The horrifying cause of death of Emile Soleil has been revealed over two years after his disappearance from the French village of Haut-Vernet.

The latest expert report also revealed disturbing details about how the toddler’s body may have been stored by the killer.

Two-year-old Emile vanished from his grandparents’ home on July 8, 2023, and despite days of searching, the child was not found. 

His remains were then discovered nearly a year later by a hiker in March 2024, only 1.7 km from the village.

According to Le Parisien, analysis of the bones has now revealed an injury on the cheekbone area, next to the right zygomatic bone. 

The new report’s leading hypothesis is that the lesion occurred from a deliberate blow causing ‘violent facial trauma,’ potentially inflicted using an object.

In addition, pollen and insect examinations revealed that the child’s body had been kept ‘for many months in an enclosed space, sheltered from the elements, but not very airtight.’

Places fitting this description could include a barn, stable or a similar agricultural setting. 

Two-year-old Emile vanished from his grandparent’s home on July 8, 2023

His remains were discovered nearly a year later by a hiker in March 2024, only 1.7 km from the village

The yellow t-shirt Emile had been wearing when he disappeared showed no signs of organic decomposition, and only pollen found in the Haut-Vernon area was detected.

This may suggest that the toddler’s body was undressed very soon after his death.

Detectives had previously said they believed the remains of Emile were likely preserved in a protected, almost sterile environment like a freezer before being moved and found.

The new report comes as Emile’s grandparents, aunt and uncle have been questioned for the first time since he vanished.

His grandparents, Philippe and Anne Vedovini, and two of their children, Maximin and Marthe Vedovini spoke to the investigating judges of the criminal division of Aix-en-Provence on December 9.

According to local reports, each family member was heard for an hour as civil parties by the two magistrates in charge of the case.

On March 25, 2024, the group of four were taken into custody for ‘voluntary homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, before being released 48 hours later without charge.

But the public prosecutor of Aix-en-Provence, Jean-Luc Blachon said the possibility of a family connection has not been ruled out. Since then the family members have filed civil suits in the case.

The new report comes as Emile’s grandparents, aunt and uncle have been questioned for the first time since he vanished.

The group of four were taken into custody for ‘voluntary homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, before being released

The Vedovini family reportedly fell out with Father Gilliot after he shared a photo of Emile with the media

‘This is obviously a very important step for my client, given that her last hearings were conducted while she was in police custody.This time, she was being heard as a civil party,’ Anne Vedovini’s lawyer, Julien Pinelli, told Le Parisien.

The mystery surrounding Emile’s disappearance and death deepened as it emerged in March this year that the family’s Roman Catholic priest who baptised Emile before he went missing had ‘taken his own life’, according to reports.

Father Claude Gilliot, 85, is said to have died from a ‘massive overdose’ at his home in Aix-en-Provence, French media reported.

Claims have been made that he fell out with the Vedovini family before his death after providing a photo of the little boy to the media. 

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Russell Brand launched a verbal attack on former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who’s been pop star Katy Perry since the summer

Russell Brand used a US political rally to take a swipe at his ex-wife Katy Perry and her new relationship with Justin Trudeau(Image: Getty Images)

Russell Brand took aim at his ex-wife Katy Perry’s new romance with Justin Trudeau during a US political event.

Brand launched a verbal attack on the former Canadian Prime Minister, who’s been with the pop star since the summer, over his policies. He also detailed his hatred of authority raged against the current Labour government. The former stand-up comic also praised Donald Trump’s actions and ‘performed near miracles” in The White House in 2025. He took swipes at Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and made a joke about his son Hunter’s drug addictions.

The Brit added that he is ‘done with Hollywood”, but didn’t discuss being charged in the UK over a series of alleged sexual assaults. However, he declared that he will never “trust human authority.” The 50-year-old was given a mixed reception as he spoke onstage at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest event in Phoenix, run by the wife of assassinated activist Charlie Kirk.

Brand did not hide his disdain for Trudeau while appearing on stage in America(Image: Getty Images)

Out of nowhere during his speech about politics and his faith, Brand started discussing Perry, 41, dating the politician. In the audience was his former mother-in-law, Mary Hudson.

After first reflecting on his love for his current wife, he then turned to his ex, saying: “I love my wife. Oh man, my ex-wife’s parents are here. They’re Christians, and I love them. I love Mary Perry. God bless you. Thank you for bringing the message to me.

