标签: North America

北美洲

  • Carney condemns Yom Kippur shooting outside Canadian synagogue

    Carney condemns Yom Kippur shooting outside Canadian synagogue

    A brazen shooting outside a Jewish place of worship in Ontario, Canada has left a police officer in critical condition, igniting widespread cross-party condemnation of antisemitic violence and prompting stepped-up security for Jewish communities across the region. The violent incident unfolded Sunday evening outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, a city roughly 187 kilometers northeast of Toronto, coinciding with Yom Kippur—the most sacred day on the Jewish religious calendar, when hundreds of Jewish worshippers gather annually for prayer and reflection.

    According to official statements from Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the independent watchdog that probes officer-involved shootings, a suspect armed with a shotgun opened fire on a law enforcement officer who was posted outside the synagogue. Two officers returned fire in the exchange, with investigators confirming that roughly 20 to 30 rounds were discharged during the confrontation. The encounter left both the suspect and the targeted officer in life-threatening condition; as of Monday, the officer remained in critical but stable condition, while the suspect’s health status has not been updated beyond confirmation that his injuries are severe.

    When pressed by reporters on whether authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack, SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette acknowledged that “common sense would say that probably was the case.” Investigators have not yet released a formal confirmed motive, nor have they explicitly confirmed that the synagogue was intentionally targeted, but the timing and location of the attack have led political leaders across Canada to label it an act of antisemitic violence.

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the first top officials to issue a public rebuke of the violence, writing on social media platform X that “Jewish people must be able to worship safely, to live free, open, proud Jewish lives.” His condemnation was echoed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who stated he was “disgusted” by the shooting, emphasizing that members of Canada’s Jewish community “have every right to gather and worship safely and without fear.”

    Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Official Opposition, also weighed in, calling for urgent government action to address the rise of hate-fueled violence. “This vile antisemitic violence in Canada must end,” Poilievre wrote on social media, urging Prime Minister Carney’s administration to “act now to protect our people.”

    In response to the attack, local law enforcement has moved quickly to bolster community security. Belleville Police Service Deputy Chief Sheri Meeks announced that the department has increased patrols across the city, with a sustained heightened security presence posted near all houses of worship. Toronto Police Service, which serves Canada’s largest city located less than 200 kilometers from Belleville, also announced Sunday night that it would add extra patrols outside synagogues and other religious sites “out of an abundance of caution.”

    As of Monday, both the Belleville Police Service and the SIU are continuing their parallel investigations into the incident, with authorities yet to release the identities of the suspect or the injured officer, or share additional details about the suspect’s potential background or ideological ties. The attack comes amid a documented rise in antisemitic incidents across North America in recent years, prompting renewed calls for improved security and stronger action to combat religious hate.

  • Paramount settles lawsuit with US states, helping clear way for $110bn merger with Warner Bros

    Paramount settles lawsuit with US states, helping clear way for $110bn merger with Warner Bros

    After months of legal gridlock that threatened to derail one of the largest media mergers in recent history, Paramount Skydance has reached a settlement with a coalition of U.S. states led by California, eliminating the most significant barrier to its proposed $110 billion combination with Warner Bros Discovery.

    The legal challenge, launched by state regulators, centered on serious concerns that the merger would stifle market competition across the film, television and broadcast sectors, leaving fewer options for creators, industry workers and consumers. California, the epicenter of the U.S. entertainment industry, led the charge against the deal, but the resolution reached this week has resolved state officials’ core objections — without granting explicit approval of the transaction.

    At a press conference announcing the deal, California Attorney General Rob Bonta emphasized that the settlement does not equate to an endorsement of the merger. “I don’t think these two companies should merge,” Bonta clearly stated, adding that the negotiated commitments secured through the lawsuit address the most harmful risks the combination would have posed to competition and industry growth.

