News Recap for March 8, 2019
Your weekly recap for all things news.
March 8, 2019
- The House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning bigotry across the aisle, specifically emphasizing a no tolerance policy for Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. This comes after the controversy regarding Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) when she spoke critically of Israel and America’s relations which many saw as Anti-Semite. Although controversial, the resolution was backed heavily by the majority of the House’s members. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asserted that “it’s not about her” after accusations that it was directly influenced by Omar’s statement.
- Slowing down after high hopes, the U.S. only added 20,000 new jobs for the month of February, compared to 300,000 jobs in the month of January. As reported by the Department of Labor Statistics, this decrease is partially influenced by the historic partial government shutdown that occurred last month for over twenty days. Nevertheless, the overall unemployment rate has steadily declined from 4% to 3.8%; while unemployment falls, this may be the beginning of a moderately cool economy.
- Protests spread in Algeria as President Abdelaziz Bouteflika registers for a 5th term to add to his 20-year reign. The 81-year-old leader has been supposedly declining in health after a 2013 stroke and has not an official public address since 2014. The younger generations of the country have begun worldwide-attentive protests against his announcement, calling for a new and fresh president in command. However, his 5th term seems evident with previous winnings and with protesters unable to uphold an opposition candidate.
- While International Women’s Day is celebrated joyously here in San Marcos, citizens in Istanbul, Turkey, may believe otherwise. In central Istanbul, protests are banned following the attempted coup on their government last yet. However, hundreds of women and men took to the street to protest, celebrate and march for gender equality. Countering the protest, riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray onto thousands to disperse the crowd. No word yet on any injuries or deaths.