‘I’ve got to say, though, look, Katie Perry, I was married to her. I love her still. And I’m glad that her mom’s in the room to see me say this. But look, I was okay with Orlando Bloom, but Justin Trudeau?

“Come on man. Don’t put me in a category with that guy. That globalist stooge.” He then changed the subject: “Alright, praise Jesus. Come on kids. God’s real,” But later he circled back to attack Trudeau. “I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Katy Perry or indeed anybody. Justin Trudeau on the other end. Oh man.

“Look, the biggest threat to our society is political leaders that have no authentic power, that seem to be operating on behalf of global bureaucracies that seem to get kind of auditioned into political power. We have it in my country, in France, we have it everywhere. We know these are not real political leaders or real political figures. You can see it by looking at them. They are the operatives of deeper interest, shall we say. Whether that’s the when or the who or something more occult that I don’t understand.

He went on: “I’d like to be positive and forgiving and loving is a message of forgiveness and loving that I need to share.” He then poked fun at Trudeau for being caught in a black face scandal: “And I will say he’s got a nice haircut, so black up less – hairdressers more.”

At the end of his speech, he raised the Canadian again: “I’ve been glib and flippant about Justin Trudeau; he’s a child of God. He deserves love, and he deserves respect, and he deserves happiness. And I pray for that for him. I pray for it for all of you. As long as we are picking favourites, we are not acting like our Lord, for he has no favourites.”

Earlier this year, Brand was charged with five counts of assault and rape stemming from allegations from four women.

He has denied the accusations, saying he “absolutely refutes” the claims. Brand never addressed his court cases, but expressed his loathing of authority.

Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry have been dating since the Summer

He stated: “I don’t like the idea that we are meant to submit to human authority unless it’s backed by the Lord because I don’t trust human authority and I’ll never trust them.” He later yelled: “Yield to no human power. Don’t trust them.

“Get used to disobeying authority, man….I never like being told what to do. I’ve never trusted authority. It makes me a bad driver. I’ll tell you that because I think, alright, for example, stop signs or traffic lights, these are perfectly reasonable systems in the event of an evident contraflow of traffic.

“If there’s a red traffic light and there’s a car coming, he wins. I get the game, I get red.

“The colour of blood, the colour of fire, I get it. But in the event that it’s the middle of the night and there’s a red traffic light, I’m taking my freedom as an American because the world has been captured by evil and they’re training you to be obedient….break rules every day just to remind yourself, you can bow down to the only true authority, not a made up phony authorities (who) turn up here telling us what to do.”

Ends

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United States President Donald Trump has often said that since he took office in January, the US has received trillions of dollars in promises of investments, and the dollar amount he cites changes.

On his second day in office, January 21, Trump said the US had “already secured nearly $3 trillion of new investments”.

By May 8, that figure had risen to “close to $10 trillion“. It eventually peaked on October 29 during a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok: “I think by the end of my first term, we should have $21 or $22 trillion dollars invested in the United States from other people and countries,” Trump said.

Since then, Trump has reported varied investment figures:

• On November 27 and December 2, he said they were worth nearly $20 trillion.
• On December 2, December 3, December 4 and December 9, he said about $18 trillion, a figure he had first cited on October 10.

Sometimes Trump has phrased the commitments as approaching a dollar figure; other times, he’s said they’ve already hit that number.

In May, when Trump said, “We have now close to $10 trillion” in investments, we rated that False. The White House had documented at least $4.9 trillion less than what Trump claimed.

That $10 trillion number has about doubled in the seven months since, according to Trump, but it’s unsubstantiated. On the higher end, $22 trillion would be equal to about three-quarters of the United States’ entire 2024 annual gross domestic product (GDP), an extraordinary total for the richest country in the history of the world.

The White House website documents $9.6 trillion, and not everything cited on the website was newly pledged during Trump’s second term. Experts say there’s no guarantee the full amounts promised will come to fruition, and some of this investment would have occurred regardless of who was president.

The White House did not respond to PolitiFact’s questions about Trump’s statements.

One way to benchmark Trump’s investment figure is to look at what the White House officially documented.

The White House launched a webpage in April that includes a list of countries and companies it said have announced investments during Trump’s second term.

