Hello, my name is Anna and I will be breaking down today's news for you.
Fighting back - A cyclist, nay a hero in some people’s minds, who was fired from her job after giving Donald Trump the middle finger is suing her former employer. Juli Briskman filed a lawsuit in a Virginia court on Wednesday arguing that Akima violated the state’s employment law when it forced her to quit.
Political upheaval - Brazil’s very popular former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could soon be thrown in jail after the supreme court denied a request for him to remain free while appealing against a 12-year conviction for corruption. Silva is one of the most popular politicians the country has ever seen, leaving office in 2010 with an approval rating of more than 80%. Supreme court judges ruled against him by six to five. The decision could end Lula’s political career, even though he says he is innocent and the charges are politically motivated to prevent him from running for president again in the October election.
AI concerns - Artificial intelligence experts from nearly 30 countries are boycotting a South Korean university over concerns a new lab in partnership with a leading defence company could lead to ‘killer robots’. Over 50 academics signed the letter calling for a boycott of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and its partner, Hanwha Systems. The researchers said they would not collaborate with the university over fears it sought to ‘accelerate the arms race to develop’ autonomous weapons.
Zuckerberg staying - Tech giant Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at calls for seniors of Facebook to be punished over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, saying that he takes full responsibility. The company now says 87m profiles had been extracted from the platform, but Zuckerberg insisted he remained the right person to run the company. ‘At the end of the day, this is my responsibility. So there have been a bunch of questions about [firing staff]. I started this place. I run it. And I am responsible for what happens here. I still think that I’m going to do the best job to help run it going forward. I’m not looking to throw anyone else under the bus for mistakes that we’ve made here.’
Animal rights crime - Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years in jail for poaching rare antelope back in 1998. The court in Jodhpur also fined him 10,000 rupees ($154; £109) for the crime. Khan killed the two blackbucks, a protected species, in the western state of Rajasthan while shooting a film. Four other actors who starred with him in the movie and were also charged with the offence have been acquitted.
Women ‘impure’ - Women who rushed to perform first aid on a mayor who collapsed in a sumo ring in Japan were ordered by a referee to leave the ring because females are banned from entering the ‘sacred’ area. Traditionally seen as ‘impure’, women are forbidden from entering. They ran into the ring when Maizuru city mayor Ryozo Tatami collapsed while giving a speech. The head of Japan's sumo association later apologised to the women. ‘The announcement [to get off the stage] was made by a referee who was upset, but it was an inappropriate act in a situation that involves one's life,’ Nobuyoshi Hakkaku, the sumo association's chief said in a statement. ‘We deeply apologise.’