March 29 top stories
It is March 29. Here are today’s top stories.
2 dead, including student, in Texas school bus crash
Law enforcement officials said the crash happened about 2 p.m. Friday, March 22 just outside Austin, Texas, on Texas 21 when a concrete truck collided with a school bus carrying 44 pre-K students and 11 adults from Tom Green Elementary School on their way home from a field trip to a zoo in Bastrop County.
The school bus’ front-facing and side-facing dash cam videos show a commercial concrete truck crossing the double yellow line into the path of the school bus, striking the school bus and causing it to completely roll over before landing on its side.
The crash left a 5-year-old boy and a male driver in a car behind the school bus, 33, dead and dozens of students and teachers injured.
According to court documents, 42-year-old Jerry Hernandez was driving the concrete pumper truck. He admitted that he only got three hours of sleep the night before, and he consumed cocaine the morning of the collision.
Biden raises at least $25M in ‘historic’ fundraiser with Obama, Clinton
President Biden was joined Thursday by two of his Democratic predecessors for a star-studded fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York that brought in more than $26 million.
Former Presidents Obama and Clinton participated in the event with more than 5,000 supporters in attendance – including several pro-Palestine protestors who interrupted the program at least five times when the three presidents were speaking.
Actress and comedian Mindy Kaling hosted the program and late night host Stephen Colbert moderated a conversation with Biden, Clinton and Obama. House Minority Leader Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and first lady Jill Biden also delivered remarks during the event.
Ticket prices started at $250, but the largest contribution shot up to half a million dollars. Some of the biggest donors were to have their pictures taken with all three presidents by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Former President Trump and the Republican Party have a joint fundraiser next week in Palm Beach, Florida, that they say will overshadow Biden’s event by raising at least $33 million.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Judge Kaplan on Thursday for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.
A jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty on November 2, 2023 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts stemming from FTX’s 2022 collapse in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
In November 2022, I interviewed Deaf financial experts about him. See their responses as to how he wronged his clients.
[VIDEO - https://youtu.be/tZjF0JiFeec?si=RGEi8G59qpZNls7A ]
Kaplan said Bankman-Fried knew his actions were criminal and recommended him to be sent to a prison close to San Francisco.
Bankman-Fried acknowledged FTX customers had suffered and has vowed to appeal his conviction and sentence.
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U.S. changes how it asks about people’s race and ethnicity
For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage.
Under the new standards, scheduled to be published Friday, the government will give respondents the option to pick multiple categories at the same time, such as “Black,” “American Indian” and “Hispanic.”
People descended from places such as Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Syria had been encouraged to identify as white, but now will have the option to identifying themselves in the new group – Middle Eastern and North African (MENA).
The revisions also encourage the collection of detailed race and ethnicity data beyond the minimum standards, such as “Haitian” or “Jamaican” for someone who checks “Black.”
A U.S. official said “...these updated standards will help create more useful, accurate and up to date federal data on race and ethnicity. These revisions will enhance our ability to compare information and data across federal agencies and also to understand how well federal programs serve a diverse America.”
See Alex for a report on Taliban’s return to corporal punishment for women.
Taliban edict to resume stoning women to death met with horror
Thanks, Callie.
The Guardian reported that the Taliban, the government in Afghanistan, has announced it would resume publicly stoning women to death for adultery.
The Taliban’s supreme leader said the group would start enforcing its interpretation of sharia law, which are laws based on the religion of Islam.
The leader said outsiders may call it a violation of women’s rights but he believes he represents Allah and that outsiders or critics represent Satan.
The Guardian said Afghan women’s right groups said they are very concerned for the 14 million women and girls who live in Afghanistan. One group said the Taliban is doing this because nobody is holding them accountable for their abuses.
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021 after the U.S. and other forces pulled out their troops. The Taliban has been dismantling women and girls’ human rights, such as the right to go to school or the right to become a lawyer or judge.
Afghan women’s rights groups say the international community needs to speak out and do more to support women and girls in Afghanistan.
Thanks for that report. That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice week and stay with the light!
2 dead, including student, in Texas school bus crash
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/hays-cisd-releases-video-from-deadly-bus-crash/
Biden raises $25M in ‘historic’ fundraiser with Obama, Clinton
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/technology/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZjF0JiFeec
U.S. changes how it asks about people’s race and ethnicity
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1237218459/census-race-categories-ethnicity-middle-east-north-africa
Taliban edict to resume stoning women to death met with horror