FF: 14 May 18th, 2017 News Headlines

In the News

The U.S. Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to oversee the FBI’s investigation into any Russian interference in the last presidential election.  The announcement was made by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who also pointed out that the decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted.  No such determination has been made.

Over 40 suspected members of the gang, MS-13 were arrested in Los Angeles and face federal charges which include murder, extortion, drugs and weapons related crimes.  Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra Brown stated,  "Today's charges and arrests, however, will deal a critical blow to the top leadership of this criminal organization and will significantly improve safety in neighborhoods across this region."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday that the President will continue to interview candidates for the FBI Director position and is to meet with acting Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, and former FBI official Richard McFeely.

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary committee asked the FBI to provide memos related to the recently terminated FBI Director Comey and his interactions with his superiors in both the Trump and Obama administrations.  This includes information related to accusations of President Trump’s associates and Russia and the Clinton email investigation.

In International News

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that President Trump did not divulge any secrets during a meeting with Russian officials and offered to provide a transcript to Congress.  Putin also sarcastically joked that he should reprimand Russian officials for not sharing any secrets with him or Russian intelligence services.

At least 4 attackers stormed a state run television office in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.  At least six people died in the attack which involved one suicide bomber detonating explosives and other attackers engaging in small arms fire. The Taliban denied the attack while the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Be sure to listen to our show from May 15th and 16th for a chat about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan with international relations expert Matt Archibald.  

In Tech News

Android’s new operating system, called Android O is not available to beta users. The updates includes notification dots that lets users know if a specific app has any notifications pending.  Other updates include a picture in picture feature to watch videos, enhanced autofill, and smart text selection that helps with avoiding highlighting and unhighlighting text.

Another company has entered the blockchain as a service business as SAP enters the market.  SAP will provide ready to use blockchain technology in the cloud.  So, for a fee, the technology can be accessed similar to how users would access cloud based email systems or Amazon’s AWS.  There is no need for the technology to be stored at the user’s site.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology and can be a reliable record of who owns what.  For an explanation of blockchain and its many users, be sure to check out our show from May 4th where we chat with Professor and CEO Mark Mueller-Eberstein.