Tom: Hey everyone. It is Friday, February 27th. I am Tom Hanson and Channel One News starts right now.
Let’scheck in on headlines, and first up, he is the most wanted man on the planet, the masked man who has appeared in ISIS videos threatening the U.S. and other countriesand also claiming to kill hostages. Well now, authorities have revealed his identity.
He has become known as Jihadi John, but now officials are revealing his real name, Mohammed Emwazi. Authorities confirm that Emwazi is originally from the country of Kuwait but grew up in London, in a well-off family.
He is in his mid-twenties, a college graduate with a degree in computer programming and reportedly went to Syria three years ago to join the terror group ISIS. A human rights group says Emwazi's change toward extremism began after several run in's with British intelligence agents.
Asim Qureshi: When I’m asked is the person that you see in those videos the same as the person you remember, Mohammed Emwazi.It’s difficult for me to say that yes, these two people are exactly the same and there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between the two.
Tom: British police have known his identity for some time, but did not release it.
Alright next up, it is a fight that’s taking center stage in our nation's capital as a Republican controlled Congress and President Obama battle for power of the purse.
The clock is ticking for the Department of Homeland Security whose mission it is to secure our borders, manage immigration and prevent terrorism. But the agency will run out of money at midnight tonight if Congress doesn't vote to continue funding it.
If that happens,30,000 homeland security employees will be forced to stay home. Essential workers like TSA agents at airports would stay on the job, but wouldn't get paid.
The Senate already passed a bill to fund homeland security, but the House wants to include a line that blocks President Obama's recent changes on immigration. Democrats refuse to debate immigration until homeland security is funded.
Senator Harry Reid: We're happy to debate immigration. But we're not going to do that until the Department of Homeland Security is funded.
Tom: Republicans disagree.
House Speaker John Boehner: We want to fund the Department of Homeland Security and we want to stop the president's executive actions with regard to immigration.
Tom: And last up, it is a big win for tech companies and consumer groups who are pushing for one Internet for all, as the government passed new rules on net neutrality.
Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission made Internet history. They voted to safeguard your Internet broadband and essentially regulate it as a public utility, like a phone company, allowing everyone equal access.
Marguerite Reardon: That means that your broadband provider can’t block or slow down your access to any websites or applications on the Internet. It also means that the broadband providers can’t charge companies like Netflix an added fee for access to a fast lane that gets you content any faster.
Tom: President Obama and major tech companies like Google, Netflix, Amazon and Facebook supported net neutrality.But broadband providers like Time Warner Cable were opposed and are expected to sue.
That's it for headlines. Alright coming up, she was a teen when she sued Abercrombie & Fitch. Now the case is before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court heard a case this week on religious discrimination. It involves a teenager who was denied a job because of her religious practices. Keith Kocinski explains.
Keith: When Samantha Elauf was 17 years old, she applied to work at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But she didn't get the job because managers say her headscarf violated the company's dress code.
Samantha Elauf: There is no reason why a Muslim girl should go to a job interview worrying about the fact that they do wear a head scarf.
Keith: So Elauf sued for discrimination because wearing the head scarf is part of her religion. Her case made it to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments on Wednesday.
Samantha, now 24, says she was overwhelmed.
Samantha: It's exciting to see it actually go through to the Supreme Court, and so many people took interest in the case.
Keith: The justices are looking closely at the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It says employers must make exceptions for employees whose religious practices may conflict with company policy.
The court will decide whether the burden is on the employee to request the exception, or up to the employer to find out during the interview process.
Baxter: Employees should not have to wear a sign that says ‘I’m religious’ before they are protected by our civil rights laws.
Keith: But Abercrombie & Fitch argued that store managers are not allowed to ask about religion during an interview and if the court sides with Elauf, then it could actually make discrimination worse.
Karen Harned: You're really asking business owners across the country to quote-unqoute profile applicants and employees.
Keith: A decision is expected this summer.
Keith Kocinski, Channel One News.
Tom: Thanks Keith.
Now, from a big court decision to the decision to throw the big game, two high school basketball teams faced off in an epic showdown to see who could be the biggest loser. Here's Arielle Hixson.
Arielle: It was a competition of who could play the worst basketball. Aimless dribbles, missed baskets, and obvious slow play, both teams playing to lose.
With a score of just 28-24 in the third quarter, just before a player was about to try shooting in the wrong basket, the referees called the coaches to the sidelines.
Bernard Childress, executive director of Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, launched an investigation into the foul play.
Tssaa Childress: We started getting emails and calls saying that no one was trying to win the game, actually.The two teams were actually trying to lose the game.
Arielle: Both teams were already advancing to the next round, but the winner would have to face a powerhouse team in the semifinals. So the strategy was, throw this game to avoid facing the powerhouse team
At the end of the game the Smyrna team won 55 to 29, meaning the losing team, Riverdale, had more of a chance of making it to state playoffs.But this 'thrown game' got more attention than imagined. It is now on the radar of the national sports media.
Tim Cowlishaw: Kids at that age are going to do what they're told. It doesn’t matter how silly it is.
Arielle: The day after the game, principals from both schools met with the athletic association. They wanted to remove the coaches and let the players continue in the post season.
Tssaa: The administrators did take responsibility for it, and they were very apologetic for what actually went on.
Arielle: The association found that the coaches may have not directly told the teams to lose, but they clearly explained the advantages of not winning.
Mike Roller: I feel bad for the girls who were put in that position and will obviously lose something, but you never know what lessons can be taught from this.
Arielle: In separate letters to the schools, the association said the teams made a "mockery of the game," and included notes from a referee who thought Riverdale's players intentionally missed between 12 and 16 free throws.
Tssaa: We determined that this was totally out of the spirit of fair play, and not the message we want to send. And then, they did make a travesty of the game.
Arielle: Both Smyrna and Riverdale were fined $1,500 and put on probation for the next school year. Plus, they were kicked out of this year’s playoffs.
Tom: Wow, thanks Arielle. Alright, coming up after the break, the Next Big Thing takes on some global issues.
From television to pickles, from soap to soda, good decisions about your purchases are only a click away. But before we go shopping with this week's Next Big Thing, let's see what you thought about last week's.
We told you about the classic and retro flip phones, how celebrities, politicians, and regular people are making the switch.
So is it the Next Big Thing?
Thirty-two percent of you said yes, flip phones are on fleek.Sixty-eight percent of you said no, I am staying with my smartphone.
So do you want to help the world but don't know how? Well you may not be able to stop climate change or end world hunger, but socially responsible apps can help you figure out what's in the things you buy, and what the company is doing to help or hurt the world.
The Better World Shopping Guides has a $2 app that lets you search a company or category and see how it ranks in five areas, human rights, the environment, animal protection, community involvement and social justice.
For example, in the category of airlines, no one got an A, and plenty got an F.
Another similar app is the GoodGuide app which rates products on health, environment and social impact.
Want to know how clean your products are, then IPhone users can download the free Think Dirty app. Scan the barcode of the more than 200 thousand products on their database to find out all the ingredients and how they rank on the dirty scale.
And the free Buycott app lets you scan any product and determine if the company you are about to give money to shares the same values as you. It also lets you know if products are genetically modified.
So, is shopping with a conscience the Next Big Thing? Head on over to Channelone.com to vote.
Alright guys, that's going to do it for us today. Have a great weekend and we will see you right back here on Monday.
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