International
Mystery deepens in Émile Soleil case as family members are arrested
The death of Émile Soleil, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who went missing from a village in the French Alps in July 2023, remains unexplained—even after a hiker discovered his skull and teeth nine months later.
At the time, prosecutors stated that the cause of his death, which shocked France, could have been “a fall, involuntary manslaughter, or murder.” Police later found additional bones and pieces of the child’s clothing.
Émile had been spending the summer at his maternal grandparents’ home in the small village of Le Haut-Vernet, located at an altitude of 1,200 meters in the Alps, when he disappeared on July 8, 2023. The last known sighting of him was as he walked along one of the village streets.
His mother and father were not present on the day he went missing.
However, the investigation took a dramatic turn on Tuesday morning, shifting its focus to the boy’s family.
The grandparents and two of their children, whose identities have not been disclosed, were arrested on charges of “premeditated murder and concealment of a body,” prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said in a statement to AFP.
Speculation had been reignited on March 13 when investigators were seen in the village, seizing a large planter placed at the entrance of the local chapel.
Authorities stated that the arrests were the result of months of investigation, with forensic teams now examining “several areas of interest.”
Following Émile’s funeral service in February, his grandparents had released a statement saying that “the time for silence must give way to the truth,” adding: “We need to understand, we need to know.”
The disappearance of Émile deeply impacted France, particularly as it revived memories of another tragic case: the 1984 death of four-year-old Grégory, whose body was found lifeless on the same day he vanished—an unsolved case that still haunts the nation’s collective memory.
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
UN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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