Using the internet archive Wayback Machine, we tracked the amount of investment the White House website cited over time. The figures Trump has used were usually at least double the amount listed on the website.

In recent weeks, as Trump cited figures from $18 trillion to $22 trillion, the White House website reported $9.6 trillion.

Is Trump accurately framing the foreign and corporate investments?

The White House website’s figure includes aspirational goals over multiple years and counts future purchases of products rather than capital investments. For some of the biggest line items – such as commitments by the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – the pledges are multiple times those countries’ annual gross domestic product, which calls their feasibility into question.

A Bloomberg Economics’ analysis found that of the $9.6 trillion the White House listed on its website in late November, $7 trillion could be considered “real investment pledges”. The remaining $2.6 trillion included countries’ agreements to purchase items such as natural gas or to expand future trade. The analysis characterised some of the investment pledges by other countries as “amorphous”.

More than 80 percent of the investments from private companies stemmed from artificial intelligence-related spending.

“Many of the pledges cited by the White House are part of overlapping multi-company projects, making it difficult to determine how much may be counted more than once,” Bloomberg said.

Ten items on the White House’s website accounted for the vast majority of the $9.6 trillion the White House detailed. Some of the White House’s documentation includes details such as specific companies getting involved and the types of facilities or infrastructure envisioned; other examples are more vague. Some involve conventional investments, while others have to do with projected trade increases.

1. United Arab Emirates: $1.4 trillion. The White House says this investment focuses on AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, quantum computing, biotechnology and manufacturing. Companies cited in a White House news release include Boeing, GE Aerospace, Emirates Global Aluminum, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Qualcomm and Amazon Web Services. It’s unclear how much of this investment would come from new investments.

The UAE’s 2024 gross domestic product was $537bn, making the pledge equal to three years of the country’s entire economic output.

2. Qatar: $1.2 trillion. The White House press release described this as an “economic exchange”, rather than a one-way investment. It cited the involvement of companies including Boeing, GE Aerospace, Raytheon, General Atomics, ExxonMobil and Chevron Phillips. The announcement described a mixture of trade deals, purchase agreements and investment intentions – items that analysts say often include future-looking efforts rather than capital injections.

In 2024, Qatar’s gross domestic product was $218bn, making this pledge equivalent to nearly six years of the country’s entire economy.

3. Japan: $1 trillion. The White House has said Japan is moving towards $1 trillion, following an initial agreement to invest $550bn in sectors such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, energy, pharmaceuticals, metals and minerals by the end of Trump’s term. Japan also disputes that this will be a one-way flow of cash into the US. Bloomberg News quoted Japanese trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa saying, “It’s not that $550bn in cash will be sent to the US” but rather a combination of investments, loans and loan guarantees provided by financial institutions backed by the Japanese government.

4. Meta: $600bn. The White House and the social media company said $600bn is tied to Meta’s US AI infrastructure and workforce expansion plans through to 2028.

5. Apple: $600bn. Apple’s long history of multi-year domestic investment pledges  means the $600bn figure incorporates prior commitments plus recent accelerations. Apple’s news release described a new $100bn boost to bring its total US commitment to $600bn over several years. The release cites a new American Manufacturing Program, supplier investments and training programmes.

6. Saudi Arabia: $600bn. The administration said $600bn from Saudi Arabia would involve the energy, critical minerals and defence sectors.

The amount cited would be equal to about half of Saudi Arabia’s 2024 gross domestic product.

7. European Union companies: $600bn. The EU said in August that “European companies are expected to invest an additional $600bn across strategic sectors in the United States through 2028.” However, the statement frames this as aspirational, not as a commitment.

8. Stargate: $500bn. This consortium between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle was unveiled during a January 21 White House event. Stargate said $100bn will be invested “immediately” and that the consortium “intends to invest” a total of $500bn over the next four years. OpenAI, among others, published blog posts describing its plans for five new sites that would bring the project to “over $400bn” in near-term investment, positioning it on a path to the $500bn target.

9. NVIDIA: $500bn. The White House said NVIDIA has pledged to build $500bn-worth of AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years. NVIDIA has said it is pursuing “ambitious” manufacturing and server production in the US, but the $500bn figure remains a goal.

