Hundreds rally for gun control outside the organization’s Houston meeting, calling on Americans to ‘protect kids, not guns’After two sleepless nights wondering what, if anything, she could do, Nancy Harris, 73, decided to drive four hours to Houston. Before she left, she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down 12 names.Each name was someone she knew had been shot. She put an asterisk next to the ones who had died, including her own daughter. Continue reading...

The Republican minority leader sent an 11-page letter appearing to demand materials from the committee related to his questioningKevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House, indicated on Friday to the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack that he would not cooperate with a subpoena unless he could review deposition topics and the legal rationale justifying the request.The California congressman’s response adopts an adversarial position similar to other subpoenaed Republican Congress members, and it sets a conundrum for the panel over whether to entertain the requests that also challenge the January 6 inquiry’s legitimacy. Continue reading...

The mother of the 18-year-old gunman who shot dead 19 young children and two teachers and wounded many others in an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, this week has said: 'Forgive me, forgive my son.'Adriana Martinez looked distraught and wept as, from her car, she told CNN affiliate Televisa: 'I have no words to say … I don’t know what he was thinking'

Ominous social media posts could have alerted the authorities but sifting through possible threats is an enormous task, experts sayThe mother of the 18-year-old gunman who shot dead 19 young children and two teachers and wounded many others in an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, this week has said: “Forgive me, forgive my son.”Adriana Martinez looked distraught as she wept in her car, telling CNN affiliate Televisa, in Spanish: “I have no words to say, I don’t know what he was thinking.” Continue reading...

The ex-president had sued attorney general Letitia James to block the three-year investigation, which is proceedingDonald Trump, the former US president, on Friday lost a bid to stop the inquiry by the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, into his business practices, allowing the three-year investigation to move forward.Trump sued James in federal court in upstate Albany, arguing the civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization misled banks and tax authorities about the valuations of its assets should be halted because he felt James, a Democrat, was using the case to further her political career. Continue reading...

There was 'no excuse' for officers not trying to break into an elementary school classroom where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers, the Texas department of public safety has said.

This devotion to the right to bear arms is horrifyingly outdated. It brought terror to Texas – and it will happen again and againAmerica’s great appeal to the world was its promise of possibility. It presented itself as virgin territory, a tabula rasa where a society could form anew, free of the past, and where individuals might do the same, reinventing themselves, renewing themselves, starting over. It was a myth, of course: it took no account of those people who were already there, and whose lives and lands were taken, or of those who had been brought to America in shackles. But it was a powerful myth all the same, one whose grip on the global imagination lives on: witness the success of the stage show Hamilton in seducing yet another generation into the romance of a new world and its revolutionary creation.But now we see something else: a country uniquely burdened with the dead weight of its past, and therefore powerless either to deal with a danger in its present or to make a better future. The land of possibility stands paralysed, apparently unable to make even the smallest change that might save the lives of its young.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Georgia-based Daniel Defense posted an ad on 16 May showing a toddler holding a rifleThe maker of the rifle used in the Texas elementary school shooting is facing fresh outrage over an advertisement featuring a young child posted days before the killings.Georgia-based Daniel Defense, which manufacturers the gun used in the Uvalde mass shooting where 21 people died, posted an ad on Twitter on 16 May showing a toddler holding a rifle, with the caption: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Continue reading...

Massachusetts lawmakers formally exonerate Elizabeth Johnson Jr, who was sentenced to death in 1693It took more than three centuries, but the last Salem “witch” has been officially pardoned.Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr, clearing her name 329 years after she was wrongly convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem witch trials. Continue reading...

Authorities confirm gunman stayed locked in a classroom for up to an hour with officers massed outside

Golden State have a shot at their fourth championship in less than a decade. It’s easy to forget they were the worst team in the NBA just two seasons agoWith their 120-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors clinched the Western Conference championship and booked a sixth NBA finals appearance in the last eight years. History will remember this season as a continuation of the Golden State dynasty, especially if they go on to claim their fourth NBA title in less than a decade.But the Warriors have been through a lot in the 1,079 days since their last finals appearance. Continue reading...

