The Guardian 2024-12-18 00:13:05


A Gaza ceasefire deal expected to be signed in the coming days, according to sources briefed on the talks, reports Reuters. Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly on his way to Cairo for talks on the ceasefire.

Israeli negotiators head to Qatar as hopes rise for Gaza hostage deal

Optimism over ceasefire-for-hostages deal as Trump says there ‘will be hell to pay’ if captives not released

An Israeli negotiating team has arrived for talks in Qatar amid renewed optimism that a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas in Gaza can be achieved by the end of the year.

Both sides have expressed optimism in recent days that a deal may be close for a phased release of the surviving hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

About 60 living hostages, mainly Israeli and and dual nationals, are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza as well as the bodies of 35 others, out of more than 240 who were abducted to Gaza during Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The incoming US president, Donald Trump, has said he wants to see the hostages released or “all hell’s going to break out” and has sent a hostage envoy to Israel for meetings with senior politicians, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Trump spoke to over the weekend.

On Monday, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, briefed lawmakers that Israel and Hamas were “the closest we’ve been to a hostage deal since the last deal”, which took place in November 2023 and resulted in the release of more than 100 hostages.

He added that he expected the deal to get widespread support. “There will be a sweeping majority in the security cabinet and the cabinet for the emerging hostage deal.”

Although details of an emerging deal are being negotiated under tight secrecy, it is understood that it would involve a phased ceasefire with an initial cessation of hostilities for 60 days in exchange for the release of surviving hostages, including women, the elderly and those suffering illness.

That was confirmed by comments on Army Radio by Israel’s diaspora affairs minister, Amichai Chikli, who said the potential deal “applies to all the hostages, but there’s a hierarchy, with the humanitarian cases in the first stage, and then the rest of the hostages”.

According to reports in Arab media, Hamas and other Palestinian militia appear to be more open and flexible over a slower, phased end to the fighting with talks focused on the number of hostages to be released in any first phase.

Sticking points that torpedoed previous rounds of talks, including the presence of Israel troops in the so-called Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors inside Gaza, appear to have been sidelined for now, although a continuing issue is understood to be the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the strip’s north.

In the past week, Trump has ramped up his direct engagement on the issue, despite not being sworn in as president until 20 January, sending his incoming special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, who met Netanyahu on Monday evening.

Commenting on his telephone conversation with Netanyahu on Saturday, Trump said: “We had a very good talk. I’ll be very available on January 20 and we’ll see. As you know, I gave warning that if these hostages aren’t back home by that date, all hell’s going to break out.”

Katz, the Israeli defence minister, however, insisted Israel would maintain security control over Gaza even after a ceasefire.

“In response to various reports – my position regarding Gaza is clear. After we defeat Hamas’s military and governing power in Gaza, Israel will maintain security control over Gaza with full freedom of action.” He added: “We will not allow a return to the reality before October 7.”

Israel’s consul in New York, former minister Ofir Akunis, has also commented positively on the ongoing talks.

“At this point in time, we can say that we are closer than ever to a new deal to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” he said. “We are expecting good news. This a very difficult, complex negotiation, but all of us want to see everyone come home soon.”

Despite the encouraging noises coming from both sides, negotiations have repeatedly reached an impasse before amid accusations of bad faith.

However, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria have created a new dynamic with a decimated Hamas isolated from any meaningful support in the rest of the region.

Hamas has also suffered major blows, such as the death in October of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, and the earlier killing of the leader of its armed wing, Mohammed Deif.

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Tuesday, at least 10 of them in one house in Gaza City, medics said, as tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Rafah in the south.

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Israeli negotiators head to Qatar as hopes rise for Gaza hostage deal

Optimism over ceasefire-for-hostages deal as Trump says there ‘will be hell to pay’ if captives not released

An Israeli negotiating team has arrived for talks in Qatar amid renewed optimism that a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas in Gaza can be achieved by the end of the year.

Both sides have expressed optimism in recent days that a deal may be close for a phased release of the surviving hostages in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

About 60 living hostages, mainly Israeli and and dual nationals, are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza as well as the bodies of 35 others, out of more than 240 who were abducted to Gaza during Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The incoming US president, Donald Trump, has said he wants to see the hostages released or “all hell’s going to break out” and has sent a hostage envoy to Israel for meetings with senior politicians, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Trump spoke to over the weekend.

On Monday, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, briefed lawmakers that Israel and Hamas were “the closest we’ve been to a hostage deal since the last deal”, which took place in November 2023 and resulted in the release of more than 100 hostages.

