分类： society

AUSTIN, Texas – As the United States grapples with an ongoing, devastating public health crisis of school shootings that has left hundreds dead and traumatized communities nationwide, one Texas-based company has proposed an unconventional new first-line defense: unarmed, human-piloted drones designed to intercept active attackers before first responders arrive on scene.

Founded by former Navy SEAL Bill King, Campus Guardian Angel developed the system, drawing inspiration from the effective use of small unmanned aerial vehicles on battlefields in Ukraine. The firm is currently running pilot programs of the drone defense technology at K-12 campuses in Georgia and Florida, with growing interest from school districts and parent groups in Texas, including in Houston, following the high-profile 2022 Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults.

Unlike armed defensive systems, the 2-pound, roughly square drones are not outfitted with bullets or lethal projectiles. Instead, the system is activated immediately after a teacher triggers an alert via a mobile phone when an active shooter is spotted. The drone launches from a pre-positioned indoor location, navigating the school’s halls using custom 3D maps created by the company, while being remotely operated by trained staff based in Austin.

Operators have multiple tools to neutralize or delay an attacker. Two-way audio allows them to communicate directly with the assailant, attempting to de-escalate the situation and persuade them to surrender, while also sharing real-time location data with responding law enforcement to speed up their response. If the attacker continues to harm civilians, the drone can either deliver disabling kinetic impacts by colliding with the assailant or spray them with less-lethal JPX pepper gel to incapacitate them, buying critical time for police to arrive.

Notably, the system is fully human-operated, with no artificial intelligence involved in decision-making, a feature that company leadership says has reassured parents and school administrators concerned about autonomous errors. Alex Campbell, a 30-year-old professional drone racing competitor who works as one of the system’s operators, says the role allows him to contribute to school safety without being on the front lines directly. “To be the nerd behind the scenes, to help the heroes on this Earth saving us from the bad things happening, it’s really fulfilling to be able to have a hand in that,” Campbell explained.

The company offers the system through annual service contracts, with pricing scaled to a school’s size and number of buildings. King emphasizes that the system’s greatest value lies in its potential deterrent effect: “The best-case scenario is we put this in every single school in America and then never have to use it, right? Because it’s got a deterrent quality to it.”

To date, the technology has not been tested in a real active shooter scenario, and it aligns with a long-running strain of thought in U.S. gun violence policy debates that argues for adding defensive technology rather than pursuing stricter gun control legislation to curb mass shootings. Data from tracking platform IntelliSee recorded 233 separate gun-related incidents on U.S. school grounds in 2023 alone, underscoring the urgent demand for new solutions to the ongoing crisis.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — As Jamaica observes its annual Child’s Month, a major philanthropic initiative led by the NCB Foundation is opening new doors for hundreds of children struggling with undiagnosed vision impairments across the island. The organization has contributed $525,000 worth of comprehensive vision care kits to the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB), rolling out much-needed eye health services to young people in underserved communities.

For sixth-grade student Ashayna Williams of John Austin Primary School, the donation has already reshaped her daily classroom experience. Before receiving her new prescription glasses through the program, she struggled to make out text written on the front board, and frequent eye strain made concentrating on lessons nearly impossible. “At first, I worried I would dislike wearing glasses, but now I love them — they even look just like regular sunglasses,” Williams shared. “I can see so much clearer already.”

The cross-sector partnership between NCB Foundation and JSB was built to expand JSB’s existing pediatric vision care program, which delivers free vision screenings, comprehensive eye health assessments, custom prescription glasses, adaptive assistive devices, and ongoing care to children from low-income households who cannot otherwise access these services. As part of this Child’s Month activation, JSB’s clinical teams conducted on-site screenings at five primary schools across Jamaica. After initial evaluations, roughly 200 students were flagged for follow-up assessments and targeted interventions to address their vision needs.

John Austin Primary School was one of the first campuses to host the screening program, after school leaders noticed persistent literacy gaps among multiple grade levels that could not be explained by other factors. When the vision screenings were completed, school principal Ainsworth Williams noted that the initiative uncovered a critical barrier to learning that would likely have remained undiagnosed without the program. “Our literacy coordinator Keisha Taylor flagged that students across multiple grades were consistently struggling during reading activities, so we knew we had to dig deeper,” Principal Williams explained. “What we found was that these kids weren’t struggling to learn — they were struggling to see. We are thrilled our students now have the support they need, and we’re confident this will make a huge difference for both their academic progress and self-confidence.”

