Chicago saw its deadliest day in at least 60 years last month, with 18 killings within a 24-hour period on 31 May.

The violence occurred as protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis also spurred rioting and looting in the Windy City. Over the last weekend in May – a three day holiday – 85 people were shot and 24 killed, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. Most of the victims were black.

The dead and injured include students, parents and middle-aged workers, according to the data published in the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’ve never seen anything like it, at all,” senior research director Max Kapustin told the newspaper, noting that the Crime Lab’s data only goes back as far as 1961. “I don’t even know how to put it into context,” he said. “It’s beyond anything that we’ve ever seen before.” Mr Kapustin added that protests over Mr Floyd’s 25 May death in police custody may have distracted Chicago Police Department (CPD) resources from normal patrol duties.(BBC)…[+]

Daniel Radcliffe hopes JK Rowling’s comments about gender will not “taint” the Harry Potter series for fans. In a statement posted on an LGBT suicide prevention charity website, the actor said: “Transgender women are women.

“Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.” JK Rowling had been criticised for tweets taking issue with the phrase “people who menstruate”. Radcliffe said this was not about “in-fighting” and added he felt “compelled to say something” because Rowling was responsible for the “course his life has taken”.

Writing on The Trevor Project’s website he said he was sorry to anyone whose “experience of the [Harry Potter] books has been tarnished”.

“If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe… that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, non-binary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life – then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred.(BBC)…[+]

Thousands of Americans are taking to the streets to protest about racism – many for the first time in their lives. Why has this particular tragedy struck such a chord?

George Floyd is not the first African American whose death in police custody sparked protests. There were also rallies and calls for change after Tamir Rice, Michael Brown and Eric Garner were killed by police.

But this time seems different, with the response more sustained and widespread. There have been demonstrations across the US – in all 50 states and DC – including in cities and rural communities that are predominantly white.

Local governments, sports and businesses appear readier to take a stand this time – most notably with the Minneapolis city council pledging to dismantle the police department. And the Black Lives Matter protests this time seem more racially diverse – with larger numbers of white protesters, and protesters from other ethnicities, standing with black activists. (BBC)…[+]