    Under the terms of the settlement, Paramount Skydance has agreed to strict production requirements designed to boost domestic entertainment output in the U.S. The company is mandated to release a minimum of 30 feature films annually, with domestic production requirements ramping up over the first five years of the agreement: 20% of all film production must take place within the U.S. for the first two years, rising to more than 30% for the subsequent three years. Bonta projected that these requirements will add between $300 million and $1.5 billion in new investment to U.S. film and television production as a baseline, a figure that could jump by as much as 700% if Congress approves an expanded federal film tax credit. Contrary to common concerns that large media mergers lead to layoffs and industry contraction, Bonta argued the settlement’s terms will actually create new jobs across the entertainment sector, putting unemployed industry workers back to work.

    The settlement comes after tense negotiations that included a threat from Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to relocate the company’s core studio operations out of California, a move that would have cost the state billions in economic activity and thousands of jobs. Now that the legal challenge has been resolved, and concerns raised by state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America have been addressed, the merger has full regulatory clearance to move forward.

    Ellison celebrated the resolution in a public statement, framing the outcome as a win for all stakeholders across the entertainment ecosystem. “Our shared aim was an outcome that best serves consumers, workers and — most importantly — the creative community so vital to the art of visual storytelling,” Ellison said. “We have complete clearance for this merger and look forward to putting these commitments into action.”

    The $110 billion merger, if completed, would reshape the global media landscape, combining two of the biggest players in film production, television content and streaming entertainment into a single industry giant.

  • Watch: Patrick Clancy says he forgives his ex-wife, Lindsay

    Watch: Patrick Clancy says he forgives his ex-wife, Lindsay

    In a raw and emotionally charged public appearance, Patrick Clancy, the former husband of an American mother facing murder charges for the deaths of their three young children, has shared the deeply personal decision that has shaped his grieving process: he has chosen to forgive his ex-wife, Lindsay.

    Clancy spoke candidly about why he made this unexpected choice, explaining that holding onto unforgiveness would have left a permanent, corrosive mark on his own life. He told audiences that if he had carried resentment and anger with him, he would have been “eaten up inside forever”, trapped in a cycle of pain that would never allow him to process his loss or move forward.

    The case, which has drawn widespread national attention, centers on allegations that Lindsay Clancy killed the couple’s three children — ages five, three, and eight months — at their Massachusetts home in early 2023. Patrick Clancy, who was not at home during the incident, has been navigating the dual burden of grieving the loss of his children and confronting the criminal charges against his former spouse.

    His decision to extend forgiveness offers a rare look into the complicated, conflicting emotions that can follow an unspeakable family tragedy, challenging common assumptions about how people respond to harm perpetrated by loved ones. While many who followed the case expressed shock at his choice, Clancy framed forgiveness not as a dismissal of the gravity of the alleged acts, but as a necessary act of self-preservation that allows him to begin healing.

  • ‘I am frustrated’ – Protesters take to the streets after Austin ICE shooting

    ‘I am frustrated’ – Protesters take to the streets after Austin ICE shooting

    Fresh anger has spilled onto the streets of Austin, Texas, after a fatal-injuring incident involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent left a Venezuelan man wounded, spurring hundreds of demonstrators to rally against immigration enforcement practices on Sunday.

    The shooting, which occurred in the state’s capital, quickly ignited long-simmering tensions between immigrant advocacy groups and federal immigration authorities, with many protesters voicing deep frustration over the use of force against undocumented migrants. “I am frustrated,” one demonstrator shared, a sentiment that echoed across the crowd gathered at the protest site, where signs calling for immigration reform and an end to aggressive enforcement tactics were held high.

    The incident comes amid a nationwide debate over U.S. border policy and the treatment of migrants arriving from Latin America, with Venezuela facing ongoing political and economic collapse that has pushed millions of its citizens to seek refuge in the United States. Local law enforcement confirmed that the ICE agent opened fire on the Venezuelan man, though full details of the encounter — including what prompted the use of lethal force — have not yet been released to the public. As investigators work to piece together the sequence of events, community organizers have already announced plans for additional demonstrations if transparency and accountability are not provided in the coming days.

