Rita’s Weekly News Roundup: November 11-17
Theme of Week: Fire
The idea of fire can start off literal – northern california has been consumed by wildfires. According to NPR, as of today, Nov. 19, 77 people have died and 993 are unaccounted for. The fire has destroyed almost 10,000 homes, including some celebrities homes such as Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus. It is the most deadly and destructive in state history. To get more information you can go here, or here.
Now we turn to more metaphorical meanings of the word fire — namely the intense, dangerous, and impassioned situations and news we have gotten this week.
Burning Brexit
First we travel to Britain. Britain, over 2 years ago, voted to leave the European Union (EU). This week Prime Minister Theresa May presented her plan to do so. This plan has prompted much uproar, with two of her cabinet members (as well as other members of the government) quitting in protest, one of them her Brexit (British Exit – referring to the EU) secretary. She has nominated a new person, and has so far defended her plan, although it still has many hoops to jump through before it becomes law. The Brexit plan involves a transition period for Britain, no hard border between Ireland and Britain, protects british citizens in the EU and EU citizens in Britain, and Britain will honor all arguments to the EU until 2020. If you want more information about Brexit, you can find a comprehensive guide here.
Hotly Contested Election
Several Senate or Governor races have been called after long recounts of votes. The most important of these are Florida, where Democrat Andrew Gillum conceded to Republican Ron DeSantis for Governor, and Democrat Bill Nelson conceded to Republican Rick Scott in Florida’s Senate race. This comes after a hotly contested election, with President Trump tweeting out unsubstantiated claims that there was mass voter fraud. Florida is traditionally a swing state, with the potential to either go Democratic or Republican. If you are interested in the elections in Florida, you can find more here. If you are interested in voter fraud, especially in Florida, you can find more here.
First Amendment Flames
A developing situation is the murder of Washington Post journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi Arabia consulate on Tuesday, October 2ed. Consulates are similar to embassies — people can go to them to learn more about a country, and they offer services to citizens abroad. They represent and house a country’s ambassador and it’s diplomatic mission. Jamal Khashoggi was a U.S resident, and all four of his children are U.S citizens. Turkey has investigated his death, and concluded it was murder. Recently, the CIA came out with a report that the killing was ordered directly by the Saudi crown prince. The report has been doubted by President Trump, who has had a strong relationship in the past with Saudi Arabia. You can find out more about his murder here. Here you can find a timeline of events.
President Trump has revoked the press pass of CNN’s Jim Acosta, a reporter who regularly covers the White House. This comes after a heated exchange where President ordered the microphone to be taken away from Acosta after he asked a question about the Migrant Caravan and Trump calling it a ‘Invasion’. Trump called Acosta “a rude, terrible person” before revoking his press pass to the White House later that day. CNN sued, and a court ruled Acosta has to be let back in. However, this is an unprecedented move from a White House. If you are interested in what court ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, look here. To learn more about the story, you can look here.
France Gets Fired-Up
Early in the week, President Trump visited France for a WW1 memorial. While there, French President Macaron delivered a fiery speech condemning nationalism and separating it from patriotism, which many have seen as an attack on President Trump, who has, for the most part, embraced nationalism. You can read about the speech here.