He added that he expected the deal to get widespread support. “There will be a sweeping majority in the security cabinet and the cabinet for the emerging hostage deal.”

Although details of an emerging deal are being negotiated under tight secrecy, it is understood that it would involve a phased ceasefire with an initial cessation of hostilities for 60 days in exchange for the release of surviving hostages, including women, the elderly and those suffering illness.

That was confirmed by comments on Army Radio by Israel’s diaspora affairs minister, Amichai Chikli, who said the potential deal “applies to all the hostages, but there’s a hierarchy, with the humanitarian cases in the first stage, and then the rest of the hostages”.

According to reports in Arab media, Hamas and other Palestinian militia appear to be more open and flexible over a slower, phased end to the fighting with talks focused on the number of hostages to be released in any first phase.

Sticking points that torpedoed previous rounds of talks, including the presence of Israel troops in the so-called Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors inside Gaza, appear to have been sidelined for now, although a continuing issue is understood to be the ability of Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the strip’s north.

In the past week, Trump has ramped up his direct engagement on the issue, despite not being sworn in as president until 20 January, sending his incoming special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, who met Netanyahu on Monday evening.

Commenting on his telephone conversation with Netanyahu on Saturday, Trump said: “We had a very good talk. I’ll be very available on January 20 and we’ll see. As you know, I gave warning that if these hostages aren’t back home by that date, all hell’s going to break out.”

Katz, the Israeli defence minister, however, insisted Israel would maintain security control over Gaza even after a ceasefire.

“In response to various reports – my position regarding Gaza is clear. After we defeat Hamas’s military and governing power in Gaza, Israel will maintain security control over Gaza with full freedom of action.” He added: “We will not allow a return to the reality before October 7.”

Israel’s consul in New York, former minister Ofir Akunis, has also commented positively on the ongoing talks.

“At this point in time, we can say that we are closer than ever to a new deal to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza,” he said. “We are expecting good news. This a very difficult, complex negotiation, but all of us want to see everyone come home soon.”

Despite the encouraging noises coming from both sides, negotiations have repeatedly reached an impasse before amid accusations of bad faith.

However, the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria have created a new dynamic with a decimated Hamas isolated from any meaningful support in the rest of the region.

Hamas has also suffered major blows, such as the death in October of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, and the earlier killing of the leader of its armed wing, Mohammed Deif.

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians on Tuesday, at least 10 of them in one house in Gaza City, medics said, as tanks pushed deeper towards the western area of Rafah in the south.

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Russian general in charge of chemical weapons unit killed in Moscow scooter blast

Lt Gen Igor Kirillov killed along with his deputy after device attached to escooter exploded

  • Killing of Russian general cements SBU’s reputation for abrupt vengeance

A senior Russian general has died after an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building in Moscow, in an attack claimed by Ukraine that marks one of the boldest targeted assassinations of a senior military official since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, the head of the military’s chemical, biological and radiological weapons unit, was killed along with his deputy when the blast went off as the two men left a building in a residential area in south-east Moscow on Tuesday.

A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service said Kyiv was behind the attack.

Kirillov, who was placed under sanctions by Britain in October over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, is the most senior Russian military official to be killed in an assassination away from the frontlines since the start of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine nearly three years ago.

Speaking at a meeting with senior Russian leadership, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of the country’s security council, said: “We must do everything to eliminate those who ordered the assassination of Gen Kirillov, namely the military-political leadership of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s SBU security service had a day earlier put out an arrest warrant for Kirillov over alleged war crimes against Kyiv’s forces.

Footage circulating online, seemingly captured by the dashcam of a nearby car, shows two men exiting the apartment moments before a large explosion.

Ukraine has targeted dozens of Russian military officers and Russian-installed officials whom Kyiv has accused of committing war crimes in the country. Little is known about the clandestine Ukrainian resistance cells involved in assassinations and attacks on military infrastructure in Russian-controlled areas.

Russia’s investigative committee said Kirillov was killed after “an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated on the morning of 17 December on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow”.

It added: “Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene of the incident.”

Mash, a Telegram channel with ties to Russian law enforcement, published a photo of two bodies lying in the snow outside an apartment building, surrounded by shards of glass from broken windows.

Russian media reported that investigators were exploring several theories, focusing on how the assassins tracked Kirillov from his apartment, who planted the bomb in the scooter, and the location from which it was detonated.

Kirillov, who had been in his post since 2017, oversaw the Russian military’s radiological, chemical and biological defence unit. Russia’s radioactive, chemical and biological defence troops, known as RKhBZ, are special forces who operate under conditions of contamination.

