An Ignoble Experiment: First funerals held for Uvalde shooting victims

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Tuesday 05.31.22

A group of scientists in France may be able to save humanity from climate change. For nearly a century, the world has been trying to develop a limitless clean energy process called nuclear fusion, which could power much of the Earth instead of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. And now, experts say scientists are closer than ever to making it happen. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.

By Alexandra Meeks

Visitors place flowers yesterday at a makeshift memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Texas school shooting

The first funerals are being held this week for the victims of the Uvalde school shooting. Families of the victims have received custom caskets provided at no cost, and two funeral homes in Uvalde have vowed to cover all expenses. Meanwhile, questions remain about the response by law enforcement to the shooting. The gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers was on the premises for up to an hour before officers forcibly entered a classroom and killed him, officials said last week. School police chief Pedro "Pete" Arredondo has faced criticism from those who feel officers should have acted quicker to subdue or eliminate the gunman. The Uvalde city council separately announced it would postpone its meeting today, where several new members -- including Arredondo -- were set to be sworn in. Arredondo has not been seen by the press since the shooting.

Ukraine

As Russia remains defiant in the face of sanctions from the West, the European Union has dealt another blow to the Kremlin by partially banning Russian oil imports to the EU. The ban "immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine," European Council chief Charles Michel said in a tweet yesterday. A sixth package of sanctions was also recently discussed by EU leaders, which could contain other hard hitting measures, including cutting off the largest Russian bank from the SWIFT network, banning more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanctioning individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine. On the ground today, Russia is "focusing on establishing control" over Severodonetsk and is hammering the region with constant shelling, the Ukrainian military says.

Monkeypox

There have been 257 confirmed monkeypox cases and about 120 suspected cases in 23 nations, including the US, the World Health Organization announced in an update over the weekend. In the US, the CDC has reported 12 cases. In five African countries where monkeypox is commonly found, the WHO said it has received reports of 1,365 cases and 69 deaths from December through May due to the virus. No deaths have been reported in nonendemic countries. The WHO said the global public health risk level is moderate, but could become high if the virus spreads to groups at higher risk of severe disease, such as young children and immunosuppressed persons.

Flight cancellations

It was a chaotic holiday weekend for those traveling by air. Since Friday, upwards of 6,000 global flights were canceled with hundreds more fights delayed, according to flight tracking data. Delta Air Lines was heavily affected by the cancellations, with more than 500 domestic and international flights flights axed from Saturday through yesterday. The carrier blamed Saturday's cancellations on bad weather and "air traffic control actions" that took place on Friday, saying it is trying to preemptively cancel flights at least 24 hours in advance. The most affected airports over the weekend included the ones in New York City and in the Washington, DC areas.

Brazil

At least 91 people have been killed due to heavy rain in northeastern Brazil, according to the Civil Defense, as residents brace for more floods and landslides. A further 26 people are still reported missing and many more people could be unaccounted for, officials said yesterday. Since heavy rains began on Wednesday, nearly 4,000 residents have lost their houses, according to CNN Brasil. Fourteen municipalities have declared a state of emergency. Some areas have registered more rain in a 24-hour period over the weekend than the total volume expected for the month of May.

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in memoriam

Jeff Gladney, a 25-year-old NFL cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals, died in a car crash yesterday in Dallas, Texas, according to the team's official website. Gladney was among two people who died in the crash involving a speeding vehicle that lost control, authorities said. Gladney was entering the third season of his NFL career, after playing college football at Texas Christian University.

Gun violence is a complex problem, but at the end of the day the math is really quite simple: The fewer the guns in our communities, the safer everyone will be.

-- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, announcing yesterday the introduction of a bill that would place a national freeze on handgun ownership across Canada. If passed, the legislation will make it no longer possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada, according to Trudeau.

105 mph

That's the speed the winds of Hurricane Agatha reached yesterday when it made landfall in southern Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said. Since then, Agatha has been downgraded from a Category 2 hurricane to a tropical storm. The storm is expected to continue weakening and dissipate by this afternoon, but "could produce life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides," the hurricane center warned.

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