The solution to mass shootings isn’t increased policing or an expanded surveillance state or runaway anti-terrorism legislation. It’s making it harder to buy a gunThe mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers, was a reminder of all the ways the United States has failed its people. A nation that still retains promise, America is now held captive by political polarization and a fanatical gun lobby. There are more firearms than people.It’s important to remember, as these mass shootings continue to occur, that the problem is guns: all of them, not just assault rifles, but handguns too. The assault weapon ban, which lapsed in 2004, should be renewed. Somehow, it must become much harder in this country to purchase a weapon. No 18-year-old, especially one with such a deeply troubled history as the alleged Texas gunman, should be able to buy a firearm.Ross Barkan is a journalist based in New York City. He is the author of Demolition Night, a novel, and The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York Continue reading...

Supply chain disruptions, including production plant closures and 2017 embargo on Qatar, have caused shortage of rare substanceA global helium shortage has been affecting celebrations with balloons and even the National Weather Service.Helium is a rare substance produced when uranium decays. Already difficult to mine, there are only a few sources in the world that produce the gas. Currently, the United States is one of the world’s largest helium producers, along with Qatar and Algeria. However, due to supply chain disruptions, including production plant closures and the 2017 embargo on Qatar, the global supply of helium has been severely affected. Continue reading...

Amber Heard tells jurors that she suffers minute-by-minute harassment, including death threats, describing the highly publicised defamation trial with her ex-husband Johnny Depp as 'the most humiliating' thing she has had to go through. 'I just want him to leave me alone,' she says tearfully as the court hears the last of the testimonies

As America comes to terms with the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, readers explain what they think should be done to prevent future mass shootingsAs America comes to terms with its worst school shooting since Sandy Hook, a decade ago, the nation is mourning the killing of 19 children and two adults at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.Here people from across the United States explain what they think should be done to prevent future mass shootings in the country. Continue reading...

A new ESPN documentary sparkles thanks to the charisma and humor of the basketball players at the heart of its storyMake A Splash is a new sports film about a team of women in their 80s and 90s – not from the 1980s or 1990s – who play real basketball, with off-ball picks and turnaround jumpers.It would be tempting to watch the players and say: Wow, look at those old ladies make cuts and sink those shots! Aren’t they just so … cute? It would also, like an air ball, miss the point. Continue reading...

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes celebrate the restoration of lands they had stewarded for thousands of years• This piece was first published by Montana Free PressThe sound of drumming filled the rolling hills of the National Bison Range.Members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes (CSKT) and neighbors gathered under a large tent to sing and dance in celebration of a historic event: the tribes’ reclamation of management of the bison range after more than a century of federal management and nearly two decades of negotiations. Continue reading...

There is no generous interpretation for the past 23 years of inaction. We all bear some of the blameIf you want to ponder how deeply broken and dysfunctional our system of governance is, all you have to do is to reflect upon the fact that our nation experiences regular mass murders of schoolchildren by gunmen, and these mass murders are followed by no meaningful political action. To sit with that basic fact for even a few moments is to feel like you are beginning to lose your grip on reality. It sounds like the gut-roiling reveal from a horror movie, or a dystopian novel about the wealthiest country in the history of the world, which has at its heart a horrible secret. We are that country, and our wealth is soaked in blood. Our learned helplessness on the issue of guns is so deeply rooted that many people – including, unfortunately, our elected leaders – cannot even see how much of our system must be ripped apart, if we ever want to stop seeing massacres.It should make all of us queasy that we are still here, wringing our hands. The school shooting at Columbine happened 23 years ago. There is no generous interpretation for the past 23 years of inaction. We all bear some of the blame, in the sense that we have acquiesced to a cycle in which many of the people in charge today have failed over and over again to make serious gun control a reality, as thousands and thousands of Americans have lost their lives. But that’s a little too pat to get at the heart of what is really happening.Hamilton Nolan is a writer in New York City. He is currently writing a book about the labor movement Continue reading...

The US suicide rate is the highest of any wealthy country and the pandemic highlighted work stress’s effect on mental healthAt about 4.30am on 18 January this year, 27-year-old Michael Odell, a travel nurse who was working at Stanford hospital in Stanford, California, walked off the job during a night shift. Two days later, after his roommate reported him missing, Odell’s body was found by the Alameda county sheriff office’s dive team in the water near the Dumbarton Bridge in San Francisco, along with his car.His roommate, Joshua Paredes, said he witnessed Odell’s declining mental health. Odell was working long hours, had recently moved to the area after the death of his mother and was having trouble finding a new therapist after a lapse in his health insurance coverage. Continue reading...

