News Roundup 01/29/20
The Tragic Death of Basketball Legend
Los Angeles Lakers legend 41-year-old, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died Sunday morning when the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter they, and 7 others, were traveling in crashed, leaving no survivors. The crash occurred in a canyon located in Calabasas, CA at around 8:45am. Orange Coast College Basketball Coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerri and his 13-year-old daughter Alyssa, Gianna’s youth basketball teammate, were also killed. Another of Gianna’s teammates, 13-year-old Payton Chester, her mother Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser and the helicopters pilot Ara George Zobayan were also among the dead. Kobe Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa and his three daughters, 17-year old Natalia , 3-year old Bianka and 7-month old Capri.
Source: Youtube
Source: NBC Los Angeles
Source: NPR
Hillary Clinton Chimes in on Democratic Front Runner
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hillary Clinton said of Democratic presidential primary candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, “Nobody likes him.” Sanders is now the Democratic presidential primary front runner, leading Joe Biden in a new national poll conducted by CNN. A new Emerson poll shows Sanders ahead of Biden in Iowa (the primaries’ first caucus) by a whopping 9 points. In a recent Morning Consultpoll, Sanders was found to be the most popular senator in the country for the 11th time in a row. Survey U.S.A. reported in its latest poll that Senator Sanders would beat President Trump in a general election by a wider margin than any other Democratic primary candidate running in 2020.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Source: CNN
Source: Newsweek
Source: The Hill
Source: The Hill
Australia’s Massive Brush Fires
Bushfires that raged across Australia since September have destroyed 27 million acres, killed 29 people and an estimated 1.25 billion animals. The fires occurred after Australia experienced record-breaking heatwaves. Scientists have linked the fires, in part, directly to climate change. The fires have dumped 400 megatons of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere. Experts fear that the number of ecosystems destroyed, along with amount of carbon released by the fires, will inevitably exacerbate global climate change. Satellite photos show huge swaths of the country covered by smoke clouds. Australia’s fire season has been getting longer in recent years and are expected to worsen going forward.
Source: Vox
Source: Democracy Now
Student Civil Rights
In a possible violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Barbers High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas informed African-American high school senior DeAndre Arnold that unless he cuts his dreadlocks, he will not be able to walk with the rest of his class at the school’s 2020 graduation ceremony. The school claims Arnold is in violation of the school’s dress code that states a male student’s hair cannot extend past his t-shirt collar. The district, which Barbers High School lies in, is just 3.1% African-American. Houston Texans’ star DeAndre Hopkins and actress Gabriel Union have both shown support for Arnold on social media, and Arnold’s family has threatened to take the district to court to litigate the matter if the school does not reverse its decision.
Source: Huffpost
Source: The Hill
Iraqis Demand U.S. Withdraw
On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Bagdad to demand the permanent withdraw of U.S. troops from their country. Earlier this month, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel U.S. forces permanently, but U.S. President Donald Trump has refused the democratically elected Iraqi government’s demand for withdraw, in what appears to be a clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. The vote by the Iraqi palement comes following 17 years of U.S. occupation and just weeks after the U.S.’s assassination of Iranian General Qassam Solemani and Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis near the Bagdad Airport on January 24.
Source: Democracy Now
Source: CNN