Category: Americas

CloseRubio: ‘America has no interest in being caretakers of the west’s managed decline'US secretary of state Marco Rubio told the Munich Security Conference that the US has “no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline.”
The US Secretary of State hit out at a “dangerous delusion” that every country has followed the international rules-based order and freed trade since the end of the Cold War, and criticised the “overused” phrase “the end of history”.
He said: “We want allies who can defend themselves, so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength.
“This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame.”
Mr Rubio acknowledged that “we made these mistakes together, and now together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward to rebuild”.
European leaders have also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss efforts to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as the fou..

French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot has expressed being “overwhelmed” after receiving a personal letter of support from Queen Camilla, following her ex-husband’s conviction. The Queen, a long-time campaigner against domestic violence and sexual abuse, commended Ms Pelicot’s “extraordinary dignity and courage” in the correspondence.
Ms Pelicot’s former husband, Dominique Pelicot, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping her, and for allowing other men to assault her while she was unconscious. This horrific abuse spanned nearly a decade.
He had recruited other men in an online chatroom to rape her while she was unconscious; 47 of them were found guilty of rape, two found guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault. They were jailed for a total of 428 years.
Extracts of her book, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, written with journalist Judith Perrignon, and published by French newspaper Le Monde, explain how her then-husband had been summoned by..

A local sheriff is impeding FBI access to key evidence in the Nancy Guthrie abduction probe, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case says.
Guthrie, the mother of TV journalist Savannah Guthrie, went missing on February 1 from her residence in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills.
The official says the FBI asked Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos for physical evidence, including a glove and DNA from the home, to be processed at the FBI's national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
However, Nanos has instead insisted on using a private Florida lab, effectively denying the FBI access to crucial evidence, the official said.
A spokesperson for the sheriff did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
In a daily press update released earlier in the day, the sheriff's department said investigators had “recovered several items of evidence, including gloves,” adding that all viable evidence is submitted for analysis.
open image in galleryPima County Sheriff Chr..

Eight people, including six children, were killed on Tuesday in a deadly mass shooting that rocked Tumbler Ridge, a small, close-knit community located in British Columbia.
The suspected shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a nearby home before opening fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, was also found dead with a “self-inflicted injury.”
Police said the teenager was born biologically male but had been transitioning to female over the past six years. She was not a student at the school, and it was not immediately clear if she had previously studied at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.
Two victims with “significant injuries” were airlifted to the hospital.
Paige Hoekstra, who was taken to Vancouver for treatment, is now on the road to recovery, according to her family.
open image in galleryEight people, including six children, were killed in a deadly mass shooting that rocked Tumbler Ridge in northwestern Bri..

Canadian police identified an 18-year-old as the perpetrator who fatally shot six people at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and two others at a private residence Tuesday in what is one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings.
Officials said Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their home before opening fire at the high school. Three 12-year-old female students, two male students ages 12 and 13, and one 39-year-old female educator were killed.
Police said the teenager was born biologically male but had been transitioning to female over the past six years. She was not a student at the school but it was not immediately clear if she had previously studied at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.
A motive for the shooting is unclear, but police said they had made multiple visits to the suspected shooter’s home over the last several years for concerns about mental health issues.
open image in gallerySix of the victims were fatally shot at Tumbler Ridge Seconda..

Eight people, including six children, were killed in a deadly mass shooting that rocked Tumbler Ridge, a small, close-knit community located in British Columbia.
Among those killed Tuesday in what has become one of the deadliest shootings in Canadian history are Abel Mwansa Jr. and Kylie May, both 12, according to their families. Police are yet to release the victims’ identities.
More than 25 other people were taken to a local clinic with possible injuries, but police later said no “discernible physical injuries were identified.” There were two victims with “significant injuries” airlifted to the hospital.
The suspected shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a nearby home before opening fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, was also found dead with a “self-inflicted injury.”
Police said the teenager was born biologically male but had been transitioning to female over the past six years. She was not a s..

CloseNancy Guthrie latest: New videos show ‘armed’ masked man at front door of Savannah mother’s homeA person has been detained for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, as police released new surveillance footage showing a masked and “armed” individual outside her Arizona home.
Nancy was last seen at her Arizona home on January 31, and authorities believe she was abducted in the early hours of February 1. The footage released Tuesday shows “an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
Sheriff Chris Nanos said the person was detained during a traffic stop in Rio Rico, south of Tucson, near the US-Mexico border. Authorities have not confirmed whether that person is the same individual seen in the video.
The FBI is also investigating reports of a ransom note sent to media outlets demanding $6 million, with two deadlines th..

At least nine people have been killed in a school shooting in a picturesque, isolated town in Western Canada.
Reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police say that the shooter, initially described as a brown-haired woman in a dress, has also been found dead after opening fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon.
The school has around 160 to 175 students, according to the district, and is considered the heart of the local community, which itself sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
open image in galleryNine people were killed during a mass shooting on Tuesday afternoon, with at least 7 of the victims being shot to death at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School (Facebook/Tumbler RidgeLines)A further 27 people were injured in the attack on the school, although two of the nine victims are believed to have been killed off-campus at a nearby residence.
Although police have not definitively confirmed that the two attacks are linked, the RCMP told re..

Australian politicians urged restraint on Tuesday after police in Sydney clashed with people protesting the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who is accused of inciting a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Police made at least 27 arrests amid allegations of excessive force used against protesters and rights groups, reports said. Violence broke out on the evening of 9 February after thousands of people gathered near Sydney Town Hall to oppose Mr Herzog’s visit.
The New South Wales Police said officers moved to clear the area after demonstrators attempted to breach blockades, resulting in arrests. Ten people were accused of assaulting police officers.
Tear gas and pepper spray were used to disperse the crowd, while television footage showed officers pushing protesters back and restraining some of them on the ground. Police said there were no reports of serious injuries.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the scenes and called for peaceful protests.
“Au..

President Donald Trump responded to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl message of American unity with a stark reminder of his expansionist ambitions.
Toward the end of his halftime set Sunday, the Puerto Rican singer was handed a ball with the words “Together, we are America” written on it.
His show was widely interpreted as a rebuke to the president’s tough anti-immigration crackdown, which Bad Bunny has vocally opposed.
Apparently, this did not go down well with Trump, who slammed the performance and claimed it was “an affront to the Greatness of America.”
open image in galleryDonald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself showing a map of the U.S. incorporating Canada and Greenland to European leaders (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense,” Trump wrote on Truth Social approximately 30 minutes after the set ended.
The president appeared to double down on his criticism with a subsequent post on Truth ..