PHOTO: Boris Johnson speaking to the House of Commons Chamber under the U.K., Canada and Mexico flags. Photo courtesy of the U.K. Parliament and Jess Taylor. Flags are public domain. Graphic created by Trey Blakely and The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell. SOURCE: SOURCE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/48677834002/ — Boris Johnson speaking to the House of Commons Chamber on Sept. 4, 2019. Photo courtesy of the U.K. Parliament and Jess Taylor. Flags are public domain. Graphic created by Trey Blakely and The Signal Online Editor Alyssa Shotwell.

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NEWS ROUNDUP: Lawmaker threatens violence on Twitter, GM workers strike and US changes asylum laws

By Alyssa Shotwell, Online Editor On Oct 11, 2019 128 0

Here are some important stories you may have missed from Texas, the United States and around the world.

Texas:

820 new Texas Laws – As of Sept. 1, 820 new laws passed by the 86th Texas Legislature went into effect. The laws span a wide range of topics from weapons and family planning to smoking and child ran lemonade stands.

Some laws increase penalties such as those who steal packages while others increased the age for select activities such as smoking from 18 to 21. More items are legal to have and harvest such as brass knuckles and hemp. Some new laws are aimed to address problems related to technology like unsolicited explicit material and requiring state agencies receiving more than $40 million in funding to live stream meetings.

The 86th Texas Legislature met for a regular session (140 days) from Jan. 8 to May 27 and Governor Greg Abbot vetoed 58 bills. The 87th will reconvene for another regular session after the 2020 election on Jan. 12, 2021.

Texas rep publicly threatens presidential candidate – After former U.S. House Representative Beto O’Rourke called for a mandatory buyback program on assault weapons during the Sept. 9 Democratic Presidential Debate. O’Rourke clarified on social media “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15.” This was retweeted by Texas State Representative Briscoe Cain of House District 128 retweeted the tweet and added“My AR is ready for you Robert Francis.” Many, including O’Rourke, saw this as a death threat with Cain doubling down on his statement. Twitter later removed the tweet and suspended his account temporarily.

Cain has been off his public social media over a month later, but on Sept. 28 at the Texas Tribune Festival he said he did not regret it and that both O’Rourke and himself benefited from having their names trending.

PHOTO: John Bolton looking at President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Photo courtesy of The Associated Press and photographer Pablo Martinez Monsivais. SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/b4abacafde4d4e4cbed26a6d33ddf279 — John Bolton was National Security Advisor from April 2018 to Sept. 2019. Photo courtesy of The Associated Press and photographer Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

United States:

John Bolton fired – President Trump announced via Twitter Sept. 10 John Bolton would be resigning as National Security Advisor cited that he and others in the administration disagreed “with many of his suggestions.” Bolton had high-profile conflicting strategies on relationships like North Korea, Russia and Afghanistan with Trump. Trump has yet to announce Bolton’s replacement, however, because the position is not part of the cabinet, the position will not require Senate confirmation. They will be required to pass security clearances.

GM workers strike – After the Sept. 15 deadline to renegotiate and renew their contracts passed, roughly 50,000 General Motors workers under the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union began to strike. The strike marks the first time since 2007 workers in the auto industry have protested. The UAW wants to secure fair wages, affordable healthcare, profit shares, job security and defined path to permanent seniority for temporary workers.

California students athletes allowed to be paid – A few months after the Alston v. NCAA ruling that found the NCAA violating antitrust laws, California became the first state to pass a law allowing student athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image or likeness (like video games). Senate Bill 206 (the “Fair Pay to Play Act”) was passed by a high margin and had high profile support from professional athletes like Lebron James and politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders. Supporters’ felt concerned over the exploitation of athletes and 1.1 billion dollar college sports industry.

Critics of the bill, notably the NCAA – of which University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator is part of – state that though they recognize the need to reform issues college athletes face, they feel that it would hurt the players. They said the changes make it “impossible to host fair national championships.” Currently, universities that compensate players outside of tuition, housing and other amenities would be acting against the NCAA rules.

International:

PHOTO: Boris Johnson speaking to the House of Commons Chamber. Photo courtesy of the U.K. Parliament and Jess Taylor. SOURCE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/48677834002/ — Boris Johnson speaking to the House of Commons Chamber on Sept. 4, 2019. Photo courtesy of the U.K. Parliament and Jess Taylor.

Administration changes asylum rules to curb immigration – On Sept. 11, the Supreme Court temporarily reinstated the “Third Country Asylum Rule” that has been changed and restrained earlier this year. This new rule requires asylum seekers coming from a non-bordering county (Mexico and Canada) to apply in every country on the way before applying for U.S. Asylum status. Critics of this ruling cited that violence in countries like Mexico and Guatemala will keep the refugees in danger. The Supreme Court’s decision make an unsigned ruling means the changes can be implemented while the case is being battled in lower courts.

U.K. government struggles to prepare for Brexit deadline – Newly appointed Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost his first vote held on Sept. 4 to allow for the U.K. to leave the European Union (EU) with a no-deal. This comes after Johnson stated he would leave deal or no-deal. Boris extended parliment’s recess Sept. 9 from 3 to 5 weeks to organize his party. With the deadline looming, this was challenged by the courts and resulted in all 11 judges ruling this to be unlawful.

On Sept. 18, the EU voted that they will again for the third time extend the deadline, currently set for Oct. 31, if the UK requests one.

Strike worldwide demand climate change actions – The Global Climate Strike Sept. 20 – 27 had an estimated 6-8 million people worldwide demanding action by their government to act with haste on addressing climate change. Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg and many other young people were the face of the protest, but participates ranged in age and occupation. The week chosen as it contained Global Week for the Future, the UN Climate Action Summit and Climate Week.

PHOTO: Lilly Signh taking a selfie. Photo courtesy of Lilly Signh. — Singh will be shooting multiple episodes a day, so that she is able to continue YouTube and other creative endeavors outside of the three month shooting block. Singh started her YouTube channel in 2010. Photo courtesy of Lilly Signh.

On the bright side – Canadian-born YouTube creator Lilly Singh, joined late night on NBC making her the first woman of color as well as the first openly bisexual entertainer to host her own late night show on one of “The Big Four Networks.” “A Little Late with Lilly Singh” premiered Sept. 16 and will have a 96 episode first season.

Her show consists of skits, interviews and opening monologues. Executive Producer John Irwin stated, “Our goal is to do half an hour of comedy. We’re going to stay away from politics. Her stuff is going to be a little more personal, a little more based in her experiences.”