World News

Shanghai lockdown

Residents in an upscale Shanghai compound left their strictly imposed lockdowns, and this story was effectively spread across the city, which erupted the thoughts of many who are still in lockdown that they should be doing the same. Many different groups of residents had confronted their compound’s management and some have been successful in achieving a partial release. More than 21 million people in the city are in the ‘precaution zones,’ meaning that they are placed in the least restrictive category, issuing that those certain communities will be able to go out, even if it is still restricted to a couple of hours. 

Texas shooting 

On Friday, Steven McCraw stated that there was a 40-minute gap between the arrival of the police units and the moment that they decided to enter the classroom where the gunman had placed himself into. The senior officer at the scene had made the call to wait until the school janitor arrived with the keys because they believed that there were no kids at risk or that no one had survived. This delayed response and the footage of frustrated parents being tackled and handcuffed by the police even though the gunman was still within the building enraged the public with the ignorance that law enforcement had of this situation. 

Stampede at church 

More than 30 casualties and additional individuals were left injured due to a stampede that erupted at a church event in the southeastern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt on Saturday. This incident was at a local polo club, and the Kings Assembly Church had organized a gift donation drive. However, due to the distribution of gifts being processed at this event, a stampede was created due to the overcrowding, where most children were killed. The drive hadn’t even started before the stampede erupted, and unfortunately, the crowd just forced themselves into the venue without regard to the gates that were clearly closed, which resulted in this mass casualty. 

- Written by Jenna Cho; Source AP News, BBC, CNN

Political Commentary

Robb Elementary School Shooting in Uvalde

On May 24, a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and killed two teachers and 19 children. State authorities said in the days before the shooting, the shooter purchased two AR rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition. Before driving to the elementary school, the shooter shot his grandmother, who lived and called the police. 

Around 11:30 AM while school was in session, the shooter crashed into a ditch near the school and approached the building. A staff member saw him after he crashed and called 911, noting that he had a gun. A school district police officer was the first to respond, but mistook a teacher for the shooter described by the staff member and drove past him. He then entered the school and fired 100 rounds into two connected classrooms and moved elsewhere in the building. 

Police action has become a point of controversy and criticism by both state officials and people across the country. Three officers entered the building through the same doors the shooter did just minutes after he went in, but after receiving grazing wounds from the shooter they retreated. The next move to apprehend the shooter reportedly didn’t come until an hour after the shooter opened fire. Criticism has come after videos have been uploaded onto social media of parents outside the school begging swaths of police who are stationed outside to go in or let them go in, accompanied by footage of parents attempting to jump the fence to save their children and being detained by police for doing so. 

Liberal Political Commentary

(Events during the shooting detailed in this section may be difficult to read, discretion is advised)

Every time a shooting happens, we say it’s the last time. We said “never again” after 13 were killed in the Columbine shooting, after over 20 elementary school kids were slaughtered in the Sandy Hook shooting, and after 17 were killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting that sparked a movement. Time and time again, promises of “never again” from lawmakers have rang silent and proved to be nothing but empty words, and those in danger are sick of it. Students have grown up learning to hide under desks and barricade doors as part of their school experience while parents are faced with the harsh reality that sending their kids to school might get them killed— all because individualistic people refuse to part with their guns to save lives. 

At this point, there isn’t a single, humane excuse as to why gun reform isn’t necessary. A “well-regulated militia” as quoted in the Second Amendment does not give people the right to buy military-grade assault weapons like AR-15s, and the only reason people think it does is that the gun lobby has worked incredibly hard at donating enough money to politicians to get them to spout pro-gun rhetoric. The evidence is clear: gun control legislation works. In 1996 in Scotland, 16 children were killed in a Primary School and the UK government enacted tight gun laws. In the 26 years since there hasn’t been a single school shooting in the UK. Refusing to crack down on guns means ignoring clear proof and refusing to value human lives over weapons. How can anyone read stories of a little girl covering herself in her friend’s blood so the shooter would think she was dead, and refuse to support gun reform? People are dying unnecessarily, and it has to stop. The proposed solution of increasing mental health resources won’t cut it because that’s not the core of the problem, and lawmakers know that. The US doesn’t have more mental illness than other nations,  their rates are average. What the US does have more of is guns; they are the cause for the excessive number of mass shootings, not a national mental health crisis. 

