First Thing: Duane Keith Davis found guilty of 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur
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Tupac Shakur. Photograph: Pat Johnson/Rex/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Tupac Shakur. Photograph: Pat Johnson/Rex/Shutterstock First Thing newsletter US news First Thing: Duane Keith Davis found guilty of 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur Jury took about three hours to reach verdict in case that relied heavily on confessions from the defendant. Plus, the woman who lived with and loved Freddie Mercury as her fiance
Prefer the Guardian on Google Good morning. A Las Vegas jury has found the former South Side Compton Crips gang leader Duane Keith Davis guilty of the murder of Tupac Shakur , bringing the case to a close nearly 30 years after the rapper was gunned down. The jury took about three hours to reach a guilty verdict in a case that relied heavily on multiple confessions from Davis himself.
The 63-year-old, who was accused of instigating the deadly shooting but not pulling the trigger himself, had spent years telling investigators and interviewers alike of his direct involvement before he was arrested in 2023.
Who was Tupac Shakur? Shakur was born in 1971 in East Harlem, New York, and rose to fame in the early 90s with lyrics that doubled as a sharp commentary on social injustice, including systemic racism and police brutality. He was 25 when he died and is regarded among the greatest rappers to ever live, and continues to be celebrated around the world years after his life was cut short.
How have his family reacted to the trial? “We’ve been waiting 30 years to grieve properly,” Zayd Akinyela, Shakur’s cousin, told reporters outside the courtroom when the trial was under way. “A lot of people don’t get to grieve until they understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened.”
Why have authorities been so heavily criticised over the case? Las Vegas police faced criticism that they had bungled the investigation and failed to pursue crucial leads, including from a member of Shakur’s entourage who claimed he could identify the shooters. That witness died weeks later in a separate shooting.
View image in fullscreen A Nepali police helicopter carrying relief supplies lands in Rasuwa district. Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images The death toll from the unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to more than 1,000 . More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border. Rescue efforts have been complicated by difficult terrain, persistently high flood waters and bad weather.
With more than 40 bridges destroyed, rescuers are relying on helicopters, while India and China are sending prefabricated truss bridges to help restore access. The swollen Trishuli River has continued to change course unpredictably, making planning a challenge. Areas that were dry one day are flooded the next, and further floods are a constant concern.
View image in fullscreen Dan Driscoll. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images The army secretary, Dan Driscoll, has handed his resignation to Donald Trump, the White House said Monday, becoming the latest high-profile figure to depart the defense department.
The resignation comes after months of turmoil at the defense department, from leak investigations and budget issues to the ousting of several senior officials including the army chief of staff, Randy George, in April. In June, the army commander of forces in Europe and Africa, Gen Christopher Donahue, unexpectedly stepped down.
What role had Driscoll been playing? An Iraq war veteran, tech investor and former adviser to JD Vance, Driscoll was tapped for the unusual role of key negotiator to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. He was also a major force behind trying to cut the red tape for military contractors to quickly develop more drones and counter-drone capabilities as warfare rapidly changes around the world.
View image in fullscreen Candles with victims’ names written on them outside the Islamic Center of San Diego. Photograph: Ty ONeil/AP A 17-year-old North Carolina girl who recorded a live stream of a shooting that killed three people at a San Diego mosque and disseminated the attackers’ white-supremacist writings has been charged with murder by aiding and abetting , a district attorney said.
The Forsyth county district attorney Jim O’Neill said the girl, whose name was not mentioned during the news conference, was arrested last week. On Monday a grand jury indicted her on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy. Under North Carolina law, the aiding-and-abetting charges carry the same penalties as if the girl had committed the attack herself, O’Neill said.
View image in fullscreen Donald Trump holds artists’ renderings of the White House plans. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images A divided US supreme court has permitted Donald Trump to continue building his controversial $400m White House ballroom despite legal challenges, raising the likelihood it will be completed.
New York City police shot and killed a woman after she stabbed two people , one of them fatally, in Times Square , an act authorities described as “random and unprovoked”.
The US military has no plans to send troops to midterm polling sites, the highest‑ranking US military officer has said.
US health officials have excluded two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania from their counts . RFK Jr, the health secretary, has suggested the deaths were “fabricated” while the CDC said it was reviewing them.
The Tennessee Volunteers will be honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season , the college football team’s head coach, Josh Heupel, announced.
View image in fullscreen Amazon said it ‘strongly disagrees’ with the lawsuit. Photograph: Charles-McClintock Wilson/NurPhoto/Shutterstock The US’s main trade regulator and 22 states have sued Amazon , alleging the online retailer “secretly and systematically overcharged” advertisers, leading to higher costs for customers on items such as groceries and other essential goods. Amazon described…
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