Mexican women fight back, Jury finds Weinstein guilty, Russia wants Bernie?, Virus news censored + 'Who's Your Butty?'
NewsHero - Feb 24, 2020 - Issue 40
Welcome to this edition of NewsHero for Monday, February 24, 2020.
We decided that being NewsHero—putting the hero of every story in the headlines as our priority—we’d go ahead and readily identify those heroes in each piece of coverage.
Going forward, heroes will be designated as follows:
🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸🏽♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
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NewsHero Notes
Greyhound - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
Greyhound, the nation’s largest bus company, said Friday it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks. The company’s announcement came one week after The Associated Press reported on a leaked Border Patrol memo confirming that agents can’t board private buses without the consent of the bus company. Greyhound had previously insisted that even though it didn’t like the immigration checks, it had no choice under federal law but to allow them.
New Mexico’s Attorney General - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
A new lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Thursday alleges that Google violates the privacy of students by collecting their data through free Chromebooks provided to schools. “Student safety should be the number one priority of any company providing services to our children, particularly in schools,” said Balderas. “Tracking student data without parental consent is not only illegal, it is dangerous; and my office will hold any company accountable who compromises the safety of New Mexican children.”
Afternoon Brief
Jury Finds Weinstein Guilty
The women who came forward and the jury who convicted him - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
A jury of seven men and five women took five days to find Harvey Weinstein guilty. Judge James Burke ordered him taken to jail immediately. Weinstein was convicted today of rape and sexual assault. The charges carry up to 29 years behind bars, with sentencing set for March 11. “This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America, I believe, and it is a new day. It is a new day because Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said. “Weinstein is a vicious, serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault and trick, humiliate and silence his victims.”
2020 Election
Bernie Sanders - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
Last week we heard reports that Russia was already found to be meddling in the 2020 election with hopes of getting Donald Trump re-elected. National security adviser Robert O'Brien said Saturday that he’s seen no intelligence to support that claim, or the later one that Russia is interfering to help Bernie Sanders. Responding to the reports Sanders called President Vladimir Putin an “autocratic thug” and said, “The intelligence community is telling us they are interfering in this campaign right now in 2020. What I say to Mr. Putin: If elected president, trust me, you will not be interfering in American elections.” Adding to the mix, Donald Trump on Sunday accused Representative Adam Schiff of leaking classified information on Russian interference in the 2020 election to hurt Sanders.
Virus Censorship
The journalists and healthcare workers sharing information - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
Amnesty International is calling for the Chinese government to stop censoring information related to the spread of the Coronavirus. “Censorship, harassment and punishment for speaking out are hindering the fight against the coronavirus outbreak,” the group said on its website. “Some legitimate information about the virus has been suppressed by government control over the news and efforts to silence negative coverage. Numerous articles have been censored since the beginning of the crisis. Online posts and hashtags related to the coronavirus and demands for free speech have been quickly deleted. Independent journalists and activists have been harassed by authorities for sharing information about the coronavirus on social media.”
Mexican Women Protest Murders
Calls for national strike follow femicides
Women march in Mexico City, on February 14, 2020, to protest gender violence. - Several protests convened on Friday in the Mexican capital and other cities of the country after the murder of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, stabbed to death and then skinned by her partner in the north of Mexico City on February 9. (Pedro Pardo, AFP)
Protestors, demonstrators, and the courageous women who speak up - 🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️🦸🏽♀️
A women’s event in Mexico planned for next month stemming from anger over a number of high-profile femicides, gained momentum on Friday as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said public servants could participate. The strike is scheduled for March 9. Interior Minister Olga Sanchez declared her support. “Solidarity as a woman, and in my personal capacity, I join the #NationalStrike on March 9," she tweeted.
Demonstrators took to the streets of Mexico City on Feb. 14 to protest the murder of 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla, who was stabbed to death and then skinned by her partner earlier this month. Gruesome photos of Escamilla were published, and the offices of newspaper La Pensa were one of the targets of the demonstration after protesters doused Mexico’s presidential palace in red paint. Demanding justice, protesters chanted "not one more murder” and carried signs saying “we demand responsible journalism,” “Ingrid we are all you” and “sexism kills.”
Protesters gather on the Paso del Norte International Bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to demand justice for artist and activist Isabel Cabanillas, 26, who was killed in the streets of Juarez, Mexico. (Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, said on Twitter that it condemned the killing of Escamilla. “We demand comprehensive actions to eliminate violence against women and girls. We demand full access to justice and non-revictimization for all. Ingrid is not an isolated case,” UN Women said.
The Valentine’s Day protest was another in a series since last August when thousands of women marched in anger over the alleged rape of a teenager by city police. In January demonstrators gathered to protest violence against women, with anger fueled by the shooting death of women’s rights activist Isabel Cabanillas in Ciudad Juarez, a city just south of El Paso, Texas.
On average, ten women are murdered every day in Mexico, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women. Only one of every ten reported crimes in Mexico results in jail time.
Extra! Extra!
On Friday here it was all about Burger King’s moldy Whopper. Now the fast-food chain has stirred up another conversation. This time in New Zealand, with a “burger” called the Chip Butty. On the heels of the meatless whopper (not the moldy one), the Chip Butty also features no meat, though in fact doesn’t feature anything else except french fries, mayo and ketchup. Well, and the bun. Yep, it’s a french fry sandwich. You, like us, probably think either “gross” or “who cares?”
You know who cares? The competition. In a string of entertaining insults that almost make us want to join in, Wendy’s has fired upon the Chip Butty as revealing just how full of it Burger King really is. But really, Wendy’s? Come on. Those square burgers are just fine but fast food chains bickering over who is more ridiculous is kind of ridiculous.
There’s only a certain kind of person that when hungry will pass a Burger King on a highway and hold out for a Wendy’s miles later. That’s not us. If it’s gotta be food fast, any of them will do. They’re all full of it…and who knows what else.
Sources:
Greyhound to stop allowing immigration checks on buses - AP News
Google sued by New Mexico attorney general for collecting student data through Chromebooks - The Verge
Weinstein found guilty of sexual assault, rape, in turning point for #MeToo movement - Reuters
Harvey Weinstein found guilty - CNN
Harvey Weinstein found guilty in landmark #MeToo moment - AP News
Sanders excoriates Russia after being briefed on attempts to help his presidential campaign - NBC News
Russia Is Said to Be Interfering to Aid Sanders in Democratic Primaries - NY Times
Trump accuses Schiff of leaking intelligence about Russia to hurt Sanders - Reuters
What national security adviser Robert O'Brien is saying about Russia briefing 'conflicts' with what lawmakers were told - CNN
Protecting the Truth About the Coronavirus in China - The Nation
China stifles foreign internet to control coronavirus coverage - Financial Times
Coronavirus: Stop censorship in China - Amnesty International
China Is Censoring Coronavirus Stories. These Citizens Are Fighting Back - NY Times
Mexican women protest murders of activists, target monuments - AP News
Support for women's strike in Mexico gains ground - Reuters
Mexican women protest after gruesome murder reignites debate over femicide - France 24
Mexican women call for a national strike after a series of brutal femicides - El Universal
‘The message he’s sending is I don’t care’: Mexico's president criticized for response to killings of women - The Guardian
Burger King debuts a french fry sandwich and Wendy's isn't impressed - CNN