Top Stories Today – May 29, 2019
Top Stories Today – May 29, 2019
Bangladesh charges 16 for burning girl alive
Sixteen people have been charged in Bangladesh over the shocking murder of a teenager who was burned to death after reporting sexual harassment. Nusrat Jahan Rafi, 19, was doused with kerosene and set on fire on the roof of her Islamic school on 6 April, days after filing a complaint. Headmaster Siraj Ud Doula, targeted in the complaint, is among those charged. Police say he ordered her murder from prison when she refused to withdraw her accusations against him. They described the preparations for the killing as being like a “military plan”.
The case sparked mass protests in Bangladesh and shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault and harassment in the country. Rafi filed a police complaint against Doula in late March and he was arrested. On 6 April she attended the school to sit her final exams when she was allegedly lured to the roof of the school and set alight by a group of people wearing burkas, a one-piece veil that covers the face and body. They had planned to make it look like a suicide, police said, but Rafi – who suffered burns to 80% of her body – was able to give a statement before she died on 10 April. BBC
EU leaders starting to pick chiefs
European leaders are in Brussels to choose their preferred candidates for top European Union positions after last week’s parliamentary elections, but already are divided on who should be the next president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation bloc.
The term of Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the commission ends in October. But Germany and France, two of the biggest economic forces on the continent, are at odds on who should replace him, a choice that must be ratified by the 751-member parliament when it assumes power in July. The Voice of America
McConnell says Republicans would confirm a Supreme Court justice in 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has changed his mind about confirming a Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year, now that there’s a Republican in the White House.
While speaking at the Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky on Tuesday, McConnell was asked what his position would be on filling a Supreme Court vacancy should a justice die in 2020. “Oh, we’d fill it,” McConnell said with a smile, as the audience laughed. Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, McConnell blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, claiming that the “nomination ought to be made by the next president” because that way, voters would have a voice in the matter. CNN via The Week
Missouri’s last abortion clinic will lose license
The last remaining abortion clinic in Missouri says it expects to be shut down this week, effectively ending legal abortion in the state. In a statement Tuesday, Planned Parenthood said Missouri’s health department is “refusing to renew” its annual license to provide abortion in the state. If the license is not renewed by May 31, Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since 1973 when Roe v. Wade was decided.
Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit requesting a restraining order against the state, hoping to restore the license and avoid service disruption. A circuit court judge will hear arguments on Wednesday. CBS News
Biden campaign criticizes Trump for embracing autocrats
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign responded forcefully to President Trump on Tuesday, after the president insulted Biden during a press conference in Japan on Monday. Trump said that he agrees with Kim Jong Un’s opinion that Biden is a “low IQ individual,” and called the North Korean leader a “smart man” during a Memorial Day trip to Japan over the weekend. After Trump landed back in the US, Biden’s campaign called his comments “beneath the dignity of the office. To be on foreign soil, on Memorial Day, and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow American and former Vice President speaks for itself.” The campaign also called Trump’s remarks “part of a pattern of embracing autocrats.” NBC News via The Week
Smithsonian Appoints first black Secretary
Tuesday, the Smithsonian Board of Regents appointed Lonnie Bunch as its 14th secretary, becoming the museum’s first African-American leader in its 173-year history. The 66-year-old Bunch will guide the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, overseeing a $1.5 billion annual budget that helps fund 19 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo.
Board of Regents chairman David Rubenstein said Bunch’s experience at three museums, reputation and fundraising skills separated him from other candidates. The appointment comes less than three years after the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). The Voice of America