michael Sanchez took this photo of a subspecies of blue thrush on the northern Oregon coast last week, he didn’t know how rare the bird was until he publishes it on social networks.
Michel Sanchez
- Amateur photographer Michael Sanchez has become the envy of birders everywhere when he took a photo of the first ever sighting of a blue thrush in the United States during his trip to Oregon.
- Joshua Dean, former Boeing quality auditor who raised concerns about Boeing jets, has died. His family said he quickly fell into critical condition after being diagnosed with a bacterial MRSA infection. This is the second Boeing-related whistleblower to die in the past three months.
- A group of black Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation called the CROWN Act in the House of Representatives. The bill aims to make discrimination based on hairstyle or hair texture illegal.
This newsletter was published by Majd Al-Waheidi.
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