The powerful lobbying groups spent nearly $5m million last year to expand gun rights while limiting restrictions on who can have a firearm and how they can carry itIn Texas, where guns are already a deeply ingrained part of the cultural landscape, a powerful political force is helping to stifle regulations aimed at limiting access to high-powered firearms.The National Rifle Association (NRA) is one of America’s most powerful lobbying groups, spending nearly $5m last year to expand gun rights while limiting restrictions on who can have a firearm and how they can carry it. Continue reading...

The Texas school killings have touched nearly everyone in the small town, from friends and neighbors to shopkeepers and coachesThe grief is visible on almost every corner in Uvalde, Texas: in the faces of the school-aged kids who are no longer in the classroom and the mournful messages written on the backs of vehicles: “Annabell Rodriguez, daddy missing u”.Three days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb elementary, a loss and a sense of deep confusion hangs over this small ranching town like a shadow. “I feel a big heavy cloud right now,” said Jose Cazares, the uncle of Jackie Cazares, who died in the shooting. “It’s not the same.” Continue reading...

New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern received multiple standing ovations as she gave the commencement address at Harvard University. After warming the crowd up with a few jokes, Ardern warned of the threats currently posed to democracy around the world, and touted New Zealand as a country that has been able to overcome political divides to pass significant legislation. Ardern received a standing ovation when she talked about her country's ability to come together and ban 'military style semi-automatics and assault rifles' and to legalise abortion

She has been denied parole 14 times for the killings of actor Sharon Tate and four other people in 1969A California parole panel recommended the release of Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of Charles Manson for the first time in more than five decades.Krenwinkel and other followers of the cult leader terrorized the state and she wrote “Helter Skelter” on a wall using the blood of one of their victims. Continue reading...

Senator Chris Murphy has spoken with confidence on 'finding that common ground' with Republicans to support gun laws following the Uvalde school shooting on Tuesday.Murphy called for a 'popular uprising of citizens' to put pressure Republicans when he attended a Thursday gun safety rally and press conference on Capitol Hill.

Joe Garcia, 48, died just two days after his wife, Irma Garcia, 46, a teacher at Uvalde’s Robb elementary school, was killedThe death toll from the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers reached the campus’ extended family Thursday, when the husband of one of the slain teachers died of a heart attack.Guadalupe “Joe” Garcia – the husband of 46-year-old Irma Garcia, who was shot and killed while sheltering children in her classroom – died two days after the mass killing that shattered his family, a cousin of his wife confirmed on a verified GoFundMe page. Continue reading...

Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden founded Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization to protect kids from gun violenceThe parents of children who died in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting – the deadliest school shooting in US history that left 26 people dead, 20 of whom were children under the age of eight – on Thursday spoke out against inaction on gun violence after a mass shooting at Robb elementary in Uvalde, Texas, this week.In the wake of the tragedy that killed their children, Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden co-founded Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting American children from gun violence. Continue reading...

Gunman remained barricaded inside a classroom for up to an hour before his rampage was brought to an endTexas law enforcement agencies are facing escalating criticism over their response to the mass shooting at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, after it emerged that the gunman remained locked inside a classroom for up to an hour while large numbers of police officers were amassed outside the room without taking any action.At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Texas authorities confirmed that the shooter had been locked inside a classroom for an hour before he was confronted and killed. He committed all his 21 murders inside that room – including 19 children and two teachers. Continue reading...

Ex-president, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump must testify under oath, says New York attorney general Letitia JamesDonald Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump have been ordered to testify in a New York state civil investigation of their business affairs.The state attorney general, Letitia James, said: “A court has once again ruled in our favor and ordered Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump to appear before my office to testify under oath.” Continue reading...

The girl told CNN that the shooter said he had bought bullets and appeared to spend his time aloneThe gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday allegedly sent a series of text messages to a 15-year-old girl in Germany moments before he carried out his deadly attack, CNN and German media reported.The girl, who was not identified, had been in contact with 18-year-old Salvador Ramos for weeks. Continue reading...