The UK government in October placed sanctions on Kirillov and his unit “for helping deploy these barbaric weapons” – charges that Moscow has denied. Britain and the US have accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops in violation of the chemical weapons convention.

In June, Ukraine accused Russia of increasing frontline attacks using prohibited hazardous chemicals and said it had registered more than 700 cases of their use in the previous month.

The UK previously said Kirillov was “a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour”, a reference to public briefings in which he regularly accused Kyiv of planning to use chemical weapons and develop a nuclear “dirty bomb”.

Last year, Kirillov claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine had plans to use special US-designed drones carrying “infected mosquitoes” that would spread malaria among Russia’s forces.

Kirillov was also part of Moscow’s efforts to discredit the UK investigation into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, once claiming that the US orchestrated the attack on the former Russian spy who had defected to the west.

Addressing the attack, a spokesperson for the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: “It’s clear we won’t be mourning the death of someone who orchestrated an illegal invasion and inflicted immense suffering and loss on the Ukrainian people.”

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram that Kirillov had spent “many years exposing the crimes of the Anglo-Saxons” in his briefings, including “Britain’s manipulation of banned chemical substances and provocations in Salisbury”.

She wrote: “He worked fearlessly, never hiding behind others, always facing challenges head-on. For the motherland, for the truth.”

According to his biography published by the broadcaster RIA Novosti, Kirillov helped develop a thermobaric rocket launcher, the TOS-2. The Russian military has frequently used the weapon in Ukraine.

Kirillov’s assassination is the latest in a series of targeted attacks on Russian military personnel and pro-Kremlin figures. The significance of his rank and influence means this killing is likely to send shock waves through Russia’s political and military elites.

“The killing of a lieutenant general will be a shock for many within the ministry of defence,” said a former senior Russian defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He has been very prominent in the media lately, frequently holding briefings on the Ukrainian armed forces and the use of chemical weapons.”

The former official said other senior defence figures were likely to get enhanced security measures, potentially including round-the-clock protection by members of Russia’s special forces. “This will definitely cause a stir,” the former source said.

Last week, Ukrainian intelligence said it had killed a leading Russian missile scientist who had worked on upgrading cruise missiles used on the battlefield in Ukraine. The body of Mikhail Shatsky was discovered in Kuzminsky forest park eight miles south-east of Moscow city centre, though Russia has not yet commented on the reported killing.

Earlier this year, Ukraine said it was behind the killing of a senior Russian naval officer in a car in Crimea as well as that of a high-ranking officer in the GRU military intelligence service outside his house in a village in the Moscow region.

Apart from military figures, Ukraine has targeted prominent Russian pro-war propagandists including Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue, who was killed in 2023 when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving.

On Monday, Vladimir Putin met senior defence figures in Moscow where he boasted that the war in Ukraine had reached a “turning point”.

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Cyclone Chido: many missing in Mayotte as death toll rises in south-east Africa

Authorities impose night-time curfew to prevent looting as dozens reported killed across Mozambique and Malawi

The search for missing people has continued on the French territory of Mayotte, after Cyclone Chido devastated the islands on Saturday before sweeping through south-eastern Africa, where the death toll is climbing in Mozambique and Malawi.

Large parts of Mayotte’s main island, Grande-Terre, are still cut off from roads, internet and phone networks, as well as electricity and water.

While 21 people were officially confirmed to have been killed by the storm in Mayotte, officials there said there could be thousands of deaths. The Red Cross said on Tuesday it feared that 200 of its volunteers were missing.

In northern Mozambique, 34 people died and 23,600 homes were destroyed, authorities said. The cyclone killed seven people in Malawi, affecting almost 35,000 people, the country’s disaster management department said.

Authorities in Mayotte have ordered a 10pm to 4am curfew, starting on Tuesday, citing fears of looting amid reported shortages of food and fuel.

“The situation remains chaotic. A large part of Mayotte still does not have electricity or water. The same goes for the telephone network; many still have no news of their loved ones,” said Alexis Duclos, the editor in chief of local news service Flash Infos.

“Shops are only partially open to avoid crowds, people are waiting in front of banks because the cash machines are out of order, gas stations are refusing to serve people because fuel is reserved for emergency services and law enforcement,” said Duclos, who had to climb out of an apartment window via a ladder with his pregnant partner, minutes before the building’s roof blew off in the cyclone.

