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US: The United States House of Representatives has passed a succession of gun-control bills, but they are bound to fail in the Senate.

The new regulations would prohibit the sale of semiautomatic firearms to persons under the age of 21 and prohibit the sale of large-capacity magazines.

Despite heightened attention on gun regulation in the wake of a number of mass shootings in the United States, Republican opposition in the Senate means the bill has little chance of becoming law.

Survivors of the Uvalde school shooting offered poignant testimony to lawmakers only hours before the vote, bringing some to tears.

21 people were killed in the primary school shooting in Texan city, including 19 small children.

Nigeria:  According to the Ondo State Catholic Diocese, gunmen with explosives killed at least 38 people, including five children, in an attack on a Catholic church in southern Nigeria.

Some of the dead “were transferred to private hospitals, and we have not been able to ascertain the number of casualties for that,” according to a spokeswoman for Bishop Jude Arogundade of the Ondo Catholic Diocese, raising the possibility that the death toll could be higher.

On Tuesday, Kadiri Olanrewaju, the chairman of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Services in Ondo, said 22 bodies had been tallied at the morgue, while two state lawmakers told the Associated Press on Sunday that the attack at the St. Francis Catholic Church killed more than 50 people.

UK: Despite Russia’s danger to the West, the UK will send its first long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to the defense secretary.

The M270 multi-launch rocket system, according to Ben Wallace, will boost Ukraine in its defense against Russia.

The number of weapons that will be sent has not been confirmed by the government, but the BBC understands that three will be dispatched at first.

The move follows the United States’ announcement last week that it will also provide a rocket system.

The United States’ decision to send its own M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to Kyiv has already enraged Moscow, and Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Sunday to expand the list of targets Russia would attack in Ukraine if Western countries sent long-range weapons to Kyiv.

New Delhi —  To mark the World Environment Day this year, a book
titled ‘Elimination of Infectious Diseases from the South-East Asia Region Keeping the
Promise’ was launched at a virtual event on Monday.
Infectious disease epidemiologist and public health expert, Professor David Heymann
said that the book highlights the progress that has been made in the control of
communicable diseases in the Region during the past decade.
“It provides compelling insights into how this has been done with high-level
commitment, funding and maintaining the sense of urgency. It provides good news at a
time when the world is faced by the devastating effects of climate change.”
Edited by the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh,
the book is a compilation of chapters authored by public health experts and details the
achievements by Member countries such as elimination of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and Syphilis, yaws, malaria, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma and
moving towards a leprosy free world. These successes follow prioritization of
elimination of neglected tropical diseases and others diseases on the verge of
elimination, as a flagship priority in the Region, when Dr Khetrapal Singh assumed
office as Regional Director in 2014.
“Countries of the South-East Asia Region have for decades been fighting
communicable diseases. I know the challenges. But as this book shows, those
challenges have not stopped the fight against communicable diseases nor have they
stopped the strengthening of primary health care and the expansion of universal
health coverage,” Prof Heymann said.
On launching the book as part of World Environment Day initiative, Dr Poonam
Khetrapal Singh said, “climate change and other environmental determinants threaten
to halt or even reverse the Region’s hard-won gains against communicable diseases,
which would in turn negatively impact inclusive and sustainable social and economic
growth”.
“Biodiverse and well-functioning ecosystems are vital to sustain and enhance human
health. All people must have access to clean air, fresh water, and nutritional security
to prevent disease and promote health, and to pursue sustainable livelihoods”, the
Regional Director said. (ANI)