The Daily Moth 12-2-19
London terror attack | Ancient, frozen puppy found in Siberia | China objects to Trump signing Hong Kong human rights bill | Statue of Rosa Parks unveiled in Montgomery | Deaf comedian killed in car accident
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! Hope your Thanksgiving break went well. It is Monday, December 2. Ready for news?
———
London terror attack
On Friday afternoon in London, a man fatally stabbed two young adults and wounded three others in a terrorist attack. Police shot and killed the knifeman.
The suspect’s name is Unman Khan (28). The victims were Jack Merritt (25) and Saskia Jones (23).
The attack happened at a conference in a building near the London Bridge. The conference, at a building named Fishmongers’ Hall, was about how to rehabilitate offenders.
Khan was wearing a fake suicide bomb vest and had two knives taped to his wrists. During the conference, he threatened to detonate the bomb and started stabbing people.
Several people fought back. One sprayed a fire extinguisher at him while a chef grabbed a narwhal tusk that was used a wall display. They chased him out of the building and videos showed a group of people holding Khan down on the London Bridge before police arrived and shot him dead.
Khan was released halfway through his jail sentence in 2018 for terrorism crimes in 2012 and had to wear an electronic tag. His early release has sparked a debate on policies regarding people who are in jail or released on terror-related crimes.
Merritt and Jones were involved with an university prisoner rehabilitation program at Cambridge University. Both were honored at vigils today in London and Cambridge.
There was another attack near the London Bridge in June 2017 when three men drove into pedestrians on the bridge and then stabbed people at the Borough Market, killing eight.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50594810
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50625900
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/world/europe/london-bridge-shooting.html
———
Ancient, frozen puppy found in Siberia
Scientists in Russia presented a frozen puppy that they believe lived 18,000 years ago, according to radiocarbon dating. Its name is Dogor and it is a male. It is considered one of the best-preserved samples from ancient times.
They are not sure if it is a dog or a wolf. It has all of its limbs, fur, nose, and teeth. It was discovered last year by people who lived in Yakutia, in the far northeast of Russia. It was covered with soil and ice that was cleaned off.
Dogor was about two months ago when it died, according to testing on a rib bone.
The Washington Post explained in an article that scientists believe that between 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, many wolf lineages became extinct and dogs started to emerge. So, this puppy could be something that is both wolf and dog.
Dogor means “friend” in the local Siberian language.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/11/29/ice-preserved-tiny-puppy-near-perfect-condition-years-scientists-are-fascinated/
https://gizmodo.com/found-frozen-and-almost-perfectly-preserved-in-permafro-1840093915
———
China objects to Trump signing Hong Kong human rights bill
Last Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill named the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” after it almost unanimously passed both the House and the Senate. The law allows the U.S. to impose sanctions for human rights abuses and to review its trading status with Hong Kong.
Trump did say that some parts of the act would interfere with his constitutional authority to state the foreign policy of the U.S., but signed it anyway. Trump also signed a bill that would ban the sale of tear gas or rubber bullets to the Hong Kong police.
Activists and protesters in Hong Kong celebrated the signing. Two weeks ago there were local elections in which candidates who were against the Chinese-Hong Kong government won 87 percent of the seats.
China is against the bills and announced today that they would suspend U.S. military ship and aircraft visits to Hong Kong and would impose sanctions against several American groups that have advocated for democracy and human rights.
More than 10,000 protesters marched in Hong Kong on Sunday. There have been protests, many violent, that have lasted for six months.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/01/hong-kong-trump-human-rights-074545
https://apnews.com/e8b33f191ac64e55acef0e1405059f02
https://apnews.com/e8b33f191ac64e55acef0e1405059f02
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/us/politics/trump-hong-kong.html
———
Statue of Rosa Parks unveiled in Montgomery
A statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama yesterday on the 64th anniversary of the day she refused to move to the back of a city bus and was arrested for it.
On December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting on a bus on her way home from work. At that time, there was a city ordinance that required black people to sit in the back half of city buses and give up their seats if the “white seats” were full. The bus driver told Parks to move back and give up her seat for a white man, but she refused. She was arrested and put in jail.
African-American leaders responded to the arrest by coordinating a city-wide boycott of the bus system. One of the leaders was Martin Luther King, Jr, who was 26 years old. The boycott lasted over a year. The Supreme Court made a ruling in 1956 to desegregate public transportation.
The statue is made of bronze. Gov. Kay Ivey (R) and Montgomery’s first African-American mayor, Steven Reed, made remarks to honor Parks during the unveiling ceremony. The statue is down the street from the Alabama state capitol.
Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rosa-parks-statue-unveiled-in-montgomery-on-64th-anniversary-of-arrest-bus-boycott-2019-12-02/
———
Deaf comedian killed in car accident
A deaf man who was well-known for making comedy videos, Rodney Vaughans Jr., passed away in a car crash the morning after Thanksgiving.
WSFA 12 News reported that emergency crews responded around 5 a.m. on Friday morning to a single-vehicle crash involving a 2009 Dodge Charger. Rodney was the driver and was pronounced dead at the scene from injuries he sustained in the crash.
Montgomery police said an investigation indicates that the car was traveling north on Taylor Road North when it left the road and hit a tree.
His last Facebook post was a selfie before 6 pm on Thanksgiving day. He said, “Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!”
Rodney was very popular on Facebook with over 65,000 followers. There was an outpouring of grief and statements of tribute on his Facebook wall. Many said he was one of their favorite comedians and made them laugh.
Two other well-known comedians in the deaf community, Sheena Lyles and Harold Foxx, posted tributes to honor him, said he inspired them, and that he opened doors for other black deaf comedians.
I reached out to the Montgomery Police Department to see if they could give an update on their investigation, but they said they couldn’t share anything unless it was a family member or a next of kin.
https://www.wsfa.com/2019/11/29/man-killed-crash-off-taylor-road-montgomery/
https://www.facebook.com/MrKingBamaRod
———
That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
--------
Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]