Mayotte lies in the Indian Ocean channel between Madagascar and Mozambique and is the poorest part of France. It is officially home to about 320,000 people, but authorities say there could be as many as 200,000 more due to illegal migration, most from the nearby island nation of Comoros.

An estimated one-third of the population live in densely populated, tin-roofed informal settlements, many of which were flattened by winds of up to 140mph (225km/h). Many undocumented migrants did not leave the slums for storm shelters because of fears of being deported, which is what is stopping many coming forward for help now, officials said.

“The real toll of those swept away by the mud, winds and tin from shantytowns will never be known,” Estelle Youssouffa, a deputy for Mayotte in France’s parliament, told the France Inter radio station. “This population, by definition undocumented migrants, are the main victims of this tragedy because they feared going to shelters.”

She said she spoke to an imam on Monday who described burying more than 30 people in the informal settlement of La Vigie.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, promised to visit Mayotte in the coming days, after chairing a crisis meeting on Monday night. He also declared an unspecified period of national mourning.

The interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said there had not been any looting when he visited Mayotte’s main island on Monday. He announced that 400 more gendarmes would arrive “in the coming days”, to reinforce 1,600 gendarmes and police officers already on the islands.

A broad swathe of southern Africa was already reeling from a devastating drought earlier this year when Cyclone Chido hit, with an estimated 27 million people struggling to feed themselves until the next harvest due around April.

The “exceptional” cyclone was made worse by climate breakdown, fuelled by especially warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of the Meteo France weather service told Agence France-Presse.

Darkouai Hakim, who works for an employment agency but was in France when the cyclone hit, said: “What worries me is that we are only at the beginning of the cyclone season … I am afraid there will be another one and there will be chaos.”

While his parents and parents-in law were safe in the south of Grande-Terre, which was less affected than the north, he said he was worried about the lack of fuel, electricity and water: “There was already not enough water before the cyclone.”

Said Valdo, an IT entrepreneur, had to travel about 20 miles across the island, from the village of Mliha to Kaweni, in the capital Mamoudzou, to access phone and internet networks.

He said the storm needed to trigger improvements for people living in Mayotte’s slums: “We are overpopulated so, if there is no long-term solution, unfortunately what is happening now will be multiplied in the coming years.”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse.

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Black woman targeted by racist abuse in Finland over festival role

Finnish PM apologises to Daniela Owusu after she received hate messages after becoming first Black woman to represent Saint Lucia

A young Black woman who was subjected to racist abuse after being selected to lead celebrations of a Swedish festival of light in Helsinki has received an apology from the Finnish prime minister.

According to the Swedish tradition, each year a young woman or girl is chosen to represent Saint Lucia by dressing in a costume of a white gown, red waistband and crown of candles as part of the official annual festivities in Finland at the Lutheran Cathedral on 13 December to mark the shortest day according to the Julian calendar.

About 5% of people in Finland, which until 1809 was part of Sweden, speak Swedish as their native language, which is one of two national languages in the Nordic country.

Daniela Owusu, 20, who is Finnish Ghanaian, received thousands of hate messages after on Friday becoming Finland’s first Black Lucia. The organisers have reported the abuse to police and the discrimination ombudsman and are considering taking legal action.

During a visit to the Finnish parliament on Tuesday, where the Lucia choir sang in the state hall, the prime minister, Petteri Orpo, met the group and said he was sorry for the comments to which Owusu had been subjected, adding that he wanted to build a safe and equal Finland.

Orpo’s office said it was a “spontaneous meeting” and that it had no further comment to add.

The racist abuse came a week after Finland’s independence day celebrations were overshadowed by a far-right march through the capital attended by Teemu Keskisarja, an MP for the far-right Finns party, which is part of the government.

Folkhälsan, the organisation behind the festival, said the “stream of racist messages” were “deeply distressing” and that it may take legal action.

It thanked those who had sent messages of support from around the country.

Viveca Hagmark, the association’s director, said: “We would like to warmly thank everyone who showed their support for Finland’s Lucia 2024 and took a stand against racism. You are in the majority, and your commitment shows that there is a strong public opinion against racism.”

Anna Hellerstedt, its CEO, added that it had “worked actively for diversity and inclusion, against racism. These events clearly show that more work is still needed against racism.”

After winning the public vote to be Lucia, Owusu had said that she wanted to act as a role model to inspire others. “It would be important to have a Lucia who represents multiculturalism and to show that Lucia can look many ways,” she said.

The newspaper Helsingen Sanomat said in an editorial that the reaction to this year’s event marked the culmination of a year-long debate of “dark racism” in Finland, condemning those who “find a reason for aggression and hatred in a celebration of light, hope and kindness”.

