Michelle Sham's News Blog

Fang Lizhi, the man who sparked the Tiananmen Square protests, died at 76 years old in the United States.

According to the BBC, Fang was a leading astrologist in China who was expelled from the Communist Party after being accused of stirring unrest. After the crackdown at Tiananmen, Fang and his wife sough refuge at a U.S. embassy and was finally brought over to the United States after a year.

The Huffington Post stated that Fang would stand up against the Deng Xiaoping government and use satire to mock the government during his physics classes. Although he was well-liked by his students, the party blacklisted him.

He was a strong advocate for science as a force for human rights, according to the Huffington Post. To be successful in science, there has to be free flow of information and independent judgement.

A 21-year-old man claimed that he had been beaten up by police during a raid of his home in northern Minneapolis.

Raejuan Telford was treated for a collapsed lung, two broken ribs and multiple bruises at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale on Thursday after SWAT officers searched the home shares with his mother and younger brother, according to Grand Forks Herald.

Telford who works as a landscape worker told the Herald that he was lying on the couch when he heard the windows smash and the police yelling. He then fell to the ground and put his hands on his head, he said.

According to Foxnews, Telford has a history of epilepsy. Telford also told Foxnews that he tried telling the police about the condition but they did not stop.

Foxnews also reported that the police raided Telford's house because his brother was a wanted for an assault, and they were looking for guns.

Minnesota state senate barely passed a bill Friday that would help to build a new stadium for the Vikings football team.

According to USA Today, the Senate's Local Government and Elections Committee passed the bill on an 8-6 vote after a four-hour hearing. The $975 million stadium bill was given new life after a companion bill's failure created a wave of panic through supporters and Vikings fans.

The lease for the Vikings to play in the Metrodome has expired and their are fears that the team will be snatched away by another state or city that wants a professional football team.

"Should the Vikings leave Minnesota, there's a very good chance that Minnesota isn't going to see another NFL team. " wrote SB Nation's Christopher Gates. "The decision to get a Minnesota Vikings' stadium bill pushed through by the end of this session should be a no-brainer," he said.

As many as a dozen American secret service and military officers have been sent back to the United States from the Summit of Americas in Columbia for misconduct.

LA Times states that the misconduct has to do with the involvement of at least one agent with a prostitute. The agents were relieved of duty and replaced with new agents, according to a Secret Service spokesman.

LA Times reported that this happened prior to President Obama's arrival at the summit.

Obama spoke for the first time about this incident Sunday and said that he would be "angry" if these scandals were true, reported The Washington Post. "We are representing the people of the United States, and when we travel to another country, I expect us to observe the highest standards," he said.

Chairman of a House investigative panel, Californian Republican Darrell Issa told the Washington post that he is not sure whether Congress would hold hearings for the misconduct, but they will be looking "over the shoulder" of the Secret Service to make sure that the agency's methods for training and hiring agents are up to expectations.

A major storm system dumped rain and hail as it swept over Minnesota over the weekend.

According to KARE 11, the National Weather Service said that tornadoes were spotted Sunday in McLeod County and in Lyon County. Fortunately, there were no reported casualties and damages.

Meteorologist Jacob Beitlich at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen told KARE11 that the "potential for major storms" was there, but "the ingredients didn't all come together at the right time."

According to the Star Tribune, the storm arrived in the humid metro area in the evening. Cooler air is expected to settle overnight, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

According to predictions in the Star Tribune, snow is expected in some Northern parts of Minnesota.

Minneapolis teachers have voted to approved a contract with the school district.

According to the Minneapolis Public Radio, the contract states that Minneapolis teachers have to work four extra school days, and about an hour more per week. Also inreturn for their extra time, they would be paid a little more than $3,000 more a year.

President Lynn Nordgren of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers told MPR that 83 percent of voting members supported the contract Saturday.

She told the Star Tribune that she is excited. "We have a lot of good things that will be good for students, for teachers, for schools and for the district overall," she said.

Star Tribune reported that the contract will be financed by reserves or non-classroom cuts and will cost the district $17.1 million. That is a 6.4 percent increase in district costs.

This contract will also work to make class sizes smaller in struggling Minneapolis schools.

Burma dissident Aung San Suu Kyi's party, The National League for Democracy, won 43 of the 44 seats it contested for giving it representation in the parliament still dominated by President's Thein Sein's party.

According to the Associated Press, Suu Kyi called the election a "triumph of the people." She had won a parliamentary seat.

According to Bloombery News, Su Kyi had spend 15 years under house arrest, boycotted the 2010 elections that ended five decades of oppressive military rule and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle.

CNN wrote that it is unclear if the NLD had won the 44th seat. Also, even though the control in parliament will not change, this election "marks an important step forward for many in the country who have lived under military rule for 50 years," said CNN.

The Associated Press wrote that Suu Kyi called it the "new era."

The Chinese government shut down 16 websites and detained six internet users for "fabricating or spreading" online rumors.

According to the BBC, the rumors of the coup were about military vehicles on the street of Beijing.

According to USAtoday, rumors began to go crazy on Chinese websites after the dismissal of rising party member, Bo Xilai. Bo's fall came after an internet scandal of his police chief trying to find asylum in a U.S. consulate.

According to the BBC, Bo's fall came during a time where China will begin a once-in-a-decade leadership change. This could signify a huge power struggle within the party.

The People's Daily, the party's main newspaper, wrote that "Internet rumours and lies packaged as 'facts' will turn conjecture into 'reality,' stir up trouble online and disturb people's minds," reported the BBC. However, BBC correspondents say that there is no evidence to substantiate the rumors of the coup.

Five members of a family from Jordan, Minn. were killed when their motorhome crashed while returning home from vacationing in Texas.

According to the Pioneer press, 13 other people were sent to hospitals. Most of them are believed to be members of a large well-known motor-cycle racing family from Jordan, Minn., about 40 minutes southwest of St. Paul, the Pioneer Press stated.

According to the Star Tribune, the crash happened at around 9 a.m. on Interstate 35 in Osage County about 3 miles south of Williamsbury.

The Pioneer Press reported that authorities are still notifying relatives and have not released the identities of the deceased or the other injured people.

Ten of the 1,000 people aboard the disabled cruise ship drifting in the South China Sea are from Bemidji, Minn., reported the Bemidji Pioneer.

One of the ten is Patricia Rall who is an arts and entertainment reporter for the Pioneer. She had been sending reports from the ship back where she talked about the situation aboard the drifting ship, said the Star Tribune.

In her latest report, she talked about the a barbecue that would be held for dinner and that the mood on the ship is "festive."

"On the pool deck, people are in the water to get a cool dip, others are playing bridge, 500 Rummy and, I think, Canasta. The beer is flowing and the mood is festive."

One of the advantages of being adrift at sea, she wrote, would also be the curious fish and dolphins that come right up to the ship.

"Schools of fish are swimming alongside the ship, jumping up out of the water, perhaps to catch some invisible, to our eyes, food. Dolphins are dancing off to the side to provide some entertainment or perhaps just curious about this floating object."