News Roundup 02/17/21
Power outages linger for millions as another icy storm looms
Over 3 million people are still without power after a deadly winter storm swept across the southern United States. Parts of Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi were devastated by the unusually frigid storm which was caused by an increasingly unstable and vacillating polar vortex. Although power has been restored to over 600,000 homes, millions of homes and businesses are still without power in freezing temperatures. The icy temperatures also caused disruptions in the water supply as emergency crews with fire trucks delivered waters to hospitals and patients. The storm has claimed the lives of over two dozen people.
Source: AP News
British L.G.B.T. Veterans Stripped of Medals Can Get Them Back
In a victory for L.G.B.T.Q.+, the British Defense Ministry has outlined a path for L.G.B.T. members of Britain’s military get their medals back after having been systematically discriminated against, dismissed and stripped of their rank.
Minister Annable Goldie invtes “any personnel affected or, in some circumstances, the family of those who are deceased to apply to have their medals returned.”
Source: New York Times
Myanmar coup: Aung San Suu Kyi detained as military seizes control
Citizens have taken to the streets in a protest against a violent military coup. Military forces in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have violently and forcefully taken control and detained democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar army alleges that the election was fraudulent and seized power. Banks had been forced to close, and both International and domestic TV channels went off air. There is a curfew in effect.
Source: BBC News
Texas mayor resigns after telling residents desperate for power and heat "only the strong will survive"
A small town Texas mayor resigned after a Facebook post went viral. Tim Boyd, then-mayor of Colorado City, wrote an insensitive message insisting that the government owes the people nothing, after a devastating winter storm ravaged much of the south. Millions of people in Texas were left without heat and water.
Boyd’s rant included messages like “only the strong will survive and the weak will perish]. No one owes you [or] your family anything…”. He then went on to describe people as “lazy”, and bemoaned those “looking for a handout”.
Source: CBS News
New York Sues Amazon, Saying It Inadequately Protected Workers From Covid-19
New York’s attorney general Letitia James has sued Amazon due to inadequate protection of employees from Covid-19. The case focuses on two facilities in New York. The allegations against Amazon include failure to properly clean its building, conducting inadequate contact tracing for known Covid-19 cases and retaliatory action against complaints from workers as an effort to silence employees. Amazon preemptively sued Ms. James in an effort to block her from being able to bring forward the charges, arguing that workplace safety is a federal, not state, issue.
Source: New York Times