Buffalo Sentence, Titanic Footage, and the Best College Towns

Buffalo Shooter Sentence

The gunman who carried out a racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in May was sentenced to life in state prison without parole yesterday. Ten people were killed and three others injured in the attack at a Tops supermarket in the city's predominantly Black East Side neighborhood. The shooter previously pleaded guilty to the charges, which included domestic terrorism.

Investigators determined the attack was premeditated, and a manifesto from the gunman described the attack in detail, explicitly stating the store was chosen due to the racial demographics of the ZIP code. The state trial came ahead of a separate federal trial which includes 27 charges, including counts of hate crimes. Yesterday's proceedings were interrupted after an attendee lunged at the shooter while victim impact statements were being read (see video). 

The attack was the worst mass shooting in Buffalo's history. Read about the victims here.

Scottish Surprise

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Parliament's leader since 2014 and leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, resigned yesterday amid declining support and reports of exhaustion with the job. She said she will stay on until a new first minister is selected. See possible candidates here. 

The resignation comes as Sturgeon's party looks to push a second Scottish independence referendum after a failed 2014 vote. Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom since 1707 but received greater control of its affairs after a 1998 law established the subnational Scottish Parliament, a process known as "devolution." A 2014 independence referendum was defeated. Two years later, the UK voted to leave the European Union—a move a majority of Scots disagreed with.

Next month, the SNP will debate whether the party should use the next UK general election—likely at the end of 2024—as a de facto Scottish independence referendum after a UK court blocked a second referendum in December. 

Titanic Expedition Footage

Mostly never-before-seen footage from the 1986 dive exploring the wreckage of the RMS Titanic was released yesterday in honor of the 25th anniversary of James Cameron's Oscar-winning film, "Titanic." The mission marked the first time human eyes saw the 882-foot-long ship since it sank April 15, 1912, killing about 1,500 people. See the roughly 80-minute-long raw footage here.

Approximately 2,200 people were aboard the ocean liner on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City (see map) before it struck an iceberg. Efforts to locate the wreck began shortly after the sinking, but technical limitations kept it hidden for more than seven decades.

The ship's final resting place was discovered Sept. 1, 1985, when an oceanographic team found the wreck using a towed underwater camera 12,400 feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean's surface. The team returned to the site in July 1986, using cameras on the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the remotely operated vehicle Jason Junior. See photos of the wreck here.

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