On first glance, it looks like just another small lake in Canada, one of thousands across the vast country. But the view under the surface of Crawford Lake outside...

Eras tour, which began in March, will see Taylor Swift performing 44 songs on her setlist spanning her career

A federal court jury in Oxford, Mississippi, has ruled against a civil lawsuit filed by the widow of a man who was shot dead in 2017 by two police officers, while serving a warrant at the wrong address. Claudia Linares was seeking $20m in compensation for the death of her husband Ismael Lopez, 41. During the four-day trial that concluded on Thursday 15 September, the jury ruled that Southaven officers, Zachary Durden and Samuel Maze, did not violate Lopez’s civil rights. “The verdict was that the jurors did not believe that the use of force used by Officers Durden and Maze was excessive in light of all the facts that they considered,” Murray Wells, the attorney for Lopez’s family, said in a statement to WREG-TV. The case had previously attracted attention because the city tried to argue that Lopez did not have any civil rights as he was living illegally in the US and was facing deportation and criminal charges for the illegal possession of firearms. However, in 2020, a judge rejected the city’s claim, and ruled that constitutional rights apply to “all persons.” The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation reported that on 14 July 2017, Lopez and his wife were in bed when officers knocked on their door with the intention of serving a domestic violence warrant to a person who actually lived across the street. According to Mr Durden and Mr Maze, the pair did not identify themselves, and when the door opened, Lopez’s dog ran out and he pointed a rifle through the door. Officer Maze then shot the dog and Mr Durden fired multiple bullets at Lopez. He died after a bullet hit the back of his skull when he was six feet from his front door. Police have claimed he was running away from law enforcement, and a third office later told investigators that Mr Durden had ordered Lopez to drop his rifle several times before shooting him. Lopez’s lawyers stated in their argument that his fingerprints and DNA were not found on the rifle supposedly used to fire at Mr Durden, but believe the officer shot him in reaction to his colleague shooting the dog. They also called upon evidence that state investigators found his body lying in a prone position with his hands cuffed behind his back. There is no video footage to corroborate either claim. “Those officers used tactical maneuvers to hide themselves as police officers,” Mr Wells told WREG. “There are a couple of huge factors at play. One was this unbelievable mistake of going to the wrong address and we felt it was just incompetent because they didn’t even take the time to look at the boxes. They went to the wrong side of the road, so that started this. They never announced that they were police and at the end of the day Ismael Lopez was shot through a door, in the back of the head,” he said. Darren Musselwhite, mayor of Southhaven, praised the jury’s decision: “This verdict proves what we’ve believed to be correct since day one as our officers responded appropriately considering the circumstance of being threatened with deadly force,” he said. “We’ve stood behind them during the last six years for this very reason and, for their sake, are glad this trial is over.” Read More Police officer who fatally shot motorist charged with murder Philadelphia officer to be fired over shooting death of Black man as new video contradicts police account A Utah man was killed during a police traffic stop. His family say they’ve been ‘stonewalled’ by authorities

By Riham Alkousaa BERLIN United Nations climate talks in Germany kicked off on Monday without an agreed final

Julius Malema divides opinion like few other politicians but he is celebrating his party's 10th anniversary.

The group was returning home after meeting the First Lady in Nairobi when they were swept away.

Provides an overview of the Maldives, including key facts about this Indian Ocean country.

