Tuesday, July 13 top stories briefs
Tuesday, July 13 top stories briefs
It is Tuesday, July 13. Ready for top stories?
Texas Democrats flee state, governor wants to arrest them
About 57 Democratic Texas state lawmakers left the state on Monday in a protest against a Republican bill that aims to add more restrictions on voting.
The Democrats did this to break quorum, forcing legislation to grind to a halt because of insufficient numbers. Axios said the representatives are risking arrest by doing this.
The Texas House Democratic caucus chair said they are willing to stay out of Texas until August 7.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the Democrats will be arrested as soon as they return to the state and cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done.
The Texas House of Representatives voted to track down and force Democrats to return to the legislature under warrant of arrest if necessary, but it’s not clear how they can be detained because Texas law enforcement does not have jurisdiction in D.C.
Texas Democrats are begging Congress and federal leaders to support them and pass voting rights legislation this summer.
This is a new level of political fighting — where politicians in one party are leaving the state and the other party is chasing them to arrest them.
Illinois to mandate Asian American education
Illinois will require elementary and high schools to teach a unit of Asian American history beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.
NBC News said a nonprofit group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, led the effort to push lawmakers to pass a bill to make Asian American history a part of the Illinois public school curriculum. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it on Friday.
Illinois is the first state to do this. An analyst told NBC News that the bill, although commendable, is largely symbolic and political — explaining that schools by themselves have the power to decide how much time qualifies as a unit of instruction.
The analyst said many Americans do not know the history of Asians in the U.S. and that this can cause people to have biases or discriminatory perceptions.
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Experts concerned about climate in American west
A group of climate scientists say they are very concerned that the American West is stuck in a vicious cycle of extreme heat, drought and fire.
There are wildfires right now from Arizona to Washington, water reserves are dwindling, and the northwest region was hit with extreme, deadly heatwaves in recent weeks. Now when wildfires hit, they spread quickly because of dry vegetation, causing poor air quality.
Scientists said wildfires are a natural part of the climate in the west, but the size and intensity of the fires are not normal this early in this year, as the worst wildfires in California usually occur in September or October.
Burger King employees politely inform that all quit
A Burger King in Lincoln, Nebraska surprised many people when it had a polite message on its sign that said, “We all quit. Sorry for the inconvenience.” The restaurant’s general manager and eight co-workers quit.
ABC 8 News did an interview with the general manager, Rachael Flores. She said she put in her two weeks notice and explained that her staff became fed up at how Burger King’s upper management failed to help out with employees’ needs. One of the stories was that staff had to work in a kitchen without air conditioning in 90-degree heat.
The restaurant is open again, with new staff. The sign has started a flurry of comments on social media about how fast-food companies need to treat employees better.
22 Afghan commandos killed by Taliban
CNN released several videos that showed 22 members of the Afghan Special Forces unit being gunned down by the Taliban just less than a month ago.
CNN explained that the Afghan commandos tried in a fierce battle to hold a town near the border with Turkmenistan, but ran out of ammunition and surrendered. Members of the Taliban surrounded the commandos around a building and ordered them to surrender. When they came out, they were gunned down.
One of the dead was Sohrab Azimi, who went to a military school in the U.S. and was supposed to marry an American next month.
There is criticism towards the Biden administration for withdrawing U.S. troops from the Afghanistan area, because this group of 22 commandos tried to call in for air support but it never came.
News reports said there are over 5,500 Afghan families who are fleeing their homes in northern Afghanistan out of fear of the Taliban’s rule.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/texas-dems-flee-block-gop-voting-restrictions-a4bba1f0-e282-4ff7-b68d-c7ec13019d2d.html
https://www.axios.com/texas-democrats-congress-voting-federal-bills-2d08b3a1-0809-4317-b41e-cf29d3b1b3a5.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/illinois-becomes-first-state-require-teaching-asian-american-history-schools-n1273774
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/12/wildfires-california-oregon-drought-heat-fire-cycle
https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/burger-king-workers-write-we-all-quit-sign-walk-out-nebraska-restaurant/RFVDTRRI3ZCDZIFV4URYQZEH3Q/
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-middle-east-lifestyle-afghanistan-race-and-ethnicity-1ed5303beb691ccef61402c3f07918ca