As for news:

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1) zPIV : is live, active, and holy crap it's fast.  Compared to all/other zerocoin protocol implemented coins, zPIVs are ~5x faster. 
2) Multi-sig escrow:  That's right, it's ALREADY active and live in the wallets. 
3) Android Wallets: Updated with more features (push notifications for alerts/reminders/core wallet updates are in works).
4) iPHONE wallets: almost completed (<4 weeks to launch).
5) LANGUAGES: PIVX has the MOST native language translations of any crypto(I think we're at 32 languages now?).
6) USE and ADOPTION: First AFRICA crypto transaction using PIVX in a retail store (https://youtu.be/AL2-ONN2Fbk).
7) zDEX: plans for a decentralized exchange within the wallets is already proposed and being explored for PIVX
Governance: 4 proposals for laying the foundations for enhanced and improving governance/voting were submitted.
9) Web Summit: PIVX was the ONLY cryptocurrency at Web Summit (80k attendees, 2500+ exhibitors).  Lots of traction


I'll stop there for now.  As always, reddit/twitter/discord/website is continually updated.  For folks here though, sorry for being absent and keeping news flowing onto this site.

As you can see... VERY active, in all areas