- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
Heartbroken Texas school massacre town begs Biden to 'do something'
Desperate pleas for a stop to the gun massacres plaguing the United States rang out Sunday during President Joe Biden's visit to Uvalde, where he prayed for the 19 children and two teachers slain by a teen gunman in the small Texas town.
"Do something!" rang out shouts from a crowd in the street as Biden left Sacred Heart church where he attended Mass with mourning relatives.
"We will. We will," Biden responded to the crowd, before heading to private meetings with relatives of the dead and with first responders.
Biden, accompanied by his wife, Jill Biden, was in Uvalde less than two weeks after making a similar trip to the site of another mass shooting -- this time targeting African Americans in a racist attack -- in Buffalo, New York.
The first couple began by visiting a makeshift shrine at Robb Elementary School, where last Tuesday the teen gunman walked in with an AR-15-type semi-automatic and began his slaughter.
Both wearing black, the Bidens held hands in front of the memorial, walking slowly along the thicket of wreaths, bouquets, white crosses and blown-up photos of the slain children.
Biden, whose adult son Beau died seven years ago this Monday from cancer, and whose first wife and infant daughter perished in a car accident, made the sign of the cross, appearing to wipe away a tear.
The arrival of the Bidens' motorcade at the school was met with applause from a crowd. However, illustrating the tension in the town, there were boos at the appearance of Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who strongly opposes new restrictions on gun ownership.
"We need changes," shouted one man.
"Our hearts are broken," Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said at the church.
Biden was not scheduled to speak publicly in Texas, but on Saturday he renewed his so-far fruitless call for Congress to overcome years of paralysis to toughen firearms regulations -- especially on weapons like the AR-15.
"We cannot outlaw tragedy, I know, but we can make America safer," Biden said.
- Justice Department probes police -
Harrowing accounts emerged of the ordeal faced by survivors of Tuesday's attack, where the behavior of the police is under severe scrutiny.
Ten-year-old Samuel Salinas was sitting in his fourth-grade classroom when the shooter, later identified as Salvador Ramos, 18, barged in and announced: "You're all going to die."
Then "he just started shooting," Salinas told ABC News.
Texas authorities admitted Friday that as many as 19 police officers were in the school hallway for nearly an hour before finally breaching the room and killing Ramos, saying the officers mistakenly thought that he had stopped killing and was now barricaded.
Parents have expressed fury and on Sunday the Justice Department announced an inquiry "to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare."
Surviving children describe making desperate, whispered pleas for help in 911 phone calls while police waited.
Some played dead to avoid drawing the shooter's attention. Eleven-year-old Miah Cerrillo smeared the blood of a dead friend on herself to feign death.
Salinas said he thinks Ramos fired at him, but the bullet struck a chair, sending shrapnel into the boy's leg. "I played dead so he wouldn't shoot me," he said.
Another student, Daniel, whose mother would not provide his last name, said he saw Ramos fire through the glass in the classroom door, striking his teacher.
Though his teacher lay on the floor bleeding, she repeatedly told the students, "'Stay calm. Stay where you are. Don't move,'" Daniel told The Washington Post.
- 'Have the courage' -
Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday attended the funeral of a victim of the Buffalo mass shooting -- Ruth Whitfield, who was among 10 people killed on May 14, allegedly by a self-described white supremacist.
"Congress must have the courage to stand up, once and for all, to the gun lobby and pass reasonable gun safety laws," Harris tweeted.
The Uvalde shooting was the deadliest school attack since 20 children and six staff were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
But despite the epidemic of mass shootings and ever growing flood of private gun purchases, Congress has repeatedly failed to agree on possible new regulations.
This time might be different, some lawmakers say.
Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said Sunday there were "serious negotiations" underway involving members of both parties.
In Uvalde, Robert Robles, 73, said he was glad Biden had visited to show concern but said the president needs to pass laws restricting powerful military style rifles, like the AR-15, and "protect these kids."
E.Paulino--PC