International

Senator publishes unpublished video of the moments after the attack on Donald Trump

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley published on Wednesday a video recorded by a camera of a security officer in which the lifeless body of Thomas Crooks, the shooter who shot Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

The senator said on network X that his intention is that the images serve to provide “transparency” and be held accountable for the security flaws that led the 20-year-old to parapetet on a roof of a building near the stage of the Trump rally without being detected and firing several shots, which killed an assistant and injured two others, in addition to the Republican candidate.

The video was recorded by an agent’s body camera on the roof where Crooks was and in it you can see a secret service agent discussing the details with several police officers of what had just happened to inform Washington.

Before being killed by the security forces, Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), fired eight bullets, whose shells were found on the roof on which he was mounted.

This was reported on Wednesday by the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, in an appearance in a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in which he offered some details about the attempted assassination of the former president that occurred on Saturday, July 13 at a rally in Butler (Pennsylvania).

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Faced with questions from several legislators, Wray assured that the FBI will continue to work “tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened.”

“We are putting all the resources of the FBI at the service of criminal and national security. Now there is a lot of work going on and there is still a lot of work to be done and our understanding – of what happened and why – will continue to evolve, but we are not going to leave stone without moving,” he said.

“The assassination attempt of the former president was an attack on our democracy and our democratic process and we will not tolerate political violence of any kind, especially a despicable account of this magnitude,” Wray said.

Wray revealed that the shooter was flying the drone around the area, not on stage, but about 200 meters away, about two hours before the start of the rally and that helped him determine the best position to aim the weapon outside the security perimeter.

And about the explosive devices, Wray specified that a total of three explosive devices were recovered, two in Crooks’ vehicle and one from his residence. All of them had receivers that could have allowed them to be detonated remotely.

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Grassley said today that the video and documents he has revealed after an official request provide more answers than the Secret Service has given to the American public to date.

Legislators of both parties were very disappointed with the evasion of the former director of the Secret Service, in charge of the security of presidents, former presidents and presidential candidates, Kimberly Cheatle, at a hearing on Monday.

Cheatle resigned yesterday due to the security flaws that led to the attack on Trump, who recovered from a bullet that slightly pierced her right ear.

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.