Democrats win concessions on gun control
In the wake of the killing of 49 people in the US’s worst mass shooting to date, Senate Democrats held the floor of the chamber for 14 hours overnight in order to force Republicans to agree to votes on background checks for gun purchases and banning gun sales to suspected terrorists. Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut – where the Sandy Hook massacre of 20 children and six staff took place in 2012 – had vowed to remain on the Senate floor “until we get some signal, some sign that we can come together” on gun control. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday pledged to meet with the NRA to discuss limiting terrorists’ access to guns, while his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton said not one of her opponent’s ideas would have saved a single life in the Orlando massacre. Barack Obama is heading to Orlando today to meet families of the victims.
Senate filibuster ends as Democrat claims gun control victory
Orlando shooter investigation could last years
The FBI has warned that it could take years for investigators to comb through digital media and conduct hundreds of interviews to assemble a complete picture of killer Omar Mateen. “We’re going to go until we’re absolutely satisfied that we’ve uncovered every bit of evidence that’s out there and we’ve reviewed every possible charge,” said Lee Bentley, US attorney for the middle district of Florida. “It might be a matter of days, it could be weeks, it could be years.” The agency has issued a wanted poster. Meanwhile Suzanne McGee reports on how when the stock market opened on Monday morning, a day after news of the mass shooting, shares of Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger soared.
FBI asks public for help in investigation of Orlando killer that may take years
Body of child recovered from Disney World lake
The body of two-year-old Lane Graves was recovered by divers 16 hours after an alligator snatched the boy from the shoreline of the Seven Seas Lagoon, an artificial lake at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, near the Disney World theme park near Orlando. “The family was distraught but somewhat relieved we were able to retrieve their son with his body intact,” said Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings. A Disney spokeswoman said that the beaches at all resorts on the property would remain closed until the alligator, estimated to be between four and seven feet, had been captured.
Body of two-year-old attacked by alligator at Disney World recovered from lake
Trump claims Democrats, not Russians, were behind hacking
The Republican candidate, now facing a sharp drop in poll numbers, has claimed a dossier about him from the Democratic National Committee was leaked by the DNC itself and not, as cybersecurity experts believe, Russian hackers. The intrusion gave outsiders access to files, including a 200-page dossier of opposition research on Trump. “Much of it is false and/or entirely inaccurate,” the presidential candidate said. “Too bad the DNC doesn’t hack Crooked Hillary’s 33,000 missing emails.”
Six things we learned from the hacked DNC file on Donald Trump
Watchdog reveals FBI’s facial recognition investment
The FBI maintains a huge database of more than 411m photographs which it cross-references with pictures of criminal suspects using facial recognition software, it emerged on Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office’s revelation of the extent of the program raises concerns both over the database (facial images are protected personal information under US law) and the accuracy of the software. “The FBI has done very minimal testing on the accuracy of their internal system,” Electron Freedom Frontier attorney Jennifer Lynch told the Guardian.
FBI uses questionable facial recognition software to comb vast photo database
Cavs take Game 5 but can they last?
After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ superb 112-97 victory, Les Carpenter warns that the Warriors will clinch the NBA title if the Cavs are not carried by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, who combined for 82 points in Game 5. “The Cavaliers will ultimately need more than two players every night,” he writes. “To repeat a performance like this would definitely be tough,” Irving conceded on Monday. The teams meet again on Thursday night.
Warriors will clinch NBA title if Cavaliers remain nothing but a two-man band
Plan to live forever? Get on this bus
Zoltan Istvan says technology will help us live forever. He leads the Transhumanist party and is running an independent campaign for US president from his coffin-shaped Immortality Bus. Like all transhumanists, Istvan believes that through scientific advancement, humans will be able to reverse ageing and eventually death. “I’ve been pegged as the antichrist, which I felt was a little unfair,” Istvan, 43, tells the Guardian’s Olivia Solon.
All aboard the Immortality Bus: the man who says tech will help us live forever
Taylor Swift moves on and ‘Swiddeston’ is born
Celeb couple Taylor Swift and actor Tom Hiddleston is as close as we’ll ever get to two memes dating, says Dave Schilling. “They’ve outed themselves as a wholesome, impeccable source of romantic inspiration for people around the world,” he writes. “What we are actually witnessing is the equivalent of two internet memes dating – featureless avatars for our own hopeless need for human connection.”
Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift pictures: as close as we’ll get to two memes dating
In case you missed it
The plagiarism case against Led Zeppelin has got under way in Los Angeles with lawyers representing the estate of songwriter Randy Wolfe from the band Spirit claiming Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven is in effect a re-purposed version of his instrumental composition Taurus. In the opening day of testimony, guitarist Jimmy Page told the court he’d never heard Spirit’s song until a few years ago. “Something like that would stick in my mind. It was totally alien to me.”
Led Zeppelin in court as Stairway to Heaven plagiarism trial begins
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