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The FBI had already received a warning about the 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting two students and two teachers and wounded nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., the agency said on X. Authorities received several anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unknown time and location. Those threats included images of weapons. The FBI said it identified and interviewed the then-13-year-old suspect and his father. The father said they had shotguns, but the teen did not have unescorted access to them. The boy denied making the online threats. The sheriff’s office alerted local schools to monitor him, but there was no probable cause for an arrest or additional law enforcement action at the time. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said the teen would be charged with murder and tried as an adult.

Police and emergency responders responded to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday after a shooting was reported.

Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images

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Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and the Justice Department are set to appear in federal court today for what could be the final hearing in his election interference case before the November election. This year, voters will decide who wins the presidency — and, by extension, Trump’s legal fate. A D.C. grand jury indictment accused Trump of actions leading up to the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. If he regains the White House, he is expected to direct new leaders at the Justice Department to drop the landmark case.

• 🎧 Trump claims the new charge is election interferenceand says it’s a violation of Justice Department policy to take big steps too close to the election, NPR’s Carrie Johnson tells First up. Judge Tanya Chutkan will have to figure out how to draw the line between which of Trump’s actions in the White House were part of his presidential duties and which were as a candidate for office. Johnson says there’s no way this will be resolved before the election and it may not come before the court until next year because of the potential involvement of the Supreme Court.

Federal officials accuse Russia of using unwitting right-wing American influencers to spread Kremlin propaganda ahead of the November presidential election. Yesterday, the Justice Department charged two employees of RT, Russia’s state-run media outlet, in the scheme. Investigators say they helped publish online videos that have been viewed 16 million times on YouTube and other social media platforms. The employees named in the indictment are Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva.

• 🎧 The aim seems to be to amplify issues such as immigration, inflation and undermining support for Ukraine without any indication of this. that RT was behind the videos, says Shannon Bond of NPR. The indictment alleges that the employees funneled nearly $10 million to a Tennessee company to carry out the alleged scheme. The company was not named, but details match a company called Tenet Media. The Russian employees allegedly had broad control over the content, allowing them to push very specific angles that matched Kremlin narratives.

Listen Today

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch perform during the Class of 2021 Medal of Honor Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on May 1, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Terry Wyatt/Getty Images North America

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Terry Wyatt/Getty Images North America

Grammy-winning folk duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have built a career singing about hard times. Now they’re living one of their songs. Four years ago, a tornado destroyed their Nashville recording studio, turning their careers and lives upside down. But they’ve turned the disaster into inspiration with their new album Bunchnamed after their once-destroyed studio. “To keep from going crazy, we had to actually make art, or we would forget what kind of people we were,” Welch said on Morning edition.

Photo show

From mosses to mountain lions, the temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest offer the complexity and conditions needed to support high biodiversity. The Northwest Forest Plan has protected these ancient ecosystems for the past 30 years and helped improve forest management in Oregon, Washington, and California. Developed in response to decades of unsustainable logging practices, the plan has helped restore forest ecosystems in 17 national forests.

David Herasimtschuk

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David Herasimtschuk

For the past decade, photographer David Herasimtschuk has been capturing images of forests in the Pacific Northwestdocumenting the inhabitants of the last remaining primeval forests. From salamanders and salmon to bears and cougars, his photographs illustrate not only the beauty of the forests and the creatures that live there, but also the symbiotic relationships that are vital to the well-being of the planet.

3 Things You Need to Know Before You Go

Australian Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes in the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park during the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 9, 2024 in Paris, France. Her performance has drawn laughter and criticism, and now Gunn is responding.

Frank Franklin/AP/AP

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Frank Franklin/AP/AP

1. Australian breakdancer Raygun has apologised for the negative reactions her performance at the Paris Olympics provoked within the breakdance community.
2. Former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, whose criticism of Trump cost her her congressional seatsaid she will vote for Vice President Harris in the November election.
3. Diana Oganesyan went viral after an air sirenwho warned Ukraine of Russian attacks, started crying and the young singer spontaneously started singing along with the alarm.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.