Campaigners celebrate the Supreme Court’s ruling against HB2 in Texas. Image: video still

In the most significant victory for abortion rights in a generation, the Supreme Court has struck down provisions of a sweeping anti-choice law in Texas. Justice Anthony Kennedy joined Justice Stephen Breyer and all three women justices on the Supreme Court, condemning the restrictions as an undue burden on access to abortion.

Actor Jesse Williams is best known for his role on the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy.” On Sunday night, he earned a standing ovation when he addressed the BET Awards. As he accepted the Humanitarian Award, Williams paid homage to police shooting victims, including Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, who would have turned 14 on Saturday. “Police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day,” Williams says. “We are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function and ours.”

Extreme weather is sweeping across the United States, from scorching heat in the Southwest to uncontrollable wildfires in California, to deadly flooding in Appalachia. In West Virginia, at least 23 people have died in once-in-a-thousand-year flooding, and a number of people remain missing across the state. Meanwhile, wildfires are raging up and down the state of California. At least two people have died, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. May was the 13th straight month to smash global temperature records, amid increasing human-fueled global warming.

Wildfires are raging up and down the state of California. At least two people have died, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Ken Pimlott, the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and a 30-year fire service veteran, joins the show from Sacramento, where temperatures hit 107 degrees on Monday, one degree shy of the record.

In West Virginia, at least 23 people have died in once-in-a-thousand-year flooding. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has declared a state of emergency in 44 counties and has deployed the National Guard to help with search and rescue efforts. A number of people remain missing across the state. The severe rainfall inundated large parts of the town of Richwood, submerging cars and the first floors of many houses and businesses.

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