A devastating mass shooting that erupted from a domestic dispute in Shreveport, Louisiana, has left eight children dead, including seven who were the biological children of the gunman, sending shockwaves through the tight-knit local community. Law enforcement officials confirmed the horrific attack unfolded early Sunday morning, with the first emergency alert reaching local dispatch at 5:55 a.m. Central Daylight Time. The first caller, who had trapped herself alongside a child on the home’s rooftop to escape the rampaging gunman inside, reported the ongoing violence to authorities. To escape the threat, the woman and the child jumped from the rooftop, and a ninth child also made the risky jump to flee the shooting. All three survivors were transported to local medical facilities, with the woman and first child listed in stable condition, and the ninth child also receiving care. Two adult women, one of whom is the mother of the slain children, also sustained gunshot wounds during the attack and remain in the hospital recovering, according to police updates. The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office released details confirming the ages of the eight victims, who ranged between 3 and 11 years old, with five girls and three boys among the dead. Seven of the children were siblings, and the eighth victim was their cousin. Officials publicly released the names of the victims: 3-year-old Jayla Elkins, 5-year-old Shayla Elkins, 6-year-old Kayla Pugh, 7-year-old Layla Pugh, 10-year-old Markaydon Pugh, 11-year-old Sariahh Snow, 6-year-old Khedarrion Snow, and 5-year-old Braylon Snow. Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith walked through the chronological sequence of events in a press briefing on Monday, noting that just minutes after the first 911 call, the rooftop caller updated dispatch to report she and the children with her had moved from the roof to the home’s backyard to avoid detection. The violence did not end at the first residence, however. Shortly after the first update, a second emergency call came in from another nearby home, where a woman reported her boyfriend — identified by authorities as the same suspect Shamar Elkins — had shot her, abducted her three children, and fled the property. Law enforcement then received a report of a carjacking connected to the suspect, leading officers to believe the three abducted children were being held inside the stolen vehicle. Officers located the suspect’s vehicle at approximately 6:29 a.m., and a shootout between Elkins and responding officers followed. Elkins was found dead at the scene of the gunfight, but investigators discovered no children were inside the vehicle at the time of the encounter. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether Elkins died by suicide during the exchange or was fatally shot by responding officers. As of the latest update, investigators have not determined a clear motive for the attack. Chief Smith confirmed that Elkins had a prior criminal record, though he declined to release additional details about that history. All available evidence points to the attack originating from a domestic dispute, Smith said. The weapon used in the shooting was classified as an assault-style firearm, and investigators are still working to trace how Elkins obtained the weapon. Police also confirmed they are aware of reports that Elkins was in the process of a divorce and was scheduled to appear for a court hearing related to the divorce on the Monday following the attack. Local leaders have used the tragedy to highlight the urgent need for broader community action to prevent domestic violence, pointing out that a new domestic violence support center had opened in Shreveport just 10 days before the shooting. Many of the public officials who spoke at the shooting press conference had also attended the center’s opening ceremony. “I don’t believe that any of us could have imagined that only days later our community would be shaken by the most heart-breaking tragedy we have ever witnessed,” said Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn. The investigation into the attack remains ongoing as law enforcement works to piece together a full timeline of events and confirm the motive. This horrific incident adds to the growing national conversation about mass gun violence and domestic violence rooted harm in the United States.
分类： society
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China tightens supervision of addictive drugs to curb abuse
In a targeted move to rein in the misuse of controlled pharmaceutical substances, Chinese authorities announced sweeping new regulatory measures for two high-risk addictive drugs on Monday, April 20, 2026. The updated rules, jointly issued by the National Medical Products Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Narcotics Control Commission, apply to oral pregabalin and all compound medications containing guaifenesin, establishing end-to-end oversight across every segment of the two products’ industrial supply chains.
Starting with the source of production, provincial drug regulatory bodies are now mandated to enforce rigid production quotas for the two substances, a policy designed to cut off excess supply that could be diverted for illicit abuse. Digital sales channels face an outright ban: the circular explicitly prohibits online retail of these medications, as well as any unlicensed offline sales through unapproved vendors.
For brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies, a series of strict operating requirements have been put in place to secure access to the drugs. All eligible stocks must be stored in locked, designated cabinets managed by specially assigned staff, and dispensing can only proceed when a customer presents a valid, official medical prescription. Pharmacies are required to log full, detailed transaction records covering every sale, including the drug’s name, dosage specifications, total quantity sold, manufacturer information, batch number, purchase date, and the buyer’s full name and government-issued identification number. All prescriptions must also be retained on file for regulatory inspection.
