Thursday’s top story: Ardern announces sweeping gun laws in response to Christchurch attacks. Plus, how the ‘Lavscam’ scandal has harmed Trudeau on his home turf

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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

Assault rifles and military-style semi-automatics banned in NZ

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has unveiled a sweeping and immediate ban on assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons in response to last week’s Christchurch mosque attacks, the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s modern history. “The time for the mass and easy availability of these weapons must end and today they will,” Ardern said as she announced details of the nationwide ban, which came into effect at 3pm local time on Thursday.

Mosque reopens. Thousands of people are expected to attend prayers at Al Noor mosque in Christchurch when it reopens on Friday, a week after the attacks in which 50 people were killed, 42 of them at Al Noor mosque.

May blames UK MPs for three-month Brexit delay

Play Video 3:52 Brexit: May says high time MPs vote for her deal in No 10 statement - video

With UK lawmakers still locked in disagreement over Brexit, Theresa May has formally requested a three-month delay to the UK’s departure from the EU – and blamed the squabbling in parliament for the postponement. Speaking from Downing Street on Wednesday night, the prime minister described the developments as “a matter of great personal regret”. Despite a furious backlash from MPs, May made clear she intended to make yet another attempt at forcing her Brexit deal through the House of Commons next week.

EU view. After receiving May’s formal letter requesting the extension, the European council president, Donald Tusk, said the EU would only agree to the short delay if MPs voted to accept May’s deal next week.

‘A bizarre low’: Trump revives attacks on John McCain

Play Video 1:27 Donald Trump: 'I wasn't a fan of John McCain' – video

Donald Trump’s favourite new talking point is a familiar one: his dislike for John McCain. In attacks that drew criticism even from Republicans, the president criticised the late senator seven months after his death. “I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted, which as president I had to approve,” Trump grumbled on a visit to Ohio. “I didn’t get a thank you.” In a tweet, he complained about McCain’s vote against repealing Obamacare, which he also called “disgraceful” during a White House appearance on Tuesday.

Team McCain. Several Republicans defended McCain against the president, including Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney. McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain, a host on The View, said: “Attacking someone who isn’t here is a bizarre low.”

Democrats bring back debate on slavery reparations

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elizabeth Warren on a campaign visit to Selma, Alabama, a cradle of the civil rights movement. Photograph: Jake Crandall/AP

The 2020 Democratic presidential field is unusual in its size and diversity, and also its willingness to discuss an idea that has rarely reached the forefront of American political discourse: reparations to the descendants of slaves. The Rev Jesse Jackson, who has long argued for reparations, told the Guardian: “If they deal with this, it can’t be superficial … It requires a serious study of history. It requires serious scientific study.”

Where they stand. Of the 2020 candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro have expressed tentative support for reparations, while Kamala Harris and Cory Booker propose alternative solutions to the lingering legacy of slavery.

Crib sheet

Hundreds of drilling projects on Wyoming public land have been halted after a judge in Washington DC ruled that the Trump administration failed to take climate change into account when it approved the leases to the energy industry.

Lockerbie investigators are reported to be questioning at least five former agents of the East German Stasi about their possible role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, in which 270 people were killed.

South Korean police have arrested two men for secretly filming 1,600 guests at 30 hotels in multiple cities and streaming the footage live online, amid an epidemic of such sexual voyeurism videos, known as molka .

Devin Nunes’ Cow, a parody Twitter account mocking the titular California congressman, now has more followers than Nunes himself, after he drew attention to it by launching a defamation lawsuit against Twitter.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An art handler moves Francis Bacon’s Two Studies for a Self-Portrait. Photograph: (c) Sotheby's

The secret business of shipping priceless art

Even the most committed art lover may not have put much thought into how the works in an exhibition came to be there. Andrew Dickson untangles the intricate logistical web that helps to move masterpieces across borders and on to museum walls.

Trudeau’s Montréal base eroded by scandal

Justin Trudeau has always relied on the staunch support of voters in Montréal, the city that still celebrates his father and prime ministerial predecessor, Pierre. But the so-called “Lavscam” bribery scandal engulfing the Canadian government has taken a toll there too, as Martin Patriquin reports.

Has Pixar forked up Toy Story?

The first full-length trailer for Toy Story 4 landed online this week, featuring a major new character named Forky, a neurotic spork-turned-toy who’s suffering an existential crisis. Ben Child worries that the classic franchise might just be retreading old territory.

How prosecutors vilify police shooting victims

After Stephon Clark was shot dead by police in his grandmother’s Sacramento backyard, the district attorney launched an assault on his memory. The families of police violence victims tell Sam Levin how prosecutors smear their loved ones to exonerate their killers.

Opinion

Purdue Pharma, the purveyors of Oxycontin, could be sunk by the flood of lawsuits over its role in the opioids crisis. But pinning the blame for the worst drug epidemic in US history on a single firm would be a mistake, argues Chris McGreal.

Purdue may have kicked open the door to a crisis officially estimated to have claimed 350,000 lives, but the epidemic escalated over the past two decades because the medical industry in control of America’s healthcare system made it happen.

Sport

The Canterbury Crusaders are the most successful team in the history of Super Rugby, the southern hemisphere’s international club competition. But in the wake of the Christchurch shootings, which took place less than two miles from their stadium, they are considering a name change.

Belgium and Russia meet on Friday for the first time since both excelled at last summer’s World Cup. Their clash is one of 10 things to look out for during the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.

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