WASHINGTON — US President Donald J. Trump signaled support Monday for improving background gun checks amid mounting pressure for reform in the wake of the Florida school shooting, as the accused gunman appeared in court.

Nikolas Cruz, charged with killing 17 people, sat silently with his head bowed during a procedural hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in what is expected to be a lengthy and emotional prosecution.

Wednesday’s rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, Florida has ignited protests by students who survived the onslaught and renewed calls for changes in US gun laws.

Cruz, 19, was able to legally buy an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle despite numerous red flags that nonetheless failed to prompt action by state and federal agencies.

The White House indicated that Mr. Trump is receptive to a bipartisan proposal that would require more prompt reporting to a national database of offenses that would bar an individual from buying a firearm.

“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the president is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The legislation, however, does not address the broader, divisive issue of permissive gun laws under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms.

STUDENT PROTESTS
Chanting “Shame on you, Shame on you,” about 100 students from area high schools gathered outside the White House and staged a “lie-in” to press demands for change.

“More Guns, More Murder,” read one of the signs carried by demonstrators.

Maya Smith, 15, said she fears for her life when she walks into school “because the government won’t decide that my life matters as much as the right to bear arms matters.”

“We as students shouldn’t be worrying about being shot in our school,” said high school junior Juneau Wang.

“Students should be worrying about a bad test grade, not the fact that someone could walk in with an AR-15 any time during the school day.”

After earlier mass shootings, Mr. Trump has said little about guns, focusing instead on the mental health of shooters. Following the Oct. 1 attack in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead, he said only that “we’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes by.”

After the Parkland shooting, he emphasized the need to deal with mental health issues, while castigating the FBI for missing warning signs about the shooter.

The president initially made no mention of guns, drawing an angry reaction from Democrats and angry Floridians. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic minority leader, noted that Mr. Trump’s proposed 2019 budget would actually cut spending on the background check program.

Even one of the most shocking mass shootings of recent years — the 2012 attack on a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 young children and six adults dead — brought little legal change, though Connecticut and a handful of other states toughened their gun laws.

But there are some indications that the limited steps Mr. Trump backs might succeed.

The NRA says it has “long supported the inclusion of all legitimate records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.”

Gun control advocates also back the bill sponsored by Senators Joh Cornyn, a Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat. They came together after a gunman killed 26 people at a Texas church in November.

“This is a real, genuine effort from people who couldn’t be further from each other on the other side of the aisle,” a Coalition to Stop Gun Violence official told The Atlantic magazine.

And the impassioned calls for change from Parkland shooting survivors — photogenic young people who say they can no longer put up with the inaction of older generations — have kept the issue alive.

“We need to do something,” 17-year-old David Hogg, a shooting survivor, told CNN. “Congress needs to get over their political bias with each other and work toward saving children’s lives.”

CNN is holding a town hall meeting on Wednesday with the victims’ classmates, parents, community members and Florida politicians.

The students’ cries for action would appear to enjoy broad support.

A Quinnipiac University opinion survey in November found that support for universal background checks had reached an all-time high, with 95% of voters favoring such checks. — AFP

BANGKOK — A Bangkok court on Tuesday granted a Japanese man “sole parent” rights to 13 children he fathered through Thai surrogate mothers, a ruling that paves the way for him to take custody of the group.

Mitsutoki Shigeta caused a “baby factory” scandal in 2014 after Thai police said DNA samples linked him to nine infants found in a Bangkok apartment, plus at least four other babies born by surrogates.

The murky case threw the spotlight on Thailand’s then unregulated rent-a-womb industry, and helped push authorities to bar foreigners from paying for Thai surrogates in 2015.

Mr. Shigeta, the son of a Japanese tycoon, left the country in the wake of the scandal but later sued Thailand’s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for custody of the children.

“For the happiness and opportunities which the 13 children will receive from their biological father, who does not have a history of bad behavior, the court rules that all 13 born from surrogacy to be legal children of the plaintiff,” Bangkok’s Central Juvenile Court said in a statement.

Mr. Shigeta, who did not attend the trial in person, was deemed the “sole parent” of the children after the Thai surrogates had signed away their rights, the court said.

As he comes from a wealthy family, he has ample money and has prepared nurses and nannies to care for the children in Japan, the ruling stated.

Mr. Shigeta’s lawyer said he would contact the Social Welfare Ministry, who has taken care of the children since the scandal broke in 2014, about the next steps in transferring them from state custody.

Mr. Shigeta hired the Thai surrogates before the kingdom banned the lucrative trade in 2015, following a string of scandals and custody tussles.

Surrogacy agencies quickly migrated to neighboring Cambodia, who followed suit and barred the industry in 2016.

In recent months there have been signs the industry has shifted to Laos, an opaque communist country with no restrictions on surrogacy.

Some surrogacy agencies are now offering services to carry out the embryo transfer in Laos and then provide pregnancy care for the surrogate in Thailand, a wealthier country with vastly superior medical facilities. — AFP