The grief-stricken debate over US gun laws intensified on Thursday, as President Donald Trump reiterated his proposal to arm teachers after spending an emotional hour with survivors of last week’s Florida school shooting.
The "listening" session at the White House a day earlier was peppered by heartfelt pleas for action from both survivors and relatives of those killed in armed attacks.
On Thursday morning, Mr Trump took to Twitter to defend his controversial plan to protect children by allowing teachers to carry weapons.
“History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT,” he wrote.
The idea is the most controversial to be floated by politicians as the United States deals with the fallout of yet another mass shooting.
A poll released earlier this week by ABC News/Washington post said 42 per cent of Americans believe teachers with guns could have prevented the Florida shooting.
Mr Trump also signalled concessions to the anti-gun lobby on Thursday, however, tweeting that he would push for tougher background checks — with an emphasis on mental health — and endorsing the idea of raising the minimum age for gun ownership to 21.
The issue has taken on added urgency since 17 pupils and teachers were shot dead at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday last week.
Some parents who attended the White House meeting on Wednesday spoke in favour of arming teachers, and praised Mr Trump as a decisive leader.
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow Pollack died at Parkland, said: "9/11 happened once and they fixed everything. How many schools have to get shot up before it's fixed? The cemetery, that's where I go to see my kid now."
He added that he supported the idea of arming teachers, saying: "It stops here with this administration and me."
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Read more:
Florida shooting survivor: New breed of activists to force change on guns
US gun control support at highest level measured, poll finds
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But student activists who have come to the fore during the past week are instead pushing for measures that would limit sales of weapons, putting them on a collision course with the gun lobby.
Some are demanding a ban on assault weapons, while others want sales prohibited for those under 21, universal background checks and improved mental health care to prevent the likes of Nikolas Cruz — charged with 17 murders after the Florida attack — being able to own the AR-15 rifle that has featured in so many mass killings.
Student campaigners clashed bitterly with Marco Rubio, the Republican senator for Florida, at a televised town hall meeting on Wednesday evening, jeering and booing as he pushed back against banning assault weapons.
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed in last week's shooting, told Mr Rubio that his comments about the attack “and those of your president this week have been pathetically weak”.
He won a rousing standing ovation as he challenged the senator to admit that guns were the problem.
Mr Rubio responded by saying the problems laid bare by the shooting rampage "cannot be solved by gun laws alone".
His position sparked angry accusations that he was more interested in defending the stance of powerful lobby group the National Rifle Association (NRA) than taking action to protect children in schools.
“It's hard to look at you and not look down the barrel of an AR-15 and not look at Nikolas Cruz,” said Cameron Kasky, one of the survivors who has become one of their cause’s most powerful and visible campaigners.
“Can you tell me right now that you will not accept a single donation from the NRA?”
Mr Rubio declined to answer the question directly and instead suggested that he did not change his positions to please donors.
"People buy into my agenda, and I do support the Second Amendment,” he said.
Company%20profile
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Meg%202%3A%20The%20Trench
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if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
Company%20profile
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Premier Futsal 2017 Finals
Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
The Transfiguration
Director: Michael O’Shea
Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
Three stars
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Blonde
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAndrew%20Dominik%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAna%20de%20Armas%2C%20Adrien%20Brody%2C%20Bobby%20Cannavale%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
The Disaster Artist
Director: James Franco
Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogan
Four stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The%20specs
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Company%20Profile
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