Author: Madelyn Gee, DI

Madelyn Gee was a Digital Intern with Black News Alerts

Filmmaker Michael Moore went off on Twitter to express his anger towards the Democratic Party and their faith in Robert Mueller’s testimony. What We Know: The former special prosecutor testified Wednesday regarding the Russian “collusion” and election tampering investigation. The faith that the Dems had in gaining more information and insight on what truly happened in 2016 was diminished before the actual discussion began. When it came to the GOP, Mueller advised in his opening statement that he would not answer any questions about the “Steele dossier” (opposition research document put together by former British spy Christopher Steele). Trump stated…

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Update 7/26/19: Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced his resignation on Wednesday in a video posted on Facebook. Rosselló, who is the U.S. commonwealth’s first governor to resign, resignation will be effective Aug. 2. Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez will become the new governor. According to The New York Post, controversial Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló is expected to resign Wednesday. What We Know: After two weeks of widespread protests due to his disrespectful and harmful chat messages with his advisors, Rosselló is finally stepping down. Sources told local newspaper El Nuevo Día that he plans to deliver a farewell announcement that will be…

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Danai Gurira, who plays the katana-slashing badass Michonne on The Walking Dead, announced Friday at Comic-Con that the upcoming season will be her last. What We Know: The exit was predicted by several outlets back in February, but this is the first time that Gurira has confirmed the news. Playing the character since season 3 of the AMC show, Gurira stated that the role was “one of the purest joys in my life,” and that the decision to leave the show was a difficult one. “I am very very thankful for the experience I’ve had in ways that I can’t…

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Equifax, a credit reporting bureau, will pay up to $700 million in fines and monetary relief to their consumers after a 2017 data breach. What We Know: The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Equifax “failed to patch its network after being alerted in March 2017 to a critical security vulnerability” and that the company didn’t discover that its database was unpatched until four months later, when it detected suspicious traffic on its network, leaving it vulnerable to hackers. Affecting over 150 million people, the settlement was announced by the company Monday. There was a GIANT invasion of privacy with this…

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Tessa Thompson, who plays the new king of the “Thor” universe, will have an LGBTQ storyline in the upcoming film “Thor: Love and Thunder.” What We Know: Thompson told the Comic-Con audience when asked about her character’s future: “I think first of all as king, as new king, she needs to find her queen. That’ll be her first order of business. She has some ideas. Keep you posted.” Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige later confirmed Valkyrie’s LGBTQ storyline, stating “The answer is yes…How that impacts the story remains to be seen with that level of representation you’ll see across our…

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Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali was announced Saturday to play the iconic “Marvel Universe” vampire hunter Blade. What We Know:  Blade, previously played by Wesley Snipes, is half-human, half-vampire and hunts down the undead. The release date of the film is still unconfirmed. Along with his Oscar wins, Ali has won Academy Awards for his roles in Green Book and Moonlight, and recently starred in HBO’s latest installment of True Detective. Marvel announced TONS of projects during their panel, including a new Black Widow movie to be released in 2020 starring Scarlett Johansson and Thor: Love and Thunder, where Natalie Portman…

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The R&B singer R. Kelly will be moved from the Chicago jail where he is currently being held with no bail. What We Know: At a hearing last week in Chicago, Kelly was ordered to be held without bond. He entered a not-guilty plea to 18 counts of serious sexual misconduct. The hearing was to determine whether he should be released from custody – and prosecutors argued that he should not be released. The New York charges state that Kelly recruited young girls for sexual abuse at his concerts all around the U.S. These charges are only part of the…

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On Friday it was announced that President Donald Trump is changing the U.S. citizenship test. This will be the first change in 10 years. What We Know: The last revision was in 2009 with 100 civics questions. Potential citizens are asked up to 10 of these questions during an interview and have to answer six correctly to pass. According to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services official, there is a focus on changing the civics portion of the test, though there could also be updates to the English section. The overall national pass rate is 90 percent as of March…

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Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie submitted her own Emmy nomination after HBO did not — and got the nomination! What We Know: Known for her amazing role as the female knight Brienne on the show, this nomination is truly a long time coming. Along with fellow self-submitted GOT nominees Alfie Allen and Carice van Houten, HBO confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that its awards team did not submit those three actors for Emmy consideration. In a statement with Entertainment Weekly, Allen seemed equally pleased with his surprise nomination: “It’s incredible,” he said. “There are a lot of actors I admire in…

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Two new locations of the famed toy store are opening in New Jersey and Texas in November. What We Know: The stores will be managed as a joint venture between tech retailer b8ta and Tru Kids (a company founded in January to manage Toys R Us after their liquidation last year in bankruptcy court). The two stores in the fall will be launching at the Houston Galleria and the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. The overall plan is to open ten stores by the end of 2020. There is also a plan to generate some online sales…

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