Open Thread - Starter Kit

by Ariana Figueroa, Arizona Mirror April 19, 2024 WASHINGTON — The U. S. Department of Education on Friday announced a final rule that will update Title IX regulations governing how schools respond to sexual misconduct, undoing changes made under the Trump administration and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said on a call with reporters on Thursday night.

On April 18, the Kennedy family held a press conference in Philadelphia to announce their support of President Joe Biden and a slap in the face to RFK Jr. The Guardian reported that RFK Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy, led the announcement. "President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for," Kerry Kennedy said. The independent candidate's sister continued, "That's why nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden.

“The U. S. is drafting sanctions that threaten to cut some Chinese banks off from the global financial system, arming Washington’s top envoy with diplomatic leverage that officials hope will stop Beijing’s commercial support of Russia’s military production,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Four Germans were caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where the Nazi dictator was born in western Austria on the anniversary of his birth, and one gave a Hitler salute as they posed for photos,” the AP reports.

“India’s main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after he called Muslims ‘infiltrators’ — some of his most incendiary rhetoric about the minority faith, days after the country began its weekslong general election,” ABC News reports. “Critics of the prime minister — an avowed Hindu nationalist — say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since his Bharatiya Janata Party won power a decade ago.

Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D) “told police that she broke into her stepmother’s home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes,” the AP reports.