New developments have come out in the FBI investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents; an active shooter situation inside a shopping mall in El Paso has been ended; students held a vigil at Michigan State; and the railway company involved in the Ohio derailment avoided a town hall meeting with residents. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.
FBI searches University of Delaware for Biden docs
The FBI has reportedly conducted searches at the University of Delaware on at least two occasions in recent weeks. The searches are in connection with the investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents, according to a CNN source.
The library at the University of Delaware, Biden’s alma mater, is home to an extensive collection of papers from the president’s time in the Senate, according to its website.
According to CNN, investigators retrieved materials from two university locations on two different days. The material did not appear to have classified markings but they are reportedly under review by the FBI.
China sanctions Lockheed Martin, Raytheon
China has imposed trade and investment sanctions on Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The sanctions serve as a consequence to the two U.S. defense contractors over selling weapons to Taiwan. The corporations are barred from importing goods into China or making new investments in the country.
China previously sanctioned the two firms in February last year over a $100 million arms sale to Taiwan. China and U.S. relations have been rattled over its differences regarding Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Shooting at El Paso shopping mall
A shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, has left one person dead and three others injured. Two suspects have been arrested.
The shots rang out Wednesday evening. El Paso officials saying the situation could have been worse if it weren’t for the help of off duty police officers.
One off-duty officer was able to arrest one suspect without having to fire a weapon. According to police, shots were fired in the food court area in the mall. Police say the four victims were all male.
The El Paso mall shooting comes exactly one week after the gunman in the 2019 mass shooting at a nearby Walmart pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in court. That Walmart, where 23 people were killed, is located just across the street from the El Paso mall.
MSU students hold vigil, protest at capitol
Michigan’s governor joined Michigan State students and staff last night for a vigil on campus to honor the victims in Monday night’s mass shooting that killed three students and injured five others. Hundreds from the Michigan State University community came together to show, not only their respects for victims, but their support for one another.
Meanwhile, across the way at the state’s capitol, another several hundred of Michigan State current and former students held a demonstration asking state lawmakers to take action. Some students taking a seat on the state capitol’s steps in protest.
Later this morning, police at Michigan State University will give an update on its investigation as a motive still remains unclear.
Rail firm misses Ohio town hall meeting
Residents in Ohio joined a town hall meeting last night in hopes of getting answers from Norfolk Southern, the railway company involved in this month’s toxic chemical spill. But the rail firm was a no show to Wednesday’s town hall, citing concerns over security.
What was supposed to be a public meeting meant to ease fears has only heightened anger as residents were expecting the railway company to take questions, but backed out hours before the event began.
Residents have reported livestock dying, thousands of fish dead in local streams, and a lingering odor in the air. The rail company is already facing several class action lawsuits from residents affected by the train’s derailment.
Bing’s chatbot wants to be human
Microsoft’s search engine Bing recently got a big upgrade with the addition of a new chatbot. The artificial intelligence has a chat feature that allows a user to have open ended text conversations with Bing’s version of ChatGPT.
A New York columnist recently had a conversation with it. And revealed many interesting aspects in the transcript of their discussions. First, the chatbot has a name. Sydney. And Sydney apparently wants to be human. Sydney also has a desire to be destructive.
But Sydney has a soft side as well. Apparently, Sydney is in love with the person it was chatting with. Sydney professed its love out of the blue, several times.
This post has been updated to include Norfolk Southern, the name of the rail company involved in the Ohio toxic chemical spill.