“This year has also been filled with discussions about racism,” the editorial said, adding: “Yet societal debate has become increasingly stale, hostile, and less tolerant of different perspectives. Racism has become a political performance.”

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Police investigate manifesto reportedly left by girl who killed two in school shooting

Fifteen-year-old pupil at Abundant Life school in Madison killed teacher and student and wounded six others

The 15-year-old girl who police say killed a teacher, a student and wounded six others before dying by suicide at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, reportedly left a manifesto that investigators are now reviewing.

Police identified Natalie Rupnow – who also went by the name Sophie – as the shooter late on Monday. A law enforcement source told CNN that Rupnow “had been dealing with problems and expressed some of those in writings, which they are now reviewing”.

Rupnow was a pupil at Abundant Life, the Christian private school. Her motive remains unclear. A manifesto, which is not confirmed as genuine by authorities, was published on social media.

“A document about this shooting is circulating at this time on social media, but we have not verified its authenticity,” the Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said at a news conference.

Barnes said police were still working to identify a reason for the shooting. “At this time, we’re still working on a motive, trying to determine why this happened,” he remarked.

Police said Rupnow’s family members were cooperating with their investigation into the killings at Abundant Life, which occurred at about 11am local time on Monday.

A second-grade student made a 911 call to report the shooting, Barnes said.

“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said of the young caller. Second graders are typically aged between seven and eight.

Barnes said that a handgun was recovered at the scene – but that the police had not yet tracked the weapon’s origin. “How does any 15-year-old get ahold of a gun?” he said.

Police said the shooting took place in a classroom during a study hall session.

The identities of the victims had not been publicly released on Tuesday. Two of the six injured victims remained in critical condition, while others were in stable condition or have been discharged from the hospital.

The school had security cameras installed, and the faculty and students had been trained in lockdown procedures. But as a private school, it was not equipped with metal detectors.

The school’s director of elementary and school relations, Barbara Wiers, said at an evening news conference that students understood the unfolding situation was not a drill and had “handled themselves magnificently”.

“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else, they knew it was real, and they handled themselves brilliantly,” Wiers said.

Young women are far less likely than young men to be suspects in school shootings. According to the K-12 school shooting database, as of Tuesday, nine suspects this year were female compared to 249 male suspected shooters.

The database says it tracks all instances when a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, or day of the week.

The New York Times reported that the school Rupnow attended and where the shooting took place often serves children who have been bullied or struggled at other schools.

Rebekah Smith, whose teenage daughter was in a physics class down the hall from where the shooting took place, told the outlet that staff were trained to swiftly put a stop to intra-student cruelty.

Smith said members of the school community believed that the shooter was new to the private school this year.

“You feel compassion for the parent who says, ‘Maybe this will help my child,’” Smith told the Times. “I can’t even imagine what they’re feeling.”

The police chief was asked about comments online that suggested the shooter may have been trans.

“I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not,” Barnes said.

“I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify,” he added. “And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this.”

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Police investigate manifesto reportedly left by girl who killed two in school shooting

Fifteen-year-old pupil at Abundant Life school in Madison killed teacher and student and wounded six others

The 15-year-old girl who police say killed a teacher, a student and wounded six others before dying by suicide at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, reportedly left a manifesto that investigators are now reviewing.

Police identified Natalie Rupnow – who also went by the name Sophie – as the shooter late on Monday. A law enforcement source told CNN that Rupnow “had been dealing with problems and expressed some of those in writings, which they are now reviewing”.

Rupnow was a pupil at Abundant Life, the Christian private school. Her motive remains unclear. A manifesto, which is not confirmed as genuine by authorities, was published on social media.

“A document about this shooting is circulating at this time on social media, but we have not verified its authenticity,” the Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said at a news conference.

Barnes said police were still working to identify a reason for the shooting. “At this time, we’re still working on a motive, trying to determine why this happened,” he remarked.

Police said Rupnow’s family members were cooperating with their investigation into the killings at Abundant Life, which occurred at about 11am local time on Monday.

A second-grade student made a 911 call to report the shooting, Barnes said.

“Let that soak in for a minute,” Barnes said of the young caller. Second graders are typically aged between seven and eight.

Barnes said that a handgun was recovered at the scene – but that the police had not yet tracked the weapon’s origin. “How does any 15-year-old get ahold of a gun?” he said.

Police said the shooting took place in a classroom during a study hall session.

The identities of the victims had not been publicly released on Tuesday. Two of the six injured victims remained in critical condition, while others were in stable condition or have been discharged from the hospital.

