More Clinton emails reviewed
The investigation into U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails came to a close in July when FBI director, James Comey, said that while Clinton’s actions had been “extremely careless” nothing in those emails had made her use of a private server criminal. However, this weekend, more emails surfaced which Mr. Comey says “appear to be pertinent” to the closed case. These new emails were discovered during an investigation of Anthony Weiner. Weiner is accused of sending explicit messages to a fifteenyear-old girl. Phones and computers owned by Mr. Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin – who is a top aide for Clinton’s campaign – were taken as part of the inquiry. justice department advised the FBI not to go public with this renewed investigation, warning that to do so would make the bureau look as though they were interfering directly with the current election. In response to Mr. Comey’s announcement, Clin- ton addressed Florida supporters over the weekend, saying “We’ve called on Director Comey to explain everything right away, put it all out on the table.” What the “pertinent” emails are exactly, remains unknown.
Fourth earthquake strikes Italy
Italy has been laid bare by increasing frequency of high magnitude earthquakes this year. For the fourth time since July, the central portion of the country has been the epicenter of another of these events. These occurred near the towns of Norcia, Preci, and Castelsantangelo. No deaths have been announced, although there are about z people currently in hospital with inju- ries. Human injury was fortunately minimized because parts of this region had been evacuated following aftershocks felt last week. These shakes were resultant from another earthquake in August. That earthquake was 6.6 in magnitude and killed around three hundred people. Aside from the aforementioned physi- cal injuries that occurred this weekend, damage was limited to historical build- ings. Earthquakes in the region have become more common as a result of the tectonic plates in the Apennine region of Italy slowly separating from each other.
Australia to review ban on boat arrivals
This week, Australian parliament will review a bill that would possibly ban all persons arriving in the country by boat to ever obtain a visa. This would apply to everyone and anyone who attempts to reach the coast as a migrant, tourist or worker. Even in the case that they are not a citizen but are married to an Australian, they would be subject to the lifelong ban. Refugees would be relocated to a nearby island or another country, while others could be sent back to their homes. Malcolm Turnball is a vocal supporter of the bill, calling this legislation “the strongest possible signal” to human traffickers. “This is a battle of will between the Australian people, represented by its government, and the criminal gangs of people-smug- glers… [human traffickers] have a multibillion dollar business. We have to be very determined to say no to their criminal plans… if they seek to bring people to Australia, those passengers will never settle in this country.”
Supreme Court reviews bathroom case
Seventeen year old Gavin Grimm was born female but came out as a trans male when he began high school. Like many public schools in the United States, Gavin’s high school has unclear rules regarding whether or not trans students are permitted to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender of choice, or only the sex listed on their birth certificates. When Gavin was prevented from using the men’s restroom, he sued the school board claiming discrimination. He won his case in an appeals court. Since that case, barring a trans student from using their bathroom of choice can be defended with use of federal law, Title IX. This defense elicited legal backlash in at least 13 states. Now the Supreme Court will hear the case. Since former justice Antonin Scalia’s death, there has been a even split of con- servative and liberal opinion amongst the justices. Even a 4-4 tie would result in Gavin’s appeals case ruling being upheld. However, this would affect only his school district, not the entire nation’s public schools.
