Trump backs improved background checks on gun buys
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Donald Trump signaled support Monday for improving background gun checks amid mounting pressure for reform in the wake of the Florida school shooting, as the accused gunman appeared in court.
Nikolas Cruz, charged with killing 17 people, sat silently with his head bowed during a procedural hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in what is expected to be a lengthy and emotional prosecution.
Wednesday's rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, Florida has ignited protests by students who survived the
BEIJING (AFP) – The theft of a thumb of an ancient Terracotta Warrior statue on display in the US incited a wave of criticism on Chinese social media Tuesday, following China's calls to ''severely punish'' the thief.
Michael Rohana, 24, has been arrested over the theft during an after hour ''ugly sweater party'' just before Christmas at the Franklin Institute in Pennsylvania where 10 of the figures are on display. According to an arrest affidavit filed by an FBI agent, Rohana snuck into the closed exhibit and snapped a selfie with the warrior, worth $4.5 million.
Rohana then appeared to break off the statue's left thumb and pocket it before leaving the event with friends.
The museum noticed its disappearance weeks later on January 8. The FBI agent tracked Rohana back to his home in Bear, Delaware, where the young man admitted to having stashed the thumb in a desk drawer.
He was arrested for theft of a major artwork from a museum, concealment of a major stolen artwork, and the interstate transportation of stolen property, but released on a $15,000 bail, according to court documents seen by AFP. onslaught and renewed calls for changes in US gun laws.
The White House indicated that Trump is receptive to a bipartisan proposal that would require more prompt reporting to a national database of offenses that would bar an individual from buying a firearm.
"While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered,
Built around 209 BC to stand guard over the tomb of the first emperor, the 8,000-strong Terracotta Army is one of China's most important archaeological discoveries, and considered a symbol of ancient Chinese artistic and military sophistication. the president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
The legislation, however, does not address the broader, divisive issue of permissive gun laws under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms.
''We call on the US side to severely punish the person who committed such a damaging act of vandalism and theft of humanity's cultural heritage,'' the director of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relic Exchange Centre told the Beijing Youth Daily Sunday.