  • CNN, MS NOW and Politico to file lawsuit against Trump’s White House ban

    CNN, MS NOW and Politico to file lawsuit against Trump’s White House ban

    A major clash over press freedom has erupted in U.S. politics after three leading national media outlets—CNN, Politico, and MS NOW—announced they are taking legal action against the Trump administration following an abrupt ban that blocked their reporters from entering the White House complex.

    The controversial restriction was first announced by former President Donald Trump on a Friday, when he publicly lashed out at the three organizations, claiming they had deliberately published what he called “fiction or lies” covering his administration. The punishment moved from announcement to enforcement just one day later: when the outlets’ reporters attempted to enter the White House for scheduled work on Saturday, they were turned away at security checkpoints and had their official press credentials seized by officials, with no prior warning or formal disciplinary process.

    In a coordinated joint statement released to the public on Monday, legal teams for the three media outlets laid out their case for challenging the ban in court. The core of their argument centers on defending fundamental rights enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the federal government from curtailing press freedom. For decades, federal courts have consistently interpreted this constitutional language to bar the government from retaliating against media outlets or excluding reporters from official spaces based purely on disagreement with their coverage.

    “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the joint statement read. The outlets emphasized that the lack of any formal hearing or prior notification for the credential revocation makes the action constitutionally problematic. They added that if the ban is allowed to stand without legal pushback, it would set a dangerous precedent that undermines not just the independence of the press, but also the American public’s right to receive unfiltered, independent reporting about government activities that is not subject to official censorship.

    Legal experts note that the case marks one of the most direct confrontations between a sitting presidential administration and major national media outlets over access to official government spaces and constitutional press protections in modern U.S. history. The outcome of the lawsuit is expected to set a key precedent for the boundaries of presidential authority to regulate press access to the White House going forward.

  • Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband explains why he forgave her over children’s killings

    Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband explains why he forgave her over children’s killings

    The devastating 2023 case of three young children killed at the hands of their mother, Lindsay Clancy, in Duxbury, Massachusetts, has captured national attention, and recently ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the murder charges. Now, Patrick Clancy, Lindsay’s ex-husband and the father of the three slain children – 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan – has broken his silence in a candid interview with CBS, opening up about forgiveness, his own struggle with grief, and the toxic online harassment that has upended his life in the aftermath of the tragedy.

    Lindsay Clancy, 36, has not denied killing her three children on January 24, 2023. Immediately after the deaths, she jumped from the second-story window of the family home, leaving her permanently paralyzed, and she attended her seven-week trial in a wheelchair. Her legal team has argued that she should not be held criminally liable for the deaths, as she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis – a rare and severe mental health condition that can trigger episodes of mania, psychosis, and debilitating depression following childbirth. Patrick Clancy, who testified during the trial about his ex-wife’s declining mental state after the births of their children, stood by this account, noting that mental illness often hides its severity until it is too late.

    In the interview, Patrick Clancy explained that his choice to forgive Lindsay came from his firm belief that her severe untreated mental illness, not inherent cruelty, caused the unthinkable act. Rejecting the inflammatory tabloid headlines that labeled Lindsay a “killer mom” and “monster,” Clancy said none of these dehumanizing labels matched the reality of his ex-wife’s struggle. “I believe that it was her mental illness that caused that,” he stated. “So I shared those words. And I think when it comes to forgiveness, I also felt that if I didn’t get there, I would be eaten up inside forever.” When asked if he carried guilt over failing to prevent the tragedy, Clancy said he did the best he could with the limited understanding and resources he had at the time, a burden he carries with him every day.

