Connect with us

Published

on

Police twice cleared a recycling centre near where the body of a man suspected of killing 18 people in a mass shooting in Maine was discovered.

Mike Sauschuck, Maine’s public safety commissioner, said the body of 40-year-old Robert Card was found in the back of a trailer in the car park of the facility, near Lisbon Falls, on Friday.

He said a paper note addressed to a loved one – which he said was “not explicitly a suicide note” but had the “tone of someone who was not going to be around for much longer” – was discovered following the fatal shooting.

Asked about a possible motive for the deadly attack, Mr Sauschuck said there was “clearly a mental health component”.

However, he said Card had never been forcibly committed for treatment for mental health – and therefore would not have shown up during background checks when buying a gun.

It comes after Card was found dead on Friday following Wednesday’s attack – the deadliest shooting in the US this year and in the history of the state of Maine.

Among those killed, at the Just-In-Time bowling alley and Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston, were a father-of-four, described by his wife as the “world’s best father”, and a father and his 14-year-old son.

A further 13 people were injured.

Read more:
All victims of Maine mass shooting named
What do we know about Maine shooting suspect?

Police said Card’s body was found near the Androscoggin River in the Lisbon Falls area, at a recycling facility where he recently worked.

Officers believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officials said his mobile phone and a gun were also found in a white Subaru that was identified as belonging to him.

The search for the former army reservist spread across multiple locations in the state and involved at least 80 FBI agents and Coast Guard personnel.

Continue Reading

US

Manhunt after couple hiking with their children killed in Arkansas park

Published

on

By

Manhunt after couple hiking with their children killed in Arkansas park

A manhunt is under way after a married couple were killed while hiking with their children in an Arkansas state park.

Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, were walking with their daughters, who are aged seven and nine, when they were attacked in Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday afternoon, according to Arkansas State Police.

Officers were called to reports of two people dead in the park at around 2.40pm, before their bodies were found on a walking trail.

Arkansas’s state lab are working to determine their cause of death, officials said.

Their children were not injured and are safe with relatives, authorities added.

A statement from the Brink family said the couple “died heroes, protecting their little girls”.

“They deserve justice. They will forever live in all our hearts,” the family added, asking for privacy as they “grieve and learn to navigate this new reality”.

The couple had only moved to Arkansas three weeks ago, having previously lived in California and eastern Montana, Mr Brink’s sister Karina Hutchins said.

Officials have not said how the couple were killed and have not provided a possible motive for the attack.

The suspect has been described as white, of medium build, and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, a dark baseball cap, and sunglasses.

He was also carrying a black backpack and wearing fingerless gloves.

Police said he could have sustained injuries during the attack and exited the park in a black, four-door car, possibly a Mazda, with the number plate covered with duct tape.

He is then believed to have travelled on State Highway 170 or State Highway 220 to escape.

Read more from Sky News
Gunman kills four in New York
Trump reignites row with Sadiq Khan
Eleven stabbed in US supermarket

Police have urged anyone who was in or near the park that day with smartphone or GoPro footage to come forward.

The park has been closed until further notice.

Continue Reading

US

Has Trump broken from Netanyahu over Gaza?

Published

on

By

Has Trump broken from Netanyahu over Gaza?

Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Scotland for talks with Donald Trump, with the US president publicly distancing himself from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said there is no starvation in Gaza. How significant is this moment, as renewed UK-US aid efforts to the Strip are announced?

Plus, Trump cuts down Putin’s deadline to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine. And Martha speaks to one of the 252 Venezuelans deported by Trump to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. He describes brutal torture and dehumanisation – this despite not ever having committed a crime.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Continue Reading

US

US and EU agree trade deal – with bloc facing 15% tariffs on goods into America

Published

on

By

US and EU agree trade deal - with bloc facing 15% tariffs on goods into America

A number of European leaders have hit out at the terms of the United States and European Union trade deal.

Speaking after talks in Turnberry, Mr Trump told reporters it was the “biggest deal ever made” and will be “great for cars” as well as having a “big impact” on agriculture.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the “big deal” would help bring “stability” to trade after months of turmoil over the threat of a trade war.

The US will impose 15% tariffs on most EU goods entering America, after Mr Trump had threatened a 30% levy.

But French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said of the terms: “It is a sombre day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission.”

Long-time EU critic, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, responded: “This is not an agreement … Donald Trump ate von der Leyen for breakfast, this is what happened and we suspected this would happen as the U.S. president is a heavyweight when it comes to negotiations while Madame President is featherweight.”

President Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry. Pic: Reuters
Image:
President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry. Pic: Reuters

Others welcomed news of an agreement but seemed resigned to the terms.

More on Donald Trump

The deal includes $600bn (£446bn) of EU investments in the US, and the bloc will buy $750bn (£558bn) of US energy and also purchase American military equipment.

Mr Trump said: “I think it’s great that we made a deal today instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all.”

He said: “We are agreeing that the tariff… for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%.” However, the 15% baseline rate would not apply to steel and aluminium, for which a 50% tariff would stay in place.

Ms Von der Leyen said: “We have a trade deal between the two largest economies in the world and it’s a big deal, it’s a huge deal. It will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

She said the agreement would include 15% tariffs “across the board”, and it would help rebalance trade between the two large trading partners.

She said the levy rate was the “best we could get” regarding the car sector.

But she added that there was “no decision” on the spirits sector, which was one of those areas where the details in the framework trade deal would have to be examined in the coming weeks.

Read more from Sky News:
Wildfires break out in Greece, Turkey and Albania
Conservatives vow to ban doctor strikes

Follow the World
Follow the World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Mr Trump had earlier said the main sticking point was “fairness”, citing barriers to US exports of cars and agriculture.

He went into the talks demanding fairer trade with the 27-member bloc and threatening steep tariffs to achieve that, while insisting the US will not go below 15% import taxes.

For months, Mr Trump has threatened most of the world with large tariffs in the hope of shrinking major US trade deficits with many key trading partners, including the EU.

In case there was no deal and the US had imposed 30% tariffs from 1 August, the EU has prepared counter-tariffs on €93bn (£81bn) of US goods.

Ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Ms Von der Leyen described Mr Trump as a “tough negotiator and dealmaker”.

The deal mirrors parts of the framework agreement the US clinched with Japan last week.

Continue Reading

Trending