Monday, March 15 top stories

It is Monday, March 15. Here are today’s top stories.

Two people were arrested and charged with assaulting Brian Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after defending the Capitol from a pro-Trump mob on January 6. Federal authorities said Julian E. Khater from Pennsylvania and George P. Tanios from West Virginia were holding bear spray and that one of them sprayed it into the face of Sicknick. The charges do say that the bear spray led to Sicknick’s death. There is still an investigation in exactly what caused him to die. AP News said their sources indicated it was possible that Sicknick ingested bear spray and that it contributed to his death. It was previously reported that Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher.

CBS News reported that there are 4,200 “unaccompanied migrant children” who are being held in custody at Border Patrol stations. The legal limit is 1,200 children. CBS explained that federal rules say unaccompanied children must be held up to 72 hours before being transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. It seems like border patrol centers are overwhelmed. Many of the children are from Central America. News reports say there is a humanitarian crisis at the border because the stations are jail-like buildings that are not suitable for children. The new Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, is tasked with finding a way to resolve the crisis. This is pressure for President Joe Biden, who has criticized Trump’s immigration policies in the past.

The Vatican announced today that the Catholic Church can’t “bless same-sex unions” because God cannot bless sin. The church explained that because relationships involve sexual activity outside of marriage, they cannot bless them. The Catholic Church as an institution not support same-sex marriage and says that gay sex is wrong. However, Pope Francis said in a 2019 documentary that he supports legal protections for same-sex couples, but he opposes same-sex marriage. So there was confusion on whether the Catholic Church could “bless” same-sex couples, and they’ve answered with a “no.”

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Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler passed away on Saturday at his home in New Hampshire. He was 66. He boxed in the 70’s and 80’s as a middleweight and had a 62-3-2 record. Hagler retired from boxing after losing a controversial split decision to Sugar Ray Leonard. Hagler is considered one of the greatest fighters of all time and was inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993. There were rumors that he died after getting a Covid-19 vaccine, but his wife, Kay, said it was nonsense and stupid comments.

In January, a fossil of an oviraptorosaur was discovered among rocks in Ganzhou City, China. The fossil showed the dinosaur sitting on a nest with at least 24 eggs, with several eggs consisting of the bones of embryos inside. A researcher, in a published journal, said this is “the first time a non-avian dinosaur has been found sitting on a nest of eggs that preserve embryos…” The fossil is considered 70 million years old. Scientists believe the dinosaur died while incubating its nest. This discovery is considered important because it shows an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.

France, Germany, and Italy have suspended giving AstraZeneca vaccinations due to reports of blood clots or other blood-related health issues in those who received the vaccines. Several other countries already suspended them: Denmark, Congo, Thailand, Bulgaria, Norway, the Netherlands, and Ireland. One woman died in Denmark 10 days after getting the vaccine and experiencing multiple clots. The vaccine was developed by Oxford University in England in partnership with AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company. The company said its vaccine is safe and that because there have been less than 40 blood-related incidents out of 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and UK so far, the effects occurred naturally. The World Health Organization said there is no evidence connecting the blood clots with the vaccinations and exhorted countries to continue to inoculate people. The AstraZeneca vaccine hasn’t rolled out in the U.S. because it is waiting for data from a large clinical trial to be completed before it applies for emergency authorization. AP News explained that some doctors in Europe warned against making broad generalizations because the first people in line for the vaccines are those who are vulnerable or had pre-existing health issues, so it’s more likely that there would be health issues coming up with the first “round” of vaccinations.

That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/two-arrested-in-assault-on-police-officer-brian-d-sicknick-who-died-after-jan-6-capitol-riot/2021/03/15/80261550-84ff-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html

https://apnews.com/article/george-tanios-julian-khater-charged-capitol-riot-f28484b486155d911cab41c90a8bed8d

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1371492769223610368

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-migrant-children-border-patrol-custody-4200-past-legal-limit/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/14/politics/unaccompanied-migrant-children-cbp/index.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vatican-says-catholic-church-can-t-bless-same-sex-unions-n1261076

https://apnews.com/article/vatican-decree-same-sex-unions-cannot-bless-sin-077944750c975313ad253328e4cf7443

https://heavy.com/sports/ufc/marvin-hagler-dead/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/13/world/first-dinosaur-eggs-fossilized-scn-trnd/index.html?

https://www.axios.com/germany-astrazeneca-blood-clots-40f87580-07d0-4481-9129-753fdc980547.html

https://apnews.com/article/europe-coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-82f4c89a76c21f287e3041b52b7a69f0