The school had security cameras installed, and the faculty and students had been trained in lockdown procedures. But as a private school, it was not equipped with metal detectors.

The school’s director of elementary and school relations, Barbara Wiers, said at an evening news conference that students understood the unfolding situation was not a drill and had “handled themselves magnificently”.

“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else, they knew it was real, and they handled themselves brilliantly,” Wiers said.

Young women are far less likely than young men to be suspects in school shootings. According to the K-12 school shooting database, as of Tuesday, nine suspects this year were female compared to 249 male suspected shooters.

The database says it tracks all instances when a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, or day of the week.

The New York Times reported that the school Rupnow attended and where the shooting took place often serves children who have been bullied or struggled at other schools.

Rebekah Smith, whose teenage daughter was in a physics class down the hall from where the shooting took place, told the outlet that staff were trained to swiftly put a stop to intra-student cruelty.

Smith said members of the school community believed that the shooter was new to the private school this year.

“You feel compassion for the parent who says, ‘Maybe this will help my child,’” Smith told the Times. “I can’t even imagine what they’re feeling.”

The police chief was asked about comments online that suggested the shooter may have been trans.

“I don’t know whether Natalie was transgender or not,” Barnes said.

“I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify,” he added. “And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this.”

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Pope says he was almost assassinated in 2021 but British intelligence foiled plot

Excerpts from Francis’s autobiography say British intelligence and Iraqi police foiled two suicide bomb plots

Pope Francis has said he escaped a double suicide bombing during a visit to Iraq three years ago after the attempts on his life were foiled by British intelligence and Iraqi police.

Francis made the revelation in his upcoming autobiography, Spera (Hope), excerpts of which were shared with Corriere della Sera on Tuesday, the pontiff’s 88th birthday.

Francis said he had been strongly advised against making the trip to Iraq in March 2021, the first by a pope, because Covid was still raging and the security risks were high, especially in Mosul, the northern city devastated by Islamic State militants.

The pope said he was determined to go ahead with the trip, however.

In his recounting of events, British intelligence informed Iraqi police of the planned bombings as soon as Francis arrived in Baghdad. In turn, the Iraqi police informed the Vatican’s security detail.

The pontiff described how one of the suicide bombers was a woman who was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit. A truck was also “heading there fast with the same intention”, he said.

In the book, written with the Italian author Carlo Musso and due to be published in January, Francis said he later asked Vatican security what had become of the suicide bombers. “The commander replied laconically: ‘They’re no longer here,’” Francis wrote. “Iraqi police had intercepted them and made them explode. This struck me as well: Even this is the poisonous fruit of war.”

Francis persevered with the three-day trip to six Iraqi cities, saying at the time that he was travelling as “a pilgrim of peace”. Thousands of Christians in the north of the country were killed under the rule of Islamic State between 2014 and 2017, and hundreds of thousands more fled their homes in the face of violence and persecution.

Standing in the wreckage of a Mosul church, the pope urged the country’s dwindling Christian community to forgive the injustices against them by the extremists and to rebuild.

During the visit, about 10,000 Iraqi police were deployed to protect the pope and curfews were imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19.

The book was originally planned to come out after Francis’s death, but is instead being published to coincide with the beginning of the jubilee 2025, a year of celebrations for Catholics around the world to reconnect with their faith. The pope officially opens the event, which occurs every 25 years, on 24 December.

The Italian publisher Mondadori said Hope was the first autobiography published by a pope, although Francis has published other memoir-style books.

Francis has embarked on more than 40 overseas trips since becoming pope in 2013, his longest and most arduous being a 12-day Asia-Pacific tour in September.

On Monday, he travelled to Corsica, the first visit by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island. It is now normal for him to use a wheelchair or walking stick during his travels because of sciatic nerve pain and a knee problem.

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Whaling activist Paul Watson celebrates release from jail after Denmark refuses extradition to Japan

US-Canadian founder of Sea Shepherd, who was arrested in Greenland in July, will now spend Christmas with his sons

Paul Watson, the anti-whaling campaigner, has spoken of delight that he will be reunited with his young children for Christmas after Denmark rejected Japan’s extradition request and released him from prison in Greenland.

After 150 days in jail on the Danish autonomous territory, Watson, 74, was told by his lawyer on Tuesday morning that the Danish authorities had decided he was free to leave the island.

Watson told the Guardian: “At 8.46 this morning a guard came – I had just woken up – and said the lawyer’s on the phone.

