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The US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional New York state’s limits on carrying concealed handguns in public, handing a landmark victory to gun rights advocates in a nation deeply divided over how to address firearms violence.

The 6-3 ruling, with the court’s conservative justices in the majority and liberal justices in dissent, found that the state’s law, enacted in 1913, violated a person’s right to “keep and bear arms” under the US Constitution’s Second Amendment.

The justices overturned a lower court ruling throwing out a challenge to the law by two gun owners and the New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association, an influential gun rights group closely aligned with Republicans. | Reuters

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Eid app

VETERINARIANS are called in to inspect the sheep at an abattoir ahead of one of Islam’s major holidays in Dubai, where the municipality is encouraging residents to use smart apps to order the sacrificial animals.

Muslims during Eid-ul-Adha, which falls next month to mark the end of the hajj pilgrimage season, traditionally buy a whole sheep to be slaughtered and distributed among friends, family and the poor.

While such apps are not widely available in Muslim countries, they have been used in some countries such as Pakistan. |

Maxwell

US PROSECUTORS have asked a judge to sentence former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to at least 30 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking minors for the late disgraced financier and is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Her lawyers have argued for leniency, citing a traumatic childhood and claiming that Maxwell is being unfairly punished because Epstein escaped trial.

They called for Judge Alison Nathan to hand down a sentence less than the probation department’s recommended 20 years. |

Banksy theft

A FRENCH court has convicted eight men for the theft and handling of a Banksy painting paying homage to the victims of the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

Three men in their 30s who admitted to the 2019 theft were given prison sentences yesterday, one of four years and two of three, although they will be able to serve them wearing electronic tracking bracelets rather than behind bars.

A 41-year-old millionaire lottery winner accused of being the mastermind of the heist, was given three years in jail for handling stolen goods. |

AFP

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