Canada stabbings: police say suspects remain at large after overnight search

‘Relentless’ hunt fails to track down two men believed to have attacked residents of Indigenous community in Saskatchewan

Police in western Canada have said the two men believed to have killed 10 in a stabbing rampage have evaded search teams and remain at large despite a “relentless” overnight search.

The country is still reeling from one of the deadliest attacks in its history as the police forces from multiple provinces ramp up their search.

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Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says

Swathes of rainforest have reached tipping point, research by scientists and Indigenous organisations concludes

Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organisations has found.

“The tipping point is not a future scenario but rather a stage already present in some areas of the region,” the report concludes. “Brazil and Bolivia concentrate 90% of all combined deforestation and degradation. As a result, savannization is already taking place in both countries.”

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Heatwave in North America threatens to break global September temperature record

Temperatures nearing record of 52.2C set in Mecca, California, in 1950


Western areas of North America are continuing to suffer a significant heatwave that is threatening to break the highest global September temperature record. The global record in September is 52.2C (126F), in 1950 in Mecca, California. On 1 September this year, temperatures at Furnace Creek in Death Valley reached a scorching 51.3C (124.4F), less than a degree off the all-time record.

In the following days, several Canadian provinces’ September records were broken, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. On 2 September Lytton in British Columbia reached 39.6C (103F), only 0.4C off the September record for all of Canada. Records in many other cities also fell on 2 and 3 September. The remainder of this week will stay anomalously hot, about 10C above average, with a continued threat of records falling but the heat is expected to move away eastwards later this week.

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Canada mass stabbing: police search for two suspects after 10 killed across Saskatchewan – as it happened

Fifteen people are in hospital after attacks in 13 locations in two communities in the province

In response to the attacks, James Smith Cree Nation declared a state of emergency and various locations increased security.

The Mosaic Stadium, host to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ game, also boosted its security presence.

A call for additional staff was issued to respond to the influx of casualties,” authority spokeswoman Anne Linemann said in an email to Associated Press.

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Saskatchewan stabbings: what we know so far about the attacks in Canada

Ten people were killed and at least 15 wounded in series of stabbings in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Sunday

Ten people were killed and at least 15 wounded in a spate of stabbings in 13 locations across an Indigenous community and a nearby village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Sunday.

Police first began receiving reports of stabbings around 5.40am on Sunday in the James Smith Cree Nation community. Reports of additional attacks quickly followed in the nearby village of Weldon, north-east of Saskatoon. Both communities are sparsely populated with 3,400 and 200 people respectively.

At least 15 people were taken to hospital although “there may be additional injured victims who transported themselves to various hospitals”, Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted police, said. Mark Oddan, a spokesperson with Stars air ambulance, said two helicopters were sent from Saskatoon, and another from Regina.

Some of the victims appear to have been targeted but others appear to have been attacked at random, Blackmore said. She did not provide a motive.

Police identified the suspects as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30 and asked them to turn themselves in. Both are said to have black hair and brown eyes, though the relationship between them is unclear. The pair were last sighted driving a black Nissan Rogue with licence plate 119 MPI in Saskatchewan’s capital of Regina, about 200 miles (320km) south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described the attacks as “horrific and heartbreaking” in a statement of support to the families of those killed. “The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. I’m thinking of those who have lost a loved one and of those who were injured,” he said in a tweet.

One witness said she believed one of the suspects approached her and her daughter claiming he was hurt. Doreen Lees, 89, said she and her daughter thought they saw one of the suspects when a car came barreling down her street in Weldon early in the morning. Lees said a man approached them and said he was hurt and needed help but took off when her daughter said she would call for help. “He wouldn’t show his face. He had a big jacket over his face. We asked his name and he kind of mumbled his name twice and we still couldn’t get it,” she told the Associated Press. “He said his face was injured so bad he couldn’t show it.” She said the man was by himself and “kind of a little wobbly.”