US secretary of state vigorously defends existing global order but admits Washington sees Beijing a ‘long-term challenge’The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has called for a vigorous defence of the existing global order, but stressed that Joe Biden’s administration did not seek a “cold war” with China.“President Biden believes this decade will be decisive,” Blinken said in a China policy speech on Thursday. “The actions we take at home and with countries worldwide will determine whether our shared vision of the future will be realised.” Continue reading...

Panicked, Rishi Sunak reverses course and unveils a windfall tax. He is right to panic: the tide is turning against the ToriesLet’s have barrel loads more outrageous behaviour inside No 10, if that’s what it takes to panic the government into finally unlocking Treasury coffers for those in most need. Now the chancellor relents, but it was as recently as 26 April that Rishi Sunak called it “silly” to provide more help for families sinking under soaring inflation.He stripped people with the least of that vital £20 a week in universal credit, those already stricken with one of the meanest benefit systems among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It would be “silly” to give them the money back, he said, and he hasn’t. He has at least compensated them for the rise in their energy bills since then, but that was a one-off. Unemployment pay has had its greatest fall in real terms in 50 years, tumbling since 2013, while child benefit has fallen by 30% since 2010, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

As late as a few weeks ago, it was widely believed he would face an uphill battle against Trump-backed Jody HiceHello, and Happy Thursday,You’ve probably heard by now – on Tuesday night Brad Raffensperger won a surprise victory against Jody Hice in the Republican primary for secretary of state.Democrats are headed for a runoff in their nominating contest for secretary of state.A Republican who was part of a fake set of electors for Donald Trump in Wisconsin wants to be the chair of the agency that oversees elections in the state.Five Republicans running for governor in Michigan face potential disqualification from the ballot after submitting fraudulent signatures. Continue reading...

Texas senator says ‘I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful’ in response to questions about Uvalde massacreThe Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz confronted a British reporter and angrily left an interview after he was asked why school shootings like that in Uvalde, where 19 children and two adults were killed, happen so often in the US.“I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful,” Cruz said. “You’ve got your political agenda. God love you.” Continue reading...

Police reportedly found military-style weapons in student’s car and charged him with carrying gun in weapons-free zonePolice have arrested a Texas high school student after semi-automatic weapons were found in his car, a day after 21 people were murdered by another high school student in the state.The police department in Richardson, a municipality in the greater Dallas area, said it received a call at about 11am on Tuesday regarding a male individual walking towards Berkner high school with what appeared to be a rifle. Continue reading...

Portland jury finds Nancy Crampton Brophy guilty of killing chef Daniel Brophy in June 2018A jury in the US city of Portland, Oregon, has convicted a self-published romance novelist who wrote an essay titled How to Murder Your Husband of fatally shooting her husband.The 12-person jury found Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday after deliberating for two days over Daniel Brophy’s death, according to reports. Continue reading...

As we endure shooting after shooting, the US starts to seem like a body being attacked from within by some strange and debilitating illnessA nation is a body. For the whole body to function smoothly, each part must do its job. You’ll know from your own body that each part does not need to be perfect to get you through the day. You’ll know that a disabled body can be perfect once you understand what it needs and adjust accordingly. A nation, too, can have some body parts that break down and need help from other, stronger parts. The problems in a body start when some parts break, but instead of compensating for those parts and allowing them time to heal, the rest of the body ignores them.The body, this nation, insists that it must keep moving. The problems grow as the body becomes more and more stressed. Finally, in the worst cases, the body starts attacking itself. America today is a body being attacked from within; living here feels like living inside a huge autoimmune response. The system we once used to protect ourselves has gone haywire, and now it attacks us.Maeve Higgins is a Guardian US columnist and the author of the book Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them Continue reading...

This week’s primaries showed that voters value delivering on priorities above endorsementsThe most eye-catching result of Tuesday’s suite of midterm primaries is Georgia’s incumbent governor, Brian Kemp, demolishing former senator David Perdue in his re-election primary. Former president Donald Trump has spent the better part of the last two years publicly savaging Kemp for the latter’s refusal to unilaterally overturn President Joe Biden’s Georgia win in the 2020 election. Despite Trump’s public support and universal name recognition, Perdue is losing by landslide margins in every corner of the state. Trump also targeted the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and attorney general, Chris Carr, who are both up over Trump’s endorsees by large margins.This is a continuation of a trend we have seen in Republican primaries thus far this cycle. Many Trump-endorsed candidates have lost, including Representative Madison Cawthorn, or been held to fairly low percentages, such as the Senate candidates Mehmet Oz and JD Vance. It’s clear that the 2020 election and personal loyalty to Trump have diminishing returns with Republican primary voters. Continue reading...

