Schools are spending billions on high-tech defense for mass shootings
Schools have been struggling with how to hinder, and handle, mass shootings since 1999, when two gunmen armed with semi-automatic weapons killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Safety anxieties are helping to fuel a multibillion-dollar industry of school security products. Some manufacturers sell gun-detection scanners and wireless panic buttons for school districts. Others offer high-resolution cameras and software that can identify students’ faces, track their locations and monitor their online activities. In 2021, schools and colleges in the United States spent an estimated $3.1 billion on security products and services, compared with $2.7 million in 2017, according to market-research company Omdia.
Stars use BET Awards stage to criticize Roe v. Wade ruling
Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Jazmine Sullivan were some of the big stars using the BET Awards stage to strongly criticize the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strip away women’s constitutional protection for abortion. Henson took the stage as the show’s host on Sunday with an uplifting message about “Black excellence” before she launched into the court’s overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling last week. The actor took the stage after Lizzo opened the show performing her single “About Damn Time.” Janelle Monae held up her middle finger toward the Supreme Court, while Sullivan made a plea to men for their support of women.
Rudy Giuliani smacked on back while campaigning on Staten Island
A grocery store worker on Staten Island was arrested Sunday after smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back while the former mayor campaigned on behalf of his son, a Republican candidate for governor, according to police and Giuliani. In an interview, Giuliani said he was walking through a ShopRite grocery store with supporters when the employee disparaged him and slapped his back, then made an apparent reference to abortion. The initial account shared by police said that an unnamed 39-year-old man had slapped Giuliani in the mid-back while saying, “What’s up, scumbag?” The man was taken into custody.
How China is policing the future
The more than 1.4 billion people living in China are constantly watched. They are recorded by police cameras that are everywhere. Their phones are tracked, their purchases are monitored, and their online chats are censored. Now, even their future is under surveillance. The latest generation of technology digs through the vast amounts of data collected on their daily activities to find patterns and aberrations, promising to predict crimes or protests before they happen. They target potential troublemakers in the eyes of the Chinese government — not only those with a criminal past but also vulnerable groups, including ethnic minorities, migrant workers and those with a history of mental illness.
21 found dead in South African tavern, officials say
Twenty-one teenagers were found dead early Sunday in a tavern in the coastal city of East London, South Africa, police said, in a tragedy that remains something of a mystery and that has left much of the country reeling emotionally. Initial reports were that the teenagers, who police said were ages 13 to 17, died from a stampede. But Bheki Cele, the national police minister, said investigators had not confirmed that theory. President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his sympathy in a statement. And senior officials descended upon the Scenery Park neighborhood, northwest of East London’s city center, to help attend to the fallout from the tragedy.
Iran launches rocket into space as nuclear talks to resume
Iranian state television says says that Tehran has launched a solid-fueled rocket into space, drawing a rebuke from Washington ahead of the expected resumption of stalled talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. It’s unclear when exactly the rocket was launched, but the announcement came after satellite photos showed preparations at a desert launch pad and Iran acknowledged it planned tests for the satellite-carrying Zuljanah rocket. State-run media claimed that the rocket launch was successful. The news comes after the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, traveled to Tehran in a push to resuscitate stalemated negotiations.
Norway: Suspect in Pride Month attack won’t talk to police
The suspect in a mass shooting during an LGBTQ festival in Norway has refused to explain his actions to investigators and will remain in pretrial custody for the next four weeks. The 42-year-old Norwegian citizen was arrested shortly after the attack in Oslo’s nightlife district early Saturday. Two people were killed and more than 20 were injured in what the Norwegian security service called an “Islamist terror act.” Oslo police said they tried to question the suspect on Saturday and again on Sunday without success. His defense lawyer told The Associated Press that the man refuses to have his statement recorded and videotaped unless police release the entire recording to the public.
By wire sources