Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Shooting At DC Juneteenth Event Sees One Dead, Three Injured
Police in Washington DC say a teenager is dead and three people, including a police officer, after they were shot and wounded in a popular neighborhood during an unapproved Juneteenth celebration, dubbed “Moechella.” Police Chief Robert Contee says the wounded officer suffered non-life threatening injuries. It happened earlier yesterday in Washington's bustling U Street corridor. Law enforcement was already on the scene of what they're calling an "un-permitted event" due to a fight that had broken out. The gunfire erupted as victims from that incident were being treated. No word yet on any arrests. During a press conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called for accountability. "We have a child who was killed today at an event that did not have any proper planning," Bowser offered. "We need some accountability here."
2 Thousands Of Flights Delayed, Cancelled Nationwide
The holiday weekend was a nightmare for air travel as upwards of 16-thousand flights were either cancelled or delayed between Friday and yesterday. The flight tracking website FlightAware showed nearly nine-thousand cancelled Friday alone, about four-thousand affected on Saturday, and nearly three-thousand flights cancelled nationwide yesterday. What gives? Most of the problems were blamed on bad weather and a pilot shortage in the U.S. The TSA says Friday was the busiest air travel day of 2022, and that TSA officers screened nearly two-and-a-half-million people at security checkpoints. To put that into perspective, U.S. airports haven't been that crowded since last Thanksgiving.
3 FINA Votes To Restrict Transgender Women From Swimming Competition
Swimming's world governing body FINA is voting to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women's competitions. This would not affect collegiate level competition. The new policy would require trans swimmers to have completed their transition by 12 years old in order to compete in the women's division. The policy passed with around a 70-percent majority and takes effect today. The vote also created a group to establish an "open" category for athletes in some events, which would permit trans women who do not fall under the new criteria. “We have to protect the rights of our athletes to compete,” FINA’s president, Husain Al-Musallam, said in a statement. “But we also have to protect competitive fairness at our events, especially the women’s category at FINA competitions.”