WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. president Barack Obama touted Democratic candidates for governor in two states at campaign rallies on Saturday, urging voters in next week’s election to reject what he called the “lawlessness and recklessness” of President Donald Trump’s administration. Obama, laid out a biting indictment of the Trump administration at rallies for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey candidate Mikie Sherrill. “Let’s face it, our country and our policy are in a pretty dark place right now,” Obama told a roaring crowd of Spanberger supporters at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.”It’s hard to know where to start.” he said, “because every day this White House offers people a fresh batch of lawlessness and recklessness and mean-spiritedness and just plain craziness.”Obama blasted what he called Trump’s “shambolic” tariff policy and deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities. He criticized Republicans in Congress for failing to check Trump “even when they know he’s out of line.”

 

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HUNTINGDON (Reuters) - British police said on Sunday that a knife attack on a train was not being treated as a terrorist incident and two British men had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Officer John Loveless said of the nine people who were treated for life-threatening injuries on Saturday, four had been released from hospital and two remained with life-threatening injuries. “Counter-terrorism policing were initially supporting our investigation. However, at this stage, there is nothing to suggest that this is a terrorist incident,” Loveless told a news conference. He said the men arrested were a 32 year-old Black British national and a 35 year-old British national of Caribbean descent. 

 

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MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines and Canada signed a pact on Sunday for their armed forces to train on each other’s soil, boosting defense cooperation to tackle common security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region. Canada’s first such deal in the region, the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) takes to five the number of accords on troops Manila has concluded with allies. The deal broadens the Philippines’ network of security ties while complementing a long-standing alliance with its treaty partner, the United States. The pact sets up a framework for expanded military and defense cooperation, to improve coordination of operations by both armed forces. 

 

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A festive holiday weekend turned tragic for families in northwestern Mexico on Saturday when a deadly blaze engulfed a discount store in the city center of Hermosillo, killing at least 23 people and injuring a dozen. Mexico is celebrating the Day of the Dead this weekend with colorful festivities in which families honor and remember deceased loved ones. “I have ordered a thorough and transparent investigation to clarify the causes of the accident,” Alfonso Durazo, governor of the state of Sonora home to the city, said in a video on social media, adding that children were among the victims. Most of the deaths appeared to have been from inhalation of toxic gases, said Gustavo Salas, the state’s attorney general, citing its forensic medical service.

 

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PARIS (AFP) - Nearly 20,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2025, a record high for the first six months of the year, adding pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the government works to reduce the numbers. Data from Britain’s interior ministry showed that 879 migrants arrived on Monday, taking the total for the first half of 2025 to 19,982, a 50% jump from a year earlier. Starmer is under pressure to deal with the thousands of people who cross the Channel each year on dangerous, inflatable dinghies, a key issue for voters as he pledges to “smash the gangs” behind the people smuggling trade. The government says more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK had been returned since it took office last July, and that good weather and new techniques to pack more people into boats were helping more migrants make the crossing. In 2024, 73 people died trying to cross the Channel in small boats.