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NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Skimm'd with gifts that give back


  QUOTE OF THE DAY  

"Girls want to rock the Curry 5s too" – A nine-year-old asked Steph Curry to make his sneaker line accessible for girls. Because girls can be Warriors too.

THINGS TRUMP IS HEADLINING

The G20

The Story

G20 leaders are having an off-site in Argentina today.

Remind me what that is.

A meet-up for the world's biggest economies. Every year, 19 countries plus the EU get together and talk policy on a wide range of issues. This year's meeting is about development, infrastructure, food security, and gender equality. But everyone's focused on the side convos.

Juicy, what are they about?

Trade…as in the US and China have a lot to work through. Like tariffs, and accusations that China's been stealing US intellectual property. Today, the US, Canada, and Mexico are planning to officially sign their new trade deal. Congress will still have to approve it.


Russia…as in it still hasn't returned the Ukrainian ships and sailors it captured earlier this week – and the added tension is putting everyone on edge. Trump says he canceled his one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin because of it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she'll bring this up with Putin...if she can make it there.


Saudi Arabia…as in this is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's first big trip abroad since the Khashoggi killing. He might get called out for it – and for Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen war.

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The goal of the summit is to get a joint statement everyone can sign off on. But recent global summits have been tense and sometimes even unproductive (G7, NATO, APEC). Eyes are on whether these world leaders can put their differences aside for something other than the photo op.


The Mueller Investigation

The Story

Yesterday, we got a bunch of info about possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.

What came out?

A lot of it has to do with a Trump Tower deal in Moscow that got dropped. Yesterday, Michael Cohen – President Trump's former lawyer-slash-Ray Donovan – pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about it. He originally said talks ended months earlier in the campaign than they had. Now, Cohen (who already faces up to five years in prison from other charges related to Trump) is facing new charges from special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump isn't pleased and called Cohen a "weak person." But that's just the beginning.

Go on…

It also came out yesterday that as part of this proposed deal, Cohen was offering Putin the $50 million penthouse suite. For reference, the deal was still in talks in June 2016, when Trump was expected to be the GOP nominee. This was also around the time when it came out that Russia hacked the DNC. The emails from that hack would be published through WikiLeaks – another detail that's now getting a lot of attention.

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There's now a report that Trump is a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, and not just a part of it. All of this is hanging over his meeting at the G20 this week...and also his presidency.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say when you get bad news…

Bayer has some too. Yesterday, the German pharma and chemicals company announced it's cutting thousands of jobs around the world. It hasn't been feeling the love from Wall Street recently. That's because of some deals that investors haven't been thrilled about, like its acquisition of weedkiller maker Monsanto – which has been getting hit with lawsuits. Now Bayer's trying to take control of the situation – read: cutting about 12,000 jobs and maybe selling businesses like Coppertone sunscreen and Dr Scholl's. Digital publisher Mic is saying 'we know how you feel.' The co announced it's laying off most of its staff. Mic raised about $60 million in funding, but had a hard time coming up with a sustainable biz model. After the layoffs were announced, Bustle Digital Group said it's snatching Mic up. Mic drop.


What to say when spam accounts start following you on Insta…

Going private. Yesterday, NASA announced private companies will help out with the next moon landing. Last year, President Trump told NASA to pull off another trip there, ASAP. Now, the agency's getting an assist from the private sector. The short-term goal: get astronauts to the moon quickly and make it safer for them once they're there. The long-term goal: do some more experiments there that could help with a future mission to Mars. Nine US companies will compete to help get it done. That doesn't include SpaceX. Sorry, Elon. They could shoot for the moon as early as next year – aka the 50th anniversary of of that giant leap for mankind.


What to say after seeing those Cyber Monday purchases in your bank account…

Charged. The SEC is charging DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather with cryptocurrency fraud. Sounds like the start of a bad joke. It's not. The allegations: they didn't reveal that they were being paid to promote initial coin offerings aka ICOs. Yes, it's kinda like an IPO for the cryptoworld. It's the first time the SEC has brought charges around ICOs. So...that's exciting.


What to say when your friend asks if they can bring a plus one to brunch…

It can be us and only us.

THING TO KNOW

Undercapitalization

Not just what happens in a lazy text. It's when a business doesn't have enough money to support its operation because of things like little access to capital. FYI, a survey shows that women-owned businesses have raised less than half the capital of their male-owned counterparts (in the US alone). Gender pay gap...meet gender growth gap.


PS: Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women wants to help fix this. It's a program that supports female entrepreneurs around the world by providing them with the resources to grow their businesses. Learn more here.

SKIMM READS

"Come with Me" by Helen Schulman

Imagine all the paths you could've taken. Now imagine a product that could let you live them out. In this book, a tech startup develops an algorithm that does just that and uses one of its employees as the guinea pig. Think: "Sliding Doors" meets "Silicon Valley." Get it here.


PS: Want more Skimm Reads? Here you go.

SKIMM PICKS

For when next week's forecast shows snow…

Surprise: it's December tomorrow. Get yourself some early gifts from Kohl's to unwrap…then wrap up in. Think: cozy sweaters, pajamas, throws and more. Get into it here.*


For when it isn't even December and you're already tired of the festivities…

Believe in your elf. Get into our Guide to Holiday Zen to nama'stay centered this season.


For when you hear it's time for Skimm'r of the Year announcement…

Let's all celebrate. At the beginning of the year, we decided to feature a Skimm'r of the Week in the Daily Skimm every week. Now, we're here to announce our version of Best Picture. And the Skimm'r of the Year is Janine Halloran. She founded Coping Skills for Kids - an org that provides products and resources for kids to learn healthy ways to cope with stress, anxiety, and anger. So they can be mentally healthy adults down the road. Learn more and get the products here.

*PS This is a sponsored section.