Saskatchewan’s premier, Scott Moe, also issued a statement, describing the attacks as “senseless violence”. “There are no words to adequately describe the pain and loss caused by this senseless violence. All of Saskatchewan grieves with the victims and their families,” he said.

Residents of James Smith Cree Nation chronicled the events on social media. One woman posted an image of a broken door handle, adding that she was glad her younger sister wasn’t home when it was broken into. “This is forever gonna traumatize me,” she wrote. Others – including a young woman who had seen her grandfather the night before, only to learn he was a victim in the attacks – posted tributes to killed family members.

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Chile votes overwhelmingly to reject new, progressive constitution

With 96% of the ballots counted, the rejection camp has 62% and the approve team accept defeat in bid to replace Pinochet-era settlement

Chileans have voted comprehensively against a new, progressive constitution that had been drafted to replace the 1980 document written under Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.

With 99.9% of the votes counted in Sunday’s plebiscite, the rejection camp had 61.9% support compared with 38.1% for approval amid what appeared to be a heavy turnout with long lines at polling states. Voting was mandatory.

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Canada stabbings: police say 10 killed and 15 hurt in Saskatchewan

Police extend search for two suspects over three provinces after attacks at 13 different locations

A manhunt was under way in western Canada on Sunday night as police searched frantically for two men suspected in a series of stabbings that have killed 10 people and wounded at least 15 others.

The bulk of the attacks targeted residents of James Smith Cree Nation, an Indigenous community of 3,400, with other injuries reported in the neighbouring village of Weldon, north-east of Saskatoon.

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Vote on world’s most progressive constitution begins in Chile

Approval would replace Pinochet-era document, recognizing Chile’s Indigenous peoples and requiring action on the climate crisis

Chileans head to the polls on Sunday to either approve or reject what has been described as the world’s most progressive constitution, which would replace the 1980 document drawn up during Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.

The referendum marks the culmination of three tumultuous years of protest and political upheaval, in which a protest over subway prices grew into a broad uprising against deeply rooted inequalities and a disconnected political class.

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Don’t take democracy for granted, warns director of Argentine junta film

Comments at Venice film festival come after recent failed assassination attempt on Argentina’s vice-president

A failed assassination attempt this week on the Argentine vice-president has shown that democracy cannot be taken for granted, the director behind a courtroom drama about the trial of Argentina’s military junta has said.

Opening at the Venice film festival on Saturday, Santiago Mitre’s Argentina 1985 follows the prosecutors who, despite death threats and enormous legal difficulties, brought members of Argentina’s 1976-83 military dictatorship to trial in 1985.

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Argentinians march for Cristina Kirchner after vice-president survives assassination bid

Tens of thousands take to the streets to condemn political violence and show support for vice-president a day after shock attack

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets across Argentina to protest against political violence and show support for vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the day after she survived what appeared to be a failed assassination attempt.

Political leaders around the world and Pope Francis condemned the attack, as marchers flooded cities across the country in solidarity with a political leader who, like Juan and Evita Perón, dominates Argentina’s political landscape.

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Former Chilean police captain found guilty of assault for blinding woman

Patricio Maturana fired a teargas canister that permanently blinded Fabiola Campillai as she walked to work during protests

A former Chilean police special forces captain has been found guilty of assault after permanently blinding a woman he shot in the face with a teargas canister during a wave of protests in 2019.

The court in the capital Santiago found that Patricio Maturana had committed “unlawful coercion resulting in serious and very serious injuries” to Fabiola Campillai who was walking to a bus stop when she was struck. The public prosecutor has requested a 12-year prison sentence.

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Canadian city pulls bison sculpture in row over representation of colonialism

Edmonton decided Ken Lum’s paired figures of a bison and fur trader could ‘cause harm and induce painful memories’

A Canadian city has pulled a public art project over fears that a pair of towering bronze statues could be seen as an endorsement of colonialism – the exact opposite of the work’s intended meaning, according to the artist.

The work, which cost C$375,000 (US$285,000), comprises two large bronze figures which were intended to stand on either end of a pedestrian bridge in Edmonton. On one end, a 13ft bison was to stare out over the water. At the other, a colonial fur trader, measuring 11.5ft, would sit atop a pile of bison pelts.

