Over 100 Schools Below Recommendations For Measles Vaccine:

Data released Monday morning showed the school-by-school measle vaccine rate at 134 kindergarten schools in Connecticut is 34 percent below “recommendations,” according to the Department of Public Health (DPH).

The data shows kindergarteners across the state below the 95 percent “herd immunity” mark at the start of the 2018-19 school year increased by over 30 percent as compared to last year.

Religious exemptions played a large role in the increase, data showed. At some private schools, like Crossway Christian Academy in Putnam, over 40 percent of children were unvaccinated.

The DPH recommends staying up-to-date with your vaccines, as they are often the “greatest defenses against many serious illnesses.”

According to the DPH, there have been three confirmed cases of measles in the state this year.

Storms Rip Through US South: 

Deadly storms ripped through Texas over the weekend leaving tens of thousands of people without homes and killing at least one person in Arkansas, NBC News reported.

The National Weather Service said that a 140 mph tornado had been confirmed in Dallas and that over 13,000 homes in Arkansas were without power.

As of Monday, the storms continued to move east towards Indiana and Wisconsin, NBC said.

US Troops Abandoning Syria Will Head To Iraq:

US Troops leaving northern Syria will relocate to western Iraq, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said.

According to Esper, the goal of redeploying troops is to help combat the resurgence of ISIS, though Kurdish forces say they have escaped prisons in Syria.

President Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw troops from northern Syria essentially gave the green light for a Turkish offensive against the Kurds, BBC News reported.

Trump had previously promised to bring US troops home.