British man killed after taking Texas synagogue hostage – National & International News – MON 17Jan2022

British man killed after taking Texas synagogue hostage. Mississippi has highest U.S. infant mortality rate. Fears after volcanic eruption cuts communication in Tonga

NATIONAL NEWS

British man killed after taking Texas synagogue hostage

On Saturday, FBI agents stormed a Dallas-area synagogue where a British national had taken four hostages. The agents shot the attacker dead and freed the hostages unharmed. This ended a 10-hour standoff between law enforcement and Malik Faisal Akram, 44, who hailed from Lancashire, England.

It’s since emerged that Akram had a history of mental illness. It’s not clear exactly when he arrived in the country, but he apparently began putting a plan into motion soon after arriving. In an impromptu statement to reporters, President Biden said Akram purchased his weapons here soon after landing in the U.S., and spent his first night in a homeless shelter. It’s not clear if he was working alone, but British police have arrested two teenagers in connection with the case.

During the siege, video captured Akram demanding the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui. Siddiqui has been serving an 86-year sentence in a Ft. Worth federal prison since 2010 with multiple convictions, including attempted murder of a U.S. soldier. Her case has been a source of controversy and international tension since she was taken into custody in 2008 by U.S. forces. U.S. prosecutors claimed that she had ties to al-Qaeda, and that while in custody in Ghazni, Afghanistan, she attempted to shoot some of her U.S. captors with an M4 carbine.

There are many in the international Muslim community who believe Siddiqui’s prosecution was unjust due to the secrecy and conflicting reports about her offenses and arrest. Her supporters contend that she was a mentally-ill woman caught up in the overzealous prosecution of the war on terror.

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Mississippi has highest infant mortality in U.S.

Even as the Supreme Court prepares to consider Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, the state has so far made little headway in improving infant care since the law’s passage. When former Gov. Bryant signed the law in 2019, he said he aimed to make Mississippi the “the safest place for an unborn child in America”. But, he offered no plan to strengthen care for children already born. That year, Mississippi led the nation in infant mortality by a considerable margin at 8.71 deaths per 1000 births. The only state that came close to catching us was Louisiana, with 7.97 deaths per 1000 births.

In 2019, Mississippi’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee called for allowing new mothers to stay on Medicaid for up to a year after giving birth rather than the current 60 days. Statistics show that 40% of pregnancy-related deaths occur after the 6-week mark. Two years later, MMRC co-chair Dr. Charlene Collier is still waiting for movement on this issue.

According to Dr. Collier, “In Mississippi, there’s been a lot of focus on the issues of abortion and restricting that, but there’s no commensurate efforts to improve birth outcomes for pregnant women and babies in the state”.

Now, some Republican and Democrat state legislators are pushing to extend Medicaid coverage for new babies and mothers. They have until February 1 to put the proposal to a committee vote if there is any chance of passing such a measure this year.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Fears after volcanic eruption cuts communication in Tonga

On Saturday, an undersea volcanic eruption near the Pacific island nation of Tonga erupted violently, sending a tsunami crashing over its shores. A satellite captured dramatic footage of the eruption from space. Communications from the island since Saturday have been difficult, but there have been some videos uploaded of the destruction. New Zealand is planning to dispatch a surveillance flight over the island to try to assess conditions on the ground.

The ash cloud from the volcano is now apparently blanketing the island. Tonga has a limited fresh water supply under the best of circumstances, and the ash cloud will bring with it poisonous contaminants. New Zealand plans to deliver a supply of fresh water to the island by sea.

Since communications are spotty, it’s difficult to get a full picture of the impact of the eruption remotely. One British man managed to learn that his sister was killed, but even days later there’s no clear picture of total casualties. Tonga has a total population of about 100,000 people throughout its archipelago.

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