THE BIG STORY

Call the cops, there's been a murder

Last night’s Democratic presidential debate was a bit like one of those murder mysteries where everyone has a motive to kill the old man. That old man was Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, and he was surrounded by Democratic presidential candidates with murderous glints in their eyes.

Was it Elizabeth Warren, in the drawing room, with the dagger? “Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another,” she said.

Or maybe it was Amy Klobuchar, in the dining room, with the lead pipe. “I don't think you look at Donald Trump and say, ‘we need someone richer in the White House,’” she said.

One thing is clear: we woke up this morning to the blood-curdling scream of the cleaning lady, who discovered Bloomberg face down on the carpet. What happened? Here’s our story on how it all went down. The game is afoot!

Lionsgate

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

How Saudi Arabia infiltrated Twitter

Two Saudi citizens working at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters were also working as agents of the Saudi Arabian government, according to a criminal complaint by the FBI.

They helped Saudi authorities identify anonymous dissidents on Twitter, and as we’ve learned in recent years, being a political opponent of the Saudi government can be extremely dangerous.

How did this happen? Alex Kantrowitz dived deep into the FBI’s allegations and talked with people who worked alongside the alleged Saudi spies to figure it all out.

It isn’t just the Saudi government trying to get to insiders at Twitter. One former colleague of the accused says US, UK, and Israeli security agencies also contacted employees to try and obtain private information. “I’ve said no a lot,” he told Kantrowitz.

SNAPSHOTS

Nine people were killed in two linked shootings in Germany last night. The attacks took place at hookah bars in a town just east of Frankfurt; authorities say they are investigating it as a potential act of far-right terrorism.

Julian Assange’s lawyer says President Trump offered Assange a pardon. In return, the lawyer claimed, the Wikileaks founder would have to say Russia wasn’t involved in the 2016 DNC email hacks.

Rapper Pop Smoke is dead after being shot by masked home invaders. The Brooklyn native, whose real name is Bashar Jackson, was just 20 years old.

A former Cambridge Analytica employee was denied entry to a Facebook party. “My host said to me, ‘I don’t know what you’ve done in your private life, but you’re not allowed into this building.’”

THE FESTIVAL THAT MAYBE ISN’T

Lauren Hill! Usher! TLC! Ludacris!

The lineup the Lovers & Friends festival in LA announced on Tuesday was a nostalgic dream for fans of ‘90s and 2000s hip hop and R&B.

But is it real? Questions emerged when people began noticing that some of the headline acts already have gigs announced for that day. Those questions grew when other performers denied they would be appearing.

“This is so fake,” wrote Lil’ Kim, one of the named headliners. “I am not a part of this."

So what’s going on? The event’s organizers told Stephanie McNeal “our festival is 100% confirmed. Lineups are always subject to change." Then Snoop Dogg entered the mix, posting a video saying he is one of the organizers and that it’s definitely for real.

BuzzFeed News reached out to all the artists named on the flyer to see what they have to say — we’ll keep you updated.

KNITTING GETS REDPILLED

Here’s a great yarn about drama on knitting Instagram

You’ve had a brutal day online, watching the endless political bloodsport that is social media in 2020. It’s time to kick back, relax, and head to your happy place: knitting Instagram.

And yet! The culture war is already there, Tanya Chen reports.

Maria Tusken — @tuskenknits on Insta — announced a giveaway of dyed yarns to her 12,000 followers, from a lineup of colors named Polarizing Knits. Each color was given names such as "gaslight" (lime), "microaggression" (pale blue), "problematic" (bright orange), etc.

People freaked out, then there was a backlash to the freakout, and then… you know the rest. Nowhere is safe from the flood.

The game continues to be afoot,
Tom