Here’s what you need to know about the week’s top stories.
Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead 1. The U.S. is heading into its second pandemic summer, but the mood is brightening. For this Memorial Day weekend, parades and barbecues — canceled last year as the country was nearing 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus — are back on. More than half of all adults in the U.S. have now been fully vaccinated. About 23,000 new infections are being reported daily, the lowest number in nearly a year. Travel is back, and so is congestion (which is making some traffic reporters very happy). If you’re on the road this weekend, pack patience and sunblock. Above, on the road in Kennebunk, Maine. While the pace of vaccinations in the U.S. has slowed, the nation is getting closer to President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of adults by July 4. The biggest gains in recent weeks have been made in vaccinating children who are 12 to 15 years old, according to a Times analysis. But for many, the pandemic has left deep scars. In New York City, a teenage brother and sister were orphaned by Covid-19. They’re rebuilding their lives, unearthing courage from sorrow. 2. Key questions about the Jan.6 riot may never be answered now that congressional Republicans have blocked an independent inquiry. The public may never know precisely what President Donald Trump and members of his administration did or said as a throng of his supporters stormed the Capitol while Congress met to formalize President Biden’s victory; why security officials were so unprepared for the breach; or the extent of the role of Republican lawmakers in planning the “Stop the Steal” rally that turned into a deadly attack. Instead, Republican senators moved to shift an unwelcome spotlight away from Trump and the complicity of many G.O.P. lawmakers in amplifying his false claims of widespread voter fraud. Republicans have argued that the existing investigations will address what happened. But they have strict limits. 3. Gun purchases surged during the pandemic — a fifth of them by first-time owners — and the pace hasn’t slowed. While gun sales have been climbing for decades, Americans have been on an unusual, prolonged buying spree fueled by the pandemic, the protests last summer and the fears they both stoked. A record 1.2 million background checks were conducted in a single week this spring. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign a wide-ranging bill that would allow virtually anyone over the age of 21 to carry a handgun — no permit required. It’s part of a string of Republican-led initiatives that the State Legislature has pushed through during its most conservative session in modern history.
