Friday briefing: The US at 250: who gets to tell the story?

Donald Trump is making the 250th birthday of the US all about him. Illustration: Guardian Design View image in fullscreen Donald Trump is making the 250th birthday of the US all about him. Illustration: Guardian Design Friday briefing: The US at 250: who gets to tell the story? In today’s newsletter: As official celebrations spotlight a narrow cast of ​white heroes, communities across the US are reclaiming the histories that Freedom 250 leaves out Good morning, and a very happy 250th birthday to the United States of America. If you prefer to celebrate with cage fighting on the White House lawn, an IndyCar rally through the streets of Washington DC, or simply by watching the president do his lonely bop to YMCA at a sparsely attended state fair , so much the better. It takes a special kind of someone to make the semiquincentennial birthday of a nation of 349 million people, from a whole variety of backgrounds, all about himself. But he wouldn’t be the only one centred on a very particular (white, male, Christian-centric) view of how the nation came to be. Remembrance is a political act, and I wanted to know what the 250th means to all Americans. So I booked a transatlantic call with Melissa Hellmann , senior reporter on the race and equity team for Guardian US. We spoke about how the communities she reports on feel about this birthday season, and the brutal history and present rollback of rights that runs directly counter to America’s founding principle that all are created equal. But first the headlines. Five big stories UK news | Women from Black and Asian backgrounds are less likely than their white counterparts to receive an epidural while giving birth , research has revealed. Ukraine | Ukraine and Russia have promised fresh assaults after Moscow launched a huge barrage on Kyiv , killing at least 27 people, tearing open apartment buildings and sending tens of thousands of people to shelters. UK news | Criminal investigators in the UK say they have uncovered a “truly international network” of organised drug-facilitated sexual assault in which victims are sedated before being raped and sexually assaulted. UK politics | Keir Starmer has formally apologised for the British state’s role in past forced adoptions after decades of campaigning by mothers and children affected. World news | A rescue team pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement, ending an operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela. In depth: ‘The executive branch is ignoring history that tells the full story of America’ View image in fullscreen There is a large section of America’s past that Trump is trying to erase. Photograph: Castle Light Images/Alamy Melissa lives in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by representatives of the 13 colonies seeking freedom from the British empire on 4 July 1776. One of many landmarks across the city is the Pr