Two mass killings, 10 days apart
A school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, comes on the heels of racist killings in Buffalo, New York. Oklahoma has implemented an all-out abortion ban. The U.S. initiated a vote on tougher sanctions on North Korea. An exclusive look at how colleges and universities are circumventing Title IX. "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" dances offstage for the final time.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, and here's Thursday's news.
🌅 Up first: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke confronted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on his gun record and then got into a heated exchange with officials gathered for a news conference before law enforcement ordered O'Rourke to leave.
More news to know now:
😷 People who test positive for COVID-19 again after taking the drug Paxlovid should isolate for another five days, the CDC said.
🍼 The FDA chief admitted that the agency has been "too slow" in responding to the baby formula shortage.
⚖ ''19 Kids and Counting'' star Josh Duggar was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for downloading and possessing child pornography.
🔔 Former President Donald Trump spoke approvingly of calls to ''hang Mike Pence,'' two witnesses told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6. Capitol attack.
🚗 Traveling for Memorial Day weekend? Here's how much gas cost, and when you should fill up.
✍ Video: George Floyd's daughter, Gianna, joined President Joe Biden onstage as he signed an executive order on policing Wednesday, the second anniversary of Floyd's death. The order is designed to improve police accountability and direct federal agencies to revise use-of-force policies, like banning tactics such as the chokehold.
🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, national correspondent Trevor Hughes has the latest from Uvalde after this week’s massacre. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
Two mass killings, 10 days apart
As the families of the 10 people killed in the hate-fueled shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket just 10 days ago continue to mourn, the U.S. witnessed another massacre as 21 people – including 19 kids – were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. There have been 213 mass shootings in the United States in just 145 days this year, 10 of which were mass killings, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence incidents in the United States. The Uvalde school shooting is the deadliest shooting of 2022, and deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. On top of the incidents in Buffalo and Uvalde, a May 15 shooting at a church in Laguna Woods, California, left one dead and five others injured, one of more than a dozen other mass shootings in the U.S. since May 14. There are similarities into how the attacks were planned and carried out – and now some Americans are pleading for change.
🟠 Trump, Abbott, Cruz are scheduled to speak at NRA convention in Houston this weekend.
🟠 What are HR 8 and HR 1446? Gun control bills still await Senate votes after Texas shooting.
🟠 Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey reacted to the school shooting: ''We cannot accept these tragic realities."
🟠 How to talk to your kids about the Uvalde school shooting: ''You don’t want to overshare.''
🟠 ''It shouldn’t have happened here.'' Before Texas shooting, Uvalde was a place for families, friendship.
🟠 Amanda Gorman's poem on Texas shooting has captivated the internet.
📷 Photo of the day: Nation mourns, demands action for Uvalde victims 📷
As the names of those killed in Texas' deadliest school shooting in modern history began to emerge Wednesday, social media was flooded with images of smiling students as loved ones mourned the ones they lost. People expressed support and grief for the victims and their families across the nation, holding vigils and hosting emergency blood drives.
🟠 ''They're so young'': A grandfather mourns 10-year old Jayce Luevanos, among the victims.
Oklahoma implements total abortion ban
Oklahoma on Wednesday implemented the strictest anti-abortion law in the nation, giving the country a preview of a possible post-Roe future. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation to prohibit most abortions beginning at fertilization. Stitt signed House Bill 4327 that allows private citizens to sue anyone who "aids or abets" a person seeking an abortion at any point in their pregnancy. The person pursuing the abortion could not be sued. The law that took effect immediately and openly flouts longstanding abortion protections established by the U.S. Supreme Court has limited exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest. Abortion providers and reproductive rights groups have vowed to challenge the law in court where they are suing over two other anti-abortion laws Stitt signed this year.
🟣 Abortion rights helped lower teen pregnancy. Now Gen Z girls might have those rights taken away.
🟣 Poll: Supreme Court approval nosedives after leak of draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
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💸 How people plan to deal with inflation, the unwanted guest, at the Memorial Day BBQ.
📰 More than 40 billionaires back Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection campaign in Florida. Who are they?
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US sets vote on new UN sanctions on North Korea
The United States called for a vote Thursday on a U.N. resolution that would impose tougher sanctions on North Korea for its recent launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. The U.S. mission to the United Nations has been working on the draft Security Council resolution for several months. But the measure faces opposition from North Korea's neighbors China and Russia, which both said at a council meeting on May 11 that they wanted to see new talks and not more punishment for the North. The United States, which holds the council presidency this month, announced plans for the vote Wednesday. Whether China and Russia will use their veto power to block the measure or abstain remains to be seen.
🌍 International diplomacy: U.S., South Korea could expand military exercises as a deterrence to North Korea.
Title IX was intended to close the gender gap in college athletics. But schools are rigging the numbers.
Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, the landmark law banning sex discrimination in education, colleges and universities are circumventing its intent by manipulating athletic rosters to appear more balanced than they are. By packing their women’s teams with extra players who never compete, double and triple-counting women while undercounting men, and even classifying male athletes as women, schools across the nation collectively conjured the illusion of thousands more female athletes, a Paste BN investigation found. Paste BN found widespread use of roster manipulation across many of the nation’s largest and best-known colleges and universities. While some of these techniques are well-documented and individual schools have been exposed for using them, Paste BN’s reporting reveals the problem is pervasive throughout the highest echelon of college sports.
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ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday
❎ Pennsylvania officially authorized a recount in the too-close-to-call Senate primary between Republicans Mehmet Oz and David McComick – a contest that could still take days to resolve.
🎯 In a quest to wipe out the ''murder hornet,'' scientists will set 1,000 traps in Washington state.
👁 A search continues for an Austin woman accused in a love triangle killing: Here's what we know.
💼 Two years after George Floyd pledges, Black women still denied top jobs at largest companies. This is why.
👉 Kate Moss testified ex Johnny Depp ''never pushed'' her down ''any stairs'' in the Amber Heard libel trial.
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The 'Ellen DeGeneres Show' airs its final episode after 19 years
The final episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" airs Thursday and the once-groundbreaking comedian and host Ellen DeGeneres will move on after a run of 19 seasons. Debuting in September 2003, "Ellen" became a cultural mainstay on syndicated daytime TV. Over its life, the show has won 61 Daytime Emmy Awards and 17 People's Choice Awards. DeGeneres was known for her "be kind" mentality and tone, her frequent dancing and silly games with her guests and audience members and memorable celebrity gags and interviews. But the move to end the show doesn't come as a huge surprise considering its age and cost. The show's ratings have tumbled 43% this season, compared to last season. Also, in recent years, DeGeneres has had to publicly confront the allegations of a toxic workplace environment that exploded in 2020. She also has had to address her controversial friendship with former President George W. Bush and her defense of Kevin Hart after homophobic tweets and insensitive comments about quarantine and prison.
📺 Memorable moments: A look at the shows most iconic moments.
📺 Watch: Ellen DeGeneres explains why she is ending her show in 2022 in four-minute monologue.
📺 Who's next? 5 women who could take Ellen DeGeneres' place as the new queen of daytime talk.
A little less heavy:
🗨 Actress and LGBTQ activist Laverne Cox was honored with her own Barbie doll.
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👄 Can porn be feminist? These female directors say ''yes.''
🍪 ''50% sweet, 50% salty'': Oreo and Ritz team up to make a limited edition cookie-cracker snack.
📚 ''The Office BFFs'' and new Jack Carr thriller: This week's best selling books.
📺 Memorial Day weekend movie guide: What to watch, from ''Top Gun: Maverick'' to ''Bob's Burgers.''
Associated Press contributed reporting.