World News: May 2022

Tuesday, May 31

Conservative activists are showing up at annual meetings to warn company leaders against engaging in the kind of LGBTQ advocacy that prompted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to dismantle Walt Disney's special tax district

How conservatives are fighting progressives

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We have today a new column from one of our newest columnists, John Wood Jr. We'll have more from him later so take a moment read his column and a few others we think are worth your time.

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Here's how the right is fighting back

John Wood Jr. is a national ambassador for Braver Angels, a former nominee for Congress, former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, musical artist, and a noted writer and speaker on subjects including racial and political reconciliation.

Vincent Madero

We live in an age of social sanction. Perhaps every age is to a degree. But the predominating social sanction (or "cancel culture" if you like) from the American left as it expresses itself in popular culture and the activist activation of major American institutions are yielding a soft secessionism from the American right.

Cancel culture, whether one generally supports or opposes it, has been well discussed. But within the worrisome rise of existential polarization in American life, the latter phenomenon also deserves attention.

An impulse toward secession has always been a part of the American character. We ought not look at it as an absolutely pejorative term. The United States was founded, after all, in secession from the British Empire. READ MORE

It was a long weekend, so here are some you might have missed

•	So you want to keep LGBTQ Pride events 'family friendly'? That's a prickly wish.
•	Americans see more LGBTQ people on TV these days. That's absolutely crucial for our cause.
•	'They treated my brother like an animal': Police act like mental illness is a crime
•	Why force braiders into useless beauty schools?
•	Parents struggle with goodbye after another school shooting

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The Short List

Tuesday, May 31

French bulldog, Hazel- from the Crisis Animal Response Team out of San Antonio- talk to people waiting to give blood at the Herby Ham Activity Center in Uvalde, Texas, May 26, 2022, as part of the community response following the school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Hazel is a trained and certified Care Team dog, helping comfort those who might be in need of comfort.

Comfort dogs help heal

In Uvalde, therapy dogs bring much-needed smiles to a hurting community. And BTS meets with President Biden at the White House. It's Tuesday's news.

With every wet-nosed nuzzle, therapy dogs help a community grieve in Uvalde, Texas, as funerals begin for the 21 victims of last week's attack. K-pop group BTS talks inclusion at the White House. And after diminishing over Mexico, the storm named Agatha may drench South Florida by the end of the week.

👋 Hey, hey! Laura Davis here. It's Tuesday, which means it's time for Tuesday's news!

But first, how did a bottle of Tabasco sauce find its way into a painting of the Last Supper? 🤷‍♀️ Great question.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Therapy dogs help soothe a grieving community

Agony. Anger. Confusion. Shock. The people of Uvalde came to the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center in all emotional states in the days after the Robb Elementary School shooting. In this small city, almost everyone knew, has heard of or is related to at least one of the murdered 19 children and two adults. The mourners came to the civic center for counseling and comfort. Hazel was waiting for them. That is the 5-year-old French bulldog's job – to be there for those in trauma. Shortly after the shooting, organizations across the country quickly sent teams of dogs and their handlers to help Uvalde. Research shows that the repetitive action of simply petting a dog produces oxytocin, a hormone that relieves stress. The canines also help reduce anxiety and depression. They look you in the eye. They don't judge. They've heard more secrets than they will ever know. The day after the shooting, a group from San Antonio headed to the civic center. There, wrapped in a day-glo yellow vest emblazoned with her name, Hazel went to work.

French bulldog Hazel from the Crisis Animal Response Team out of San Antonio comforts Steve and Elisa Rankin after they donated blood at the Herby Ham Activity Center in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, as part of the community response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School. Hazel is a trained and certified care team dog, offering comfort to those who might be in need.

Sara Diggins/USA TODAY NETWORK

Funerals begin in Uvalde

Funeral directors, morticians, florists and others around Texas arrived this week to help as the funerals begin Tuesday for those killed last week at Robb Elementary School. A dozen funerals are planned this week, 11 for students and one for teacher Irma Garcia. The gunman killed 21 people. Services are planned for the next two weeks as Uvalde grapples with law enforcement's admittedly flawed response to the shooting May 24.

