Police: Unarmed Black man in Ohio traffic stop shot 60 times
A 25-year-old Black man who was killed last week by police officers in Akron, Ohio, suffered more than 60 gunshot wounds but was unarmed at the time, the police chief said Sunday. That detail was among the facts that began to emerge in the killing of the man, Jayland Walker, who died last Monday after fleeing the police during what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop. At a news conference Sunday, the police released body camera videos that showed officers’ actions but deepened many questions around his death, which remains under investigation. Eight officers have been placed on administrative leave.
Strategic shift in bid to regain abortion rights
Abortion rights groups have mounted a multilevel legal and political attack aimed at blocking and reversing abortion bans in courts and at ballot boxes across the country. In the week since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, litigators have rolled out a wave of lawsuits in nearly a dozen states to hold off bans triggered by the court’s decision. Advocates of abortion rights are also working to defeat state initiatives that would strip away a constitutional right to abortion, and to pass those that would establish one. And Democratic-aligned groups are campaigning to reverse Republican majorities in some state legislatures, and to elect abortion rights supporters.
Yellowstone wonders how to withstand climate’s battering ram
In its 150th year, Yellowstone National Park finds itself at an existential crossroads in an age of climate change. It will rebuild after last month’s flood damage, which has forced the two northern entrances to close for months. But the question is how, especially given the likelihood that flash floods, drought, wildfires and heat will dramatically change how the park can operate. The largest looming factor is a rapidly changing climate, which experts say contributed to the record flooding. National Park Service officials will have to think seriously about whether it makes sense to rebuild roads and buildings in the same locations where they washed out.
Justice Department braces for summer of violence
The onset of warm weather typically signals an onslaught of violence in many parts of the country, with holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July proving deadly in recent years. Yet the Justice Department, for all its vast investigative powers, plays a supporting role when it comes to fighting street crime. Over the past year, Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced a series of steps intended to bolster efforts to counter rising crime rates. But the biggest recent boost, from the department’s perspective, might be the confirmations of U.S. attorneys whose nominations had previously been blocked by Republicans in the Senate, providing front-line federal prosecutors with more stability.
Russia seizes prized city From Ukraine
The last major city held by Ukraine in the heavily contested eastern province of Luhansk has fallen, military officials on both sides said Sunday, giving Moscow a milestone victory in its campaign to capture the Donbas, the region bordering Russia that has long been in President Vladimir Putin’s sights. Lysychansk had held out for a week after Russia seized control of Sievierodonetsk, its twin city across the Siversky Donets River. But as Russia inundated Lysychansk with artillery fire and strangled its supply lines, building on months of bombardment and weeks of ferocious street fighting, Ukrainian defenders were forced to retreat.
3 dead in Copenhagen mall shooting, police say
Three people were killed and at least three others were critically hurt in a shooting in Copenhagen on Sunday that sent terrified shoppers fleeing for safety in Denmark’s largest shopping center, authorities said. Soren Thomassen, an inspector with the Copenhagen police, said early Monday that the dead included a man in his 40s and two young people. He did not say how many people in total were injured, but said three were in critical condition. He said police had taken a 22-year-old Dane into custody in connection with the shooting, which occurred around 6 p.m. local time.
At least 6 die in glacier collapse in Italy’s Dolomites
At least six people died and eight were injured after a chunk of a glacier collapsed in Italy’s Alps on Sunday, said Walter Milan, a spokesperson for Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps. A deluge of snow, ice and rock on the Marmolada mountain group, the tallest of the Dolomites, overran a popular summit route, where a number of alpinists had been rope climbing, the emergency service for the Veneto region posted on Twitter. The victims’ names and nationalities were not yet known, Milan said. Several helicopters were reportedly at the scene. Eighteen people were evacuated.
WWII Medal of Honor recipient to lie in honor at US Capitol
The last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol. The native West Virginian will receive that tribute at a later date. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the honor on Sunday. During a memorial in Charleston, West Virginia, Williams was remembered for his courage, humility and selflessness. President Harry Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to Williams in 1945 for his heroics during one of the Pacific theater’s fiercest fights, the battle for Iwo Jima.
By wire sources