Weekly News Briefs: Mar. 20

Local

A call to address flight attendant harassment
President of the international Flight Attendants union Sara Nelson testified on Monday, March 20 in front of a U.S. House of Representatives caucus regarding the sexual harassment that flight attendants experience. Nelson said that flight attendants have to put up with passengers that call them by “pet names,” pat them on their rear and corner them in the back of plane, asking uncomfortable questions. Nelson called from the House to set up guidelines on addressing harassment on commercial airlines and according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “develop standards for employee training and incident reporting.”

National

Trump proposes death penalty for drug dealers
President Donald Trump has proposed enforcing the death penalty for some drug dealers, a statement that many treatment advocates, civil liberty organizations and law enforcement officials condemned. Trump said that the country needs to get tougher on drug dealers, and that includes the death penalty, as they are individuals who he said will “kill thousands of people during their lifetime,” but don’t get punished for the damager. The statement came after Trump has talked about addressing the opioid epidemic, but some treatment advocates say, this isn’t a step in the right direction, according to CNN.

Global

Putin wins Russia elections
After another victory in Russia’s election, President Vladimir Putin said he’s open to having “constructive” dialogue with other countries, and promised to cut defense spending, adding he’s not intending on having any sort of arms race. As president of Russia, Putin said his sustaining priority is the country’s economic growth. According to BBC, Putin won by over 76 percent of the votes, lengthening his term even more since 1999.