Wednesday, August 3
It is Wednesday, August 3. Here are today’s top stories.
Kansas voters protect abortion access
AP News reported that Kansas voters on Tuesday showed they wanted to protect abortion rights by rejecting a ballot measure that would “have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban (abortion) outright.
AP said, “while it was just one state, the heavy turnout for an August primary… was a major victory for abortion rights advocates.”
Webb photographs the Cartwheel Galaxy
NASA shared a photograph of the Cartwheel Galaxy from the James Webb telescope. It shows a large pink galaxy that looks like a wheel. There is a black hole in the middle of it. The photograph shows that there are two smaller spiral galaxies near it.
NASA said the Cartwheel Galaxy is about 500 million light-years away and that its appearance is a result of a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in the image. The rings are expanding outwards, like ripples in a pond.
Pelosi meets Taiwanese president
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen today in Taipei.
Pelosi told Tsai that the U.S. made a promise to always stand with Taiwan and would not abandon our commitment to Taiwan.
The Chinese government, which claims Taiwan as its own and is opposed to the idea of Taiwanese independence, responded with two retaliatory measures: blocking fish and citrus fruit imports from Taiwan and telling airlines to avoid Taiwanese airspace because of live-fire military drills this week.
Axios said Tsai was first elected in 2016 as Taiwan’s first female president in a political party that opposes unification with China. She was re-elected in 2020.
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
———
Liquor store owner shoots armed robber
A surveillance video of a liquor store in Riverside County, California showed that the store owner fired his shotgun at a masked robber who had an AR-15 style rifle right after he entered the store.
The suspect fled the store while screaming, “He shot my arm off! He shot my arm off!” Videos show that the suspect fled in an SUV with three others.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said they found four suspects at a hospital with one of them suffering from a gunshot wound consistent with a shotgun blast. The vehicle they were in was reported stolen and there were several stolen firearms found inside. All four of the suspects are between the ages of 22 to 27.
The business owner, Craig Cope, is 80 years old and had a heart attack after shooting at the robbers. He was hospitalized but is recovering and is now back to work.
The district attorney’s office said the suspects are charged with robbery and conspiracy. The suspect who was shot is still in the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Georgia residents can claim embryos as dependents
NBC News reported that Georgia residents can claim embryos — “any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat” — as dependents on their state taxes.
Residents who have an unborn child as of July 20 can get $3,000 in deductions.
Georgia’s Revenue Department said the new guidance is based on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and a Georgia law that prohibits abortions after a heartbeat is detected.
Stabbing rampage in China
Today in southeast China, a 48-year-old man burst into a kindergarten school and went on a stabbing rampage. Three people were killed and six others were wounded. It is not clear if the victims included children, but CBS News said a video shows a police officer carrying a tiny child in his arms to an ambulance.
Police said the suspect is still at large.
CBS explained that mass violent crime is rare in China, but there has been a spate of mass stabbings in recent years with several knife attacks targeting schools.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://apnews.com/article/2022-primary-elections-kansas-abortion-b6d62a852c2ce4617f2c03589fbb523e
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/webb-captures-stellar-gymnastics-in-the-cartwheel-galaxy
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/03/pelosi-meets-tsai-ing-wen-taiwan-president
https://abc7.com/norco-shooting-attempted-robbery-owner-shoots-suspect/12092135/
https://abc7.com/norco-shooting-attempted-robbery-owner-shoots-suspect/12092135/