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New Zealand mourns a mass shooting; students around the world demonstrate in a global climate strike.
A mass shooting kills 49, injures 48 in New Zealand
Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
A mass shooting at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killed at least 49 people and injured dozens on Friday. A 28-year-old Australian man who claimed responsibility is in custody. Friday is a Muslim holy day. The names of the victims have not yet been released. [Vox / Jennifer Williams, Alex Ward, and Jen Kirby]
The suspect posted a white nationalist manifesto on Twitter and the extremist forum 8Chan, before opening fire in the two mosques. He provided a link to his Facebook page, where he broadcast the attack live. In order to get the disturbing footage, the gunman may have worn a helmet camera. Tech companies scrambled to respond and remove the graphic 17-minute video, but this proved difficult as it was shared through other accounts. [NYT]
The shooter’s statement addressed the US Second Amendment right to bear arms in the manifesto. New Zealand’s gun laws are stricter than the US’s — people must obtain a license through a highly vetted process to own firearms; even if they get the license, some weapons are off limits without police endorsements, and special storage and inspection rules are in place — but there are still some gaps. Investigators are looking into what kind of weapons were used and how the attacker obtained them. [Vox / German Lopez]
Social media sites are struggling to permanently remove the video content and the 74-page manifesto, which was republished on news sites and even available for download in some cases. It raised a range of questions about how journalists should responsibly report following an attack, when posting the shooter’s content would just give him more power over the narrative. [Atlantic / Yasmeen Serhan and Krishnadev Calamur]
41 people died at the Al Noor Mosque and seven were killed at the Linwood Mosque, where a worshipper seized the gun from the shooter, who fled to a car outside. The video footage shows glimpses of the gunman’s face during the rampage. The attack was New Zealand’s first mass shooting since 1997. [WSJ / Rhiannon Hoyle, Rachel Pannett, Adrien Taylor, and Rob Taylor]
One in 500 of New Zealand’s Muslims were killed or wounded in the shooting. The country’s Muslim population increased by nearly 28 percent from 2006 to 2013. At least 48 people are being treated at local hospitals. [HuffPost / Marina Fang]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described Friday as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” referring to the attack as an act of terrorism. The gunman reportedly had been planning the shooting for two years and claimed in his manifesto to be defending Europeans and whites against immigrants. [NPR / Dalia Mortada and Laurel Wamsley]
#FridaysForFuture sparks climate demonstrations
Hundreds of students in more than 1,700 locations around the world skipped school on Friday to demonstrate on behalf of climate action. UN research says there are only two dozen years left to reverse the most damaging impacts of climate change. [Washington Post / Griff Witte, Luisa Beck, Brady Dennis, and Sarah Kaplan]
How this started: Last August, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish Parliament, saying the government was failing to keep up with the Paris climate agreement. News of her demonstrations spread and she began speaking with climate negotiators. She was nominated this week for a Nobel Peace Prize. [Vox / Umair Irfan]
Thunberg inspired the #FridaysForFuture movement around the world. The global climate strike is an offshoot of this movement, which asks: If global climate change is our greatest existential threat, why go to school? Students in each country have different demands. The US Youth Climate Strike is largely asking for acceptance of the Green New Deal. [CNN / Harmeet Kaur]
Climate change is a desperate situation. A 2018 report by the United Nations gave the world until just 2030 deadline before irreversible conditions unleash dangerous weather and climate conditions on humans, threatening the food supply, especially. Thunburg gave a damning speech to the UN COP24 in December, demanding delegates take more action. [NPR / Jeff Brady and Jennifer Ludden]
Are we finally waking up to climate change? Friday marked the largest-ever climate demonstration — it’s hard to say whether change will come from the top, but there’s a sense something must be done. The generation protesting will absorb the impacts of climate change, not the older generations in power. [Time / Ang Li]
Miscellaneous
Women are frustrated by the media’s embrace of 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke, saying female candidates would never get the attention O’Rourke has garnered leading up to his entry into the race. [Politico / Natasha Korecki]
The Chairman’s Global Dinner, a gathering of diplomats three days before the Trump inauguration, cost about $8,000 per person. The opulent display is now being investigated by federal and congressional authorities as part of a probe into spending by the inaugural committee. [Washington Post / Michael Kranish, Rosalind S. Helderman, Mary Jordan, and Tom Hamburger]
The Federal Aviation Administration has not had a permanent leader for over a year — and the agency is under pressure around its handling of the Boeing 737 Max jet groundings this week following a crash in Ethiopia. The FAA first reiterated the planes were okay to fly, delaying grounding the planes despite other countries’ choice not to fly the Max 8. Then it reversed course. [The Hill / Brett Samuels]
Let’s have a moment of celebration for college admissions: A formerly homeless student got into 17 colleges through merit, demonstrating the acceptance system can work when done fairly. [NYT / Christine Hauser]
China is pursuing a $160 billion infrastructure plan, with new roads, subways, and railways in the works. The country’s provinces can’t afford the project, though, leaving gaps between Beijing’s order and local government abilities. [Foreign Policy / Edoardo Campanella]