10. India: $500bn. What is being called “Mission 500” aims to reach $500bn in annual bilateral trade by 2030. But it is a trade goal, not an investment pledge, and its end date would come after the end of Trump’s term. Further, the framework seems to allow US purchases of Indian goods to count towards the goal, which does not foster US investment and production.

Importantly, experts said, some of these pledges won’t materialise.

“Historically, large-scale investment announcements often overpromise and underdeliver,” Roman V Yampolskiy, an AI specialist at the University of Louisville told PolitiFact in May. “There is a performative element to them, especially in politically charged contexts. They function as political theatre as much as economic commitment.”

Trump isn’t the first to overstate new investments. President Joe Biden said in 2024 that his bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act had attracted $640bn in private investments; economists told PolitiFact that Biden’s numbers were based on what companies had announced, which is not the same as dollars already spent.

Our ruling

Trump says the US has received investment commitments totalling $18 trillion to $22 trillion since he took office in January.

The number Trump cites is about double what the White House’s website lists. And experts say the website’s current figure, $9.6 trillion, should be viewed with caution.

It includes aspirational, multi-year goals that might or might not come to fruition, and some items are future purchases or sales of products, rather than capital investments.

For the two biggest line items – commitments from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – the amounts are multiple times those countries’ annual gross domestic product.

We rate Trump’s statement False.

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Hungary’s Orbán calls EU loan for Ukraine ‘extremely bad decision’ and ‘lost money’

Babiš’s partner in the opt-out three, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, made it clear overnight that he wasn’t a fan of the agreed solution, and didn’t want his country to have anything to do with it.

Leaving the summit, he said “Hungary is totally out of that.”

“I think it’s a bad decision. All the others, except the Czechs and Slovaks, think that it was a good decision. I think it was an extremely bad decision, which brings Europe closer to the war.”

He continued:

“It looks like a loan, but of course, the Ukrainians will never be able to pay it back, so it’s basically lost money, and those who are behind that loan will take the responsibility and the financial consequences of that.

[The] three countries decided not to be part of it, that’s an opt out for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. So we are innocent.”

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Ukraine loan turned out ‘exactly as I promised,’ Czech Republic’s Babiš says

New Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš is also very pleased with the outcome of the summit, particularly with the Ukraine loan, which he says has turned out “exactly as I promised”: politically supported, but not financially guaranteed by the Czech Republic.

The country is one of the three – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – that backed the idea, but refused to provide guarantees.

Here is how it reads in the actual summit document:

“By means of enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) in respect of the instrument based on Article 212 TFEU, any mobilisation of resources of the Union’s budget as a guarantee for this loan will not have an impact on the financial obligations of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.”

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Updated at 09.31 CET

Spain’s Sánchez backs EU decision on loan as right politically, legally and morally

Sam Jones

in Madrid

Speaking to the press early this morning, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez described the EU’s €90bn loan to Ukraine as the right course of action politically, legally and morally.

“As I told President Zelenskyy in a bilateral meeting earlier, the European Union has to support the Ukraine financially, but it has to do so for moral reasons and in the interest of justice – but also because it’s legal,” he said. “This decision is backed by international law.”

ShareJakub Krupa

It’s Jakub Krupa here, picking up the blog to bring you the latest reaction from Europe and Ukraine to the overnight deal in Brussels.

Good morning.

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French president Emmanuel Macron has hailed the deal as a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets “was the most realistic and practical way” to fund Ukraine and its war efforts.

Associated Press reports that the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also hailed the decision.

“The financial package for Ukraine has been finalised,” Merz said in a statement, noting that “Ukraine is granted a zero-interest loan.”

“These funds are sufficient to cover the military and budgetary needs of Ukraine for the two years to come,” Merz added. He said the frozen assets will remain blocked until Russia has paid war reparations to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that would cost over €600bn.

“If Russia does not pay reparations we will — in full accordance with international law — make use of Russian immobilised assets for paying back the loan,” Merz said.

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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán agreed not to block the huge EU-backed loan to Ukraine as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt.

The deal will not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the EU agreement said.

Moscow-friendly Hungary had previously said it would oppose the deal, just as it opposed the use of frozen Russian assets.

Viktor Orbán speaks to media at the end of the European Council summit in Brussels. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty Images

The deal followed hours of discussions among leaders on the technical details of a loan based on frozen Russian assets, which turned out to be too complex or politically demanding to sort out at this stage, diplomats said.

