Thursday, August 26 top news
Today is Thursday, August 26th. Here are top stories for today.
There have been at least two explosions near a gate at Kabul's airport from what appear to be 2 suicide bombers. They killed at least 60 people and injured more than 150 others including 12 American troops.
The blasts come as the US and other countries rush to evacuate people ahead of the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. Earlier this week on Tuesday, Biden had defended the deadline stressing that it is a fragile situation with a high risk of attack from ISIS presence in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has directed military departments to immediately begin full vaccination of any unvaccinated troops. The announcement also follows the FDA's final approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. About 68% of all military personnel are fully vaccinated; the numbers vary by department, with 40% of the Army fully vaccinated compared to 73% of the Navy.
Right now there is no hard deadline or specific consequences for those who don't follow the order.
Also, more colleges like Ohio State and the University of Minnesota are also requiring vaccine mandates after the full FDA approval. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, more than 770 colleges are now requiring the vaccine.
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On Tuesday, the House voted to approve the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The bill was approved 219-212, with zero Republicans voting for it. The bill centers on restoring the federal preclearance originally instituted by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The preclearance requires states and jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination to gain approval from the Department of Justice before implementing any change to voting procedure.
While literacy tests and poll tax no longer exist, certain states and local jurisdictions have passed laws that are modern-day barriers to voting. As long as voter suppression exists, the need for full protections of the VRA will continue.
Now the legislation goes to the Senate where it faces a more challenging chance of passage.
On Thursday, seven Capitol Police officers filed a lawsuit against former President Trump, several of his associates, and extremist groups including the Trump Campaign, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers.
The lawsuit alleges they organized a plot to disrupt the transfer of power that led to the violent Jan. 6 Capitol riot. It claims that Trump knew “that the lives of members of Congress, police officers, and others were in jeopardy" during the riot and "ignored repeated requests to call off the attackers."
It also argues that Trump and the other defendants violated the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. This law prevents authorities from depriving a person of their constitutional rights. The suit alleges this section of the law was violated by attempting to overturn election results in cities and states with significant Black populations through false claims of election fraud.
That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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