For formulations that were previously available over the counter, the new rules cap single-transaction sales at a maximum of five minimum packaging units to reduce the risk of bulk diversion. Sales to any minor are strictly prohibited under all circumstances. If pharmacy staff or licensed pharmacists identify suspicious purchasing behavior—such as repeated bulk purchases or inconsistent prescription documentation—they are required to immediately deny the sale and report the incident to local law enforcement and drug regulators.
To boost oversight transparency and responsiveness, the circular also mandates the rollout of a full-chain digital traceability system that tracks every unit of the two medications from factory to end consumer. This system will be paired with expanded drug abuse monitoring and early warning infrastructure across all levels of regulation. Provincial regulators are required to add oral pregabalin and guaifenesin-containing compounds to their priority drug abuse monitoring rosters, and any emerging signs of clustered, regionally concentrated abuse or growing misuse trends must be investigated immediately and reported to the national drug regulator for coordinated response.
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Forum explores integration of copyright protection with accessible reading services
A high-level national forum focused on reconciling robust copyright protection with expanded accessible reading services kicked off Monday in Nanchang, the capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province. The convening brought together policymakers, disability advocacy leaders and cultural officials to advance a core goal: making reading rights more inclusive for marginalized groups and lifting the quality of China’s nationwide public reading initiatives.Organized jointly by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, the forum framed the protection of reading access for people with disabilities as a foundational pillar of China’s people-centered development approach. Beyond advancing cultural inclusion, attendees emphasized that guaranteeing equal reading access is a critical step toward upholding broader societal fairness and justice.A key highlight of the discussions was the landmark national regulation on promoting public reading, which entered into force across China in February 2026. The policy centers on closing gaps in reading resources across different population groups, prioritizing the protection of reading rights for vulnerable key demographics, and includes explicit, targeted provisions to expand accessible formats and uphold reading access for people with disabilities.As authorities work to build out a comprehensive national accessible reading ecosystem aligned with the new regulation, forum participants called for scaled-up investment in technology-driven copyright management. Leveraging digital innovation to both strengthen copyright protection and streamline authorized access to accessible reading materials, they argue, will allow service providers to deliver far more convenient, affordable reading options for people with disabilities.In addition to domestic policy and infrastructure priorities, forum organizers also committed to deepening international exchanges and cooperation on accessible reading initiatives. The move is designed to share China’s progress in advancing cultural inclusion and collaborative problem-solving on equitable access to information with the global community.
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US singer D4vd charged with murder stemming from death of missing teenage girl
Rising American indie-pop musician D4vd, legally known as David Anthony Burke, 21, is facing three counts of first-degree murder over the 2025 killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced in a public press conference.
According to District Attorney Nathan Hochman, Rivas Hernandez visited Burke’s Hollywood Hills residence on April 23, 2025, and was never seen or heard from again after that meeting. Five months later, on September 8, 2025, investigators recovered the teen’s dismembered, decomposed remains from the trunk of a Tesla vehicle registered to Burke’s Texas address. The remains were discovered at a Hollywood tow yard, where the vehicle had been impounded.
Prosecutors have outlined three aggravated special circumstances attached to the murder charges. First, they allege Burke lay in wait to carry out the killing. Second, they claim the murder was committed for financial gain: Hochman stated Rivas Hernandez was threatening to expose Burke that night, which would have endangered his fast-growing, lucrative music career. Third, prosecutors say Burke killed Rivas Hernandez to eliminate her as a witness to prior sexual offenses he is alleged to have committed. Additional charges against Burke also include multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor and corpse mutilation. Hochman confirmed that prosecutors could pursue the death penalty in the case if Burke is convicted.
Burke was arrested last week and remains in custody without bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at a downtown Los Angeles court. His legal team has issued a forceful denial of the allegations following his arrest, stating that factual evidence in the case will prove Burke did not kill Rivas Hernandez and is not responsible for her death. The BBC has reached out to his attorneys for additional comment ahead of the arraignment, but has not received a further response.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell addressed widespread public criticism over the seven-month gap between the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’ remains and the filing of charges. He defended the investigation’s pace, emphasizing that the priority was to build a solid case that would not be jeopardized by premature disclosure of details.
“ My duty is not to fuel speculation. It’s to deliver justice, and that requires patience and discipline on everybody’s part,” McDonnell said. He noted that the degraded condition of the remains, which had been left undiscovered for months, delayed efforts to determine an official cause of death and degraded key evidence. Hochman echoed that explanation, adding that investigators had to interview dozens of witnesses, some of whom were uncooperative, and thoroughly process all available evidence before moving forward with charges. He urged any member of the public with additional information about the case to contact authorities.
Before his arrest, D4vd had become one of the fastest rising young stars in indie pop. A Houston native, he first gained an online following as a teenager posting Fortnite gameplay content before teaching himself music production. He broke into the mainstream in 2023 with the viral hit singles *Here With Me* and *Romantic Homicide*, and released his debut EP *Petals To Thorns* that same year. He earned a spot on *Variety*’s 2023 Young Hollywood list and opened for Grammy-winning artist SZA on her SOS world tour. He released his first full-length studio album in April 2025, and at the time of his arrest he had 22 million monthly listeners on Spotify and nearly four million followers on TikTok. When remains were first discovered in the singer’s vehicle in September 2025, Burke was mid-world tour. He immediately canceled all upcoming tour dates and withdrew from public view. He was publicly named as a target of a grand jury investigation into Rivas Hernandez’ death in court documents released in February 2025. It remains unclear how the grand jury process will move forward following the filing of formal charges. Rivas Hernandez’ family has not issued any public statement about the case to date.
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China’s reading rate rises amid digital reading boom: survey
As digital reading continues to gain widespread traction across China, new national survey data reveals a steady uptick in overall reading rates among Chinese adult citizens, marking further progress in the country’s push to build a nation of avid readers.
The 2025 survey, conducted by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, was publicly announced at the fifth National Reading Conference hosted in Nanchang, the capital of east China’s Jiangxi province, on Monday. Data shows the comprehensive reading rate for Chinese adults reached 82.3 percent last year, a 0.2 percentage point increase from 2024. This marginal but consistent growth reflects the tangible outcomes of China’s long-running initiatives to promote reading across all segments of society.
Beyond rising overall reading rates, the survey offers a detailed snapshot of evolving reading habits among the Chinese public. In 2025, the combined per capita reading volume for both print paper books and electronic books hit 8.39 copies per person, while the total number of digital reading works available to Chinese readers surpassed 70 million distinct titles. Around 80.8 percent of adult respondents reported that they regularly engage in digital reading, confirming the format’s dominant position in the modern reading landscape.
The survey also highlights growing interest in supplementary reading formats: the share of adults who consume audiobooks rose 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 38.7 percent in 2025, while the proportion of adults who watch video book reviews jumped 0.6 percentage points to 6.3 percent.
Surging consumer demand for digital reading content has driven rapid expansion of the domestic market. Over the past five years, China’s mass market for digital reading nearly doubled in size, swelling from 30.25 billion yuan (approximately 4.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 to 59.48 billion yuan in 2025.
Despite the digital boom, print books have retained significant loyal support among Chinese readers. The survey found that 45.9 percent of adults still prefer physical books over all digital formats, with literary works ranking as the most popular reading category overall.
This dual preference reveals that while Chinese readers embrace the convenience of on-the-go digital access, their demand for immersive deep thinking, structured systematic learning, and meaningful spiritual nourishment through reading has not faded in the digital era.
Wu Shulin, chairman of the Publishers Association of China, noted that even amid widespread digital adoption, deep focused reading remains the core foundation for individual personal growth, long-term career achievement, and ethical cultivation. He called for enhanced public guidance to improve the quality of digital reading and broader efforts to nurture a culture of deep reading, encouraging readers to move beyond superficial fragmented browsing and engage with more in-depth content.
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The train expert you don’t know you need
For many modern travelers, navigating China’s extensive rail network can come with small, unexpected frustrations — from confusing transfer routes to uncertainty about what to expect on different types of train services. But one working rail professional is turning her on-the-job expertise into accessible, helpful content for millions of ordinary people, one short video at a time.
At 32 years old, Li Xin holds the position of head conductor on the high-speed rail route connecting Jilin City in northeast China and Shanghai, one of the country’s busiest economic hubs. Outside of her full-time responsibilities on the train, Li has built a growing following on the Chinese short-video platform Douyin under the screen name “Tie Xinran”, where she shares insider knowledge about all things rail travel.