“I am certainly relieved as this means I get to see my two little boys. That’s really been my only concern this entire time. I understand the risks of what we do and sometimes you get arrested – although I am proud of the fact that I have never been convicted of a crime.”

Watson, who has two sons aged three and eight, was apprehended in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, on 21 July by a dozen police officers while refuelling his ship, MV John Paul DeJoria. The police were acting on an Interpol red notice issued by Japan.

Tokyo was seeking his extradition on charges relating to the alleged boarding of the Japanese whaling ship Shōnan Maru 2 in the Southern Ocean in February 2010. The charges, including one of assault, carried a sentence of up to 15 years in jail.

Watson, a pioneer behind the founding of Greenpeace who has spent five decades thwarting whalers on the high seas, was not at the scene of the alleged crimes and had denied the allegations.

Explaining the decision, Peter Hummelgaard, Denmark’s minister for justice, said he had not received sufficient assurances from Japan that Watson’s five months in jail awaiting extradition would be deducted from any future sentence.

He said: “The decision is based on an overall assessment of the case. In light of the total amount of time that Paul Watson would be expected to be detained until a possible decision on extradition could be implemented, and taking into account the nature and age of the offences, it has been of particular importance for the Danish Ministry of Justice to ensure that the time Paul Watson has been detained in Greenland will be fully deducted from a potential custodial sentence that he might be sentenced to in connection with the criminal case in Japan.

“Based on the correspondence with the authorities of Japan regarding this matter, the Danish Ministry of Justice has assessed that it cannot be assumed with the necessary degree of certainty, that this would be the case.”

Hummelgaard said that criticism of Japan’s legal system had not been part of his consideration.

He said: “Japan is a democratic country guided by the rule of law. There has been a good and close dialogue with the authorities of Japan during the processing of the case.”

A campaign for his release had won the support of a range of high-profile people, including the French president, Emmanuel Macron; Brigitte Bardot; and the Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.

Watson said: “My time in jail has at least served the purpose of focusing attention on Japan’s illegal whaling operations and the added benefit of focusing attention of the killing of dolphins on the Danish Faroe islands. So in that sense it was a successful campaign.”

He added of his time in jail: “My position is that you prepare for the worst and hope for the best, that’s all you can do. One day I would feel confident and then others, well, you know, Japan was putting a lot of economic pressure on Denmark. Fortunately, Denmark has got a good record on human rights.”

In a prison cell interview with the Guardian earlier this month, Watson had said he did not believe he would survive a spell in a Japanese jail. “I know that if I get sent to Japan, I’m not coming home,” he said.

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Good morning, US politics blog readers. Since winning re-election last month, Donald Trump has, for reasons that are not clear, taken to calling Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau “governor”. He’s done it in two instances that we can think of, the most recent coming last night, in a post on Truth Social where the president-elect weighed in on the departure from Trudeau’s government of deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, who had disagreed with Trudeau over how to handle Trump’s threatened economic policies. Without giving examples, the president-elect said “her behavior was totally toxic”, and accused her of standing in the way of a trade deal between the two countries.

The “governor” moniker is a strange one to bestow on Trudeau, considering it is both inaccurate, and because the prime minister has made efforts to reach out to Trump, including by dining with him at Mar-a-Lago. Hanging over the two men’s relationship is Trump’s threat to impose steep tariffs on Canada, which Trudeau is trying to convince him not to follow through with. But at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago yesterday, Trump made clear he’s not changing course. “We lose a lot of money to Canada, tremendous amount,” the president-elect said, later adding: “Tariffs will make our country rich.”

Here’s what else is going on today:

  • Kamala Harris will give a speech billed as encouraging young people to be active in their communities in the Washington DC suburbs at 11.35am ET.

  • Congress is scrambling to pass a year-end spending bill to ward off a government shutdown that will otherwise occur on 20 December. Neither party wants that to happen, but, as usual, their negotiations may go down to the wire.

  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making one last push to become the top Democrat on the high-profile House oversight committee. Yesterday, a Democratic committee that recommends candidates for ranking members passed the New York progressive over in favor of longtime congressman Gerry Connolly.

Chinese embassy criticises ‘anti-China clamours’ after Yang Tengbo spy claim

Embassy claims some UK politicians have ‘twisted mentality towards China’ and are trying to smear it

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The Chinese embassy in London has accused some UK parliamentarians of having a “twisted mentality towards China”, after the identity of a businessman accused of being a spy was revealed on Monday.

A Chinese embassy spokesperson said on Tuesday that “anti-China clamours” were an attempt to “smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK”.