Ashayna Williams is among the first group of children to benefit from the vision kit donation, which brings critical eye care support directly to young people living with unaddressed visual challenges. Sandra Harris, coordinator of JSB’s vision center, emphasized that undiagnosed childhood vision impairment remains a widespread, underaddressed issue across Jamaica that directly undermines educational outcomes and young people’s confidence. “Far too many children go months or even years without a vision diagnosis, and the impacts almost always show up first in the classroom: reading difficulties, persistent eye strain, reduced class participation, and fading self-esteem,” Harris said. “The NCB Foundation’s generous support lets us reach more children much earlier, deliver life-changing assessments and interventions, and remove barriers that can hold back a child’s learning and long-term development.”

Beyond the monetary donation and vision kit contribution, the NCB Foundation also organized a special community engagement day for students from John Austin Primary at JSB’s headquarters. The event included interactive, hands-on STEM activities designed and led by local education non-profit STEM Builders Jamaica, giving students the chance to explore new skills in an accessible, supportive environment.

Kadeen Finn Miller, program administrator at the NCB Foundation, explained that the initiative is rooted in the foundation’s core mission: removing preventable barriers to help children fully engage in learning and daily life. “Far too many young people are falling behind in school because of vision challenges that are completely treatable,” Finn Miller said. “At NCB Foundation, we hold firm that something as basic as access to quality vision care should never stand between a child and their right to learn, participate confidently, and reach their full potential. Through this partnership with the Jamaica Society for the Blind, we are grateful to have the opportunity to remove this barrier for the children who need this support most.”

In the quiet southeastern French town of Villy-le-Pelloux, a small Papillon dwarf spaniel whose remarkable age made him a candidate for a world record has passed away, closing out a gentle, decades-long life that captured local hearts just weeks before his death. Lazare, the tiny toy spaniel recognizable by his signature upright “butterfly” ears, was born on December 4, 1995, according to animal charity worker Anne-Sophie Moyon, putting his age at 30 years and five months when he died on Thursday.

Lazare spent nearly all of his life with his original owner, remaining by her side until her passing. After his owner died, Lazare was discovered next to her body and taken into the care of Moyon’s animal charity shelter, where staff soon uncovered his extraordinary birth date. Team members verified the date across two separate animal registries, and out of lighthearted curiosity, submitted the paperwork to put Lazare forward for consideration as the world’s oldest living dog. They never expected the quiet senior pup would draw public attention before he could officially claim the title.

It was just last month that 29-year-old single mother Ophelie Boudol walked through the shelter doors, planning to find a companion for her mother. What she found instead was an immediate connection with the 30-year-old spaniel, who was just one year older than Boudol herself. “I spent half an hour sitting next to him, then I said, ‘Listen, if nobody wants to take him, I don’t mind — as long as he gets on with the cats,’” Boudol told AFP. She brought Lazare home to join her 9-year-old son and two resident cats, and the small senior quickly settled into his new, loving final home.

In his final weeks, Lazare needed a little extra care: he wore nappies, had lost his sight and hearing, and spent nearly all of his days napping. Still, Boudol said his gentle, endearing spirit never faded, and the whole family affectionately nicknamed him their “little grandpa baby.” Earlier this week, Boudol held the soft-spoken pup at her home, telling reporters he retained a surprisingly charming personality despite his advanced age.

On Thursday night, Lazare passed away peacefully in Boudol’s arms. “He started slipping away in my arms last night,” Boudol said Friday. “He was off to reunite with his first carer.”

AFP reached out to Guinness World Records Friday to confirm whether Lazare would officially be recognized as the record holder, but has not yet received an immediate response. The previous presumed title holder, a 31-year-old Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo named Bobi who died in 2023, had his record stripped earlier this year when a 2024 review concluded there was insufficient conclusive evidence to verify his claimed age.

For Boudol and the shelter staff who cared for Lazare in his final days, however, the title was never the point — the joy of giving the old pup a loving home in his final weeks was enough to make his story matter.

