Gunman in Texas mass shooting sentenced
for federal hate crimes
A self-described white nationalist who wrote that Hispanics were “invading” America before fatally shooting 23 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, was sentenced Friday to 90 consecutive life terms for his conviction on federal hate crimes charges. For two days this week, relatives of victims confronted the shooter during an emotional hearing in federal court, where they called him a coward and described some of the gaping wounds caused by the AK-47-style rifle that he used in the shooting, which also left 22 people injured, including an infant. Several of the victims’ relatives had hoped the shooter, Patrick Crusius, would be sentenced to death.
Antibiotic shortage could worsen
syphilis epidemic
A new shortage of a type of penicillin crucial to the fight against syphilis is alarming infectious disease experts, who warn that a protracted scarcity of the drug could worsen the U.S. epidemic of the sexually transmitted infection. The shortage, announced by drugmaker Pfizer in a letter last month, involves Bicillin L-A, a long-acting injectable antibiotic also known as penicillin G benzathine. The company cited significant increases in demand because of the rising rate of syphilis infections, as well as Bicillin’s recent use as an alternative to amoxicillin, another antibiotic that has periodically been scarce. Syphilis has been on the rise in the United States since 2000.
Wisconsin judge allows challenge to abortion law to proceed
Abortion-rights supporters in Wisconsin secured an incremental but important legal victory Friday when a judge allowed a lawsuit seeking to restore abortion access in the state to proceed. The case, which centers on a law passed in 1849 that has been seen as banning abortion, could end up at the state Supreme Court. Liberal justices will be in the majority on that court starting next month after winning a judicial election this year that focused largely on abortion. In 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the national right to abortion, clinics stopped providing abortions in Wisconsin, a state where Republicans control the Legislature and a Democrat holds the governorship.
Teen arrested after shooting in Baltimore leaves 2 dead
and 28 wounded
A 17-year-old was arrested Friday and charged with gun crimes as detectives investigate whether he was involved in a shooting Sunday at a Baltimore block party that killed two people and wounded 28 others, police said. The Baltimore Police Department described the teenager as a “juvenile person of interest” in the shooting and said he had been charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, assault weapon possession, reckless endangerment and having a handgun in a vehicle. The teenager, who has not been publicly identified, has not been charged in the shooting at the party, although the Police Department said detectives believe he was “involved” in the gunfire.
Abraham Lincoln letter from early Civil War era sells for $85,000
A recently discovered letter written by President Abraham Lincoln that offers a glimpse into his thinking during the early part of the Civil War sold this week in Pennsylvania for $85,000, according to an autograph dealer. The previously unpublished letter had been in the same private collection for at least a century before it was acquired this year, said Nathan Raab, principal of the Raab Collection, which buys and sells historical autographs, documents and signed letters. Dated Aug. 19, 1861, the letter is addressed to Charles Ellet Jr., a civil engineer and Union Army colonel, who had met Lincoln and lobbied him for the creation of a civil engineering corps.
U.S. raises pressure on China to combat global fentanyl crisis
Just four years ago, a joint U.S. and Chinese effort to stem the flow of fentanyl produced in China from reaching the United States appeared set to take off. But today, the effort is at an impasse. Mutual efforts to crack down on a narcotic responsible for tens of thousands of drug overdoses in the United States each year have been thwarted by wider geopolitical tensions. In part to try to get other countries to pressure China to do more to curb the outflow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday led the first virtual meeting of a coalition of nations aiming to end the threat of dangerous synthetic drugs.
Biden defends decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine
President Joe Biden defended his decision Friday to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, which are outlawed by many of America’s closest allies, saying it was a difficult decision but “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition” in the fight against Russian forces. Biden had wrestled with the decision to supply the weapons, which scatter tiny, deadly bomblets across the battlefield. They have been known to cause grievous injuries months or even years after the fighting ends, often among children who pick up duds that did not explode when initially dropped. Ultimately, the president determined that depriving Ukraine of the weapons would amount to leaving it defenseless against Russia.
Dutch government collapses over plan to further limit immigration
The Dutch government collapsed Friday after the parties in its ruling coalition failed to reach an agreement on migration policy. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who was overseeing his fourth Cabinet, told reporters that he would submit his resignation to the king. The disintegration of the government triggers new general elections in the fall. For months, the parties in the coalition government had struggled to come to an agreement about migration, debating terms of family reunification and whether to create two classes of asylum: a temporary one for people fleeing conflicts and a permanent one for people fleeing persecution.
Canadian court rules
humbs-up emoji counts
as a contract agreement
Be careful before you casually dash off another thumbs-up emoji: A Canadian court has found that the ubiquitous symbol can affirm that a person is officially entering into a contract. The ruling pointed to what a judge called the “new reality in Canadian society” that courts would have to confront as more people express themselves with hearts, smiley faces and fire emoji — even in serious business dealings or personal disputes. Laura E. Little, a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, called the decision “a remarkable sign of the new world of communication when an emoji can work to snap the trap of creating a contract.”
By wire sources
