Catch the latest news reports on The Big Story, The Straits Times' weekday online news programme.

A teenage gunman murdered at least 19 children and two teachers after storming into a Texas elementary school on Tuesday (May 24), the latest bout of gun-fuelled mass killings in the United States and the nation's worst school shooting in nearly a decade.

The carnage began with the 18-year-old suspect, identified as Salvador Ramos, shooting his own grandmother, who survived, the authorities said.

He fled that scene and crashed his car near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a town about 130km west of San Antonio. There he launched a bloody rampage that ended when he was killed, apparently shot by police.

The motive was not immediately clear.

Mobile editor Jeremy Au Yong, who was The Straits Times' US bureau chief from 2013 to 2016, discusses gun policy in the US.

In Singapore news, the number of Build-To-Order (BTO) projects delayed by six months or longer has dropped to 58 this year from 74 in 2021, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on Wednesday (May 25).

Mr Lee gave the update on BTO delays during a tour of the Northshore Edge project in Punggol, which will be completed soon.

This means fewer than 60 per cent of Housing Board BTO projects faced ongoing delays as at April this year, compared with more than 80 per cent of projects a year ago.

Separately, several wet markets and supermarkets saw their shelves cleared of fresh chicken on Wednesday morning as consumers flocked to stock up.

At wet markets in Bedok, Ghim Moh, Bishan and MacPherson, poultry stalls said they were sold out from between 8am and 9.30am, at least three to four hours before they usually sell out.