Justin Pearson: Black Tennessee lawmaker reinstated after 'undemocratic' expulsion vote

Tennessee state legislator Justin Pearson was reinstated to the State House on Wednesday after he was expelled for taking part in an anti-gun protest following a deadly school shooting in Nashville.

Shelby County officials in Memphis, Tennessee, voted 7-0 to reappoint Mr Pearson to represent the county in the Tennessee legislature.

“The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice,” Mr Pearson said. “You can’t expel our voice. And you sure can’t expel our fight.”

The Republican-held legislature voted to expel Mr Pearson and Justin Jones, another black Democratic state representative, last week to punish them for participating in a protest demanding gun reform on the House floor.

The protest was one of several demonstrations at the statehouse, taking place days after three children and three staff members were killed at the Covenant School in the state's capital.

Gloria Johnson, another Democrat, squeaked by in a close vote over whether she would keep her own seat, bringing the issue of race in the expulsion decisions to the forefront, as Ms Johnson is white.

The legislature's expulsion votes captured national attention, with President Joe Biden calling it “undemocratic”.

Vice President Kamala Harris made a trip to Nashville to meet the three Democratic legislators last week.

“A democracy says you don’t silence the people, you do not stifle the people, you do not turn off their microphones when they are speaking about the importance of life and liberty,” Ms Harris said during her visit.

Mr Pearson is expected to be sworn back into the State House on Thursday.

His colleague Mr Jones was quickly sworn in after a march to the statehouse on Monday.

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Profile of Tarabut Gateway

Founder: Abdulla Almoayed

Based: UAE

Founded: 2017

Number of employees: 35

Sector: FinTech

Raised: $13 million

Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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England squad

Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Lewis Gregory, Keaton Jennings, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Amar Virdi, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers