- More children of immigrants might have been taken from their parents than what was previously known. According to a report released Thursday, the Trump administration does not know how many families were separated in total. The government is also unaware if these families were reunited. This group is an addition to the nearly 3,000 children separated from their parents starting last April. The numbers are part of a zero-tolerance policy that requires all migrants to be criminally prosecuted after crossing the border. According to the Huffington Post, in the summer of 2017, staff and officials from the Office of Refugee Resettlement saw a steep increase in the number of separated children. The report does not specify the exact number of children who were separated from their parents or explain why the children were taken from their parents. Michelle Brane, director of migrant rights and justice at the Women’s Refugee Commission, did not see an explicit policy during 2017 about taking children from their parents at the border. Public and political outcry against the zero-tolerance policy caused President Donald Trump to sign an executive order in June to stop family separation. According to the inspector general’s report, 159 children who were separated under zero tolerance are still in the care of ORR.
- China has issued a travel advisory for Canada. The advisory urges Chinese citizens to exercise caution at the request of a third-party country. China’s move is the latest in an escalating problem over the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive. Meng was detained in Canada at the request of the United States and was charged with violating sanctions. According to Business Insider, China began detaining Canadian nationals in China in an apparent response to the arrest. The U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory for China that warned U.S. citizens who travel to the country might not be able to return home. Canada has also issued a travel advisory for China.
- An American citizen was one of 15 killed Tuesday. Militants from al-Shabab attacked an upscale hotel in the capital city of Kenya. The extremist group is responsible for the 2013 attack at the nearby Westgate Mall in Nairobi that left 67 dead. A Kenyan police officer told the Associated Press that 15 bodies had been taken to a nearby morgue. According to Fox News, Shabab stated 47 people had been killed. Their news agency post gave no details. Kenya’s President said on Wednesday that security forces had killed the gunmen involved in Tuesday’s attack. Early Wednesday, Kenya’s interior ministry tweeted all of the buildings had been secured and there was no further threat to the public. The extremist group has vowed retribution against Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight it since 2011. The violence Tuesday was three years after al-Shabab attacked a Kenyan military base in Somalia that killed scores of people.
- Protests broke out Monday in Zimbabwe from the mismanagement of the economy. Five months ago, Emmerson Mnangagwa took over as president of the country. Mnangagwa promised to put the country back in business, and he has made decisions that many Zimbabweans believe are a continuation of the former president’s misguided policies. According to the Washington Post, Mnangagwa announced a 140-percent increase in fuel prices Sunday before taking a private jet to Russia. This raised the cost to $12.53 a gallon and makes Zimbabwe the most expensive place to buy gas in the world. Many Zimbabweans find the president’s actions to be the last straw and took to the streets in anger. According to the advocacy group Doctors for Human Rights, five people have died while nearly 40 people have been treated for gunshot wounds during the protests.
- A man has been sentenced to 84 years for the murder of a teenager who performed at the inauguration of former President Barack Obama. Michaeil Ward was sentenced Monday for the 2013 death of Hadiya Pendleton. Police said Ward confessed to shooting the teen and two others in a case of mistaken identity. A Cook County jury delivered a guilty verdict in August for first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery. According to CNN, Ward made an emotional plea accusing the prosecution of not looking at all of the evidence. He said his cellphone pinged in a different area of the town making it difficult for him to reach the crime scene. Ward also questioned the whereabouts of the murder weapon and why it had not been presented during the trial. He is the second to be tried and convicted. The getaway driver, Kenneth Williams, was found guilty of the same charges by a different jury in August. Williams and Ward were tried together but had separate juries.
Gathered by Jenna Holley, TMN
Photo by Tribune News Service