A French high school student is arrested after fatally stabbing another student and wounding 3

A French high school student is arrested after fatally stabbing another student and wounding 3
French police stands in front of the Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides school after one high school student was killed and other students injured in a school stabbing, in Nantes, Apr. 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 24 April 2025
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A French high school student is arrested after fatally stabbing another student and wounding 3

A French high school student is arrested after fatally stabbing another student and wounding 3
  • The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear
  • A national police official said the attack occurred at the private Catholic Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides High School in Nantes

PARIS: A student at a French high school stabbed four other students at his school Thursday, killing at least one and injuring three others before being arrested, police said.
The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear. Fatal attacks are quite rare in French schools.
A national police official said the attack occurred at the private Catholic Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides High School in Nantes on France’s Atlantic coast.
The student stabbed four people with a knife during a lunch break before teachers subdued him, and he was later taken in by police, the official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to national police policy.
Students at the school told French media at the scene that they had received an email from the assailant earlier in the day with unspecified grievances.
Education Minister Elisabeth Borne said on X that she is heading to the school with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to show “solidarity with victims and the school community.” The regional prosecutor announced a news conference for later Thursday.
Images from the scene showed police and armed military forces surrounding the school as the investigation got underway.
An official at the school, which is part of a complex housing a primary and middle school, would not comment on what happened, saying the school is concentrating on caring for the students who were on campus at the time. The school website was down.


Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador

Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador
Updated 9 min 33 sec ago
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Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador

Uganda’s military says it has severed ties with Germany over ‘subversive activities’ by ambassador

NAIROBI: Uganda’s military has severed all military cooperation with Germany after it accused Berlin’s ambassador to Kampala of involvement in “subversive activities” in the East African country, its spokesperson said.
“The Uganda People’s Defense Forces has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defense and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany,” UPDF spokesperson Chris Magezi said in a statement posted on X platform on Sunday.
The decision was “in response to credible intelligence reports that the current German Ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Mathias Schauer is actively engaged in subversive activities in the country,” Magezi said.
He did not give details of those activities or details of any existing military cooperation between Uganda and Germany.
Germany’s embassy in Kampala did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Uganda has its troops in the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, AUSSOM, which is partly funded by the European Union, of which Germany is a member.
In a post on the X platform on Sunday, Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba said the military was having problems with Schauer as a person.
“It has to do with him as a person. He is wholly unqualified to be in Uganda. It has nothing to do with the great German people,” said Kainerugaba.
The spokesperson for Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs could not be reached for comment as her phone was switched off.
Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni and widely seen as heir apparent, is widely known for his inflammatory posts on social media which have included threats to Western diplomats in Kampala.
This month he warned the EU was “playing with fire” after a group of EU ambassadors met officials from Uganda’s largest opposition party including its leader, pop star-turned-politician, Bobi Wine.


King Charles to open Canada parliament tasked with countering Trump

King Charles to open Canada parliament tasked with countering Trump
Updated 28 min 26 sec ago
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King Charles to open Canada parliament tasked with countering Trump

King Charles to open Canada parliament tasked with countering Trump
  • King Charles is set to open Canada's parliament as part of a pushback against American President Donald Trump's annexation threats
  • The trip is King Charles's first to Canada since his coronation

OTTOWA: King Charles III was set to land in Ottawa Monday for a historic visit to open Canada’s parliament, a brief trip seen as part of the pushback against US President Donald Trump’s annexation threats.
The 76-year-old monarch, who is also Canada’s head of state as part of the Commonwealth, was invited by Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver the throne speech, an address that outlines the government’s priorities.
The speech is typically given by the British monarch’s representative in Canada, the governor general.
Queen Elizabeth II, the king’s late mother, delivered a throne speech in Canada just twice during her long reign, in 1957 and 1977.
Charles, making his first visit to Canada since his coronation, has never commented on Trump’s repeated talk of making Canada the 51st US state.
But he will be closely watched for any comments on Canada’s sovereignty, as well as on trade.
Trump has slapped tariffs on Canadian goods including sector-specific levies on autos, steel and aluminum, rattling the Canadian economy — though he has suspended some of them pending negotiations.
Queen Camilla will accompany Charles on the 24-hour visit to Ottawa.


