International
SAfrican indigenous ‘king’ arrested for growing pot at presidency
AFP
South African police Wednesday uprooted cannabis plants grown by indigenous activists who have camped outside President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office for more than three years, AFP reporters saw.
Their leader, wearing a traditional loincloth, clung to a shoulder-height plant as police dragged it across the presidential lawn in Pretoria before arresting him.
“Police… you have declared war,” he shouted. “We have been here peacefully. We are coming for you,” warned the man, who calls himself King Khoisan South Africa.
The Khoisan were formerly known as Bushmen or Hottentots — a name coined by Dutch settlers in the 17h century, reflecting the clicks characteristic of their languages.
During the raid, another activist yelled in Afrikaans at the police, asking them: “For plants? For plants? You are rubbish people in uniforms.”
The group’s tarpaulin tents have been a fixture on the emerald lawns of the South African president’s office since 2018, when they began a campaign for official recognition of their languages.
One of the tents is just metres (yards) away from a giant bronze statue of Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president.
Around two dozen police, some in riot gear, others mounted on horseback and some with sniffer dogs, raided the small group.
Police did not respond to AFP’s request for comment, but journalists heard officers on the scene saying the raid was over the cannabis planted some six months ago in the activists’ vegetable garden.
In 2018, South Africa’s top court decriminalised the private and personal use of cannabis in a landmark case that pitted law enforcement agencies against advocates of the plant, known locally as dagga.
South Africa’s Khoisan community is thought to number in the hundreds of thousands.
International
Regional mexican music mourns the death of Banda Gota de Oro singer Giovanni Vera
Regional Mexican music is mourning the death of Giovanni Vera, lead vocalist of the band Banda Gota de Oro, who was among the victims of an armed attack that occurred on Sunday, December 28, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
The incident took place inside a residence located in the Los Presidentes neighborhood, in the municipality of Irapuato.
According to preliminary reports, several people were gathered at the house when armed men burst in and opened fire on those present. The attack left five people dead, including the singer.
Hours after the shooting, Banda Gota de Oro confirmed Vera’s death through its official Instagram account. In one of the posts, the group expressed its grief with an emotional message: “Today, the sky is dressed for a celebration because you are singing up there. Your voice and your joy will live on forever within us.”
Messages of support and condolences from fans and fellow musicians quickly flooded social media, paying tribute to the artist and expressing solidarity with his family and bandmates.
International
One Dead, Three Injured in Shooting at Cree Nation in Saskatchewan
One person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting reported early Tuesday in the Big Island Lake Cree Nation, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, according to local media.
Police said they were alerted to the incident in a remote area located approximately 392 kilometers northwest of the city of Saskatoon. Authorities issued a dangerous persons alert for two suspects, who were described as armed.
Saskatchewan police urged residents to seek shelter immediately, lock their doors, and avoid the area while the situation remains under investigation. Officers are working to determine whether the shooting was a targeted attack or a random act of violence.
As a precautionary measure, seven health-care facilities in the surrounding area were placed under lockdown, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a post on X.
International
Mexico’s President Visits Victims After Train Derailment Kills 13 in Oaxaca
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum visited on Monday the victims injured in a train accident that left 13 people dead in the southern state of Oaxaca and announced financial assistance for those affected by the derailment of the Interoceanic Train, which was inaugurated in 2023.
The train, carrying 241 passengers and nine crew members, derailed on Sunday while traveling along the Interoceanic Corridor, a major infrastructure project that connects the Pacific coast with the Gulf of Mexico across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The corridor was one of the flagship initiatives of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration (2018–2024).
Sheinbaum visited three hospitals in the neighboring towns of Tehuantepec and Salina Cruz, where around 20 injured passengers remain hospitalized. She also went to a funeral home to accompany the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.
According to Mexico’s Navy Secretary, Raymundo Morales, the accident occurred when one of the locomotives derailed, causing all four railcars to leave the tracks.
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