“We have gone from saving Ukraine to saving face, at least that of those who have been pushing for the use of the frozen assets,” one said.

You can read more on the deal as well as other developments in the Ukraine war – including Russian strikes near the Black Sea port of Odesa – in our daily briefing here:

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Updated at 08.22 CET

The EU agreement to provide Kyiv with an €90bn interest-free loan will cover most of Ukraine’s urgent financial needs but be secured against EU borrowing rather than frozen Russian assets.

As Jennifer Rankin reports from Brussels, after the summit talks ended in the early hours of Friday, the European Council president, António Costa, told reporters: “We committed and we delivered.”

He said EU leaders had approved a decision to make the €90bn (£92bn/$105bn) loan to Ukraine for the next two years backed by the EU budget, which Kyiv would repay only once Russia paid reparations.

Costa added: “The union reserves its right to make use of the immobilised assets to repay this loan.”

EU leaders entered the summit on Thursday with many wanting to secure the urgently needed loan against some of Russia’s €210bn frozen assets on the continent. But the plan fell over on the demand of Belgium, which hosts 88% of the Russian funds in the EU, to have unlimited budget guarantees from other member states if Moscow won a successful claim for damages.

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, said the reparations loan was not a good idea and had a lot of loose ends. “And if you start pulling at the loose ends in the strings, the thing collapses.”

You can read the full report here:

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Updated at 08.23 CET

Opening summary

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Ukraine war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is grateful to European Union leaders after they agreed on a plan to provide Ukraine a €90bn ($105bn) loan to cover its looming budget shortfalls.

“This is significant support that truly strengthens our resilience,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X on Friday.

The EU leaders’ agreement came at summit talks in Brussels, but they failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to make up the loan funds.

Zelenskyy said: “It is important that Russian assets remain immobilised and that Ukraine has received a financial security guarantee for the coming years. Thank you for the result and for unity. Together, we are defending the future of our continent.”

The agreement came after EU leaders settled on granting an interest-free loan for the next two years backed by the bloc’s common budget, providing Kyiv a lifeline as Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia’s near-four-year war in Ukraine.

“Today’s decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend itself and to support the Ukrainian people,” said European Council head Antonio Costa, who chaired the summit.

Meanwhile, US and Russian representatives are set to hold fresh talks on Ukraine in Miami at the weekend as Trump urged Kyiv to move “quickly” on reaching a peace deal.

In key developments:

• The leading option at the EU summit had been to tap about €200bn of Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU to generate a loan for Kyiv but that fell through after Belgium – where the bulk of the assets are held – demanded guarantees on sharing liability that proved too much for other countries. Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said as the summit wrapped up that he believed “rationality has prevailed”.

• German chancellor Friedrich Merz had pushed hard for using Russia’s frozen assets but still said the final decision on the EU-backed loan “sends a clear signal” to Vladimir Putin. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine would need to repay the loan only once Moscow paid for the damages it has caused.

Merz and von der Leyen at the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: ANP/Shutterstock

• Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, agreed not to block the loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years as long as his country, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were excluded from the guarantees for the debt. The deal would not affect the financial obligations of those three countries, which did not want to contribute to the financing of Ukraine, a text on the agreement said.

• Zelenskyy had urged EU leaders at the start of the summit to use the frozen Russian assets, saying: “It’s moral, it’s fair, it’s legal.” The EU estimates Ukraine needs an extra €135bn to stay afloat over the next two years.

• In Washington, Donald Trump urged Ukraine to move swiftly on a peace deal ahead of fresh talks expected in Miami this weekend. The US president told reporters in the Oval Office: “Well, they’re getting close to something, but I hope Ukraine moves quickly. I hope Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there. And you know, every time they take too much time, then Russia changes their mind.” Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner plan to meet Russian officials in Florida, a White House official said, after the envoys held talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Berlin last Sunday and Monday.
  With agencies

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Updated at 08.31 CET

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President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed.

The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has paused the visa scheme under Trump’s direction to “ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme”.

US officials said they believe the suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.

The programme makes up to 50,000 visas available each year through a random selection process among entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.

Writing on social media, Noem said Trump had previously “fought to end” the scheme in 2017 after eight people were killed in a truck-ramming attack in New York City.

Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic State supporter who is serving multiple life sentences for the attack, entered the US through the DV1 scheme, according to Noem.

Her comments come just hours after Neves Valente was found dead in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police said video evidence and tips from the public led investigators to a car rental location where they found the suspect’s name and matched him to their person of interest, following a six-day multi-state manhunt.

He was found dead with a satchel and two firearms. Evidence in a car nearby matched to the scene of the shooting at Brown University in Providence, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled at the Ivy League school from the autumn of 2000 to the following spring, and was studying for a PhD in physics.

He had “no current active affiliation” to Brown, she said.

Officials said they believe Neves Valente shot and killed MIT professor Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, on Monday at his home in Brookline, which is about 50 miles (80km) from Providence.

Both men had studied at the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s, police said.

Officials said the cases were linked when the suspect’s vehicle was identified via CCTV footage and a witness at Brown University.

The same car was spotted near the scene of the professor’s shooting, which happened just two days later.

Authorities have not provided any suspected motive for either of the attacks.

Two students were killed and nine others were injured as a gunman burst into Brown University’s engineering building on 13 December and opened fire during final exams.

They have been identified as Ella Cook, 19, a second-year student from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an Uzbek-American who had just started at the university.

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US homeland security chief Kristi Noem said late on Thursday that President Donald Trump ordered her to pause the diversity visa lottery which was used by the suspect at the Brown University shooting.

“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

How is the visa suspension linked to the Brown University shooting?

Noem said the shooting suspect entered the US in 2017 using the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1).

The suspect, a 48-year-old Portuguese man who two decades earlier was a Brown University student, later obtained a green card under the same program.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said.

Last week, two people were killed and nine others were wounded in a mass shooting at Brown University.

Authorities on Thursday found the suspect dead of self-inflicted wounds at a storage facility in the state of New Hampshire and are investigating the case.

Investigators believe the man was also responsible for the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was fatally shot in Boston on Monday, US Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley said.

What is the diversity visa lottery?

• The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes ‍over 50,000 immigrant ​visas available annually, according ⁠to ​the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Eligible applicants must be “from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States,” according to the State Department
• The diversity visa program was created by Congress
• The decision to halt the program is expected to be legally challenged

Edited by: Rana Taha

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Finding comfortable sneakers is hard enough, but if you have wide feet or foot pain, the hunt can feel even more daunting. According to QVC shoppers, though, there’s a pair of Skechers that fit the bill. 

The brand’s Summits Sneakers have built-in arch support and a slip-on design that make them the “most comfortable shoes” shoppers with wide feet have ever owned. Those with plantar fasciitis even say the shoe “eases the pain,” and they’re on sale right now at QVC.

Skechers Slip-In Arch Fit Summits Sneaker

QVC

Unlike traditional sneakers, these Skechers have a slip-in design, so you can slide your foot in while standing without ever touching the shoe. The comfortable heel pillow in the back stops you from slipping out of them when walking. They’re lightweight and flexible with a soft mesh upper that’s PETA-certified vegan and has metallic threads for a bit of sparkle.

The shoes come in medium and wide fits and have bungee laces that stretch to accommodate your foot. The design is sleek and not bulky, making them wearable for everyday errands and workouts, and if they get dirty, you can toss them in the washing machine.

Part of why they’re so versatile is in the multiple comfort-enhancing design elements. They have Skechers’ Arch Fit technology that gives the footbed an orthotic level of support and helps reduce overall stress on the body, assisting in distributing weight for a more comfortable gait. Plus, they’re accepted by the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Shoppers love them, too. Those with wide feet call them their “new everyday go-to.” Plus, those with chronic pain and plantar fasciitis say they can “walk longer” while wearing them and that the arch support helps ease their “back and leg pain.” They’re also versatile, with one customer proclaiming they wear them “year round” and are warm in winter with socks and cool for summer without.

If you’re looking for a new pair of everyday sneakers or want to snag a new pair of walking shoes to help you meet New Year’s fitness goals, these wide-friendly, pain-reducing Skechers are the way to go. 

Keep scrolling for more slip-on sneakers from the brand at QVC.

