Wednesday, October 19 top stories
It is Wednesday, October 19. Here are today’s top stories.
Anna May Wong is first Asian American on U.S. currency
Anna May Wong, who was a movie star during Hollywood’s silent film era in the 1920s and 1930s, will be the first Asian American to appear on U.S. currency. Her face will be on the back of new quarters from the U.S. Mint.
CNN explained that Wong was considered the movie industry’s first Chinese American star and that she had to overcome widespread discrimination. She was also considered a fashion icon.
One of her best-known roles is in “Shanghai Express.” Wong died at the age of 56 in 1961.
Webb telescope photo of the Pillars of Creation
The new James Webb Space Telescope took this photograph of a famous part of space called the Pillars of Creation. Axios news described it as “towers of dust standing out against a background of baby stars.”
This is an image of the same area of space from the older Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA said the new view from the Webb telescope will help researchers understand how “stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.”
George Floyd family sues Ye for $250M
The mother of George Floyd’s daughter has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the rapper Ye, known as Kanye West, for allegedly making false statements about Floyd’s death.
Click2Houston news explained that Ye, on a podcast, said Floyd died as a result of fentanyl use. This is misleading because although Floyd had the drug in his system, the direct cause of his death was the compression on his neck for over 9 minutes from police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee.
The mother, Roxie Washington, said Ye made the false statement in order to promote his brands and increase marketing value and revenue for himself and his business partners.
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Putin declares martial law in annexed regions
Russian President Putin declared that he would be imposing martial law on four annexed regions in eastern Ukraine. Putin said he is doing this because there is armed force used against Russian territory.
The annexations are considered to be illegal by the Ukrainian government and its allies in the U.S. and NATO. There is still fighting along the four regions in eastern Ukraine.
So this means Putin’s announcement of martial law is more of a symbolic action that seeks to frame himself as the new authority in eastern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian official said it would not change anything as they would continue their efforts to liberate and de-occupy their territories.
Jury acquits Steele dossier source
A jury in a federal court in Virginia acquitted a primary source for the 2016 Steele dossier, private researcher Igor Danchenko, by finding him not guilty of lying to the FBI about where he got his information.
News analysts said it is a loss for special counsel John Durham, who was appointed during the Trump administration to investigate the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016. It is likely that Durham’s investigation will conclude soon.
Snake on United flight spooks passengers
Passengers on a United Airlines flight that had just landed in New Jersey from Tampa were spooked by a sighting of a snake slithering on the floor of the plane.
Local news reported that passengers in the business class were shrieking and pulling their feet up while the plane was taxiing. Once the plane got to a gate, police and authorities were able to remove a snake, which was a nonvenomous garter snake. It is not known how the snake got on the plane.
Many people compared the situation with the fictional 2006 film “Snakes on a Plane.”
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/19/putin-martial-law-ukraine-annexed-regions
https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/1582738921439387655
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63032705
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/anna-may-wong-us-quarter-first-asian-american/index.html
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/19/jwst-pillars-of-creation-photo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/18/igor-danchenko-john-durham-verdict/
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/snake-on-united-airlines-flight-newark/index.html