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Uprising’s guest expert Robert Jensen, sitting in for Maya Rockeymoore; Jensen is an author and Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzes today’s news headlines:

Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki finally decides to step aside. Prime Minister Al Maliki, who has contributed significantly to the sectarian morass that Iraq’s political landscape is in, has finally decided to allow a new Prime Minister to take his place. Al Maliki served two terms and after Iraq’s President named Mr. Haider Al Abadi just days ago to replace him, the incumbent had initially refused to step down, threatening a new political crisis. Al Maliki is now pushing for immunity from prosecution and angling for a position in the new government. The government change comes as US military personnel are supporting Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the North against a bold Sunni-led takeover. Click here for the Guardian newspaper article about the story.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has made good on his promise to deploy National Guard troops to the border with Mexico. The first of a thousand troops took up positions yesterday in what is being called a “deter and refer” mission. Gov. Perry cited the threat of “narco-terrorism” to authorize the $12 million operation which is apparently meant to complement Customs and Border Protection officials monitoring the border. A majority of migrants entering the US have been children and families, and even their numbers have sharply dropped. Click here for a US News article about the story.

Yet another low-income African American mother has been arrested for leaving her children unattended at a park – this time while she went to a food bank. Twenty eight year old Ashley Richardson, a mother of four, left her children, as young as six years old, at a park in Winter Haven, Florida while she went to pick up food for her family. When she returned she was arrested by an officer who claimed she didn’t “look like she’s mature enough to be a parent.” There have been a slew of similar cases around the country. Meanwhile, France just passed a sweeping gender equality law that, among other things, makes it far easier for women to make their own reproductive decisions. France already has one of the best government-supported childcare programs in the world. Click here for a Think Progress report about Ashley Richardson, and here for an Al Jazeera story about France.