$2m tabernacle stolen from New York City Catholic church, police say

Brooklyn diocese calls it ‘a crime of disrespect and hate’ and says gold relic is irreplaceable because of its historical and artistic value

Police say someone has broken into the altar at a New York City church, stole a $2m gold relic and removed the head from a statue of an angel.

The incident happened between 6.30pm last Thursday and 4pm on Saturday, the police said on Monday, at St Augustine’s Roman Catholic church, known as the “Notre Dame” of Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood.

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Democrats rush to push gun safety laws after mass shootings as Republicans stall

New York governor seeks to ban people under 21 from buying assault rifles, while California governor intends to sign restrictions, including the right to sue gun manufacturers

With Republicans stonewalling for years on any significant federal gun safety legislation, some states are now rushing to take steps themselves following large-scale shootings in New York and Texas this month.

Democrats in some blue states are making fresh efforts to reinvigorate proposals toward what gun control advocates call “evidence-based policy interventions”.

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‘Enough is enough’: Harris addresses funeral of Ruth Whitfield after Buffalo shooting

Al Sharpton calls on ‘all good people’ to stand up for justice at last funeral for victims of racist attack

The last funeral for victims of a gunman’s racist attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, two weeks ago took place on Saturday afternoon, as the oldest person to die in the mass shooting was laid to rest.

Ruth Whitfield, 86, was shot and killed along with nine other people, all of them Black, when a white supremacist and self-declared “eco-fascist” extremist allegedly traveled far from his home to wreak violence and tragedy.

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New York subpoenas Trump’s longtime assistant in business dealings inquiry

Rhona Graff will be questioned about the former president’s involvement in the Trump Organization’s financial records

The New York attorney general’s office has subpoenaed Donald Trump’s longtime executive assistant and plans to question her under oath next week as part of its civil investigation into the former president’s business dealings.

The subpoena for Rhona Graff was disclosed by a lawyer for the attorney general Letitia James’ office in court papers opposing Trump’s latest bid to rid himself of a contempt of court order for being slow to respond to a subpoena for documents and other evidence.

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Man shot and killed on New York subway in latest ‘unprovoked’ attack

Police investigate death of Daniel Enriquez on busy train on Sunday morning

An unidentified man shot and killed a passenger on a subway train in New York in what police officials said appeared to be an unprovoked attack.

The incident happened on a Q train travelling over the Manhattan Bridge at about 11.40am on Sunday, a time when the subway is often filled with families, tourists and people heading to brunch.

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‘You are a jackass’: video of Rudy Giuliani rant at Israel parade goes viral

Former Trump lawyer hurls profanities at parade attender in New York City days after reportedly testifying with January 6 panel

With a reporter’s cellphone recording him, Donald Trump’s sometime lawyer Rudy Giuliani hurled profanities at a pro-Israel parade attender in New York City and said, “You are probably as demented as Biden.”

The video of the former New York mayor’s verbal clash had racked up more than 440,000 views on Monday morning, just two days after he reportedly met for hours with the US House committee investigating the deadly Capitol riots on 6 January 2021.

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Monkeypox outbreak: WHO working on sexual contact theory, top adviser says

David Heymann says experts developing guidance for countries, as New York City resident tests positive for Orthopoxvirus

A senior adviser for the World Health Organization has said the monkeypox outbreak seems to be spreading through sexual contact, and warned that case numbers could spike over the summer months as people attend major summer gatherings and festivals.

David Heymann, chair of the WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential, led a meeting of the group on Friday “because of the urgency of the situation”.

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‘His heart is broken’: Buffalo mourns shooting victims as first funeral held

Civil rights and community leaders gathered the night before to plead with the nation to confront and stop racist violence

The first of 10 funerals for the 10 Black people killed in a Buffalo supermarket was held on Friday following an impassioned gathering of Black civil rights and community leaders at a church the night before where speakers pleaded with the nation to confront and stop racist violence.

Set against accused shooter Peyton Gendron’s silence in court earlier on Thursday, the community and relatives of Andre Mackneil, Geraldine Talley and Ruth Whitfield gave voice to the grief and anger coursing through East Buffalo.

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Joe Biden says ‘white supremacy is a poison’ after Buffalo shooting

President attacks those who promote racist conspiracy theory ‘for power, political gain and for profit’ but says ‘evil will not win’

Joe Biden has condemned those who spread white supremacist lies “for power, political gain and for profit” during a visit to Buffalo, New York, where 10 people were killed in a racist shooting last Saturday.

The US president was close to tears as he recalled the victims’ lives, then became angry as he described forces of hatred that have haunted his administration.

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Biden tells Buffalo shooting mourners: ‘Evil will not win. Hate will not prevail’ – as it happened

My colleague Ed Helmore is at the site of Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo, and sent this dispatch about the importance to the predominantly Black community of the supermarket where it happened:

Tops Friendly on Jefferson Avenue in East Buffalo was more than just a grocery store. It served as community center, a place to hang out, a source of employment – and a spot for healthy sustenance unavailable at bodega stores in an area described as the oasis in a food desert.