On a recent Friday in Junction, a community located within Jamaica’s St Elizabeth parish, local law enforcement rolled out a new proactive road safety outreach effort by distributing 30 free protective helmets to local motorcyclists. The initiative marks a expanded push by police to address a persistent public safety crisis that has seen motorcyclists consistently account for the majority of traffic-related deaths in the region.

Superintendent Coleridge Minto, head of the St Elizabeth police division, outlined the current state of road safety in the parish during the distribution event. So far in 2025, the division has recorded 12 confirmed road fatalities, a slight decline from the 14 deaths reported during the same period in 2024. But despite this small overall improvement, Minto emphasized that motorcyclists remain the group most at risk, accounting for a growing share of traffic deaths year over year.

According to Minto’s data, 14 motorcyclists lost their lives in crashes across St Elizabeth in 2024, a figure that has already risen to 16 in 2025. Even with just over half of 2025 completed, six motorcyclists have already died in traffic incidents in the parish this year. This grim trend has pushed local police to combine traditional enforcement efforts with new preventive and educational programming to reduce preventable deaths.

“Law enforcement patrols and compliance checks will continue, as they have proven critical to upholding road safety rules,” Minto stated. “But we recognize that enforcement alone is not enough to reverse this trend. That is why we are doubling down on public education efforts to raise awareness of the risks riders face every day on our roads.”

As part of the expanded education push, Minto confirmed that local police officers have been assigned to deliver road safety talks at venues across the parish, including primary and secondary schools, local church congregations, and regular community organization meetings. The helmet distribution, he added, is just one part of a broader, long-term strategy to cut motorcyclist fatalities and make St Elizabeth’s roads safer for all travelers.

In southwestern Jamaica, local authorities in the parish of St Elizabeth have launched an urgent push to map out alternative emergency shelters and a new disaster response hub ahead of the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which officially opens on June 1. The urgent review comes after widespread damage from Hurricane Melissa left most of the parish’s traditional safe haven facilities unusable, leaving officials racing to fill critical gaps in disaster preparedness.

During the monthly general meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation held this Thursday, Richard Solomon, the body’s chairman and mayor of Black River, St Elizabeth’s capital, outlined the new direction for preparedness efforts. A high-level gathering convened last week in the national capital Kingston with Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s Minister of Local Government and Community Development, pushed local leaders to expand their search beyond the facilities that have historically served as emergency shelters to protect the parish’s residents.

To date, Solomon reported, municipal teams have completed more than 80 percent of assessments for existing potential shelter sites. The results paint a stark picture of the challenges ahead: more than half of all school buildings—long the backbone of the parish’s hurricane shelter network—are no longer structurally sound enough to accommodate displaced residents, after sustaining severe damage from Hurricane Melissa. The situation is even grimmer for community centres, with more than 60 percent of assessed facilities failing to meet basic safety standards for hosting people fleeing storms.

Facing this critical shortfall, the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation has turned to cross-sector partnerships to address the gap, Solomon explained. The central Jamaican government recently allocated targeted funding to churches across St Elizabeth to support cleanup and structural restoration work on their properties. Officials now plan to leverage these renovated church spaces as alternative emergency shelters for the coming storm season.

“The Ministry of Local Government is fully aware of our critical shelter shortage, which is why we have maintained ongoing dialogue to align on next steps,” Solomon noted. “The Social Development Commission (SDC) has also been fully engaged from the start, as they have supported our assessment work across the parish. We are grateful for the partnership with local churches, the SDC, and community leaders, because transparency around the challenges we face right now is key to building an effective response.”

Beyond securing new shelters, the parish is also actively searching for a new location for its emergency response command centre. The existing Emergency Operation Centre is based in Black River, but widespread damage to the town from Hurricane Melissa has left it unable to function as a coordinated disaster hub, and the town has not yet fully recovered from the 2022 storm.

“I encourage all stakeholders to collaborate with us as we vet potential locations for this critical hub,” Solomon emphasized. “The last scenario we want to face this season is being unable to mount a coordinated response because our command centre is compromised. We need a central base from which we can issue clear directives, coordinate rescue and relief efforts, and respond rapidly if a storm impacts the parish.”