Headline

What To Know About Mass Stabbings In Canada

Published

3 years ago

September 6, 2022

Police in western Canada say two men went on a stabbing rampage that was one of the deadliest acts of violence to hit the country.

Here is a summary of what AFP knows about the Sunday attacks:

– What happened? –

The stabbing spree early Sunday at 13 separate locations in the remote Indigenous community of James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby town of Weldon in Canada’s Saskatchewan province left at least 10 people dead and 18 wounded.

– Who was behind the attack? –

Police identified the suspects as Myles Sanderson, aged 30, and Damien Sanderson, 31. The body of the latter was found Monday near a house that authorities have been examining on the grounds of the community.

The body had “visible injuries” that were not self-inflicted, said federal police Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore.

Myles Sanderson remained on the run.

The provincial Crime Stoppers website said he was wanted for breaching parole. Public broadcaster CBC said he had vanished in May after serving part of a five-year sentence for assault and robbery.

– What was the motive? –

Police have said it is too early to speak to a motive, while adding that “some of the victims may have been targeted and some may be random.”

“That’s still part of the investigation,” Blackmore said of the issue of motive. “That will be ongoing for quite some time. We haven’t established a motive at this point in time.”

Indigenous leaders pointed to a possible drug connection.

“This is the destruction we face when harmful illegal drugs invade our communities,” the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said.

– Who were the victims? –

Police have not identified the victims, most are from the James Smith Cree nation.

On social media, many members of the community paid tribute to loved ones killed in the stabbing rampage.

One was Lana Head, 49, who had children aged 31 and 30.

Canadian news reports said Gloria Burns, an emergency health worker, was killed after answering a call. Her parents Ivor and Darryl Burns said she was killed along with her partner and a 14-year-old.

And one resident of Weldon told a Saskatoon newspaper that her 77-year-old neighbor, Wes Petterson, who lived with his adult grandson, was killed.

– What are police doing? –

Police have issued arrest warrants for the two suspects, charging them with first-degree murder, attempted murder and breaking and entering. Further charges are expected.

Regina police chief Evan Bray said Monday his force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had worked through the night in a “relentless” search, after apparent sightings of the suspects in the provincial capital.

An RCMP spokeswoman said hundreds of police — some from Manitoba and Alberta — are taking part in the search across a vast region, including those from neighboring provinces.

– What has the reaction been? –

In a video address, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the attacks were shocking and heartbreaking.

“This kind of violence has no place in our country,” he said. “Sadly, over these past years, tragedies like these have become all too commonplace.”

European Union leaders and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were among others denouncing the attack and offering condolences.

Closer to the scene, people said they were deeply traumatized.

“This is terrible, terrible,” Weldon resident Diane Shier told the daily Saskatoon Star Phoenix. “We’ve still got our doors locked, staying inside.”

– What other attacks have hit Canada? –

In recent years, a rampaging gunman masquerading as a policeman killed 22 people in Nova Scotia; six people died in a shooting at a Quebec mosque; and a man driving a van along crowded sidewalks in Toronto killed 10 people.

AFP.

Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

17 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

Headline

Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

18 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

Headline

Italian Journalist’s Car Bombed, No Casualties

Published

18 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A bomb destroyed the vehicle of a prominent Italian journalist overnight, without causing casualties, his investigative television news show announced Friday.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s car blew up in an explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, that also damaged the family’s other car and the house next door, according to Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television.

“The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at the moment,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned what she called a “serious act of intimidation”.

Inside Kwara Community, Ijara-Isin, Where Residents Have Own ‘Currency’

“The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she wrote on X.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had ordered an increase in the journalist’s security “to the maximum”.

He called the attack a “cowardly and extremely serious act that represents an attack not only on the person but on the freedom of the press and the fundamental values of our democracy”.

The Report show is known for its in-depth investigative reports.

According to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Italy ranks 49th in the world in terms of press freedom.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” it said in its latest update.

About 20 journalists currently live under permanent police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks, it added.

AFP