One of Li’s most popular pieces of content, a video exploring China’s classic “green skin” conventional trains — a nostalgic and still widely used service that predates the high-speed rail era — has racked up more than 100,000 likes from viewers across the platform. Li fits video editing and content creation into her schedule during work breaks, treating the project as a fun, rewarding hobby that lets her connect with passengers beyond her daily shifts.
What started as a side project has already made a tangible difference for many travelers. Li often gets recognized by passengers during her work, who tell her that her practical transfer guide videos helped them plan smoother, less stressful trips. For Li, the project is far more than a personal pastime: she plans to keep growing her channel as an “online conductor”, committed to adding both practical convenience and a little extra joy to people’s travel journeys through her unique, insider perspective.
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Migrants rush to apply under Spain’s new mass legalization program
MADRID – Starting Monday, undocumented migrants living across Spain gained the opportunity to formalize their residency, after the Spanish government rolled out one of the most ambitious mass legalization initiatives in recent European history. The program, which could regularize the status of between 500,000 and 840,000 unauthorized foreign residents already living and working in the country, marks a sharp break from restrictive migration policies adopted by many other European governments in recent years.
First announced back in January and finalized earlier this month, the amnesty scheme offers eligible applicants a one-year renewable residence permit. To qualify, migrants must prove they have resided in Spain for a minimum of five months and hold a clean criminal record. The application window closes at the end of June, a tight timeline that has sparked questions about whether authorities can process the expected volume of submissions in time.
To accommodate applicants, the government has expanded access across multiple public service points: more than 370 post offices nationwide are accepting in-person submissions, alongside 60 social security offices and a small network of dedicated migration centers. Online applications launched earlier, on Friday, to streamline the process for tech-accessible applicants.
Early reports from application sites in major urban centers including Madrid and Barcelona confirm the process proceeded without major incidents, though many migrants reported extended wait times even for those who booked scheduled appointments in advance.
Nubia Rivas, a 47-year-old migrant from Venezuela who submitted her application at a central Madrid post office, noted that while the process moved slowly, it remained steady and straightforward. “It’s pretty simple since I made an appointment online and I was given one for this morning,” Rivas explained. “The process here is a little slow, but it’s fluid.”
Johana Moreno, another Venezuelan migrant who applied alongside her husband at the same Madrid location, shared her optimism about what legal status would mean for her future. Once a professional archivist in her home country, Moreno now works as a house cleaner to support herself in Spain. “It’s what we want,” she said of the regularization effort. “To be well, to work, to contribute, all those things. To pay our taxes. We know that we’ll have rights, but also we’ll have obligations.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, leader of the country’s progressive government, has framed the initiative as both a matter of fundamental justice and an economic necessity. Sanchez argues that migrants already integrated into Spanish communities and workforce should be permitted to participate in society on equal footing, contribute to public finances through taxes, and access the same rights as documented residents.
With one of the fastest aging populations in the European Union, Spain’s government says the program directly addresses a critical labor shortage that threatens the country’s ongoing economic growth. Undocumented migrants already fill critical roles across Spain’s core economic sectors, including commercial agriculture, tourism, and domestic and hospitality services, accounting for a large share of the workforce in these industries.
This departure from Europe’s broader restrictive migration trend has won the backing of both Spanish business associations and major trade unions. The contrast with other European nations, where many governments have prioritized curbing new migrant arrivals and ramping up deportations of undocumented residents, could position Spain as a test case for a more permissive approach to integrated unauthorized migrant populations.
Currently, foreign-born residents account for roughly one in five people living in Spain, a share that has grown dramatically over the past two decades as migration flows from Latin America and North Africa have increased. Most of the migrants eligible for the current amnesty come from Venezuela, Colombia, and Morocco, having fled political instability, widespread violence, and deep poverty in their home countries.
This legalization effort is not without precedent in Spanish policy: the country has launched six previous amnesty programs for undocumented migrants between 1986 and 2005, with some of those initiatives even implemented by past conservative governments.
For many migrants, the program represents a lifelong chance to escape the uncertainty of undocumented life. Mourad El-Shaky, a 25-year-old Moroccan migrant who waited four hours outside Barcelona’s city hall last Friday to collect required paperwork for his application, described what legal status would change. El-Shaky made the dangerous journey to Spain via Turkey, traveling overland west despite the short maritime distance between Morocco and Spain. “Without papers (work and residency permits), your hands are tied,” he said. “You’re like a bird that can’t fly, with broken wings. This legalization will solve many things.”
