Thursday, October 20 top stories
It is Thursday, October 20. Here are today’s top stories.
Liz Truss resigns as UK Prime Minister after 45 days
In the U.K., Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that she would resign from her office. She became the prime minister only 45 days ago and is a member of the Conservative party. She went through heavy criticism the past two weeks over a tax plan she proposed.
Axios said the tax plan caused chaos in the markets and that members of her own party turned against her.
President Biden said he is grateful to Truss’ partnership in supporting Ukraine and said he would continue to work in close cooperation with the U.K. government.
News reports said Conservative lawmakers will choose the next prime minister in a week.
Walmart customer arrested for not scanning all items at self-checkout
A Walmart customer in northern Michigan was arrested and charged with stealing over $1,000 worth of items from the store since April by not scanning all of the items at a self-checkout area.
Local news explained that the suspect, TeddyJo Marie Fliam (34), was caught skipping items in July. An employee confronted her but she denied doing anything wrong and left. The employee reviewed the surveillance video and saw that TeddyJo allegedly skipped items in previous instances.
TeddyJo was arrested at her home on September 29 and charged with first-degree retail fraud.
Police said in separate cases, they have arrested people for swapping barcodes at a self-checkout.
Pence asked if he would vote for Trump in 2024
On Wednesday former Vice President Mike Pence attended an event at Georgetown University and was asked whether he would vote for former President Donald Trump in 2024.
Pence smiled and said, “Well, there might be someone else I’d prefer more.” The audience laughed and clapped.
Political analysts said Pence is viewed as a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024 and if that happens, he would have to go into a battle with his former partner in the White House.
Pence and Trump’s close political relationship split after January 6, 2021. Pence refused to oblige to Trump’s demands that he interferes in the certification of the Electoral College.
Pence said at the Georgetown event that he is focused on helping Republicans win in the November elections and then he would keep us posted on what his thoughts are on the future.
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Oklahoma executes man who murdered his baby daughter
Today the state of Oklahoma executed 57-year-old Benjamin Cole for murdering her baby daughter in 2002. The baby, Brianna, was almost 9 months old.
“The Oklahoman” explained that the mother testified that when she put her down for a nap and went outside to hang laundry, Cole was inside playing a video game. The baby started crying and Cole went to the crib and inflicted injuries on her that broke her spine and tore a part of her heart. Cole resumed playing video games before the baby was found and rushed to a hospital, where she died.
During Cole’s murder trial, it was revealed that he had brain damage and paranoid schizophrenia. His attorneys tried to argue that he shouldn’t be executed because of his mental disabilities, but multiple courts denied that request. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to intervene. Cole died by lethal injection execution.
Remains of Neanderthal family found in Russian cave
Scientists said they have discovered the remains of a Neanderthal father and daughter and their clan in a Russian cave. Scientists said they believe the clan perished together about 54,000 years ago, possibly from starvation or a big storm.
The image is a drawing to give a visual of what the father and daughter would have looked like. Researchers said Neanderthal populations lived in groups of 10 to 20 people, which is similar to what present-day mountain gorillas do.
Scientists used DNA extracted from fossils to map out the relationships the Neanderthals had with each other.
6,000-pound sunfish is heaviest bony fish in world
Last year, a giant sunfish was found dead and floating off the coast of Portugal. Scientists now say the fish, weighing 6,050 pounds, is the heaviest bony fish in the world.
The fish was weighed by a crane scale attached to a forklift truck. The fish was 10 feet long. The exact kind of fish is “giant sunfish” or “Mola alexandrini.”
Scientists say the discovery of the big fish shows that oceans are still healthy enough to sustain the heaviest fish in the world, but there need to be better regulations of international cargo traffic and ocean fishing to sustain this.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/20/liz-truss-uk-prime-minister-resigns
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/20/world-leaders-react-liz-truss-resignation
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/us/benjamin-cole-oklahoma-execution/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/20/neanderthal-family-russia-cave-father-daughter/