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Buffalo shooting: what we know about the victims so far

Eleven of the 13 victims were Black, and two were white, after an 18-year-old white man opened fire at a supermarket in New York

An 18-year-old white man opened fire at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket on Saturday, killing 10 people and wounding three others in what authorities have described as a “hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism”.

Eleven of the 13 victims were Black, and two were white.

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.

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‘It was by design’: Black residents try to come to terms with horror of shooting

‘Who pushed this into his head?’ a Buffalo resident asks, while another asks, ‘What made you drive all this way and hit this?’

Vigils were held across Buffalo, New York, for the victims of the Tops Friendly shooting Sunday, as Black residents on the city’s East Side mourned and attempted to come to terms with the brief, brutal event that had been visited on the neighborhood hours earlier.

The square where the shooting took place, surrounded by vacant lots that residents said were the result of decades of segregation and systemic racism, is the community’s center, with Tops Friendly functioning as the only grocery store for the immediate area.

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Buffalo shooting: Biden says racist killing of 10 people ‘abhorrent to fabric of nation’

Gunman shot 11 Black and two white victims at a supermarket that he broadcast on streaming platform Twitch before surrendering

After a white 18-year-old wearing military gear and live-streaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others, US president Joe Biden said racially motivated hate crime was “abhorrent to the very fabric of this nation”.

Police said the attacker shot 11 Black and two white victims before surrendering to authorities in an assault he broadcast on the streaming platform Twitch. Later, he appeared before a judge in a paper medical gown and was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. He pleaded not guilty.

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Buffalo shooting: teenager accused of killing 10 in racist supermarket attack

Alleged gunman Payton Gendron, 18, charged with murder after 13 shot at store in mostly Black neighbourhood

A teenager in military-style clothing opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in a shooting that officials called a “hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism”, killing 10 people and wounding three others before surrendering to police on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Police officials said the 18-year-old, who is white, was wearing body armour and military-style clothing when he pulled up and started shooting at a Tops Friendly Market at about 2.30pm. The attack was streamed via a camera fixed to the man’s helmet.

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Ex-Honduran leader seeks to subpoena Biden, Trump and Obama in drugs case

Former president Juan Orlando Hernández’s also suggests he may seek testimony from Mexican drug lord El Chapo in New York trial

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández has pleaded not guilty in a New York court to drug and weapons charges as his lawyer pledged to subpoena three former US presidents – and an imprisoned Mexican drug lord – to testify in his defence.

Hernández, who was extradited last month, wore shackles round his ankles at his arraignment in Manhattan on Tuesday, where he pleaded not guilty to three criminal counts, including conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons possession.

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Amazon reportedly fires at least six New York managers involved in labor union

According to the New York Times, the dismissals are regarded as the company’s response to the recent unionization victory

Amazon has reportedly fired over half a dozen senior managers who were involved in a New York warehouse union.

The firings, which took place outside the company’s employee review cycle, was regarded as the company’s response to the Amazon Labor Union which formed in Staten Island last month in a “historic victory” against the country’s second largest employer, the New York Times reported, citing former and current employees who spoke on the condition anonymity.

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New York judge’s son who stormed US Capitol gets prison sentence

Aaron Mostofsky sentenced to eight months in prison and a year under federal supervision with 200 hours of community service

A New York state judge’s son who dressed like a caveman and helped a pro-Donald Trump mob storm the US Capitol has received a prison sentence for his role in the 6 January 2021 attack.

Aaron Mostofsky, 35, must spend eight months in prison – and after his release, he must spend a year under federal supervision while also performing 200 hours of community service, a US district court judge in Washington DC ruled Friday.

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Alleged Colombian cartel head due in New York court after extradition

Victims of paramilitaries demand Dairo Antonio Úsuga come clean about atrocities committed by forces he commanded

The accused head of Colombia’s Gulf Clan cartel is due to appear in a federal court in New York on Thursday, as victims in his home country call for guarantees that he will come clean on atrocities committed by the feared paramilitary fighters he once commanded.

Dairo Antonio Úsuga, who is Colombia’s most wanted drug suspect for nearly a decade, was extradited from Colombia late on Wednesday on cocaine and weapons charges.

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Fashion’s biggest night, the 2022 Met Gala – as it happened

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That dress deserves another look – Lively really has gone all-in:

Gala co-chairs Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have made their entrance.

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New York teacher under investigation for cotton-picking lesson

Teacher put on leave after allegedly telling class of mostly Black students to pick seeds out of cotton during lessons on slavery

School officials in Rochester, New York are investigating allegations that a white teacher told his class of mostly Black students to pick seeds out of cotton and put on handcuffs during lessons on slavery in a seventh-grade social studies class.

“It made me feel bad to be a Black person,” one School of the Arts student, Jahmiere O’Neal, told reporters.

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