Skechers Slip-Ins Go Walk Travel Shoes

QVC

Skechers Slip-ins Virtue Vegan Rhinestone Shoes

QVC

Skechers Summits Knit Slip-On Sneaker

QVC

Skechers Slip-Ins Go Walk Flex Mesh Sneakers

QVC

Martha Stewart x Skechers Slip-ins Virtue Rhinestone Shoes

QVC

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The gunman who killed two students at Brown University was found dead in a storage unit as it was revealed his main target was an MIT professor he shot dead in Boston. 

The suspect – 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente – was revealed to be a Portuguese national who studied at the Ivy League school in Rhode Island more than 20 years ago.

After being on the lam for days, his eventual demise stemmed from a Reddit post that flagged his suspicious activity outside the Providence campus. 

‘Tonight our Providence neighbors can breathe a little easier,’ Mayor Brett Smiley said at a news conference Thursday night. 

Neves Valente had attended Brown to pursue a masters of science in physics from 2000 to 2001, before he took a leave of absence and ultimately withdrew.

It remains unclear why Neves Valente opened fire at the Rhode Island school, killing Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, of Virginia, and 19-year-old Ella Cook, of Alabama.

But University President Christina Paxson said it was likely he took classes inside that building when he attended the school. 

The development about the shooter’s fixation on MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro raised new questions about his motive for the slaying and the timeline of the shootings.

On December 13, Neves Valente opened fire during a study session at the Ivy League’s School of Engineering Barus and Holley Building.

Two days later, he fatally shot Loureiro inside his Boston home. 

Claudio Neves-Valente, 48, who attended Brown University from 2000 to 2001, has been unmasked as the gunman who opened fire at the school on December 13

Armed police officers gathered outside of a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire on Thursday, where a vehicle that was rented to Neves Valente was found abandoned

There was a heavy police presence outside of the storage facility

Authorities revealed that gunman’s original target was Loureiro and the pair had attended the same school in Portugal from 1995 to 2000. 

It was unclear what the shooter’s motive was or what his relationship with Loureiro had been.

The frantic search for the suspect took a dramatic turn on December 16 when Providence police received a tip from an anonymous source referencing a Reddit post.

‘I’m being dead serious. The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving,’ the post read. 

‘It was parked in front of the little shack behind the Rhode Island Historical Society on the Cooke [Street] side.’ 

The suspect was found dead after a six-day manhunt, when authorities located a vehicle he used parked outside of a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.

Officers were then able to secure a search warrant for a unit believed to have been rented by the suspect, and found Neves Valente dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an unoccupied unit.

Neves Valente had two firearms on him at the time of his death, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha revealed. 

‘He was found dead with a satchel, with two firearms and evidence in the car that matches exactly what we see here in Providence,’ Neronha said. 

Authorities had said they had identified the shadowy figure caught on surveillance footage near the scene of Saturday’s shooting, whose face they had been attempting to find with the help of grainy surveillance footage

Authorities had earlier said they had identified the shadowy figure caught on surveillance footage near the scene of Saturday’s shooting, whose face they had been attempting to find with the help of grainy surveillance footage. 

He had also been caught on surveillance footage near the professor’s apartment, and was seen on camera entering the storage center in New Hampshire wearing the same clothes that he was pictured in in Rhode Island, according to Leah Foley, the US attorney in Massachusetts.

Foley said Thursday night that Neves Valente rented a hotel from November 26 through November 30, and then rented a vehicle on December 1 – which had been seen around Brown University through the day of the shooting on December 13. 

Police were ultimately able to track him down after a homeless witness came forward.

An affidavit from Rhode Island detailed how a custodian at the school noticed a suspicious person wearing a surgical mask who walked with a limp and stopped in the bathroom of the Barus and Holley Building on December 13. 

After authorities discovered the mysterious Reddit post, a man identified as ‘John’ told police he first encountered the suspect inside the Barus Holley bathroom at around 1.45pm to 2pm.

John described the suspect’s clothing as ‘inappropriate and inadequate for the weather,’ wearing a baggy jacket with at least two undergarment shirt layers.

Authorities identified the suspected Brown gunman as Claudio Neves-Valente, 48, at a news conference on Thursday

The witness also ‘described the pants and shoes as kitchen/restaurant worker style, of poor quality or would be associated with Walmart (John cast no judgment as to the quality),’ the affidavit said. 

The suspect then kept switching directions every time he saw John, the witness, who described the pattern as a ‘game of cat and mouse’.