    In the weeks after the deaths of his children, Clancy said his grief became so overwhelming that he experienced suicidal ideation, admitting he did not expect to live to see his 35th birthday and felt at peace with that possibility. What has compounded his pain, he says, is the relentless wave of online hate and baseless conspiracy theories that have targeted him in the months since the tragedy. Internet users have falsely accused him of covering up for Lindsay and sharing blame for the children’s deaths, while tabloid media has hounded him and his new wife, Rachel Danis, publishing invasive photos of the couple during their daily lives.

    Clancy called these false, widespread accusations deeply harmful, noting they distract from the core issue at the heart of the tragedy: gaps in care and awareness for perinatal mental health. The vitriol has been so severe that Clancy was forced to leave his longtime home in Duxbury and relocate to New York City to seek anonymity and escape the constant public scrutiny. “It’s painful to see,” he said of the online harassment. “And it makes it difficult to be in public and it’s possible that some of those people after seeing lie after lie after lie, they start to believe it and that’s what we’re left with.”

    Today, Clancy is rebuilding his life with Danis, and the couple are expecting a new family together. Looking forward, he says he is eager to share the story of his three late children with his future kids, noting that all children hold an equal place in a parent’s heart regardless of whether they are here physically. The mistrial, declared earlier this month after the deadlocked jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict, leaves the future of the case unresolved. Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will pursue a retrial, and the next court hearing is scheduled for September 29 at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts.

    The case has sparked urgent conversations about the need for greater awareness and accessible care for perinatal mental health conditions, which can have devastating consequences for families when left untreated. For anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or emotional distress, support is available through global mental health organizations including Befrienders Worldwide, with dedicated resources listed for UK and US residents.

  • US and China discuss AI safety plan ahead of Trump-Xi summit

    US and China discuss AI safety plan ahead of Trump-Xi summit

    Top economic policymakers from the United States and China convened in New York over the weekend for wide-ranging discussions that addressed a growing list of shared priorities, from artificial intelligence risk management to long-simmering trade tensions, ahead of a much-anticipated bilateral summit between the two nations’ leaders in Washington later this week.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters following the closed-door talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng that the meeting was productive, with the two sides advancing a proposal to establish a pioneering cross-border notification system for AI-related events that could carry national security implications for either country.

    The push for greater coordination on AI governance comes amid mounting global scrutiny of the rapidly developing technology. In recent weeks, leading AI researchers and some of the tech industry’s most prominent leaders have issued urgent warnings about unregulated advancement, calling for developers to adopt more risk-conscious development practices. On the U.S. side, the White House has faced growing public pressure to slow AI rollouts to mitigate potential long-term harm to humanity, a concern President Donald Trump has pushed back on. Trump has repeatedly argued that existing guardrails are adequate, and that the U.S. cannot cede technological leadership to China — emphasizing earlier this month that “whoever wins in AI, wins the future.”

    Bessent framed the proposed notification framework as a critical step toward greater openness between the world’s two largest AI developers. “We think that, just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world is very important,” he told reporters after the meeting. This is not the first time the two nations have explored AI collaboration: during a May bilateral summit hosted by President Xi Jinping in Beijing, AI cooperation was already a core agenda item for the two leaders. That meeting produced a concrete trade deal under which China agreed to purchase Boeing commercial aircraft and large volumes of U.S. agricultural products in exchange for temporary U.S. tariff reductions.

    Beyond AI, the talks also covered progress on a U.S.-China trade initiative called the Board of Trade, a working group tasked with identifying potential reciprocal tariff cuts on thousands of traded goods. The world’s two largest economies have maintained a temporary tariff truce that is scheduled to expire on November 10, making near-term progress on trade liberalization a top priority ahead of the leader-level summit.

    Chinese state news agency Xinhua confirmed the details of the talks in its own readout, noting that the two sides held “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges on key economic and trade issues” that included a full discussion of AI-related topics. The BBC has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington for additional comment on the meeting outcomes, and had not received a response as of publication.

