The Roar keeps you updated with local news, recent events and interesting stories ― everything you need to know for this week.
1. Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron won a decisive victory over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential election. Macron, who has never held elected office, will be the youngest president of the French Republic at the age of 39. The election results come amidst fears of a far-right, anti-European Union movement sweeping across Europe.
2. On Thursday, May 4, the House narrowly approved to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act. The vote, 217 to 213, comes after Republicans pulled their American Health Care Act in March after worries that it would not be approved.
3. A Dallas police officer was charged with murder on Friday, after firing an AR-15 rifle into a car full of teenagers driving away from a party and killing a 15-year-old in the incident. Officer Roy D. Oliver was responding to reports of underage drinking at a party, when he fired his weapon into a vehicle of departing teenagers, striking and killing Jordan Edwards, a freshman at Mesquite High School.
4. On Sunday, May 7, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that would ban sanctuary cities in the state. The law, which establishes penalties for local government officials and law enforcement that fail to comply with federal immigration law, will go into effect September 1.
5. Congressman Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) came under fire after he remarked that “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care” during a town hall in his home state. The controversy comes just as Democrats raised concerns about Americans losing health care if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
6. A joint statement from U.S. and Afghan officials confirmed the death of ISIS leader, Sheikh Abdul Hasib in an April 27 raid. Hasib was the mastermind behind the March 8 attack on a Kabul military hospital.
7. An American citizen was detained in North Korea on Sunday, according to KCNA, North Korea’s state-run news outlet. Kim Hak-song was reportedly detained due to “hostile acts” against the regime. Hak-song is the fourth American to be detained by the North Korean government.
8. Two people were killed and an additional eight were wounded in a gang-related shooting at a memorial in Chicago on Sunday. The memorial was for 26 year-old Daniel Cardova, who had been shot earlier that day.
9. Terrorist group Boko Haram has freed 82 Chibok schoolgirls taken from dormitories in 2014 in exchange for five militant leaders after months-long negotiations. However, over 100 of the former schoolgirls are still in captivity of Boko Haram.
10. The family of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, is involved in controversy over conflicts of interest after Kushner’s sister told Chinese investors they could receive U.S. residential status in exchange for investing in a skyscraper project in New Jersey. She also mentioned her brother’s standing in the Trump administration as a part of the offer.