On Monday, the high court in London lifted an anonymity order that had been in place in the case of a Chinese businessman and confidant of Prince Andrew who is accused of being a Chinese spy.

The man at the heart of the row, Yang Tengbo, had asked for the court to lift the anonymity order so that he could challenge what he describes as “ill-founded” claims against him.

Several MPs had been considering using their parliamentary privilege to name Yang before the anonymity order was lifted. Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative party leader and strong critic of the Chinese government, said on Monday that the allegations surrounding Yang were “the tip of the iceberg” of Chinese influence in the UK.

Yang was excluded from the UK in 2023 by the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, on the grounds that it was “conducive to the public good”. For the past two decades Yang has divided his life between the UK and China, and in 2013 he had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Yang is accused of being a member of the united front work department, the arm of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) responsible for overseas influence. He denies being a Chinese spy.

In a statement, Yang said he was a victim of souring UK-China relations. “The political climate has changed and unfortunately I have fallen victim to this. When relations are good and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK. When relations sour, an anti-China stance is taken and I am excluded.” He said he was planning to appeal against the decision to exclude him from the UK.

The Chinese embassy spokesperson said: “The united front led by the [CCP] endeavours to bring together various political parties and people from all walks of life, ethnic groups and organisations to promote cooperation between the [CCP] and people who are not members of it and promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship with other countries.

“This is above board and beyond reproach. Though some UK politicians attempted to demonise China’s united front work, they are doomed to fail.”

Yang’s case has raised questions about how the UK government deals with influential Chinese nationals, at a time when the security services have highlighted the threat posed to the UK by political interference from China.

On Monday, Keir Starmer defended his government’s greater openness towards Beijing, saying: “It’s important to engage.”

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Marisa Paredes, Almodóvar star and legend of Spanish cinema, dies aged 78

Roles in All About My Mother and Life is Beautiful cemented her status as one of Spain’s ‘most iconic’ actors

The award-winning Spanish actor Marisa Paredes, best known to international audiences for her work with directors such as Pedro Almodóvar, Guillermo del Toro and Roberto Benigni, has died at the age of 78.

Announcing her death on Tuesday, Spain’s film academy said the country had lost one of its “most iconic actors” and a beloved veteran of more than 75 films.

“Her body of work was defined by women who were strong, ambivalent, broken, passionate, enigmatic, but who were, above all, very human,” it added.

Paredes, who made her big screen debut at the age of 14, began working with Almodóvar when she starred in his 1983 film Dark Habits. She went on to appear in High Heels (1991), The Flower of My Secret (1995), All About My Mother (1999), and The Skin I Live in (2011), cementing her reputation as one of his trusted and treasured collaborators.

She also appeared in Benigni’s divisive 1997 comedy-drama Life is Beautiful, which won three Oscars, and Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone, a horror film set during the Spanish civil war.

Paredes was born in Madrid in 1946 and said her upbringing, close to the city’s renowned, centuries-old Teatro Español, had inspired her desire to act.

“I was born with my vocation,” she told one interviewer. “But it also had a lot to do with the neighbourhood where I lived – the Plaza de Santa Ana. Right in the middle of it back then was that wonderful statue [of the famous playwright Pedro] Calderón de la Barca.”

Between 2000 and 2003, Paredes served as the president of the film academy, which bestowed an honorary Goya award on her six years ago.

As word of her death spread, tributes came from leading cultural and political figures. “We’re devastated by the news,” said Pedro Almodóvar’s brother and production partner, Agustín Almodóvar. “So long, dearest Marisa.”

Antonio Banderas also said he was deeply saddened by the death of one of the “great women of acting”, adding: “You’ve left us too soon, dear friend.”

Penélope Cruz, who appeared with Paredes in All About My Mother, said: “My dear Marisa, you’ve left us too soon. I love you. Safe journey.”

Gilles Jacob, the former president of the Cannes film festival, recalled Paredes’s “calm grace; that gentle cheer that she ignited with one look of her pale eyes”.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the country had lost one of the most important actors it had ever produced as well as a woman who cared deeply about democracy and social justice. “Her presence in cinema and theatre and her commitment to democracy will be an example to future generations,” he added.

The country’s labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, said: “Marisa Paredes, one of the best actors of our age, has died. But she was, above all, a friend. She was always ready to help anyone who needed speaking up for and she always defended just causes. Today, the world is a little sadder and a little darker. We’re really going to miss you.”

The Film Academy said people would be able to pay their respects to Paredes at a wake at the Teatro Español on Wednesday morning.

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