Deep sigh of relief: The world anxiously held its breath in anticipation of who would be the new president of France. The candidates were Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist conservative with ties to Russia, who lost to Emmanuel Macron, a self-described centrist. As an independent, Macron's platform of free trade, strengthening ties with the EU, LGBTQ rights and immigration made him the popular choice for French citizens—he even received an endorsement from former president Obama. France successfully avoided the nationalist wave of populism that swept the US with the Trump election and the UK following Brexit. Nations around the world have all collectively exhaled, but there's still lingering uncertainty of how Macron will tackle jobs and other key issues affecting France.Um, excuse me? In a shocking move, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbot, signed a bill that will ban sanctuary cities throughout the state via Facebook live. Sanctuary cities are communities with local laws that protect undocumented immigrants rather than comply with federal policies on immigration. These localities have had wiggle room in how their state governments enforce federal laws, but in Texas, these practices have come to a screeching halt. Many have called the act a cowardly since Gov. Abbot went around the usual protocol for signing a bill and opted instead to do it on social media without any notice. The new law, which will go into action Sept. 1, puts law enforcement and undocumented immigrants between a rock and hard place.Getting down to business: International leaders are gathering in Bonn, Germany for real talk about climate policy. Things were looking good back in 2015 following the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, but with talks of the U.S. pulling out the fate of the planet is a little uncertain. The United Nations will be hosting this little conservationist shindig on May 8, and a major point on the to-do list is how to implement the terms of the Paris Agreement. This meeting will be huge and could be the next big step towards solving the challenge of climate change.Get ready to delete your browsing history: Guess what, there are members of congress who voted on selling your web history for advertising purposes. Yikes! President Trump has already signed the bill into a law, which repeals an Obama-era rule that made providers ask for permission before selling user data. An activist group for online privacy, Fight for the Future, is helping the public get even. They've got the receipts for the legislators who pushed the bill and have posted their personal information on billboards in their respective congressional districts. Each billboard includes an incriminating headshot, the money that they received for their dirty work and the phone number for their office. Doxing at it's best.
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