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Watch: Skydiver crashes into jumbotron at US football game
A planned pre-game skydiving demonstration at a Virginia Tech University football event took an unexpected turn on Saturday, when one airborne performer veered off course and collided directly with the stadium’s massive overhead jumbotron.
Witnesses captured the dramatic moment on camera, showing the skydiver becoming tangled in his parachute lines after the impact, leaving him suspended dozens of feet above the stadium playing field. Emergency first responders were already on standby for the event, and they immediately launched a coordinated rescue operation to extract the stranded skydiver from the scoreboard structure.
In a statement released after the incident, local emergency management officials confirmed that the skydiver escaped the frightening collision without any reported injuries. The accident prompted a brief delay to the start of the scheduled football contest while the rescue was completed, and the event resumed as planned once the area was cleared. Organizers have not yet announced whether they will revisit safety protocols for future aerial demonstration events held at the venue.
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Mother and six children die in Pennsylvania house explosion
A devastating domestic disaster has claimed the lives of a 34-year-old mother and her six young children in rural Clinton County, Pennsylvania, after an explosion sparked an out-of-control blaze that engulfed their entire residence, law enforcement officials confirmed this week.
Local emergency dispatchers received initial reports of a large explosion at the single-family home in Lamar Township at 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, according to an official statement from Pennsylvania State Police. When first responder fire crews arrived at the scene, they encountered the entire property fully engulfed in intense flames, making an immediate search for trapped residents impossible. All seven people inside the home at the time of the blast were later found dead.
Authorities have identified the victims as Sarah B. Stolzfus, 34, and her six children — four boys and two girls between the ages of 3 and 11. Preliminary investigations point to an indoor propane leak as the likely trigger for the explosion, though official probes into the exact origin and cause of the incident remain active. The BBC has reached out to Pennsylvania State Police to request additional details and updates on the ongoing investigation.
Footage captured by local media outlets on the scene shows thick black smoke billowing into the sky above the burning property, as the fire weakened the home’s structural framework and caused partial collapse before crews could bring the blaze under control.
Neighbors described the terrifying moment of the explosion, with Christina Duck, a nearby resident, telling local broadcaster WNEP-TV that she was eating breakfast with her own daughter when the blast occurred. “I could feel it [the shockwave] and I got up and looked out the window, and I could see the flames through the windows, and I come running outside and within a minute the whole house was completely engulfed,” Duck recalled in her account of the incident.
Duck added that neighbors who witnessed the blast immediately began running through the neighborhood to alert others and call 911, and fire crews arrived at the scene just minutes after the initial explosion. Still, the speed of the fire left no opportunity to save the home or the people trapped inside. “By the time they got here, there was no saving that house. It went up so fast,” she said.
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Strong winds, cold air bring sandstorms to northern China
China’s National Meteorological Center issued a renewed blue-level sandstorm alert on Monday, warning that a combination of powerful winds and an invading cold air mass would bring widespread dust and sand intrusion to large parts of the country’s northern region. The blue alert marks the lowest level in China’s four-tier national weather warning system, activated when meteorological conditions meet moderate-risk thresholds for hazardous weather.
According to the center’s official forecast, the combined influence of the moving cold front and sustained strong winds will bring blowing sand and scattered dust events to multiple northern provincial-level regions between Monday and Tuesday. More severe full-scale sandstorms are projected to hit portions of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Meteorological officials have outlined multiple risks stemming from this weather event: the poor air quality and reduced visibility will create disruptions for agricultural operations and ground transportation, elevate public health risks for residents with respiratory conditions, and increase the likelihood of wildfires in northern forest and grassland areas.
In Beijing, the city’s emergency warning management agency announced it had lifted its local blue dust alert early Monday morning, after significant improvements in atmospheric visibility cleared the capital’s air of excessive particulate matter.
The active cold air mass driving the sand event is also triggering sharp temperature drops across a wide swathe of China. On Monday alone, regions in Northeast China and areas along the Yellow and Yangtze river basins will see temperatures fall between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius, with some local areas recording temperature plunges of more than 10 degrees Celsius.
From Monday through Thursday, the collision of cold and warm air masses will bring widespread rain and snow precipitation to central and eastern China. Portions of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Province are forecast to see light to moderate snow or sleet, with isolated areas expected to experience heavy snowfall or full blizzard conditions.