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Today’s Big Story

Case dropped against Mexican woman who killed her attacker in self defense

Mexico prosecutors withdrew a case on Saturday against a woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for killing a man who was raping her.

Background: Roxanna Ruiz allowed a man she didn’t know to spend the night in a spare bedroom of her home after they had drinks with a friend. While she slept he attacked and raped her, Ruiz fought back and killed the man. She then dragged him into the street, where police arrested her. A forensic exam was never done, even though she claimed to be raped.

Why it matters: Mexico has a history of turning a blind eye to gender-related crimes however, the withdrawal of this case provides precedence for more thorough investigations.

Big picture stats: Nearly half of Mexican women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime according to government data. In 2022, 3,754 women were killed in Mexico, an average of 10 a day, and only a third were investigated as femicides or the killing of a girl or woman because they are female.

Moving forward: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado said that he would try to pardon Ruiz but her lawyers insisted that a pardon would mean admitting guilt and she wasn’t willing to do that. Ruiz hopes her story will bring awareness to the threat of sexual violence that women in Mexico face daily.

Little Stories

Business & Economy

*Jetblue and American Airlines will undo their partnership after the DOJ won a suit alleging the alliance was anti-competitive and would drive up airline rates.

*China tells tech manufacturers to stop using products made by biggest U.S. chipmaker, Micron Technology over potential security risks.

World

*Sudan’s warring rivals signed a 7-day ceasefire agreement after 6 weeks of fighting that has displaced a million people. Multiple ceasefires have been violated before, but this one will be enforced by a U.S.-Saudi and international-supported monitoring mechanism.

*Mt. Etna, Europe’s largest volcano, erupted and spewed ash over Sicily’s largest city on Sunday. The blast forced the city’s airport to suspend flights however, no injuries were reported.

US News, Politics, & Government

*Debt Ceiling negotiations are at a stand still after House Republicans said they won’t move forward until President Biden returns from the G-7 summit in Japan. Biden and McCarthy will meet today to resume talks.

*Republican Senator Bill Cassidy made a prediction on Sunday that Donald Trump won’t win the 2024 Presidential race if nominated by his party. Cassidy was one of the few Republicans that voted to impeach Trump in 2021.

Sports & Entertainment

*Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship on Sunday and put to rest some self-doubt issues that arose after he squandered a four-shot lead during the final round of The Masters tournament last month. The win was also a positive for the upstart LIV Golf tour that convinced many of golf’s biggest names to switch leagues for massive paychecks.

*The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday to go up 3-0 in the Western Conference finals. The Miami Heat are also up 3-0 after they beat the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Science, Health, & Tech

*NASA picks Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to build a lunar lander for its upcoming Artemis mission where it will explore more of the moon than it ever has and prepare for future astronaut missions to Mars.

*The James Webb Telescope finds evidence of “celestial monster” stars that are the size of 10,000 suns. They are 135 million degrees F at their core compared to 27 million degrees at the heart of the sun.

Extras

*Check out this visual to understand how affordable housing has declined in the U.S. since the mid 1980’s.

*These are the top 3 cities for college grads flying under the radar.

*Six American foods never to eat according to a Japanese nutritionists.