Trudeau wins Canadian election
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has thanked voters for believing in him for the third time, even though he did not manage to take the majority of seats that he hoped to when he called a snap election last month. Ballots are still being counted but Tudeau’s Conservative rivals have already conceeded defeat.
US agents ‘whipping migrants on Mexican border’
Within hours of President Joe Biden’s debut at the UN General Assembly, US media have released images that appear to show American border police officers on horseback whipping Haitian migrants seeking asylum on the border with Mexico. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki described the images as “horrible to see.” The US Homeland Security Secretary promised to investigate the abuses.
France given ‘unacceptable’ treatment
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has judged “unacceptable” the treatment given to France in the context of the security pact concluded between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. “One of our member states has been treated in an unacceptable way, we want to know what happened and why,” she told CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, adding that the situation must be clarified “before continuing with business as usual”. Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, at their informal meeting last night, discussed the new partnership on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
COVID: US opens up to fully vaccinated travellers
The US has announced it was easing its coronavirus travel restrictions, re-opening to passengers from the UK, EU and other nations. From November, foreign travellers will be allowed to fly into the US if they are fully vaccinated, and undergo testing and contact tracing. The current rules bar entry to most non-US citizens who have been in the UK and a number of other European countries, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil within the last 14 days. Meanwhile, according to the Johns Hopkins University, the number of deaths from COVID in the United States has surpassed that of the Spanish flu in 1918. Coronavirus deaths have risen to 675,446, exceeding 675,000 a century ago.
NGOs accuse Taliban of killing civilians
Leading human rights groups havde accused the Taliban of killing civilians and blocking aid supplies since taking control of Afghanistan. The report calls for evidence of crimes to be collected by the UN.
US questions ‘fairness’ of Rwanda trial
The US has questioned the fairness of a terrorism trial in Rwanda that resulted in a 25-year prison sentence to Paul Rusesabagina, the ‘African Schindler’ who rescued over a thousand Tutsis in the 1994 genocide. Rusesabagina, 67, who inspired the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’, was found guilty of “financing terrorism”.
Gunman kills six at Russian University
The death toll from the shooting that took place yesterday at the Perm State University in Russia is six and 28 injured. The assailant, identified as an 18-year-old student at the university, walked on to campus on Monday morning and started shooting. Meanwhile, two people were injured in a shooting at Heritage High School in Newport News, Virginia, USA. The police said they are not in danger of dying.
