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HC Wake-Up Call: House Republicans’ Investigation Has No Evidence of Collusion, Canada Will Debut Currency Showing a Black Woman Who Fought Segregation & Meghan Markle Pays Tribute to Princess Diana

Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.

But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)

House Republicans’ Investigation Has No Evidence of Collusion

House Republicans investigating foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election claim that they have found no evidence of collusion between Russians and those within the Trump campaign. NBC News reports that in a 150-page report written by GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee, the Republicans have also disputed the finding that Russia preferred Trump throughout the election. 

The leader of the committee’s investigation, Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, said that Democrats will have the chance to respond to the report before it goes into the declassification stage. It could take at least a month before the report is publicly released.

Material addressed in the file includes the June 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and Kremlin-connected Russians. The report insists that none of the conversation at the meeting aligned with collusion. “Was taking the meeting ill-advised?” Conaway said to NBC News. “But did anything untoward happen? We cannot through all of our investigations find [that].”

Canada Will Debut Currency Showing a Black Woman Who Fought Segregation

 The New York Times reports that Canada will soon launch the first national currency with a black person on it. Viola Desmond, a businesswoman who died in 1965, tried to sit in a white-only section of a Nova Scotia movie theater nine years before Rosa Parks sat in the whites’ section of a bus in Alabama. Desmond was prosecuted for trying to rob the government of the single-cent cost difference between the whites-only ground floor ticket price and that of the balcony, where blacks had to sit. She was willing to pay the price, but she was still convicted and fined 26 Canadian dollars. Desmond unsuccessfully tried to sue the movie theater and get her criminal convictions overturned, finally being pardoned posthumously in 2010. 

Desmond will appear on a new series of $10 bills that will appear later this year. After Queen Elizabeth, she is the first woman whose face will be on Canadian money. 

“Her legal challenge galvanized the black community in Halifax’s north end and paved the way for a broader understanding of human rights across our country,” said finance minister Bill Moreau at the unveiling of the new design. 

Meghan Markle Pays Tribute to Princess Diana on Commonwealth Day

While celebrating Commonwealth Day alongside Prince Harry, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth and other royal family members, Meghan Markle had a subtle fashion twinning moment with her late mother-in-law Princess Diana. TIME reports that Markle arrived at a multi-faith prayer service at Westminster Abbey wearing a beret styled by Stephen Dones, who was known as a favorite milliner of Diana. Markle also donned a beret, as Diana did at several officials event back in the day. After going to this much effort for the special day that brings together the 53 nations of the Commonwealth, I think it’s safe to say that we could expect a similar fashion tribute to Diana on Harry and Meghan’s May 19 wedding. 

What to look out for…

Today is National Good Samaritan Day, aka a perfect excuse to unselfishly help others who may need a hand. Mirroring the biblical story, National Good Samaritan Day is also meant to encourage helping strangers, so don’t be afraid to make that awkward eye contact with someone you pass on the street!

Kristen Perrone is a Siena College Class of 2018 alumna. She studied English during her time at Siena.