HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES
Cable company Charter Communications has confirmed a deal to buy Time Warner Cable for about $56.7 billion.
Charter is the fourth-largest U.S. cable company and Time Warner Cable is the second. The deal would make the combined cable company the second-largest after Comcast and “give it more ability to negotiate with the studios and entertainment companies that provide content for cable operators,” BuzzFeed News’ Matthew Zeitlin writes. “The announcement represents the latest in a flurry of takeovers in the sector as companies struggle to keep pace with the changing habits of how Americans watch and pay for television,” Mark Scott writes in the New York Times’ Dealbook.
A bit of background.
Charter tried to buy Time Warner Cable in early 2014, but was rejected and Comcast put in a competing offer. Comcast’s offer for Time Warner Cable ended in April, after “federal regulators expressed antitrust concerns and made moves that foreshadowed their likely rejection,” according to USA Today.
This current deal would have to be approved by regulators, “who already essentially rejected Comcast’s bid,” Zeitlin writes. If you want more, the Associated Press has a quick Q&A on the topic.
Deadly storms have led to severe flooding centered in parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
The storms have killed at least four people and 12 people are missing. The flooding follows two days of heavy rain throughout the U.S. Great Plains region. “This is the biggest flood this area of Texas has ever seen,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Flash-flood watches and warnings were issued in eight states today, according to NBC News. “There were also 19 reported tornadoes in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi on Monday — and another twister over the Mexico border that killed 13 people,” NBC writes.
WE'RE KEEPING AN EYE ON
Protests broke out over the weekend in Cleveland after a police officer was acquitted of charges relating to the deaths of two unarmed black people.
Officer Michael Brelo was found not guilty on Saturday of all charges against him, including voluntary manslaughter, in the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in November 2012. Russell and Williams were pulled over for a signal violation, which turned into a high-speed chase. Thirteen officers, including Brelo, fired 137 shots, and Russell and Williams were each shot more than 20 times. In finding Brelo not guilty, the judge said he couldn’t determine with certainty that Brelo’s shots were the only ones that caused Russell’s and Williams’ deaths. There were protests in the city after the acquittal, and 71 people were arrested, according to Cleveland.com.
What’s next?
“The verdict does not mean the end of scrutiny of the case or of police issues in Cleveland,” the New York Times writes. Federal and city officials are still looking at Brelo’s case.The Times and the AP reported yesterday, citing anonymous sources, that a settlement between Cleveland and the U.S. Justice Department over policing practices could be announced as early as today.
The Justice Department opened its investigation of Cleveland police months after the deaths of Russell and Williams and issued a scathing report in December that found a pattern of “unreasonable and unnecessary use of force” by officers, according to the Times. The report didn’t include the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by Cleveland police last year after playing with a toy gun in a park. An investigation into his death, as well as the November 2014 death of Tanisha Anderson, who died in police custody, is ongoing.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.
“When historians write about the global LGBT rights movement, they will probably divide their timeline into ‘Before Ireland’ and ‘After Ireland,’” BuzzFeed News’ J. Lester Feder writes on what the Irish marriage equality vote means to the world. The “Yes” side beat the “No” side by a margin of 25 points in the national referendum on same-sex marriage last week. “This vote was perhaps the clearest proof that the path to gay equality didn’t rely on convincing courts that gays and lesbians are a minority entitled to protection from the majority or winning over a relatively small group of lawmakers,” Feder writes.
The NSA will stop collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk on June 1.
The U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill that would have kept the NSA program running past its June 1 expiration and the Obama administration did not file an application for a 90-day extension of the order required to continue collecting phone metadata, according to The Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman. “The administration decision ensures that beginning at 5 p.m. ET on June 1, the NSA will no longer collect en masse Americans’ phone records,” Ackerman writes. For more background, we recommend this quick six-question Q&A from NPR.
“For three years, someone lived out a fantasy double life using pictures they had stolen.”
Leah Palmer was a high-flying fashionista with a jet-setting lifestyle and a host of admirers on social media. But her entire existence was a fraud. Between 2012 and 2015, “Leah Palmer” stole more than 900 pictures from a private Instagram account belonging to a woman named Ruth Graves, and uploaded them as if they were her own. “Everyone knows that, on the internet, it’s possible to pretend to be someone you’re not,” BuzzFeed News’ Patrick Smith writes in this story about a multi-year hoax that depended on stealing someone else’s life.
Quick things to know:
A heatwave in India has killed at least 700 people in less than one week. (CNN)
The conservative challenger in Poland's presidential election, Andrzej Duda, has defeated incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski. (BBC News)
Sad news this weekend: Mathematician John Nash, 86, and his wife Alicia, 82, whose lives were the subject of the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind, were killed Saturday in a taxi crash in New Jersey. (BuzzFeed News) Actress and comedian Anne Meara, the mother of Ben Stiller, died this Saturday at 85. (BuzzFeed News)
Woman activists — including Gloria Steinem and two Nobel Peace laureates — crossed the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in what they said was a landmark event in the effort for peace. (BuzzFeed News)
A new database built on data submitted to the government during applications for foreign worker visas reveals the pay at America’s biggest companies. (BuzzFeed News)
Taco Bell says it will remove artificial flavors and colors, trans fats, and high-fructose corn syrup from much of its menu. (BuzzFeed News)
And who run the internet? Beyoncé fans took to the hashtag #BeyoncéAlwaysOnBeat and posted videos of Queen Bey’s on-point dance moves paired with songs from other artists. Note: Bey twerking over gospel music works surprisingly well. Praise Beysus. (BuzzFeed)
HAPPY TUESDAY
The Verge’s James Vincent writes, “We don't often draw attention to Google Doodles, but today's is well worth highlighting.” And we feel you, James. Today’s Google Doodle features Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel into space, who would have turned 64 today. Ride used her high profile to motivate young people, especially girls and minority students, to become more interested in math and science, her partner Tam O’Shaughnessy wrote in a blog post for Google. Go, Sally!
