Abe assassinated, Musk’s Twitter deal in doubt, Abbott issues migrant order

Jul 08, 2022

Karah Rucker Anchor/Reporter

By Karah Rucker (Anchor/Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer/Editor)

Headlines for Friday morning, July 8, 2022, include:

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a campaign speech Friday morning. Abe was Japan’s longest serving leader before stepping down in 2020 over health concerns. He was shot twice from behind reportedly with a makeshift gun. The alleged gunman was arrested. Leaders around the world have expressed surprise that the assassination happened in Japan, a country unaccustomed to gun violence.

“This is shocking. It’s profoundly disturbing in and of itself. It’s also such a strong personal loss for so many people,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at the G-20 Foreign Ministers summit in Bali, Indonesia Friday. “Prime Minister Abe was an extraordinary partner and someone who clearly was a great leader for Japan, for the Japanese people but also so admired as a global leader and one who really during his time in office brought the relationship between our countries, the United States and Japan to new heights.”

The deal between Elon Musk and Twitter is reportedly in great jeopardy after Musk discontinued discussions over funding for the $44 billion acquisition. Musk has been at odds with Twitter over the amount of bot and spam accounts on the platform. While data has been unclear, Twitter executives did announce Thursday more than 1 million spam accounts are removed from the social media platform each day. Musk has previously stated Twitter needs to show spam accounts represent fewer than 5% of all accounts for a deal to proceed.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order on Thursday authorizing state authorities to detain and return illegal immigrants to ports of entry at the border. It’s the latest and arguably most aggressive approach from the governor in the battle over immigration law with the Biden administration. Critics of the executive order argue immigration policy is a federal government responsibility. Supporters of the executive order argue an invasion at the U.S.-Mexico border opens the door for the state to take legal action.

Tags: Immigration, Joe Biden

Karah Rucker: HAPPY FRIDAY, I’M KARAH RUCKER WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.
HERE ARE YOUR TOP STORIES OF THE DAY.
WE BEGIN WITH NEWS OUT OF JAPAN – –
FORMER PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE WAS FATALLY SHOT WHILE GIVING A CAMPAIGN SPEECH EARLIER TODAY.
THE GUNMAN HAS BEEN DETAINED.
ABE WAS JAPAN’S LONGEST SERVING PRIME MINISTER.
THE NEWS SHOCKING THE NATION…AND LEADERS AROUND THE WORLD.
BACK IN THE STATES – –
THE SALE OF TWITTER TO ELON MUSK IS LOOKING LESS AND LESS LIKELY.
SINCE ACQUISITION TALKS FIRST BEGAN…MUSK HAS ASKED FOR TRANSPARENCY OF BOTS AND SPAM ACCOUNTS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM. THAT DATA IS STILL UNCLEAR. MUSK HAS REPORTEDLY STOPPED DISCUSSIONS AROUND FUNDING FOR THE 44 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL.
AND A NEW ORDER AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER – –
TEXAS GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT TAKING EXECUTIVE ACTION THURSDAY –
AUTHORIZING THE TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD TO ARREST MIGRANTS WHO ENTER THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY…THEN TRANSPORT THEM BACK TO PORTS OF ENTRY.
IT’S THE LATEST AND ARGUABLY MOST AGGRESSIVE APPROACH FROM THE GOVERNOR IN THE BATTLE OVER IMMIGRATION LAW WITH THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.