A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China
Continue reading...Category Archives: Texas
Bush: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ ideals show pro-Trump Republicans ‘want to be extinct’
Former president speaks as lone anti-Trump Republican seeks House seat in Texas special election
Ahead of a special election on Saturday to replace a Texas congressman who died after contracting Covid-19, former president George W Bush said the ascendancy of supporters of Donald Trump suggest Republicans “want to be extinct”.
Related: George W Bush on Trump’s Republicans: ‘Isolationist, protectionist, nativist’
Continue reading...The tiny American towns passing anti-abortion rules
In last year, 23 Texas towns have declared themselves ‘sanctuary cities for the unborn’, making the procedural punishable, and in April, a Nebraska village became the 24th
Over the last year of the pandemic, 23 tiny towns in Texas have approved local laws declaring themselves “sanctuary cities for the unborn”, passing ordinances to make the procedure punishable by a $2,000 fine.
In April, the tiny village of Hayes Center, Nebraska, became the 24th, and the first outside Texas.
Continue reading...Tesla car crashes in Texas with ‘no one in driver’s seat’ – video report
Two men died after a Tesla vehicle believed to have been operating without anyone in the driver’s seat crashed into a tree north of Houston. The victims were reportedly found in the front passenger seat and the back seat of the 2019 Tesla Model S
Continue reading...Three people dead in ‘active shooting incident’ in Austin, Texas
Police urged residents in the vicinity to stay inside while a manhunt was under way
Three people were shot dead in Austin on Sunday, authorities in Texas said. No suspects were in custody.
Law enforcement officials closed off roadways in the Great Hills Trail and Rain Creek Parkway area of the city for an “active shooting incident”, according to a tweet from the city’s police department.
Continue reading...Baby dies in ‘tragic’ shooting by three-year-old brother, Houston police say
- Eight-month-old dies in hospital after shooting at apartment
- Police urge gun owners to lock up firearms: ‘This is tragic event’
Police believe an infant was fatally shot on Friday by his three-year-old brother after the older boy got a hold of a gun inside a Houston apartment.
The infant was shot in his abdomen on Friday morning, said Houston assistant police chief Wendy Baimbridge.
Continue reading...Texas court to hear appeal from woman sentenced to prison for voting while ineligible
Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for voting while inadvertently ineligible in 2016
Texas’ highest criminal appeals court said Wednesday it would hear an appeal from a Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for voting while inadvertently ineligible in 2016.
Continue reading...Republican senator Ted Cruz mocked for documentary-style trip to US-Mexico border
Texas lawmaker recounted his mission to shed light on what conservatives have dubbed an immigration crisis
Republican senator Ted Cruz has drawn criticism for taking a trip to America’s southern border as the conservative Texan politician once again became the butt of internet jokes and memes.
In the style of a wildlife documentary, Cruz captured his experience with the help of professional photographers and shared his recent journey to the US-Mexico border Thursday night on social media, where he aimed to shed light on what Republicans have dubbed a crisis.
Continue reading...Is there a crisis at the border? Advocates in Texas say it’s ‘political manipulation’
The Texas governor has sent troops to fortify the border while advocates say the immigration numbers are being politicized
Along the winding road which follows the Rio Grande west from Mission, Texas, dozens of armed border patrol agents, state troopers, soldiers and state and local police are dotted about to catch undocumented migrants entering the country from Mexico.
This is a so-called hotspot for irregular migration – folks crossing the border river without permission to enter the US – in what the Republican party and anti-immigrant activists are calling a crisis at the border. During one afternoon this week, there were more law enforcement vehicles cruising along this dusty 15-mile stretch towards Los Ebanos, a tiny border community connected to Mexico by a hand-operated cable ferry, than there was local traffic.
Continue reading...‘What are you going to do, arrest me?’: Texas anti-masker handcuffed by police – video
Police issued a warrant for the arrest of Terry Wright, 65, of Grants Pass, Oregon. The woman's detention on Thursday at a Bank of America in Galveston was captured by the officer’s body camera.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wright, who refused to wear a mask at a Texas bank, saying to a police officer: 'What are you going to do, arrest me?'
Police said they had obtained an arrest warrant on resisting arrest and criminal trespassing charges
Continue reading...Texas police handcuff maskless woman who asked: ‘What are you going to do, arrest me?’
Warrant issued after state ended orders requiring masks in public places, though many businesses have kept their own rules in place
An arrest warrant was issued for a woman who refused to wear a mask at a Texas bank, saying to a police officer: “What are you going to do, arrest me?”
Related: 'It’s every man for himself': the Texans defying end of mask mandate
Continue reading...‘It’s every man for himself’: the Texans defying end of mask mandate
Governor Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate on 2 March but not everyone in the state is ready to embrace the change
The parking lot was packed at The Shops at La Cantera, a partially outdoor mall in north-west San Antonio, on the day that Texas officially ended mandatory mask wearing. But it was clear not everyone was ready to embrace the change, with most people who wandered in and out of stores still donning face coverings, and many shops requiring customers to wear one before entering.
Related: Texans scramble to get vaccinated after Republican governor says no more masks
Continue reading...US experts warn new Covid variants and states reopening may lead to fourth wave
Cases could plateau at a point equivalent to summer 2020 peak, while vaccines have reached relatively few people
Public health experts encouraged Americans to continue social distancing and wearing masks at a potentially critical inflection point in the pandemic – one in which highly effective vaccines could provide relief, but fervor to reopen public life could unintentionally spread new Covid-19 variants.
The warnings come the same week Texas and Mississippi flung open the doors to normal social life in their states.
Continue reading...Dallas police officer faces capital murder charges for 2017 killings
Police say a man told investigators that he kidnapped and killed two people at officer Bryan Riser’s instruction
A Dallas police officer was arrested Thursday on two counts of capital murder, more than a year and a half after a man told investigators that he kidnapped and killed two people at the officer’s instruction in 2017, authorities said.
Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the force, was arrested Thursday morning and taken to the Dallas county Jail for processing, according to a statement from the police department. Riser was not listed in online jail records Thursday evening and a lawyer for him couldn’t immediately be identified.
Continue reading...White House defends Biden’s ‘Neanderthal thinking’ comment on ending mask mandates
Texas governor Greg Abbott, who lifted face covering requirement, said it was ‘not the type of word a president should be using’
The White House has defended Joe Biden’s criticism of the Republican governors of Texas and Mississippi, after the president called their decisions to end mask mandates “Neanderthal thinking”.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, emphasized that the president was comparing the governors’ actions to “the behavior of a Neanderthal, just to be very clear, the behavior”. She also said Biden’s comments were “a reflection of his frustration” about Americans not following public health guidance to limit their risk of contracting coronavirus.
Continue reading...Joe Biden accuses Republican governors of ‘neanderthal thinking’ for lifting mask mandates – video
Joe Biden sharply criticized the Republican governors of Texas and Mississippi, who announced yesterday that they were rescinding their mask mandates, despite public health experts’ concerns about another surge in coronavirus cases. 'We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we are able to get vaccines in people’s arms,' Biden said. 'The last thing we need is neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine,' Biden said. 'It still matters.'
Continue reading...Biden accuses Republican governors of ‘Neanderthal thinking’ over plans to reopen
President said US ‘on the cusp’ of being able to change nature of Covid crisis but ‘the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking’
Joe Biden criticized Republican governors of Texas and Mississippi on Wednesday, calling their decisions to end state-wide mask mandates “a big mistake”.
The US president said the country was on the “cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease” with the distribution of vaccines and added: “The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine.”
Continue reading...Neera Tanden withdraws from nomination to direct budget office – live
- ‘It now seems clear there is no path forward to gain confirmation’
- Governor Greg Abbott says: ‘It is now time to open Texas 100%’
- US set have vaccines for all Americans by end of May – Biden
- Wray: white supremacists make up ‘biggest chunk’ of US terrorists
- Senate confirms Gina Raimondo as commerce secretary
Tanden’s letter to Biden requesting her withdrawal said:
Dear President Biden,
I am writing to you to withdraw my nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be considered for this role and for the faith placed in me.
The withdrawal marks the first cabinet nominee by Biden to fail to get confirmation.
“I have accepted Neera Tanden’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel, and I look forward to having her serve in a role in my Administration. She will bring valuable perspective and insight to our work.”
Continue reading...‘Shivering under a pile of six blankets, I finally lost it’: my week in frozen Texas hell
February was the peak of my pandemic depression – and then came the ‘Arctic blast’
As for so many, February was the peak of my pandemic depression. It nearly marked the first anniversary of the Covid lockdown, and the demise of my social life. But quarantining in San Antonio, Texas, brought an entirely new set of challenges.
My breaking point was around midnight last Tuesday, during the “Arctic blast” which, prior to last week, sounded like a refreshing juice-box flavor for children. Our house was 40F (4C). My father was outside boiling water on the grill so we could have a hot drink to get us through the night. My only link to the outside world was a horrendous internet connection, so I couldn’t even doom-scroll my way out of this frozen hellscape.
Continue reading...Republicans eye federal funds to help pay Texans’ exorbitant energy bills
- State energy grid failed in deep freeze
- Reports spread of companies seeking to cash in
- Texas freeze shows how the rich use climate change to divide us
Texas Republicans will use federal funds to help pay exorbitant energy bills hitting ordinary Texans after a deep freeze crippled the state this week, a senior congressman said on Sunday.
Related: Texans rally to help neighbors amid big freeze as officials are caught cold
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