News Roundup: July 15 – July 28

Here are the top stories from July 15 – July 28 from Texas, the United States and around the world.

Texas:

Human Smuggling – 39 immigrants, 13 undocumented, were found in a tractor trailer with a broken air conditioner parked outside a Walmart in San Antonio July 22. Eight of the immigrants were pronounced dead at the scene, two died at the hospital and the rest were hospitalized in the area. James Mathew Bradley, Jr. is charged with smuggling immigrants for financial gain resulting in death. A survivor said the driver of the tractor trailer ignored their banging and calls for help.

Space Center Houston – Space Center Houston launched a Kickstarter campaign July 20 that aims to restore NASA’s historic mission control. The room is famously remembered as the mission control center for the Apollo missions. The Kickstarter has raised more than $200,000 in five days. The nearby city of Webster has pledged $3.1 million to the restoration, and it will match the Kickstarter up to $400,000. Space Center Houston aims to raise $5 million to fully restore mission control.

Houston Appreciation Weekend – Rapper Drake held his third annual Houston Appreciation Weekend (HAW) July 20 – 23. This year’s big event was a pool party hosted by Cle nightclub July 22. Drake also hosted a pop-up strip club called The Ballet July 21 and celebrated the Manchester Derby at NRG Stadium with J.J. Watt. Drake spent the weekend partying around Houston and taking photos with fans. Past HAW events included: concerts, hookah bars, kickball games and more.

Texas Senate – The Texas Senate approved several bills related to Gov. Greg Abbott’s 20-item special session agenda July 24. Committees moved forward SB 15, a bill outlawing city cell phone restrictions in more than 40 Texas cities. The Senate also approved SB 19, a bill to increase teacher pay and retirement benefits. Preliminary approval was granted for SB 1, legislation that would require larger cities, counties and taxing districts to have an election if the amount of property tax revenue exceeds 4 percent of the amount they took in the year before. The capital also saw mass protests from more than 250 civil rights activists, executives and citizens against SB 3 and SB 91, commonly called the Bathroom Bills, in Austin July 21.

In-N-Out Burger – The California-based food chain In-N-Out Burger has purchased land at 8373 Westheimer Rd. near Dunvale Rd. in the west Houston area. This is the first property purchase in Houston for an anticipated expansion into the city. In-N-Out clarified the purchase, saying it could still be more than a year before a restaurant appears in Houston. In-N-Out Burger began in 1948 as California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand and has since become a family-owned franchise.

United States:

The White House – Sean Spicer resigned as White House press secretary July 21. The resignation was sparked by President Trump hiring Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, the press secretary’s direct supervisor. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will succeed Spicer.

O.J. Simpson – The parole board granted OJ Simpson parole at a hearing on July 20. The former NFL star will be released from prison as early as Oct. 1. Simpson served nine years for an armed robbery in 2007 in Las Vegas, NV.

Chester Bennington – Chester Bennington, lead singer of the rock band Linkin Park, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles July 20. Bennington had purchased the nhome two months prior to hanging himself. Linkin Park was set to start a new tour July 27. The band set up a tribute site in Bennington’s memory.

Senator John McCain – Senator John McCain was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a common but malignant brain tumor. The tumor was discovered when McCain underwent surgery for blood clot removal. He confirmed July 25 that he would not be stepping down due to his illness and that he would be returning to Arizona to begin reviewing options for treatment July 31.

International:

China – China’s Beijing culture bureau announced in a statement that Justin Bieber is barred from touring in China. Beijing claims that Bieber’s bad behaviors, both in “his social life and during a previous performance in China,” caused public discontent. Bieber canceled the remainder of his “Purpose” world tour July 24.

Saudi Arabia – King Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the arrest and interrogation of junior Prince Saud bin Musai’d July 19. The prince was featured in a series of viral videos including the prince punching and slapping a man sitting in a chair; a bloody man sitting in a car being yelled at, and 18 bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label Scotch Whiskey on a table next to a pile of cash. Purchasing or consuming alcohol in Saudi Arabia is forbidden.

Turkey – Six human rights activists, including the Turkish director of the London-based organization Amnesty International Idil Eser, were arrested July 18 in Istanbul. The activists were charged with aiding an armed terror group. Four activists were released from custody but barred from leaving the country. In total, 10 activists were detained, including two German and Swedish trainers, were originally detained July 5 during a police raid on a digital security workshop.

Poland – In the wake of a controversial bill that would call for the immediate retirement of all the Supreme Court’s judges, Poles across Europe entered day 8 of protests July 23. The new legislation, which would allow the justice minister to select the replacement judges, has been criticized by the European Union for violating rule of law and the principles of democracy and may lead to economic and political sanctions. The bill passed the upper house of National Assembly.

On the bright side:

YouTube – YouTube is now redirecting terrorism-related search terms to playlists that offer alternatives to extremism. The move hopes to change the minds of people at risk of being radicalized. Currently, the searches only apply to English language search terms, but YouTube is actively rolling out new features to cover more languages, dynamic analysis to track terrorist keyword search terms, creating new video content designed to counter terrorism and expanding this functionality to Europe.