    In a post to social media platform X Sunday, Bessent emphasized that the successful New York talks have cleared the way for the upcoming Washington summit. “These talks help lay the groundwork for President Trump to advance America’s economic interests and deliver results for the American people,” he wrote. The meeting comes as the U.S. and China remain locked in a long-term strategic competition to dominate the global AI and advanced technology sectors, but the weekend dialogue signals that both sides remain open to targeted cooperation on areas of shared risk and mutual interest.

  • Presley Gerber, Cindy Crawford’s son, dies aged 27

    Presley Gerber, Cindy Crawford’s son, dies aged 27

    The modeling world is mourning the sudden passing of Presley Gerber, the 27-year-old son of legendary supermodel Cindy Crawford, who died over the weekend at a Los Angeles rehabilitation center, according to official records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. No official cause of death has been released to the public as of yet.\n\nFollowing the news, Allie Jenkins, a spokesperson for the Gerber-Crawford family, confirmed the loss in a statement to CBS News, the US news partner of the BBC. The family has requested space and privacy as they navigate this devastating and painful period, asking that the public respect their grief.\n\nLike his mother and younger sister Kaia Gerber, Presley followed a path into professional modeling. He made his first runway appearance at the age of 16 for iconic Italian fashion house Moschino, kicking off a career that would see him front campaigns and walk shows for some of the biggest names in luxury fashion, including Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, and Bottega Veneta.\n\nPresley came from a prominent family beyond the fashion industry: his father Rande Gerber is a successful entrepreneur who co-founded the wildly popular Casamigos tequila brand alongside Hollywood A-lister George Clooney.\n\nIn recent years, Presley spoke openly about his longstanding battles with mental health issues and substance use, becoming an advocate for others navigating similar struggles. In a 2023 interview with the Studio 22 podcast, he opened up about his experiences with depression and related challenges, saying he hoped sharing his story could help even one person pull themselves out of the dark place he once occupied.\n\nJust this month, his sister Kaia opened up about how Presley’s addiction struggles shaped the whole family in a feature for American Vogue. She reflected that when a family member faces this kind of battle, it shifts every person’s dynamic within the family, explaining that she had long positioned herself as the “easy, low-maintenance sibling” and avoided asking for support for her own struggles because of the focus on Presley’s health.

  • ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Texas as locals demand answers

    ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Texas as locals demand answers

    A shooting involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Austin, Texas has ignited public outrage, drawn hundreds of protesters to the streets, and intensified long-simmering tensions over the Trump administration’s aggressive second-term immigration enforcement policies.

    The incident unfolded shortly before 1 p.m. local time on Sunday, when ICE agent opened fire on 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, striking him in the torso. Garces Perez was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, and was confirmed to be in ICE custody by his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez managed to call his wife from the hospital while screaming in pain from his injury. As of Monday, few additional details about the shooting have been released, and local officials have not been able to confirm whether Garces Perez was an intended target of ICE operations at the time of the incident.

    Local authorities and elected leaders have swiftly called for a full independent probe into the shooting, citing growing community distrust of federal immigration practices. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, emphasized in a Sunday media briefing that local residents have both a right to transparency and a right to feel secure in their neighborhoods. “They should know the truth,” Watson stated, adding that he welcomed the city’s formal involvement in the investigation. The mayor also confirmed that ICE enforcement operations have increased sharply across Austin in recent weeks. U.S. Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, joined the call for action, demanding an immediate independent investigation, the public release of all body camera footage from the incident, and legal accountability for any ICE officer found to have violated the law. The Austin Police Department has confirmed that none of its officers were involved in the shooting.

    Within hours of the shooting, dozens of demonstrators gathered at the scene to protest ICE’s expanding presence in the city. Many carried signs calling for ICE to withdraw from Austin, and several waved national flags of Mexico and Guatemala, two of the largest source countries for migrants in Texas. Local media footage captured protesters gathering across the street from a blue Toyota Corolla that sustained visible damage to its passenger-side door, with uniformed ICE agents standing guard nearby. This shooting marks the second high-profile fatal or injurious shooting involving ICE in Texas in just months: back earlier this year, an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Houston resident who was not the target of the agency’s investigation, during a routine traffic stop, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records.

