1. Top administrators at Mizzou step down

University of Missouri system president Timothy Wolfe and the chancellor of its Columbia campus, R. Bowen Loftin, stepped down amid protests, including a boycott threatened by football players and a hunger strike by one student. For months, black student groups had complained that Wolfe was unresponsive to racist actions occurring on campus.

More: University of Missouri

2. Presidents of China, Taiwan meet

China President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore Saturday for the first meeting between the countries’ presidents since the Chinese Communist revolution of 1949.

More: China, Taiwan and a Meeting After 66 Years

 

3. Famous Iraqi politician dies

The Iraqi politician who helped persuade President George W. Bush and the United States to invade Iraq in 2003 from exile died on Nov. 10. Ahmad Chalabi died of heart failure at the age of 71. He unsuccessfully tried to take power in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

More: Ahmad Chalabi

4. Obama strikes down Keystone pipeline

The Obama Administration will not issue a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, it announced Friday, ending a seven-year battle over the 1,179-mile pipeline project that would have traveled from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. The administration said its approval would undermine the U.S. effort to curb greenhouse gases.

More: Keystone XL pipeline

5. Louisiana police officers charged in shooting of 6-year-old boy

Two Louisiana police officers were arrested and charged with second-degree murder on Friday in the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy. The officers opened fired on the boy’s father’s car during a pursuit, killing him and critically injuring his father. The two officers also face charges of attempted second-degree murder.

More: Louisiana police officers

6. Supreme Court to hear new Affordable Care Act challenge

The Supreme Court will hear a new challenge to the Affordable Care Act, it announced Friday. This time it will decide if religiously affiliated organizations can be free from playing any role in providing their employees with contraceptive coverage. It’s the fourth time a challenge to a part of Obamacare will be heard.

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7. Illinois officer thought to have been murdered killed self

Illinois police said an officer thought to have been shot and killed while pursuing suspects in September — prompting a massive manhunt— killed himself in an elaborately planned suicide. Police believe Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz had been stealing money from his own force for seven years before he took his own life.

More: Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz

8. U.S. jobs surge in October

American companies added 271,000 jobs in October — the highest this year — the Department of Labor announced Friday. The unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December increased.

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9. Russia accused of massive doping operating in sports

The World Anti-Doping Agency accused Russia of having its secret service members intimidate drug-testing lab employees and impersonating lab engineers, its athletes adopt false identities, and its officials submit false urine samples — among other allegations — in a large state-sponsored doping program. There were hundreds of allegations included in a 323-page report released Monday.

More: Russian doping

10. Obama endorses Equality Act

The Obama Administration endorsed a bill Tuesday that would amend the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 and ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the Equality Act is not likely to pass through Congress.

More: Equality Act

 

Published on November 10, 2015 at 9:53 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus