News Roundup: May 23 – June 8

UPDATE 6/18/2017: This article has been updated to read that the United States is the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide pollution, not the first.

Here are the top stories from May 23 – June 8 from Texas, the United States and around the world.

Texas:

Texting and driving – Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that makes texting and driving illegal in Texas. The law will go into effect starting Sept. 1. Abbott said that he wanted to take the law a step further, stating that he hopes for legislation that will forbid local governments from passing any regulation on mobile devices in vehicles.

Death at Denny’s – A man, John Hernandez, was choked to death at a Houston-area Denny’s May 28 by the husband, Terry Thompson, of a Harris County Sherriff’s deputy. Thompson verbally confronted Hernandez for urinating outside of the restaurant and their argument escalated into a physical confrontation. Hernandez was taken off life support three days later and his death was ruled a homicide. The grand jury began hearing testimonies June 8 from Hernandez’s widow and employees who witnessed the event.

“Lunch-shaming” – State Rep. Helen Giddings (D-Desoto) announced a private donation service that allows people to donate money to pay off lunch debts for public school children who cannot afford to buy their lunch. Giddings’ original proposed legislation, which would have prohibited schools from publicly identifying students with negative balances and required increased outreach to parents about outstanding debts and free lunches, was initially killed May 9 by Republicans in the Texas House. According to State Rep. Jonathan Strickland (R-Bedford), the legislation would cost school districts too much money that was needed elsewhere.

SB 4 – Councilmen in San Antonio and Austin have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton in an effort to revoke the state’s new immigration enforcement law, Senate Bill 4, in federal court. The lawsuit claims that the bill directly violates the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Straight-ticket voting – Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that will not allow voters to vote for every candidate in a political party by checking one box based on party starting in 2020. Straight–ticket voting accounted for 64 percent of the total votes cast in Texas’ 10 largest counties in 2016. Supporters of the law hope that it will force voters to make more informed decisions in individual elections.

Special Session – Gov. Greg Abbott called for a special session, which is a convening of state lawmakers outside the constitutionally mandated 140-day regular session, of the Texas Legislature that will start July 18. Abbott announced 19 points that will be on the agenda — including a bathroom bill, abortion, property taxes and school finance reform — but only after they approve what he considers priority legislation that legislators failed to advance during the regular session. Abbott said that he intends to take care of “unfinished business.”

United States:

Paris Climate Agreement – President Trump announced June 1 that he withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement, the world’s primary effort to slow the advancement of global warming, and would only re-enter if the deal became more favorable for the U.S., stating that the U.S.’ involvement in the deal was not urgent. Major U.S. allies, business leaders, Mayor Sylvester Turner and even the Pope urged the U.S. to remain in the agreement. Trump’s decision was met with immediate criticism from climate activists and leaders of other countries. The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide pollution, preceded only by China.

Confederate monuments – African-American leaders in Arizona requested that Governor Doug Ducey order the removal of the state’s six confederate monuments because they feel that the monuments represent slavery and racism. The Arizona division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has said that they will fight any effort to remove Confederate monuments because they represent more than 300 Confederate soldiers who were buried in Arizona.

Job market – More than 253,000 new positions opened up in the job market in May. 58,000 transportation, trade and utilities jobs became available, while professional and business services positions had the largest increase with 88,000 new jobs available. The jobs that decreased the most were in the information sector and hospitality industry.

Travel ban – President Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to adopt his proposed travel ban after it was ruled unconstitutional in an appellate court May 25. The administration argues that the ban is necessary and urgent in order to ensure that terrorists can’t enter the United States covertly as travelers or refugees. The court majority in the appellate case believed that the president’s second executive order did not differ significantly enough from the first one and that it still “drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination.” Trump cited the June 3 terror attack in London as a reason why the ban is necessary.

International:

 London Bridge attack –At least seven people were killed and more than 48 injured in a terrorist attack June 3 on London Bridge. Three men driving a van barreled over pedestrians and then got out of the vehicle and attacked civilians at nearby bars and restaurants with large knives. The three men, who were eventually shot dead by police in nearby Borough Market, were identified as east London residents Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba. This was the second attack labeled a terrorist activity in Great Britain in less than two weeks. A suicide bomber killed 22 and injured more at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester May 22.

 Gulf Arab dispute – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates announced that they have cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing Qatar’s support for armed terrorist activities and false media incitement. Saudi Arabia pulled all Qatari troops from the ongoing war in Yemen and Bahrain announced that all Qatari diplomats and citizens in Bahrain are no longer welcome. The Qatar-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera announced June 8 that it is under a serious cyber attack. The network tweeted about the attack three days after Saudi Arabia and its allies severed ties with Qatar and cut off land, sea and air routes to the Gulf nation.

Montenegro – Previously considered a strong Russian ally, the small nation of Montenegro has decided to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against Russia’s wishes. NATO was established in 1949 to counter aggression from the Soviet Union. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has threatened economic and political retaliation against Montenegro, who still relies heavily on Russia for tourism and popular imports.

Prison shootout – Three police officers and one inmate were killed and six others wounded in an hours-long prison shootout in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico June 6. Relatives of the prisoners said the violence was the result of a conflict between local inmates and others who were recently transferred from a nearby prison.

Also published on Medium.