World

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas jury on Wednesday acquitted a former Uvalde school district police officer of all criminal child-endangerment charges stemming from the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Adrian Gonzales, 52, faced 29 counts of felony child endangerment over what prosecutors said was his failure to act against the gunman in the first minutes of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Each count carried a…

UK declines to attend Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ signing in Davos, citing Putin’s involvement Britain will not take part in the signing ceremony for U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Wednesday in Davos, citing “concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said. Trump is hosting the launch of the new forum on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, pitching it as a vehicle to resolve international conflicts. The White House says about 35…

At least 55 dead in Karachi mall fire as families provide DNA amid painstaking search at Gul Plaza KARACHI, Pakistan — The death toll from a weekend fire at a shopping mall in Pakistan’s largest city climbed to at least 55 as rescuers combed the wreckage of the three-story Gul Plaza and families waited for news of missing loved ones, authorities said. “A total of 55 bodies have been recovered since Saturday night” when the blaze erupted, said Javed Nabi Khoso, deputy commissioner of Karachi’s south district, speaking to AFP.…

MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand — A rain-fueled landslide slammed into a seaside campsite on New Zealand’s North Island, burying a shower block and smashing several camper vans under tons of mud, with multiple people missing and rescuers racing against dangerously shifting ground. The slide struck at the base of Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcanic cone in northern New Zealand, after heavy overnight downpours. Photos and video shared on local media showed a mound of saturated earth crushing the camp’s shower facility and…

Trump retreats from Greenland seizure threat, touts open-ended Arctic security deal and lifts tariff warnings DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump backed down from threats to seize Greenland by force from U.S. ally Denmark, announcing a vague security arrangement he said delivers “everything we wanted” and lifting promised tariffs on European partners that opposed the move. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Trump said the agreement was negotiated with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and would last “forever,”…

DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine would be “stupid” not to strike a peace deal and claimed he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos on Thursday, even as Kyiv insisted Zelensky remains in the Ukrainian capital. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Trump repeated his view that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky are close to an agreement to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. “I believe they’re at a point now where they…

Irish trainee field guide rescued by helicopter as deadly floods swamp Kruger National Park PHALABORWA, South Africa — In the pitch black and pouring rain on a hillside above the Olifants River, Kim McNaughton waited for the thump of rotor blades. The trainee field guide from County Monaghan had scrambled to higher ground with colleagues after floodwaters cut off their safari lodge in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, washing away a nearby bridge and turning escape routes into impassable mud. “Survival mode just kicked…

Ireland’s EU Commissioner Michael McGrath warned that Europe’s ties with the United States have reached a “pivotal and dangerous” moment, saying the European Union would deliver a “robust” response if the Trump administration proceeds with tariffs against countries that opposed the U.S. president’s ambitions to seize Greenland. Speaking to RTÉ News in Davos, McGrath said “we are at a moment of danger in the overall transatlantic relationship,” and cautioned that undermining the international rules-based order would leave the…

Japan convicts Abe assassin; Yamagami sentenced to life in Nara court The man who fatally shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, more than three years after the broad-daylight assassination stunned a nation with some of the world’s strictest gun laws and triggered a reckoning over politics and religion. Judge Shinichi Tanaka delivered the sentence at a court in the city of Nara. Long lines formed early in the morning as people sought tickets to observe proceedings,…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “we are at a crossroads” amid a U.S. threat, signaling a pivotal moment for Europe’s economic and security posture as tensions with Washington simmer. Von der Leyen’s remark, delivered during live remarks monitored by Axadle Times, underscored the sensitivities in transatlantic ties as the European Union assesses risks to its strategic industries and broader interests. No further details were immediately available on the specific nature of the U.S. threat or the…