Senators reach bipartisan deal on gun safety
Senate negotiators announced Sunday that they had struck a bipartisan deal on a narrow set of gun-safety measures with sufficient support to move through the evenly divided chamber. The agreement, put forth by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats and endorsed by President Joe Biden and top Democrats, includes enhanced background checks to give authorities time to check the juvenile and mental health records of any prospective gun buyer younger than 21 and a provision that would, for the first time, extend to dating partners a prohibition on domestic abusers having guns. The outline has yet to be finalized and still faces a perilous path in Congress.
US: Pfizer COVID-19 shot appears effective for kids under 5
A review by federal health officials says that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for children under 5, the only group not currently eligible for vaccination. The review from the Food and Drug Administration is a key step toward an expected decision to begin vaccinating babies, toddlers and preschoolers as soon as June 21. Parents have been waiting months to protect America’s youngest children, who number roughly 18 million. On Wednesday the FDA will ask an outside panel of experts to vote on whether to recommend the shots.
Navy plans ‘safety pause’ after series of aircraft crashes
In the wake of three crashes, two of them fatal, the U.S. Navy has said it will ground all nondeployed aircraft for a day on Monday to focus on safety protocols. The aircraft grounding comes after crashes within a seven-day period in California this month resulted in six deaths. The day will be used to “review risk-management practices and conduct training on threat and error-management processes,” the Navy said Saturday. Authorities have said they are investigating all three crashes, each of which occurred during routine exercises. So far, there has been nothing connecting the crashes, said Cmdr. Zach Harrell, a San Diego-based spokesperson.
Poland shows the risks for women when abortion is banned
Poland offers a glimpse of a country where abortion is practically out of reach even in the gravest circumstances. It has long been a showcase of the volatility and vicissitudes of the abortion battles — and how the lives of women and their doctors are tossed about on shifting social and political tides. The battle over Poland’s 29-year-old ban on abortion has intensified recently after the elimination of the last significant exception permitting the procedure: fetal abnormalities. Since the exception’s elimination, deaths among women, though rare, have become a touchstone of grievance for those who say they demonstrate the risks to women posed by restrictive abortion laws.
Russia says it destroyed a warehouse filled with Western military aid
Russian missiles hit a military warehouse in western Ukraine, wounding nearly two dozen people, including a child, the governor of Ukraine’s Ternopil region said Sunday. He did not say whether any military equipment was damaged, but Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the strike destroyed anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems supplied to Ukraine by the United States and the European Union. Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the ministry, said the attack, which occurred Saturday evening in the city of Chortkiv, also destroyed portable anti-aircraft systems and artillery shells. Volodymyr Trush, regional governor of Ternopil, said Russian forces fired four missiles and also destroyed four five-story buildings.
By wire sources
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