Carney has said his newly-elected government has been given a mandate “to define a new economic and security relationship with the United States,” a neighbor he believes Canada “can no longer trust.”
He has promised to curb reliance on trade with the United States by boosting internal commerce while forging deeper economic ties with allies overseas.
The government’s path to “build Canada strong” will be outlined in Charles’s speech, Carney said last week.
A government statement described the visit as “a momentous and historic occasion that underscores Canada’s identity and sovereignty as a constitutional monarchy.”
Trump repeatedly returned to his annexation musings during Carney’s Oval Office visit earlier this month, insisting it would be a “wonderful marriage.”
Carney stood his ground, saying Canada was “never for sale.”
Trump’s envoy to Canada, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, dismissed the notion that inviting Charles to open parliament was an effective way to make a statement on annexation.
“If there’s a message in there, there’s easier ways to send messages. Just give me a call. Carney can call the president at any time,” he told the public broadcaster CBC last week.
Hoekstra added that he sees the annexation issue as being “over.”
“Move on. If the Canadians want to keep talking about it — that’s their business.”


Charles and Camilla are scheduled to land in Ottawa on Monday afternoon.
They’ll be received by Governor General Mary Simon, Carney, Indigenous leaders and other dignitaries before meeting community organizations in Ottawa.
Charles also holds an audience with Carney on Monday.
At the Senate on Tuesday, the monarch will receive full military honors before delivering the throne speech.
Canadian royal commentator Edward Wang told AFP he was traveling from his home in the west coast city of Vancouver to Ottawa for the visit.
“At a time when the sovereignty of our country is being challenged, having our head of state open the first session of a new Parliament sends a signal,” he said.
“The entire world will be watching.”


President Donald Trump says Russian leader Vladimir Putin ‘has gone absolutely CRAZY!’

President Donald Trump says Russian leader Vladimir Putin ‘has gone absolutely CRAZY!’
Updated 17 min ago
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President Donald Trump says Russian leader Vladimir Putin ‘has gone absolutely CRAZY!’

President Donald Trump says Russian leader Vladimir Putin ‘has gone absolutely CRAZY!’
  • Says Putin is “needlessly killing a lot of people,” pointing to Russia's escalating missile and drone attacks on Ukraine
  • Warns that if Putin wants to conquer all of Ukraine, it will “lead to the downfall of Russia!”

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump made it clear he is losing patience with Vladimir Putin, leveling some of his sharpest criticism at the Russian leader as Moscow pounded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles for a third straight night.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday night.
Trump said Putin is “needlessly killing a lot of people,” pointing out that “missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”
The attack was the largest aerial assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, according to Ukrainian officials. At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured.

The US president warned that if Putin wants to conquer all of Ukraine, it will “lead to the downfall of Russia!” But Trump expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as well, saying that he is “doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does.”
“Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote on social media.
The president has increasingly voiced irritation at Putin and the inability to resolve the now three-year-old war, which Trump promised he would promptly end as he campaigned to return to the White House.
He had long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and repeatedly stressed that Russia is more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal.
But last month, Trump urged Putin to “STOP!” assaulting Ukraine after Russia launched another deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, and he has repeatedly expressed his frustration that the war in Ukraine is continuing.
“I’m not happy with what Putin’s doing. He’s killing a lot of people. And I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Trump told reporters earlier Sunday as he departed northern New Jersey, where he spent most of the weekend. “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people and I don’t like it at all. ”
A peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine remains elusive. Trump and Putin spoke on the phone this past week, and Trump announced after the call that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire talks. That conversation occurred after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkiye for the first face-to-face talks since 2022. But on Thursday, the Kremlin said no direct talks were scheduled.
The European Union has slapped new sanctions on Russia this month in response to Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire. But while Trump has threatened to step up sanctions and tariffs on Russia, he hasn’t acted so far.


US Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes

US Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes
Updated 26 May 2025
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US Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes

US Justice Department reaches deal to allow Boeing to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes
  • Under the agreement announced Friday, Boeing must retain an “independent compliance consultant” who will make recommendations for “further improvement”

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading US regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.
Under the “agreement in principle,” which still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay or invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, the Justice Department said.
In return, the department has agreed to dismiss the fraud charge against Boeing, allowing the manufacturer to avoid a possible criminal conviction that could have jeopardized the company’s status as a federal contractor, according to experts.
“Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and Department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.
“Nothing will diminish the victims’ losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers.”
Boeing on Friday declined to comment.
Some relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, have been pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial punishment for Boeing. The Justice Department noted that the victims’ families had mixed views on the proposed deal.
“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history,” said Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in the long-running case. “My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.”
Javier de Luis, whose sister, Graziella, died in the Ethiopia crash, said the Justice Department is walking away “from any pretense to seek justice for the victims of the 737Max crashes.”
“The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers,” he said in a statement. “Even if you kill them, just pay a small fine and move on.”
Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about aspects of the Max before the agency certified the plane for flight. Boeing did not tell airlines and pilots about a new software system, called MCAS, that could turn the plane’s nose down without input from pilots if a sensor detected that the plane might go into an aerodynamic stall.
The Max planes crashed after a faulty reading from the sensor pushed the nose down and pilots were unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned MCAS to make it less powerful and to use signals from two sensors, not just one.
The Justice Department charged Boeing in 2021 with deceiving FAA regulators about the software, which did not exist in older 737s, and about how much training pilots would need to fly the plane safely. The department agreed not to prosecute Boeing at the time, however, if the company paid a $2.5 billion settlement, including the $243.6 million fine, and took steps to comply with anti-fraud laws for three years.
Federal prosecutors, however, last year said Boeing violated the terms of the 2021 agreement by failing to make promised changes to detect and prevent violations of federal anti-fraud laws. Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to the felony fraud charge instead of enduring a potentially lengthy public trial.
But in December, US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth rejected the plea deal. The judge said the diversity, inclusion and equity, or DEI, policies in the government and at Boeing could result in race being a factor in picking a monitor to oversee Boeing’s compliance with the agreement.
The plea deal had called for an independent monitor to be named to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years. Under the agreement announced Friday, Boeing must retain an “independent compliance consultant” who will make recommendations for “further improvement” and report back to the government, according to court papers.


Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them

Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them
Updated 26 May 2025
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Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them

Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them
  • Already, several universities have announced hiring freezes, laid off staff or stopped admitting new graduate students

