Top Stories
TOP STORY
TOP STORY
World leaders address UN General Assembly
The first group of world leaders will get their chance to address the UN General Assembly today.
The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and along the Israel-Lebanon border are expected to be among the key topics discussed. President Joe Biden is set to speak today, navigating support for Ukraine and trying to calm conflicts in the Middle East.
Also scheduled is Poland President Andrzej Duda, whose country is critical to distributing aid donations to Ukraine; Qatar emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — Qatar has contributed to attempts for a cease-fire in Gaza; and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose nation has seen the conflict play out just over its border.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Vietnamese President To Lam, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are also scheduled to speak today.
SOCIETY
SOCIETY
FBI stats find 3% drop in violent crime
The latest FBI crime statistics show a 3% drop in violent crime last year, including a significant drop in homicides.
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter dropped 11.6% — the largest such drop in decades, the FBI said. Reported rapes dropped significantly compared to 2022, falling 9.4%, and property crime dropped 2.4%. The drop in reported crimes comes as former President Trump and GOP candidates have seized on crime as a campaign issue, repeatedly suggesting violent crime has surged.
But Monday’s figures show a steady drop in crime that initially spiked at the start of the pandemic. Violent crime is still down significantly compared to spikes in the 1990s.
However, some crime statistics did rise over the past year. Auto theft surged 12.6%, and hate crime incidents rose nearly 2%.
Not all cities share crime reporting statistics with the FBI, though the data cover just over 94% of the US population. The FBI’s national incident-based reporting system includes figures for every US city with over one million people.
Bubbling Under
Telegram
After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement.Space
2 record-breaking Russians and an American who lived on space station for 6 months return to Earth.Titan submersible
Contractor says OceanGate tracked Titan using an 'idiotic' navigation method that involved pen, paper, and Excel.Subscribe to our newsletter
Everything you need to know about today's news — in your inbox each morning.
It’s free
SCIENCE
SCIENCE
Blast could divert asteroids and save Earth
Researchers have shown how a blast might save the world in the first comprehensive demo of nuclear-assisted planetary defense.
Physicists at Sandia National Laboratories, a contractor for the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, recorded in nanosecond detail how an immense pulse of radiation unleashed by a nuclear blast could vaporize the side of a nearby asteroid.
Pieces of a mock asteroid were exposed to intense X-ray pulses similar to those released in nuclear blasts. The pulses obliterated supports that held the material in place and swiftly vaporized the target surface.
The event is so violent that it heats the surface to tens of thousands of degrees, producing a rapidly expanding ball of gas capable of nudging the asteroid off course.
“The vaporized material shoots off one side, pushing the asteroid in the opposite direction,” said Dr. Nathan Moore, the study's first author. “It’s like turning the asteroid into its own rocket.”
The strategy should work for asteroids up to 2.5 miles wide, but that is not a hard upper limit. “If there is enough warning time, one can certainly deflect larger asteroids,” Moore said.
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
District enables pupils to hide transgender ID
A Missouri school district enables transgender students to hide gender identities and pronouns to “knowingly deceive parents.”
Documents obtained from a public records request indicate that Springfield Public Schools staff members ask transgender students how they want to be addressed depending on the setting: in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the student’s parents.
Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at Parents Defending Education, said: “Springfield is clearly stating in its policy that school officials will use different names and pronouns for children in school than when communicating with their parents. They have made the children the authority and cut parents out completely.”
The policy states “every student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun corresponding to the student’s gender identity” and recommends school staff “privately ask transgender students and their parents/guardians how they want to be addressed” in various settings.
The district provides instructions for when parents do not give the school consent “to refer to the child by their name of choice or pronoun.” It recommends that school counselors work with students to develop a plan that meets the students' and families' needs and fosters the best educational outcomes.
Parents Defending Education criticized this policy, arguing that it appears “the district will continue to move forward with allowing students to identify as transgender” despite their parents’ wishes.
LAW
LAW
Killer of 10 at supermarket gets life sentence
The man who killed 10 people at a Colorado grocery store in 2021 was convicted of first-degree murder and given a life sentence.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 25, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury instead found the Syria-born man guilty in Boulder District Court on 10 counts of first-degree murder.
Jurors also found him guilty on dozens of counts of attempted murder and weapons offenses. Judge Ingrid Bakke formally gave Alissa the mandatory sentence under Colorado law of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The case focused on Alissa’s mental state at the time of the shootings. Under Colorado law, a person must be unable to distinguish between right and wrong to be judged insane.
Alissa shot dead two people in the parking lot of the grocery store in Boulder, about 30 miles northwest of Denver, before entering the store and killing eight others on March 22, 2021, including a police officer who responded to the shooting.
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
California bans plastic bags at checkouts
California passed a bill banning plastic bags from grocery store checkouts, including the thicker, "reusable" bags.
Anyone who does not already have a reusable bag will be asked whether they want a paper bag instead of being given the choice between plastic and paper.
The bill changes the definition of a “recycled paper bag” and requires all bags using that label to be at least 50% post-consumer recycled materials starting Jan. 1, 2028.
California has banned single-use plastic bags for nearly 10 years. The previous bill allowed stores to sell customers thicker reusable plastic carryout bags. But few were reused or recycled, ending up in landfills or polluting the environment.
OFFBEAT
OFFBEAT
Massive ocean sunfish washes up in Oregon
A giant fish described as looking “like the invention of a mad scientist" washed up on an Oregon beach.
The Seaside Aquarium said on social media that a mola mola, also known as an ocean sunfish, was found at Hug Point State Park in Clatsop County.
The aquarium said the fish "has been dead for some time" and measured nearly seven feet long. The species can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium describes the fish as looking “like the invention of a mad scientist” with a “tiny mouth and big eyes.”
The discovery comes after a mola tecta, or hoodwinker sunfish, washed up in Oregon in June, and another mola mola washed up in the state in August.
Otherweb Editorial Staff
Alex FinkTechie in Chief
David WilliamsEditor in Chief
Angela PalmerContent Manager
Dan KriegerTechnical Director