👉 More news: A teacher did close the door that a gunman used to enter the school, but the door did not lock, state authorities now say. Tuesday's updates.

•	School photographers' pictures bring children and tragedy into full focus.
•	Fact check: No evidence Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has a Twitter template for mass shootings.

White memorial crosses in the town square of Uvalde, Texas, are imprinted with the names of the 19 children killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24.

Jack Gruber/USA TODAY

What everyone's talking about

•	Val Kilmer on 'Top Gun: Maverick' teary reunion, hug with Tom Cruise.
•	Master P announces death of his 29-year-old daughter, Tytyana Miller.
•	NOAA warns of 'aggressive' dolphin looking for people off Texas coast.
•	The Depp-Heard libel case is in jurors' hands. Read the closing arguments.
•	Transgender swimmer responds to critics who say she transitioned to gain advantage.

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

BTS talks inclusion at the White House

BTS' latest dynamite move? Meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. All seven members of the superstar K-pop group – RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook and V – joined press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for Tuesday's daily briefing, during which they commemorated the final day of AAPI Heritage Month by each making brief remarks about anti-Asian hate crimes, the importance of inclusion and their dedicated fanbase. Following After the news conference, BTS was scheduled to meet with Biden in the Oval Office.

•	🎥 'It's not wrong to be different': See BTS at the White House.

Members of the K-pop supergroup BTS join White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during the daily briefing at the White House on May 31 in Washington.

Evan Vucci/AP

2 Russian soldiers sentenced to prison for war crimes

A court in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava sentenced two captured Russian soldiers Tuesday to 11 years and six months in prison for their roles in shelling civilian areas near Kharkiv. It was the second war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Alexander Bobykin and Alexander Ivanov served in Russian artillery units that destroyed a school and other buildings in and around Dergachi, a village about 12 miles northwest of Kharkiv, prosecutors said. The men, who watched proceedings from a reinforced glass box, pleaded guilty to charges of "violating laws and customs of war."

👉 More news: Russian forces take swath of crucial eastern city; how much will the EU's partial oil embargo hurt Russia? Tuesday's updates.

•	Biden vows he won't interfere with the Fed's moves to fight inflation.
•	Oil prices jump after EU ban on Russian oil but S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ are down.

A volunteer helps a man leaving his home May 31 after the building he lived in was damaged by an overnight missile strike in Sloviansk, Ukraine.

Francisco Seco/AP

Real quick

•	Trudeau proposes 'national freeze' on handgun sales in Canada.
•	No-phone fan watching Tiger Woods lands Michelob Ultra deal.
•	Homeland Security says 70 missing kids recovered in Texas operation.
•	9-year-old Washington state girl fights off attacking cougar and survives.
•	Mexican pizza pulled from menu again because it's selling out everywhere.
•	Ex-Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann acquitted of charge he lied to FBI.

Weakened Agatha wanders toward Florida

After dissipating over Mexico, tropical depression Agatha may drench South Florida by week's end. Forecasters expect Agatha – which made landfall in Mexico on Monday as a hurricane – to bring heavy rain over the next few days. National Hurricane Center spokesperson Dennis Feltgen said a "large and complex area of low pressure" is forecast to develop near the Yucatan Peninsula and the northwestern Caribbean Sea within a couple of days. Rainfall is expected to spread across western Cuba, South Florida and the Florida Keys by the end of the week, he s. Agatha made landfall Monday afternoon as a strong Category 2 hurricane 5 miles west of Puerto Angel in an area of fishing villages and small beach towns, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

🌦 Need an umbrella – or a sweater? Find out what the weather's doing in your neck of the woods. Check your forecast here.

•	Photos: Hurricane Agatha makes landfall in Mexico.

Rain falls during the arrival of Hurricane Agatha in Huatulco, Oaxaca State, Mexico on May 30, 2022.

GIL OBED, AFP via Getty Images

A break from the news

•	🙇‍♀️ My mother-in-law is toxic. Am I wrong for cutting her out of my life?
•	👩‍💻 Ask HR: Would I burn bridges by accepting a counteroffer?
•	✈️ Is travel insurance worth it? What to know before you book your next trip.

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