Newsbytes: Lyft and Waymo, FBI Director Comey Fired, Global Cyberattack, Pizza delivery to stranded train

By Staff Writers Joelle Chuang & Michael Ren

Local — Lyft and Waymo to collaborate
Silicon Valley companies Lyft and Waymo have agreed to work with each other to develop self-driving cars. Lyft is most known for its ride-hailing service, and Waymo is the company behind Google’s self-driving car project. With the partnership, the two companies hope to accelerate the prospect of self-driving cars and integrate them into Lyft’s current ride-sharing service. The agreement has also put increased pressure on Uber, Lyft’s main competitor, which has also invested in self-driving automobile technology, with some disputes between the companies already leading to lawsuits.

National — Trump fires FBI Director James Comey
The White House fired former FBI Director James Comey on May 9. The termination came unexpectedly to Comey, with President Donald J. Trump stating in his letter to the Director, “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.” In his letter to Trump recommending the removal of Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein cited the Director’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s email investigation and the subsequent Congressional Hearing as reasons for removal. The search for a new FBI Director is currently underway.

International — Global cyberattack results in crippling losses
A global cyberattack targeting businesses, universities, and hospitals around the world has resulted in a large loss of money for these institutions. The hack, which was first detected on May 12, caused factories to shut down and technicians to work around the clock, rebooting and cleaning the systems to make them secure again. Many of these businesses must decide whether they should pay the ransom to retrieve their data, or use backup methods to allow them to avoid paying the fee. As of May 15, a total of 300,000 institutions in 150 countries have been hacked. Cybersecurity analysts found a part of the hacker’s code linking it to a North-Korean hacker group called Lazarus Group.

Quirky — Pizza delivered to passengers on stranded train
Passengers on a stranded Amtrak train traveling from New York to Washington, D.C. on May 14 decided to order pizza, since they had been without food and water for several hours. The delivery man, who had to climb down a rocky slope and jump over a water-filled ditch to reach the broken-down train, was rewarded with $32 in tips. Other stranded passengers celebrated Mother’s Day by sharing bottles of champagne and beer. Blaming mechanical issues, Amtrak eventually sent another train to pick up the passengers, who arrived in Washington, D.C. after a three-hour delay.

Photos by forbes.com, globalnews.ca, livemint.com & politico.com