Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
Medical Building Rampage, Depp-Heard Verdict & Nuns Go Viral
All the news you need in about 10 min:
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Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to peruse the latest happenings.
Tulsa Medical Building Shooting
A mass shooting happened at a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police say the gunman killed four people, and as many as ten others were hurt. The shooter is also dead, and police think he turned one of his guns on himself. Even then, the threat wasn’t considered over. Police say they’re also investigating a possible bomb threat in Muskogee, Oklahoma, about 50 miles away from Tulsa. They say it’s connected to the shooting. So far, no bomb has been found.
Read More: Tulsa World, AP, Axios, CNN, NY Times, Tulsa PD, Muskogee PD
Legislative Response to TX Shooting
The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas could end up inspiring new Texas laws. Gov. Greg Abbott called on state lawmakers to come up with solutions to prevent another tragedy. He says lawmakers should focus on the specific topics of school safety, mental health, social media, police training, and firearm safety. Gov. Abbott also told Texas officials to start doing in-person, unannounced school safety audits. However, some education advocates and lawmakers condemned that idea, saying random drills put officials at risk of being attacked by someone who sees them as a real threat.
Read More: Texas Tribune, Axios, Fox News, The Hill, Gov. Abbott
Corinthian Student Debt Erased
The Biden administration is forgiving $5.8 billion of debt. It means anyone who still has outstanding federal student loans from a Corinthian college is going to get their debt automatically wiped clean. Corinthian Colleges used to be one of the largest for-profit education companies in the U.S. However, the company declared bankruptcy in 2015 after one of the most notorious cases of fraud in the history of higher education. The government found several campuses were faking data about the success of their graduates, lying to the government about graduation rates, and falsely telling students their course credits could be transferred.
Read More: WSJ, WaPo, AP, CNBC, The Hill, DOE
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend Begins
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is marking 70 years on the throne in what’s known as the Platinum Jubilee. Today, celebrations kick off with a military parade that the royal family will watch from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Over the weekend, there will be a concert featuring Elton John, Diana Ross, and more. Then, more than 10 million people are expected to take part in Big Jubilee Lunches on Sunday. Those are street parties and barbeques held all over the commonwealth. Finally, the weekend will end with a Jubilee Pageant involving the military, thousands of performers, and hundreds of celebrities.
Read More: BBC, WaPo, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, UK Royals
Groundbreaking New Cancer Treatment
An experimental treatment appears to have helped a woman survive tough-to-treat cancer. Scientists in Oregon turbocharged her immune cells to help her fight advanced pancreatic cancer. She has seen her tumors dramatically shrink. Researchers are calling it an important step in finding new kinds of treatments for many kinds of cancers. However, more research is needed, and this isn’t something that can be used on other cancer patients right away.
Read More: NBC News, NY Times, AP, NEJM
Depp/Heard Case Verdict
Millions of people have been fascinated by the legal case between Depp and his ex-wife, actor Amber Heard. It started with an op-ed in which Heard said she was a domestic abuse survivor. Depp said that cost him acting roles. Ultimately, they sued each other for defamation. In court, Depp and Heard detailed allegations against each other involving drugs, alcohol, domestic abuse, and more. Both denied the accusations against them. In the end, the jury mostly sided with Depp, awarding him millions of dollars in damages. The jury awarded a smaller amount to Heard as part of her countersuit. A spokesman for Heard says she plans to appeal the verdict.
Read More: Newsweek, CNN, Fox News, NY Times, Twitter
Sheryl Sandberg Steps Down
Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as Meta’s chief operating officer. Meta was still called Facebook when she got involved 14 years ago. Since then, she helped build the business side of the company, making it one of the most profitable and well-known companies in the world. She gained more name recognition with her book, ‘Lean In’. Sandberg now says she wants to spend more time on her foundation and women’s issues. Still, she will stay on as a member of Meta’s board of directors.
Read More: CBS News, AP, CNBC, The Verge, WSJ, Facebook
Instagram to Push Amber Alerts
A new initiative has started to help find missing children around the world, and it’s happening on Meta-owned Instagram. This week, the social media platform started rolling out an Amber Alert feature in the U.S. and two dozen other countries. Now, when law enforcement issues an Amber Alert, it will go to your Instagram feed, letting you know about a missing child and giving you a picture if there is one. To make sure the alerts are targeted, Instagram says it will use the city on each user’s profile as well as their IP address and location services, assuming that feature is turned on.
Read More: CNN, The Verge, Engadget, People, Meta
NBA Finals Begin
The NBA Finals start tonight. Basketball fans will see Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the Golden State Warriors face off against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of the Boston Celtics. This will be the Warrior’s sixth appearance in the finals over the last eight years. For the Celtics, it’s their first time getting there since 2010. It’s expected to be a pretty tight series, but Golden State is considered the favorite. Fans can watch all of the NBA Finals on ABC.
Read More: Yahoo! Sports, CBS Sports, The Athletic, CNET, NBA
Thing to Know Thursday: Nuns on Social Media
Nuns have found a way to make convent life look a little more appealing to young people. They’ve turned to TikTok. If you search #NunTok on the app, you’ll find tons of videos that together have tens of millions of views. Many take videos of their convents, but you’ll also see nuns lip-syncing, playing pranks, performing viral dances, and more. It’s not clear if the exposure is helping draw in new members, though. As of 2019, Georgetown University found that 87% of Christians living the cloistered life were 60 or older.
Read More: NY Times, Deseret News, The Guardian, #NunTok