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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: arrest after attempted shooting of Argentina vice-president

Fernández de Kirchner was greeting supporters when man approached her and raised handgun to her face

A man has been arrested after a handgun was aimed at point-blank range at Argentina’s vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in an apparent assassination attempt.

Fernández de Kirchner survived only because the pistol – which was loaded with five bullets – did not fire, President Alberto Fernández said.

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Top corruption prosecutor held in jail as Guatemalan elite bids to purge foes

Virginia Laparra detained in conditions ‘bordering on torture’, which critics say is retaliation for her efforts to fight corruption

A Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor has been locked up for six months in conditions “bordering on torture”, as the country’s ruling elite pursues a strategy to purge the justice system and derail corruption investigations against their allies.

Virginia Laparra, 42, a senior anti-corruption prosecutor, was accused of abuse of authority in apparent retaliation for reporting her suspicion that a judge had leaked sensitive details from a sealed corruption case to a colleague in 2017.

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Canada: police trio charged with manslaughter over shooting death of 18-month-old

Jameson Shapiro killed by police gunfire after officers called to domestic dispute in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, in November 2020

Three police officers in Canada have been charged with manslaughter in the death of an 18-month-old boy, nearly two years after he was killed by police gunfire.

Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, announced the charges on Wednesday afternoon.

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Shamima Begum ‘smuggled into Syria for Islamic State by Canadian spy’

Canada and UK accused of covering up involvement of double agent in British teenager’s recruitment for IS

Shamima Begum was smuggled into Syria for Islamic State at the age of 15 by a Canadian spy whose role was covered up by the police and Britain’s security services, it has been claimed in a book out this week.

Begum, along with her schoolfriends Kadiza Sultana, then 16, and Amira Abase, then 15, were met at Istanbul bus station for their onward journey to Syria by a man called Mohammed al-Rashed.

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Freeland ambush highlights growing threats to women in Canadian public life

Trudeau warns of increasingly toxic atmosphere in politics and journalism, with robust debate replaced by slurs and harassment

Justin Trudeau has warned of an increasingly toxic atmosphere in Canadian public life, amplified by the anonymity of social media and disproportionately targeting women and visible minorities in politics and journalism.

Encounters with disgruntled constituents have long been accepted as a reality of Canadian politics, but the tradition of friendly debate has increasingly been replaced by racial slurs, threatening phone calls at night and fears for the safety of politicians’ families.

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Prankster seizes Bolsonaro website and turns president into ‘snake-tongued liar’

Anonymous objector commandeers bolsonaro.com.br domain name and creates devastating takedown of far-right leader

An internet prankster has hijacked a website long used to glorify Brazil’s far-right president and turned it into a devastating online excoriation of Jair Bolsonaro’s “clownish”, “neo-fascist” government.

Bolsonaro and his three politician sons have reportedly used the bolsonaro.com.br domain as an official mouthpiece since the early 2000s.

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Misinformation abounds as Chile prepares to vote on new constitution

Chileans will cast ballots on Sunday to approve or reject a progressive document to replace the Pinochet-era constitution

Chile is heading towards a historic plebiscite on a new constitution to replace the document drawn up during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, but the vote will take place amid a climate of uncertainty driven by a storm of falsehoods and divisive campaigns.

For weeks, television advertising spots, street canvassers and social media campaigns have attempted to sway opinion towards the two options which will appear on the ballot this Sunday: “approve” or “reject”.

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Canada’s deputy prime minister called traitor in ‘disgusting display of abuse’

Incident in which Chrystia Freeland is subjected to foul-mouthed tirade at city hall meeting in Alberta is being investigated

Canadian police are investigating after the deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, was subjected to a foul-mouthed tirade at city hall meeting.

A video posted on Twitter shows a large man approach Freeland during the session in Grande Prairie, Alberta, swearing at her and calling her a “traitor″.

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