The collapse of Afghanistan’s government at the hands of the Taliban forced thousands of the nation’s people to flee their homeland, including many of those who served as translators and other aides to US military forces. But in the more than a year and a half since, the United States has failed to offer immigration assistance to most Afghans who helped American forces, which would allow them to stay in the country on a more permanent basis. According to International Rescue Committee, the US admitted 76,000 Afghans as part of Operation Allies Welcome. And as the global war on terror has stretched on for more than two decades, Afghans have aided service members on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean – including the United States’ closest ally. In the United Kingdom, the government pledged to allow Afghans who assisted British forces to build a life in safety and security. Instead, many who have made the dangerous trip from Afghanistan to Britain have been told they face deportation. One pilot who served with distinction fled Afghanistan even as his wife and young family stayed behind, arriving in Britain in a small boat because there was no safe and legal route to escape the Taliban, since British and Nato forces left him and his squadron behind. Now he has been told by UK authorities that he faces being sent to Rwanda under a controversial immigration policy. “Everyone knew that one day the American and British armies would leave as they had supported us for a long time. But when the withdrawal came, our territorial leaders failed us,” the pilot, who is not named in order to protect his family, told The Independent earlier this year. The Independent is campaigning for the British government to give a home to those who fought with the UK against the Taliban. It has been backed by politicians of all parties, as well as religious leaders, senior military figures and celebrities including Sting and director Guy Ritchie. But the United Kingdom is not alone in its failure to fulfill the pledges made to those who assisted the war efforts. Despite broad bipartisan support in both houses of US Congress and from President Joe Biden, Congress has failed to live up to its commitments to Afghans despite supportive rhetoric. Most Afghans who came to the United States after the withdrawal of US military forces from the country, arrived on what is called humanitarian parole, wherein people who may be otherwise ineligible for admission into the United States are allowed to enter for humanitarian reasons. “And those folks have two years of parole, which is about to run out,” Shaun VanDiver, the founder of #AfghanEvac and a US Navy veteran, told The Independent. “The issue with the parolees is that for every other population, where there's been a big influx like this, Congress has passed Adjustment of Status.” Adjustment of Status would allow people who were given humanitarian parole to adjust their status to that of a permanent resident. In the months following the collapse of the Afghan government and more Afghans entering the United States, a bipartisan group led by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sponsored the Afghan Adjustment Act. “It's strongly supported by veterans it should be must pass,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, told The Independent. “But there are all kinds of time pressures, a lot of competing issues.” Those competing interests meant the bill was not included in must-pass legislation like last year’s omnibus spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, and an aid package to Ukraine, which means that many of the people given humanitarian parole risk losing their status by August, which marks two years since the Taliban took control in Afghanistan. Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told The Independent that the United States has had a double standard when it comes to Afghanistan and other nations enduring conflict. “I feel like we saw even in the outbreak of Ukraine, the difference between how things were expedited depending on country of origin,” she said. “And I believe that translators and many folks ... we should be really filling up the visa allotments that we have, and we have not yet.” Mr VanDiver explained that the Trump administration weakened parts of the immigration system like Special Immigrant Visas and created massive backlogs by weakening the resettlement programmes. “The impact that Afghans are feeling right now can be attributed to Stephen Miller and Donald Trump, the way that they purposely deconstructed the system for welcoming vulnerable people into our country and cares for their inaction,” he said. The legislation would need to pass through the judiciary committees in the US House and Senate. Senator Chuck Grassley, who last year served as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, opposed the legislation. Mr Grassley told The Independent that at the time he led the GOP on the committee, he was speaking for the concerns of other Republican senators. “I think it would be based on this issue of vetting,” he said. “I think that's very important. You know, when we have 98 people across the border that haven't been vetted and they're on the terrorist watch list, I think we have to be very careful.” Since then, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the co-sponsors of the Afghan Adjustment Act, has stepped up to ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said lawmakers may act on the Afghan Adjustment Act towards the end of the year when Congress must fund the government. “I think it’s important we keep our commitment to those who helped us in Afghanistan,” Mr Graham told The Independent, adding that he is not concerned about missing the August deadline. “I just want to try to rally the House and Senate around the concept that we need to do better, and that's very important,” he said. Since 2022, Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives, making it much harder to pass the legislation in the era of hyper-polarised government. While Mr Graham is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Representative Jim Jordan, a hardliner on immigration, now leads the House Judiciary Committee, making it even tougher for the bill to pass. “But that's okay,” Mr VanDiver said. “So long as we could get (House Majority Leader Steve) Scalise and (House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy to be supportive, then we could do it.” Until then, Mr VanDiver has helped launch an Afghanistan Community Ambassadors Program so any Afghan in the United States can sign up and get direct information about immigration. “It's meant to ensure that every Afghan here has access to the same information,” he said. “So it's not like you have to know somebody.” Read More Britain’s faith leaders condemn ‘heartless’ threat to send Afghan war hero to Rwanda Our government is blinded by an obsession that is morally repugnant Minister roasted over claim ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Afghans want asylum in UK Minister roasted over claim ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Afghans want asylum in UK Rail strikes could see injured veterans miss ‘vital’ reunion G7 urges China to press Russia to end war in Ukraine, respect Taiwan's status, fair trade rules

Ellie Goulding was spotted without her wedding ring at the Serpentine Summer Party on 27 June with husband Caspar Joplin

Kyle Richards is rumored to have ended her 27-year-old marriage to her husband Mauricio Umansky

Climbers scaled a tower in Barcelona on Tuesday morning (17 October), dramatic footage shows. Footage showed two men, one dressed in dark clothing and another in a white top, climbing up the 38-storey Torre Glories, formerly known as the Torre Agbar, near Placa de les Glories Catalanes. According to local reports, neither of the climbers were wearing protection and did not use climbing equipment. Catalan television channel Beteve reported that the climbers were arrested by officers from Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonian police).

The European Union proposes to make labor migration easier for specific jobs where the 27 nations can no longer find a local talent pool