Good morning.
The Uvalde school district in Texas has fired the police chief Pete Arredondo following the widely condemned law enforcement response to the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Arredondo has come under the most intense scrutiny of the nearly 400 officers who waited more than an hour to face the 18-year-old gunman in a fourth-grade classroom on 24 May. He has been on leave from the district since 22 June.
It comes after the state police and an investigative report in July criticised the police chief for failing to take control of the situation in one of the deadliest classroom shootings in US history.
How did he respond? Arredondo did not attend the meeting where he was fired, but released a defiant 17-page letter through his lawyer defending the police response and attacking the school board. Arredondo’s attorney said he was being treated as a “fall guy”.
What has Uvalde done since? Officials have moved to further protect school buildings against attack, with “8ft, non-scalable perimeter fencing”, as well as security cameras, better locks and training for staff.
Law firm sues Ghislaine Maxwell for defense fees
A law firm that helped defend the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is suing her, her brother and her husband, saying it has not been paid more than $878,000 in fees.
Maxwell, 60, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for procuring teenage girls to be abused by the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Denver-based Haddon, Morgan and Foreman alleged in a lawsuit filed on Monday that Maxwell made her brother Kevin Maxwell responsible for paying her legal fees after she was arrested in 2020 but he only paid a fraction of that owed. Her brother blamed Maxwell’s husband, Scott Borgerson, for getting in the way of making payments, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges Borgerson formed a limited liability company to buy real estate to protect his wife’s assets from creditors.
At least 22 killed in Russian strike on rail station on Ukraine’s independence day
At least 22 people have been killed in a Russian strike on a Ukrainian railway station on Ukraine’s independence day, which also marked six months since Moscow’s invasion.
Addressing the UN late on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the rockets hit a train in a station in the town of Chaplyne, about 90 miles west of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. “Rescuers are working, but, unfortunately, the death toll could increase,” Zelenskiy said. A further 50 people were wounded.
The country on Wednesday marked 31 years since it declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Boris Johnson was among those who travelled to Kyiv to show solidarity, urging the international community to “stay the course” in its backing for Ukraine.
Joe Biden announced a further $3bn in military aid for Ukraine – the biggest US tranche to date.
Moscow is making preparations to stage “sham” referendums in the occupied areas in a prelude to annexation, warned the White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby.
In other news …
Principals in a Missouri school district will be allowed to spank students with a paddle as a “last resort” after it decided to reinstate corporal punishment. Cassville school district decided to bring it back after a survey sent to parents last year found they wanted additional discipline.
President Joe Biden has announced $10,000 of student loan debt for many Americans will be forgiven, rising to $20,000 if they qualified for Pell grants. One-third of Americans owe less than $10,000 – you can read more on student loan forgiveness here.
Production of the traditional French salers cheese has halted after drought left cows without grass to graze on. One of the rules of its production is that the cows must be fed on at least 75% grass from pasture for their milk to be used.
Stat of the day: 1.7 billion people around the world are still affected by neglected tropical diseases
Togo has been commended by the World Health Organization for becoming the first country globally to eliminate four neglected tropical diseases. Togo eliminated Guinea worm, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness and trachoma within 11 years. Globally, 1.7 billion people are still affected by NTDs – a group of 20 preventable, treatable conditions – 40% of whom are in Africa.
Don’t miss this: the rise of Yugonostalgia
With visitors continuing to flock to Belgrade’s Museum of Yugoslavia to mark Josep Broz Tito’s birthday, Jessica Bateman looks at the “Yugonostalgia” phenomenon. One 18-year-old, who identifies as Yugoslavian, tells Bateman: “It was a great time. Everyone loved each other.” But others warn about what they see as an overromanticism of the period, while the political anthropologist Larisa Kurtović takes issue with the name, explaining there is also a movement of younger people who examine the time more critically.
Climate check: California to ban sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035
California is expected to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 in a vote on Thursday, as the state takes action on the climate emergency that it hopes will inspire others. In 2021, only 12% of new cars sold in California were zero-emission; the rule would require the state reach 35% of sales by 2026, and 68% by 2030, according to the California Air Resources Board.
Last Thing: six more ways to recapture childhood fun
After Drew Barrymore, who has spoken about her traumatic childhood, shared TikToks about enjoying little moments with careless abandon – laughing in the rain, dancing around her living room – seven Guardian writers decided to do the same. Read about the simple, childlike pleasures of blowing bubbles, enjoying a funfair and mastering jump rope: “Occasionally, I can even hear the wind through the rope. It makes me feel like king of the universe. Whooosh.”
