Uvalde students go back to school for 1st time since attack
Students in Uvalde are going back to school for the first time since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in a classroom attack that shocked the country. Children began arriving at Uvalde Elementary before dawn, walking through newly installed 8-foot metal fencing that surrounds the campus and past a state trooper standing guard outside an entrance. Colorful flags hung inside the hallways, and teachers wore turquoise shirts that read “Together We Rise & Together We Are Better” on the back. State troopers were parked on every corner outside the school. The district announced in late June that the scene of the assault, Robb Elementary, would be permanently closed.
Video fills in details on alleged Ga. election system breach
Security video from a rural county in Georgia shows local election and Republican Party officials were present when voting equipment was accessed in what the secretary of state’s office calls an unauthorized breach. Some of the video footage counters claims the local officials have made. The breach in Coffee County is one of several around the country in which allies of former President Donald Trump were seeking access to sensitive voting information after his loss in the 2020 election. Election security experts worry the information obtained — including copies of software and hard drives — could be exploited by those who want to interfere with future elections.
Huge Los Angeles Unified School district hit by cyberattack
A cyberattack targeting the huge Los Angeles Unified School District over the Labor Day weekend prompted an unprecedented shutdown of the district’s information technology systems as authorities scrambled to trace the perpetrators and restrict potential damage. Schools in the nation’s second-largest district opened as scheduled on Tuesday and 540,000 students and 70,000 district employees were forced to change their passwords to prevent additional incursion from the ransomware attack. No demand for money was made. Such attacks have become a growing threat to U.S. schools, with several high-profile incidents reported since last year as pandemic-forced reliance on technology increases the impact.
India and China clear needle-free COVID-19 vaccines
India and China have cleared two needle-free options for COVID-19 vaccinations. India says people who haven’t yet been vaccinated can try a squirt in the nose to fight the virus where it enters the body. It’s not clear how well it works because Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech hasn’t released study results. In China, CanSino Biologics says an inhaled version of its COVID-19 shot has been cleared as a booster, and cites preliminary study results that the puff revved up immune defenses. While COVID-19 shots still offer protection against serious illness and death, scientists are exploring new strategies to better fight infection.
Fears high as Canadian police search for stabbing suspect
Fears are running high on an Indigenous reserve in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan after police warned that the suspect in a deadly stabbing rampage over the weekend might be nearby and officers surrounded a house with guns drawn. Police later sent out an alert that it was a false alarm and they had determined the suspect was not in the community but people remained nervous with his whereabouts unknown and a province-wide alert still in effect. People on the James Smith Cree First Nation reserve were earlier told to stay inside. The fugitive’s brother and fellow suspect, Damien Sanderson was found dead Monday near the stabbing sites.
New UK leader vows to tackle energy crisis, ailing economy
Liz Truss has taken over as U.K. prime minister and is immediately facing up to the enormous tasks ahead of her. The challenges include pressure to curb soaring prices, boost the economy, ease labor unrest and fix a health care system burdened by long waiting lists and staff shortages. At the top of her inbox is the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which threatens to push energy bills to unaffordable levels. Truss said she would cut taxes to spur economic growth, bolster the National Health Service and “deal hands on” with the energy crisis, though she offered few details.