    The incident comes as the Trump administration’s second-term immigration crackdown has sparked widespread unrest across multiple U.S. cities. The administration has defended its strict enforcement policies and controversial ICE tactics as critical to protecting public safety and fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations. However, immigrant rights advocates have accused the administration of violating fundamental due process and free speech rights, and congressional Democrats have pushed for sweeping ICE reforms, including mandatory body cameras for all agents and a ban on agents concealing their identities during enforcement operations.

    This Austin shooting also follows a rare federal action against an ICE agent earlier this month: the U.S. Department of Justice charged an agent with lying about a 2025 non-fatal shooting of another Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota, one of the few times the current Justice Department has brought criminal charges against a federal law enforcement officer for on-duty conduct. Even some within the Republican Party have pushed back against the administration’s hardline tactics. Florida Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, who has publicly criticized the mass crackdown, recently released a campaign ad condemning the targeting and detention of migrants with no criminal history. Appearing on CBS’s *Face the Nation* on Sunday, Salazar said she had spoken directly with President Trump about her concerns, and that she believes he will keep U.S. immigration policy on the right track. “He gets it more than anybody,” she said.

    The BBC has reached out to both ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the Austin shooting, as of this reporting no formal statement has been issued by either federal agency.

  • Trump says his planned triumphal arch will double as a military complex to store ammunition

    Trump says his planned triumphal arch will double as a military complex to store ammunition

    Former and current second-term U.S. President Donald Trump has announced significant revisions to his long-proposed triumphal arch project, revealing that the iconic structure will now double as a purpose-built military complex capable of deploying armed drones and sniper teams, in a move that blends symbolic national infrastructure with national security functionality.

    In a post shared Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform, Trump explained that the revisions to the original design came at the “strong request” of the U.S. military, and that the changes are being made explicitly for “national security purposes.” Describing the combined arch and military facility as “top grade,” Trump detailed that the site will be built to house, store, and rapidly deploy large numbers of drones, while also offering positioned placements for sniper teams on both the structure’s roof and adjacent public plaza. The facility will also include dedicated secured storage for large stockpiles of sniper ammunition, per Trump’s description.

    Notably, Trump has so far released no concrete details about construction timelines, budget estimates, or contracting plans for the revised project. It also remains unclear whether the updated plans require additional approval from congressional oversight bodies or federal regulatory agencies. In his post, Trump claimed that “there will be no facility like this anywhere in the World.” He also repeated a longstanding claim that among what he called the 59 top global cities and national capitals, Washington, D.C. is uniquely without a triumphal arch, though he did not elaborate on the list of 59 cities referenced.

    The 250-foot (76-meter) structure is planned for a site located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., on land adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. Initial construction was projected to begin this month. Early design renderings released earlier this year show a golden, winged statue of Lady Liberty atop the arch, flanked by two golden eagles. The inscriptions “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” will be featured on either side of the structure, rendered in gold lettering. At 250 feet from base to the peak of the Lady Liberty statue, the structure will tower over the nearby 99-foot Lincoln Memorial and stand half the total height of the 555-foot Washington Monument.

    The triumphal arch is just one of several large infrastructure projects Trump has advanced during his second presidential term to reshape the built landscape of the U.S. capital. Other ongoing projects include a gilded renovation of the Oval Office, construction of a new White House ballroom estimated to cost roughly $400 million, a controversial repaving of the historic White House Rose Garden, and renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Of all these projects, the triumphal arch stands out as one of the largest and most ambitious in scope.

    The BBC has reached out to the U.S. Department of Defense for comment and additional context on the revised plans, but as of yet has not received a formal response.