News roundup: Jan. 1 – 16

With all eyes on Pelosi, Trump and McConnell over the government shutdown, you may have missed some important state, national and international news. Here are 10 of those stories, told with photos.

Jan. 1-16 2019

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TEXAS - Confederate plaque removal: Two years ago, support to remove the inaccurate Children of the Confederacy Creed plaque in the Texas capitol [1] that had a line stressing that the Civil War was not about slavery, began picking up momentum. The State Preservation Board voted unanimously [2] in a three minute meeting Friday Jan. 11 to remove it from the capitol. Photo courtesy of Tom Reel of the San Antonio Express-News.

TEXAS - Slavery in Southlake: On Jan. 11 in Travis County, Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure have been found guilty [3] of three accounts related to forced labor and harboring an “alien” for financial gain. The now free, adult woman was taken from her rural village in Guinea at around 5-years-old in 2000 [4] and was forced to perform housework and yard work in addition for taking care of the couple’s five children until 2016 when she escaped [5] with the help of former neighbors. Photo courtesy of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department.

TEXAS - Muslim GOP in Southlake: On Jan. 10, the Tarrant County Republican Party voted 139-49 to keep Shahid Shafi [6] as their vice chairman. This vote came after several members said he was ill-fitted to be vice chairman because the county was not majority Muslim and that they believed the Quran's teachings go against the Constitution. A similar event [7] happened in Houston in May 2016. This drew bipartisan backlash for infringing upon his rights to religious freedom. Photo courtesy of Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for the Texas Tribune.

NATIONAL - Measles Outbreak in New York: There were over 200 counts of measles [8] cases over the last 4 months across the state of New York prompting Dr. Howard Zucker, state health commissioner, to call it, “ the largest measles outbreak that New York state has had in recent history.” Dozens of schools have closed down due to low percentages of unvaccinated children with private schools having the lowest rates. New York, like other states, allow for a vaccination waiver [9] for cases such as religious reasons. One of the outbreaks in New York is linked to the Jewish Orthodox communities [10] who routinely visit Israel. The CDC states [11], Israel is experiencing its own measles outbreaks. The United States had declared measles eliminated in 2000. [36] Image courtesy of the CDC.

NATIONAL -Woman gives birth in vegetative state: Phoenix Arizona, a currently unnamed San Carlos Apache woman residing in Hacienda HealthCare gave birth Dec. 29 [12] while being in a 14-year vegetative state. The staff was unaware until she was going into labor as she began moaning in her room. The facility, the Phoenix Police and Adult Protective Services worked together [13] and on Jan. 23 former nurse Nathan Sutherland was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse. Sutherland's DNA was said to match with the newborn. [14] The baby boy is healthy in protective services and the CEO has stepped down [15]. In 1998, the DOJ published a report stating 34 percent of Native American women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. [16] Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

NATIONAL - ISIS claims attack on US troops : Almost one month after President Trump made the video announcement [17] that we had defeated ISIS in Syria, 10 people including four Americans were killed in an attack Jan. 16 [18] by what is claimed to be ISIS. Two of the four were American troops. The day of the attack, Pence made a speech [19] to the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference, a group consisting of 180 US ambassadors and chiefs of mission, doubling down on Trump’s December statement. Later, the Trump Administration expressed their condolences [20] to the families of all involved. Image courtesy of Hawar News Agency.

INTERNATIONAL - Saudi teens viral pleas gets asylum: Due to Saudi Arabia’s “male guardianship” system [28], women have a difficult time leaving their husbands and families. When 18 year old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun ba’s passport was taken away in Bangkok while attempting to flee from her family Jan. 6 [21], she barricaded herself in the bathroom of her hotel and uploaded now viral videos of herself pleading for help. This caught the attention of many international human rights and refugee organizations. Jan. 12 she arrived in Canada [22], who had granted her asylum [23]. Photo courtesy of Reuters.

INTERNATIONAL - China goes to the Moon - Jan 3, China landed an exploratory rover [24], Jack Rabbit 2, on the far side of the moon, a first for any country. US trips to the moon have all been on the side facing earth due to no communications being able to reach the far side. The Chang’e-4 mission landing site [25],Von Kármán, is the Moon’s largest crater and is located near the South Pole. Photo courtesy of the China Space Administration.

On the bright side - The newly sworn 116th Congress has many federal and state historic firsts [29] across religion, gender, race, age, and sexuality. The most diverse Congress [30] in United States history also received its first two Native American women [31], 10 open members [32] of the LGBTQ+ community and 96 veterans [33], with 48 having served post-2000. The first Muslim women in congress are Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar. Omar is also the first refugee [34], first arriving in 1996 from Kenya. Texas sent its first two Latinas to Congress [35], Sylvia Garcia of the 29th District and Veronica Escobar of the 16th District, in a state that is 40 percent Hispanic. Image courtesy of Brendan Smialowski and Getty Images.

Read More:

Texas

Confederate plaque removal – [1], [2]
Slavery in Southlake – [3], [4], [5]
Muslim GOP in Southlake – [6], [7]

United States

Measles outbreak in New York – [8], [9], [10], [11], [36]
Woman gives birth in a coma – [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]
ISIS claims attack on US troops – [17], [18], [19], [20]

International

Saudi teen’s viral pleas gets asylum – [28], [21], [22], [23]
China goes to the Moon – [24], [25]
Polish mayor stabbed – [26], [27]

The bright side

Historic firsts in congress – [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35]