Cramm That News

Cramm for 1/10/19

SHARE THE LOVE

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Congo is getting a new prez.

THE BACKGROUND.

Back in 2016, the Democratic Republic of Congo said ‘hey, Prez, time’s up’ and told Joseph Kabila - the country’s prez of around 15 years - that he needed to call for new elections. Problem, since Congo is known for being a pretty unstable nation. Meaning the election ended up being delayed - for various reasons mostly having to do with violence - for two years. So yesterday, after lots of protests, Congo finally headed to the polls.

THE HAPPENINGS.

The circumstances still weren’t great. As in multiple regions were told they couldn’t vote until March due to recent Ebola outbreaks - leading to lots of protests. Regardless, the rest of the country went forward with the election...and voted in Felix Tshisekedi, the head of the opposition party. That sound you’re hearing is everyone’s shock.

THE REACTION.

Not good. Another opposition figure - Martin Fayulu - was expected to win by big margins. And, going into the vote, had a 20-point lead over Tshisekedi. He ended up losing by 4 points. But it’s still unclear who really won the election, since some organizations - like the Catholic Church - say Fayulu clearly won based on vote tallies. Fayulu is calling the whole thing an “electoral coup” and denouncing the results. Leading to growing fears of more protests and violence in the country.

SO…?

Since some regions can’t vote until March, it’s unclear when the true results will be revealed. TBD on the nationwide reaction from this election.

THE ACTION

POLITICS: Yesterday, Prez Trump met up with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer - top Dems - to chat about the shutdown. It did not go well. The Prez reportedly asked Pelosi if she’d now be willing to approve funding for his wall. She said no, leading Trump to get up and leave in what the Dems are calling a “temper tantrum.” Trump says the meeting was a “total waste of time.” And now, is heading to Texas to see the US-Mexico border in person. Meanwhile, Republicans are scrambling to find a way to reopen the gov while still making everyone happy. And are apparently discussing giving DACA benefits to Dems in exchange for funding for Trump’s wall. Stay tuned.

USA: All eyes are on Iran. Recently, the country confirmed that they arrested a US Navy veteran “a while ago” - but won’t tell anyone why. This comes as the US’s relationship with Iran has grown increasingly rocky since pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions. In other news, it looks like Rod Rosenstein won’t be leaving the Dept of Justice until the Russia investigation is finished - reportedly sometime in February. And speaking of which, it just came out that Paul Manafort - Trump’s former campaign chairman - wanted the polling data he shared to go to two Russian oligarchs who owed him millions of dollars. The plot thickens.

BIZ: Fiat Chrysler is not having a good day. Today, they’re expected to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle US emissions charges. Quick refresher: a couple years ago, regulators pointed fingers at Fiat Chrysler for allegedly cheating on US emissions tests. Now, it looks like they’ll be paying a fine of around $800 million. Speaking of which, the Oscars are going hostless. Reminder: weeks ago, it was revealed that Kevin Hart would host the Oscars. Untillll homophobic tweets surfaced from Hart’s past. Hart dropped out - but in the weeks since, the Oscars have had kind of a problem finding a new person to host. Now, it looks like they’ll be going hostless for the first time in 30 years.

WHAT TO KNOW

“Fiji Water Girl:” a woman holding Fiji water bottles who photobombed every celebrity at the Golden Globes Awards. And is now in hot water.

SAY WHAT?

“SF assemblyman introduces bill against paper receipts using man dressed as receipt to make point” - an actual headline. That’s tearable.

FORWARD

TWITTER

SNAPCHAT

INSTAGRAM

Someone share theCramm with you?

Here's our sign up page!

This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
The Cramm · The Cramm · Santa Barbara, CA 93101 · USA