Constant bombardment threatens to produce a stalemate that would cost Kyiv dear economically and politicallyRussia’s offensive in the Donbas region is making slow progress. Having rushed to launch the operation to avoid giving Ukraine time to bring up new weapons from the west, Russia has found that its depleted and exhausted units are unwilling and unable to assault Ukrainian positions without incurring unacceptable losses. The Russian army has, therefore, fallen back on the mass application of artillery, destroying village after village, which they occupy after Ukrainian units withdraw.For the Ukrainian military, the current Russian tactics may be unsophisticated and nihilistic, but they are also dangerous. To stop the Russians from advancing, the Ukrainian armed forces must occupy the ground. This subjects their units to heavy bombardment, and is producing a steady accumulation of Ukrainian casualties. The Ukrainians are trying to limit the weight of Russian fire by raiding and striking the logistics supporting the Russian artillery.Jack Watling is senior research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services InstituteDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Kevin Stitt approves legislation in effect outlawing all terminations with exceptions for rape and incestThe Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, on Wednesday night signed into law the strictest abortion ban in the US, making his state the first to in effect end all access to the procedure.The law prohibits abortions with exceptions to save the life of a woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest reported to law enforcement. Continue reading...

More information has emerged on the deadly school shooting, including a timeline. Plus, Walmart apologizes for selling Juneteenth-themed ice-cream• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.A Texas gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers this week was inside the school for about 40 minutes before being killed by border patrol agents. Conflicting reports have emerged about the law enforcement response in the crucial moments after the 18-year-old shooter entered the building.Border patrol agents had trouble breaching the classroom door and had to get a staff member to open the room with a key, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.Witnesses described a scene of desperation, with officers gathering outside the school but not entering the building. “Go in there! Go in there!” a nearby woman reportedly shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, but they did not.The father of a fourth grader who was killed raised the idea of running inside himself when he thought law enforcement was not going to act. Continue reading...

The country experiences a mass shooting nearly every day while federal gun control legislation remains a distant dreamOn Tuesday, an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It was the second deadliest school shooting in American history, behind the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting when 20 children and six adults were killed.Mass shootings are so common in America that most of these tragedies barely make a blip in the gun control debate. Continue reading...

There is a clear correlation between level of gun ownership and the number of deaths. What will it take for the US to learn this?

We all want better officiating. But it’s tough for referees to develop when abuse from players and spectators hound them out of the game“My three-year-old could’ve made that call!” exclaimed commentator Kaylyn Kyle after an apparent handball wasn’t called at the end of an NWSL Challenge Cup game between OL Reign and the Washington Spirit.Unfortunately, most three-year-olds who grow up to be soccer fans will be armchair referees rather than being on the field where they’re actually needed.The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) assigns NWSL games to Tier B and Tier C referees in their development ladder, multiple tiers below MLS.The league lacks VAR, which might have shed some light on the incident Kyle decried as well as a horror tackle, committed by Washington’s Sam Staab, of which the referee didn’t have a clear view – screened, as is so often the case even with top-notch referees, by the defender trailing back to catch the attacker.MLS has some transparency via a weekly YouTube review, while PRO offers a weekly behind-the-scenes look at VAR in MLS.Refs assigned to the league also have a curious aversion to red cards – in 2018, Carli Lloyd and Marta were the only players to be sent off. Continue reading...

An estimated 5.3 million to 14.2 million could lose Medicaid coverage when the public health emergency ends in JulyWhen the US federal government’s pandemic health emergency declaration expires, millions of Americans are at risk of losing healthcare coverage through Medicaid with potentially devastating consequences.According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an estimated 5.3 million to 14.2 million could lose their Medicaid coverage when the Covid-19 public health emergency ends on 15 July if it is not extended. Continue reading...