As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the US lost their jobs or grants — and governments and universities around the world spotted an opportunity.
The “Canada Leads” program, launched in April, hopes to foster the next generation of innovators by bringing early-career biomedical researchers north of the border.
Aix-Marseille University in France started the “Safe Place for Science” program in March — pledging to “welcome” US-based scientists who “may feel threatened or hindered in their research.”
Australia’s “Global Talent Attraction Program,” announced in April, promises competitive salaries and relocation packages.
“In response to what is happening in the US,” said Anna-Maria Arabia, head of the Australian Academy of Sciences, “we see an unparalleled opportunity to attract some of the smartest minds here.”
Since World War II, the US has invested huge amounts of money in scientific research conducted at independent universities and federal agencies. That funding helped the US to become the world’s leading scientific power — and has led to the invention of cell phones and the Internet as well as new ways to treat cancer, heart disease and strokes, noted Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science.
But today that system is being shaken.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has pointed to what it calls waste and inefficiency in federal science spending and made major cuts to staff levels and grant funding at the National Science Foundation,the National Institutes of Health, NASA and other agencies, as well as slashing research dollars that flow to some private universities.
The White House budget proposal for next year calls to cut the NIH budget by roughly 40 percent and the National Science Foundation’s by 55 percent.
“The Trump administration is spending its first few months reviewing the previous administration’s projects, identifying waste, and realigning our research spending to match the American people’s priorities and continue our innovative dominance,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.
Already, several universities have announced hiring freezes, laid off staff or stopped admitting new graduate students. On Thursday, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, though a judge put that on hold.
Research institutions abroad are watching with concern for collaborations that depend on colleagues in the US — but they also see opportunities to potentially poach talent.
“There are threats to science ... south of the border,” said Brad Wouters, of University Health Network, Canada’s leading hospital and medical research center, which launched the “Canada Leads” recruitment drive. “There’s a whole pool of talent, a whole cohort that is being affected by this moment.”
Promising a safe place to do science
Universities worldwide are always trying to recruit from one another, just as tech companies and businesses in other fields do. What’s unusual about the current moment is that many global recruiters are targeting researchers by promising something that seems newly threatened: academic freedom.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this month that the European Union intends “to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law.” She spoke at the launch of the bloc’s “Choose Europe for Science” — which was in the works before the Trump administration cuts but has sought to capitalize on the moment.
Eric Berton, president of Aix-Marseille University, expressed a similar sentiment after launching the institution’s “Safe Place for Science” program.
“Our American research colleagues are not particularly interested by money,” he said of applicants. “What they want above all is to be able to continue their research and that their academic freedom be preserved.”
Too early to say ‘brain drain’
It’s too early to say how many scientists will choose to leave the US It will take months for universities to review applications and dole out funding, and longer for researchers to uproot their lives.
Plus, the American lead in funding research and development is enormous — and even significant cuts may leave crucial programs standing. The US has been the world’s leading funder of R&D — including government, university and private investment — for decades. In 2023, the country funded 29 percent of the world’s R&D, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
But some institutions abroad are reporting significant early interest from researchers in the US Nearly half of the applications to “Safe Place for Science” — 139 out of 300 total — came from US-based scientists, including AI researchers and astrophysicists.
US-based applicants in this year’s recruitment round for France’s Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology roughly doubled over last year.
At the Max Planck Society in Germany, the Lise Meitner Excellence Program — aimed at young female researchers — drew triple the number of applications from US-based scientists this year as last year.
Recruiters who work with companies and nonprofits say they see a similar trend.
Natalie Derry, a UK-based managing partner of the Global Emerging Sciences Practice at recruiter WittKieffer, said her team has seen a 25 percent to 35 percent increase in applicants from the US cold-calling about open positions. When they reach out to scientists currently based in the US, “we are getting a much higher hit rate of people showing interest.”
Still, there are practical hurdles to overcome for would-be continent-hoppers, she said. That can include language hurdles, arranging childcare or eldercare, and significant differences in national pension or retirement programs.
Community ties
Brandon Coventry never thought he would consider a scientific career outside the United States. But federal funding cuts and questions over whether new grants will materialize have left him unsure. While reluctant to leave his family and friends, he’s applied to faculty positions in Canada and France.
“I’ve never wanted to necessarily leave the United States, but this is a serious contender for me,” said Coventry, who is a postdoctoral fellow studying neural implants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But it’s not easy to pick up and move a scientific career — let alone a life.
Marianna Zhang was studying how children develop race and gender stereotypes as a postdoctoral fellow at New York University when her National Science Foundation grant was canceled. She said it felt like “America as a country was no longer interested in studying questions like mine.”
Still, she wasn’t sure of her next move. “It’s no easy solution, just fleeing and escaping to another country,” she said.
The recruitment programs range in ambition, from those trying to attract a dozen researchers to a single university to the continent-wide “Choose Europe” initiative.
But it’s unclear if the total amount of funding and new positions offered could match what’s being shed in the US.
A global vacuum
Even as universities and institutes think about recruiting talent from the US, there’s more apprehension than glee at the funding cuts.
“Science is a global endeavor,” said Patrick Cramer, head of the Max Planck Society, noting that datasets and discoveries are often shared among international collaborators.
One aim of recruitment drives is to “to help prevent the loss of talent to the global scientific community,” he said.
Researchers worldwide will suffer if collaborations are shut down and databases taken offline, scientists say.
“The US was always an example, in both science and education,” said Patrick Schultz, president of France’s Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology. So the cuts and policies were “very frightening also for us because it was an example for the whole world.”