Category: Americas

CloseProvidence mayor reports two killed and eight injured in Brown University shootingAt least two people have been killed and nine others are wounded after a shooter opened fire on Brown University’s campus in Providence, Rhode Island Saturday afternoon.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officials are still looking for the suspect, who remains at large six hours after the attack. The university has reported at least two deaths with six people in critical condition while students are barricading themselves in buildings using desks and tables. All of the victims were confirmed to be students.
Officials are looking for a male dressed in black, and released a video of the suspect on Saturday night. Investigators said they do not have images of the suspect entering the building, nor do they have an image of the suspect’s face.
Brown’s campus is on lockdown, and Providence officials have asked students and residents to shelter in place and reach out to the police with any informat..

Former Vice President Kamala Harris offered a rebuke to both Democrats and Republicans during a recent speech, delivering a warning that Americans feel betrayed by their political institutions.
During comments she made Friday to members of the Democratic National Committee, Harris warned that the American dream is dying — and that Democrats had a hand in its demise.
“We must be honest that for so many, the American dream has become more of a myth than reality,” she told the assembled Democrats.
She noted that the growing costs of food, housing, transportation and energy have sparked an affordability crisis. President Donald Trump and his administration have insisted there is no such thing, and messaging suggesting otherwise has been deemed by his camp as a “Democratic hoax.”
This isn't Harris's first time critiquing the nation's political institutions. Earlier this year, she told Stephen Colbert on CBS’s The Late Show that American politics are “broken.” She has offer..

CloseTrump says US will attend Ukraine peace talks with Europe but doesn’t want to ‘waste time’The European Union on Friday decided to indefinitely freeze €210bn worth of Russia’s assets, so that Hungary and Slovakia, two countries with friendly relations with Moscow, cannot prevent billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine.
Hungary and Slovakia have opposed providing more support to Ukraine in the past, but today’s decision prevents them from blocking the sanctions rollover and makes it easier to use the assets.
The move also stops the assets, estimated to total around 210 billion euros ($247 billion), from being used in any negotiations to end the war without European approval.
EU Council President António Costa said European leaders had committed in October “to keep Russian assets immobilised until Russia ends its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates for the damage caused. Today we delivered on that commitment.”
A 28-point plan drafted by US and Russian envoy..

President Donald Trump scolded a female journalist taking part in a press scrum at the White House on Friday for being “very aggressive,” the latest in a string of negative comments the president has made about female reporters in recent weeks.
“You have to be nice and easy, nice and easy,” Trump told the reporter, who appeared to be NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor. “She’s very aggressive.”
The president later called on the reporter, who asked Trump about his reaction to the latest batch of Epstein photos released Friday, which included images of Trump with a large group of women with their faces blurred out.
The Independent has contacted Alcindor for comment.
Trump has gone head-to-head with Alcindor before.
open image in galleryPresident Trump called a female reporter ‘very aggressive’ for asking questions in the Oval Office, the latest in a string of recent dismissive remarks toward female reporters the president has made (AP)In September, he accused the White House correspondent of be..

CloseTrump says US will attend Ukraine peace talks with Europe but doesn’t want to ‘waste time’The US will send a representative to participate in talks with Europe on Ukraine this weekend, Donald Trump has said, but warned he doesn't want to waste “a lot of time”.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said: “We'll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there's a good chance. And we don't want to waste a lot of time if we think it's negative.”
Earlier on Thursday, the US president said he is “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting” as he grows “frustrated” with both Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said ceding territory remained a major sticking point in negotiations and the US had offered to create a “free economic zone” in the Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern Donbas which Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede.
“They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, an..

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to block states from creating their own artificial intelligence regulations, arguing that a patchwork of rules risks stifling the burgeoning industry in its global competition with China.
This move, however, contrasts with calls from both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, who have advocated for greater oversight of the powerful technology, contending current regulations are insufficient.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump asserted that “there's only going to be one winner” in the international race to dominate artificial intelligence, highlighting China's centralized government approval process as a significant advantage for its companies.
“We have the big investment coming, but if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you can forget it because it’s impossible to do,” Trump stated.
The executive order directs the Attorney ..