While there’s plenty to be disturbed about regarding lawmakers’ priorities, people are right to draw attention to Uvalde's police response. While children were being slaughtered by a gunman with a military-grade assault rifle, police were gathering outside and refusing to go in. Instead, they waited to take aggressive action until an hour after shots were fired, and it’s likely that more children died than if they would have gone in earlier. Horrified parents watched the police sit there as they were left to wonder whether they would ever see their children again. What came next was disgusting— border patrol officials showed up. Students at the elementary school were majority Hispanic, and some come from undocumented families. In addition to wondering if their children were dead, undocumented parents had to fear deportation whether that’s what the border patrol intended to do or not. 

The shooting in Uvalde never should have happened. As a country, the US has had decades to get its act together on gun reform, yet the cries of individualistic people and floods of money from the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby have led to the deaths of innocent people, some children, some adults. This must be the last time, and if there’s any hope of that coming true good people must show up to vote during the midterm elections.

- Written by Ashlyn Hill

Conservative Political Commentary

The tragedy of Uvalde has two causes. The incompetence of the police force and the lack of regulation of firearms on a federal level. The police responding to the active shooter actively mishandled the situation. First, let’s address the failure of the police force in this situation. As those who promise to protect and serve decided instead to remain outside the area of danger and instead tackled and handcuffed parents who were trying to get into the school and protect their children it is obvious that they were insufficiently trained for the situation, elementary students are ready for. Steven McGraw, director of the police force states that there were 19 cops sitting outside the school while the active shooter was within(Cabral). He states the tragedy came from the mishandling of the situation by police as they assumed after the initial rapid fire of gunshots let off by the shooter that no one was left alive(Cabral). This led to them switching their process from that of an active shooter to a barricaded shooter. Unfortunately, this presumption was not true and at least 4 phone calls to 911 were made asking for help while the shooter walked free from the classrooms, he had barricaded himself into(Cabral).

The second cause of this terrible tragedy was the lack of safety measures preventing a mentally unstable 18-year-old from purchasing a gun days after his 18th birthday(Sisak). Gun lovers love to cite the 2nd amendment that gives Americans the right to bear arms, but they do not take into account the context in which this was given. The constitution was written at a time before automatic or even semiautomatic weapons were available. Given that fact the founding fathers were firmly classist racists which are displayed in their personal lives, it is unlikely they wrote the amendment with the intention that any person of legal age would be able to purchase firearms without limitations. Seeing as how many of the founding fathers were slave owners, it is clear they did not intend for just anyone to be able to purchase guns but instead a select group of wealthier white men were supposed to be protected under this amendment. Therefore, given that many Americans give more freedom to this 2nd amendment than was originally meant if it comes to protecting our children it would not be unheard of or even radical for the federal government to legislate it. As a gun owner myself, I am not against guns bought in a responsible manner but currently, a Texas resident can buy Ar-15s but not a pack of smokes or a tall can of beer at 18. Therefore if we can legislate these items because anyone under the age of 21 cannot be assumed responsible enough to have them, we can take the same approach with the purchase of firearms. Federal legislation is the only way to prevent future tragedies as it is too easy for the National Rifle Association to buy a few state politicians as is evident with the more than $400,000 gifted to Senator Cruz’s campaign group(Bella).

- Written by Alexis Walker

Economy

The current baby food shortage hitting the United States is isolated to just that country and for a clear reason: consolidated production. Pete Buttigieg, a member of the US Cabinet went on record stating that 4 companies produce about 90% of the baby formula sold in the United States. This has been pointed to as the cause for the shortage seeing as neighbouring nations and European counterparts do not face consolidation within the formula industry. Although the shortage has prompted an outcry from many, the FDA still has a “red list” of formulas from other countries containing some European brands that do not meet US standards, and there are no reports of those restrictions being lifted soon.  

Fiji has now committed to joining an international economic proposal that aims to counter the growing influence of China in the Pacific. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) has 13 other nations committed to the framework, including South Korea, India, and Japan. IPEF was largely a reaction to a security pact that China secured in a visit to the Solomon Islands. 

- Written by Ashlyn Hill; Source New York Times, Al Jazeera

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