First Thing: Matthew McConaughey in emotional plea for gun control at White House

Actor and gun owner describes window where real change can happen' as he reflects on his home town of Uvalde. Plus, the Congolese student fighting for Russia

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Good morning,

The Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey yesterday urged US lawmakers to reach a higher ground" and bolster gun purchase background checks and raise the minimum age to buy an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21.

Gun owner McConaughey met briefly in private with Joe Biden before addressing the White House press corps. He said he and his wife drove back to Uvalde on the day after the shooting and spent time with the families of some of the victims and others directly affected by the rampage.

Only cultural change will free America from its gun problem, writes lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe in the Guardian today. The pleasure derived from guns, the sense of participation in America's deepest myths about itself which they might foster, come at the expense of tens of thousands of lives a year."

Dunn was placed in a cell with another prisoner who had smeared blood and feces on the wall. He was told to sleep on a concrete floor with a paper bag for a pillow. They treat you like a criminal, they treat you like shit," he said.

He has since attempted to go on a different holiday in Thailand, but had several panic attacks while there and had to return home.