Congresswoman Debbie Dingell addresses domestic violence during Ann Arbor visit
When U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn made an appearance in Ann Arbor last Thursday, she addressed a personally relatable issue. A witness of domestic violence in her own home growing up, she’s taken action in hopes of making sure not only those in marital and co-habitating relationships are protected, but also those in dating relationships. The proposed Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act would keep guns out of the hands of people in those situations and also out of the hands of convicted stalkers. Although no decisions have been made by Congress, Dingell hopes they’ll take action at some point, according to a MLive article.
Michigan primaries right around the corner
As the Democratic and Republican debates continue, candidates are preparing for the upcoming primary elections occurring shortly after the first of the year. According to a Detroit Free Press article, all 17 Republican candidates and three Democrats will remain on the ballot unless he/she sends a letter to the Secretary of State saying they are no longer a candidate. Iowa kicks off the presidential primary season on Feb. 1 and Michigan will take part a month later on March 8.
Mass shootings by the numbers
In a recent report conducted by the Mass Shooting Tracker, 994 mass shootings have occurred in America in just 1,004 days as of the beginning of October. MST defines a mass shooting as the killing of four or more people shot in one incident. This is happening almost every day. When President Barack Obama gave his speech after the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon, he says “We are not the only country on Earth that has people with mental illness or want to harm other people. But, we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these mass shootings every few months. Somehow, this has become routine.”
Refugee crisis and Europe
According to a Nov. 9 BBC article, in countries throughout Europe more than 750,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived, yet numbers are wavering because some may have passed undetected. Not only are migrants arriving due to the Syrian conflict, others are fleeing from continuing violence or poverty throughout Kosovo, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania and more.
Russia’s involvement with Syria
In a late October story by Public Radio International, Vladimir Ryzhkov, an opposition politician, says that Russia has in fact had effective military reforms, led by President Vladimir Putin. Although there have been opposing views, according to the article, Russia has publicly stated having laid out similar objectives as the U.S., “To destroy the threat of ISIS and bring peace to Syria.”
Sierra Leone declared Ebola-free, time to rebuild
After the Ebola crisis struck in 2014, Sierra Leone in Africa has been declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on Nov. 7. The virus took more than 10,000 lives since its initial reporting of the illness in the early months of last year. Now that the area has been deemed free of the disease with no new reports during a 42-day span, the country “needs to develop its private sector in order to become sustainable and cut its dependence on foreign aid money,” according to a CNN report.
New speck discovered at edge of solar system
According to a recent story published by News Corp Australia Network, the Dawn space probe in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter came across what appears to be a “dwarf planet” and has been named Object V774104. The objects circumference measures anywhere from 310-560 miles. It’s also the furthest reported object in orbit around the sun. Researchers do not know much about this new discovery and future studies are to be conducted.
