International
California police release bodycam footage of teen store shooting
AFP
Bodycam footage of the “chaotic” police shooting of a teenager in a California department store was released Monday, as critics claimed officers were all-too-ready to open fire.
Fourteen-year-old Valentina Orellana-Peralta was in a changing room when a stray bullet fired by a policeman came through the wall and hit her, killing her instantly.
Valentina was shopping in a Los Angeles store with her mother in the pre-Christmas rush, buying clothes for her “quinceanera”, the coming-of-age ceremony celebrated by Latin Americans.
Police say they were called to the Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood on Thursday because of reports of a possible shooting.
CCTV Images from the scene show a clearly agitated man roaming the store with a bike lock in his hand before police arrive.
He lashes out at several people before repeatedly beating one woman about the head and body with the heavy-duty cable lock.
Police bodycam footage shows a number of officers arriving at the scene with guns drawn.
Seconds after they locate the suspect, one of them opens fire with a long barrelled gun.
He falls to the floor and is handcuffed.
A police commentary shows a freeze-frame that it says shows one of the rounds the officer fired skipping off the floor and hitting the outside wall of the changing room where Valentina was hiding with her mother.
Police Chief Michel Moore said he had ordered a full investigation of the incident.
“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved,” he said.
“I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.”
Hispanic civil rights group LULAC said responding officers had acted recklessly.
“It is indefensible that trained Los Angeles police officers could open fire in a crowded store at the height of Christmas shopping without first knowing for sure if the suspect was armed,” said president Domingo Garcia.
The shooting is the latest in a country where law enforcement readily resorts to deadly force when confronting criminal suspects.
There is no official national record of fatal shootings by US police officers, and reporting of incidents by police departments is voluntary.
A tally by the Washington Post published Monday shows more than 900 people have been shot and killed by police in the last year.
International
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wished the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, a “successful” term that promotes “prosperity and well-being for the U.S. people” and “a fairer and more peaceful world.”
“On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration,” said the progressive leader on his social media, shortly after Trump took the oath of office at the Capitol in Washington.
Lula, 79, highlighted that the relationship between Brazil and the United States, one of its most important trade partners, is “marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and historical friendship.”
“Our countries maintain strong ties in various areas such as trade, science, education, and culture. I am confident that we can continue to make progress in these and other areas,” he added.
International
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
Iran declared on Monday that it hopes the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt “realistic approaches” toward Tehran and show “respect” for the interests of the countries in the region.
The Republican tycoon will take the oath for his second term as president of the United States on Monday at noon Washington time (17:00 GMT).
“We hope that the approaches and policies of the new U.S. government will be realistic and based on respect for the interests… of the countries in the region, including the Iranian nation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, during a weekly press briefing.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.
In 2018, under his administration, the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with Iran, concluded three years earlier, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for assurances that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran denies any such intentions.
In response, Tehran significantly increased its stockpile of enriched materials and raised the enrichment threshold to 60%, approaching the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Tehran, which has expressed a desire to relaunch negotiations to revive the deal, defends its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.
International
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
Donald Trump will sign an executive order instructing his administration to “recognize” the existence of only “two sexes,” future White House officials announced on Monday, just before the Republican’s inauguration.
“What we are doing today is defining that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said the official, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity.
The aim of the decree is “to defend women against the ideological extremism of gender and to restore biological truth within the Federal Government,” the official added, explaining that a person’s sexual identity will be defined solely by the gametes they possess.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to put an end to the “transgender delusion.”
The elected president also plans to eliminate federal funding for programs supporting diversity in the administration, the same officials from his incoming cabinet stated.
“We are going to end this type of funding, we are going to put an end to these programs,” said one source from the future team, speaking anonymously about antiracism and diversity training courses.
-
International5 days ago
The Government of Israel accuses Hamas of wanting to modify the truce agreement and postpones its vote
-
International5 days ago
Russia attacks Kiev in the middle of British Prime Minister Starmer’s visit
-
International5 days ago
An Australian influencer is accused of poisoning her baby to earn money
-
International3 days ago
Noboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
-
International5 days ago
Far-right Israeli minister will leave the Netanyahu government if his country does not resume the war after the truce
-
International3 days ago
Musk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
-
International3 days ago
Mark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
-
International3 days ago
HRW assures that Sheinbaum “inherited a crisis” from López Obrador due to “extreme violence” in Mexico
-
International5 days ago
Pope Francis suffers a fall without fractures and his arm is immobilized as a precaution
-
International3 days ago
The Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden
-
International3 days ago
Trump appoints Stallone, Voight, and Gibson as special ambassadors to Hollywood
-
International3 days ago
Latin American and Caribbean diplomats voice concern over U.S. mass deportation plan
-
International5 days ago
Emotional support dogs help firefighters fighting fires in California
-
International5 days ago
Indigenous peoples of Mexico help migrants stranded in the south far from the border
-
International5 days ago
Russia and Iran will sign a strategic agreement three days before Trump’s inauguration
-
International3 days ago
Antony Blinken assures that the Panamanian sovereignty of the Panama Canal “will not change”
-
International3 days ago
Edmundo González Urrutia’s team says that the anti-chavista will attend Trump’s investiture
-
International5 days ago
French justice saves a domesticated boar threatened with euthanasia by the authorities
-
International1 day ago
Trump to sign over 200 executive orders, declaring National Emergency at U.S.-Mexico Border
-
International3 days ago
China, Israel and Burma, the countries in the world with the most journalists imprisoned in 2024
-
International3 days ago
At least five peace signatories and social leaders are killed in fighting in Colombia
-
International10 hours ago
Pope Francis hopes Trump will build a more just society free of hatred
-
International5 days ago
Separate negotiators and last-minute details, this is how the ceasefire in Gaza was negotiated
-
International5 days ago
The ‘Supersopa’, created during the great crisis of 2002, returns to the canteens of Argentina
-
International5 days ago
Carlos Correa, director of the Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público, has been released from prison
-
Sin categoría1 day ago
Paraguayan president Santiago Peña meets Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia in Washington
-
International3 days ago
Foreign Affairs confirms the kidnapping of a Spaniard in North Africa by a jihadist group
-
International10 hours ago
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
-
International9 hours ago
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
-
International9 hours ago
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace