Baltimore, USA (CNN)- Maryland Congressman and Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings has died at the age of 68. He was born January 18, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland, into a family of sharecroppers. His parents were Robert and Ruth Cummings.
He graduated from Howard University with a degree in Political Science. While there, Cummings was the Student Government Association President and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Maryland and became not only a lawyer but a judge and congressman.
In 1983, Cummings was elected into the Maryland House of Delegates and served until 1996. In 1995, he became the first African American to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore in the Maryland Legislature by winning the United States House of Representatives.
In 2015, the Baltimore Riots occured after the death of Freddie Gray. Cummings took to the streets of his community to make sure peace was kept.
According to authorities Cummings suffered from health complications. His funeral was held on October 24, 2019. Cummings was buried in the National Statuary Hall at Capital Hill.
Johannesburg, South Africa (Associated Press)- South Africa’s largest opposition party leader, Mmsui Maimane, resigned Wednesday as the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader shortly after the return of former party leader Helen Zille as its chair.
Zille has had recent controversy surrounding her in statements that she made saying that, “colonialism wasn’t all bad.”
A recent internal review heavily criticed Maimane for his poor election performance. He has been accused of pursuing the support of South Africa’s black majority at the expense of the DA’s traditional, mainly white, base.
Maimane said in a statement on Thursday that he would remain in the role of the DA leader until the end of the year.
“I have today resigned from the DA and Parliament,” he wrote on Twitter. “I have worked tirelessly to build the project of One SA for All. It’s been my greatest honor to serve the people of SA and I will continue to do so.”
Earlier this week the Democratic Alliance saw the resignation of Herman Mashaba, the Mayor of South Africa’s economic hub, Johannesburg, which is another one of the party’s prominent black leaders.
Essex, United Kingdom (Washington Post)- Thirty-nine victim’s bodies were found in a truck container in Essex. All of the victims were Chinese citizens. Investigators are calling the situation one of the most extreme cases of human smuggling.
The Essex Police stated that 31 men and 8 women were found dead early Wednesday morning at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, a town 25 miles East of London. The 25-year-old driver from Northern Ireland is being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder. In addition, police also arrested two people, both 38, from Warrington, England, on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and on suspicion of 39 counts of manslaughter.
Chinese Forign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told reporters that Chinese officials will assist in the aid of the investigation, but will not release any details about the identities of the victims.
Investigators are still questioning how the victims died but suspect that they could have been apart of forced labor or organized crime.