After exiting the bathroom, John said he watched the suspect unlock a gray or silver Nissan sedan, before he walked away from the vehicle.

But eventually, John said, he was able to catch up to the suspect, asking him: ‘Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?’

The suspect then reportedly responded, ‘I don’t know you from nobody’ and repeatedly asked John, ‘Why are you harassing me?’  

When detectives then showed John two images they obtained of the suspect’s vehicle, he replied: ‘Holy s**t, that might be it!’

Then, when he was presented with a still of video surveillance footage renting the suspect vehicle, John said ‘the stomach makes [him] think that it’s [him],’ the affidavit says. 

Authorities on Thursday said John’s testimony was critical to finding Neves Valente. 

‘That person led us to the car, which led us to the name, which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence that matched the satchel that we see here in Providence,’ Neronha said.

The Brown University shooting which killed two students and the assassination of an MIT professor two days later may be connected, police have said. (Pictured: Victim Ella Cook)

Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, the second Brown University victim killed on Saturday, has been remembered by his roommate as an aspiring neurosurgeon and ‘ball of joy’

Married father-of-three Nuno FG Loureiro (pictured), 47, was gunned down at his home in a leafy Boston suburb at 8.30pm on December 15

The big break in the case then came when authorities investigating the Brown shooting saw a call-out from Massachusetts police probing Loureiro’s murder – and realized a vehicle of interest in that case was just like the one they were looking for.

It was the same make and model, but the license plates were different, law enforcement officials told CNN.

A witness then provided a license plate to authorities probing the Brown shooting, who then investigated the vehicle and its past drivers – which police say ultimately led them to confirm the two vehicles were the same.

Police now say the unidentified suspect employed a series of countermeasures to avoid being tracked beyond swapping the license plates, as he apparently planned to avoid surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology by making himself unidentifiable.

He even used a cellphone that obfuscated his location and credit cards that were not in his name, Foley said. 

But officers in Massachusetts were able to determine that the Google email he had used to check into a hotel in Boston logged in from an IP address half a mile away from Loureiro’s home on December 14.

The following night, a surveillance camera also captured a blue or gray Nissan Sentra about a mile from the physics professor’s home and footage showed him entering a nearby apartment building.

About an hour later, Neves Valente was seen entering the storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, dressed in the same clothes that he was seen wearing right after Loureiro’s murder, Foley said.

Loureiro’s neighbors remembered him as a kind-hearted, ‘wonderful man’, while students flocked to the candle-lit vigil in his memory, as shown in the photograph above 

He would later be found dead inside the storage facility. 

The shooting on Saturday took the lives of Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, of Virginia, and Ella Cook, of Alabama, 19, who were in a study session at the Ivy League’s School of Engineering Barus and Holley Building when the gunman burst in shortly after 4pm and opened fire. 

He then fired 40 rounds, killing the two students and wounding 12 more. 

The building had been unlocked for exams, Paxson admitted, though she denied that a lack of cameras hindered the investigation.

Two days later at around 8.30pm on Monday, Neves Valente also fatally shot married father-of-three Loureiro inside his Boston home, nearly 50 miles away. 

Loureiro’s neighbor and friend, Louise Cohen, said she discovered his body after hearing shots disturb the peace of their beautiful area on Gibbs Street. 

Cohen said she was lighting a menorah candle when she heard gunshots fired. She rushed to the hallway of their building and found Loureiro lying on his back. 

The professor’s heartbroken wife was also in the entry along with another neighbor, and they scrambled to dial 911. Loureiro was taken to hospital but died the next day.

Loureiro’s neighbors remembered him as a kind-hearted, ‘wonderful man’, while students flocked to the candle-lit vigil in his memory.

MIT paid tribute to him as, ‘a lauded theoretical physicist and fusion scientist’ who became the director of the college’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024, an institution with more than 250 full-time researchers.

Loureiro specialized in nuclear science, engineering and physics. He leaves behind ‘many devoted students, friends, and colleagues’, according to his MIT obituary. 

His academic career started at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal, where he gained a physics degree. 

Loureiro obtained a doctorate in physics from Imperial College London in 2005, before starting post-doctoral work at Princeton later that year. 

He also worked at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Centre for Fusion Energy between 2007 and 2009.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth acknowledged that the beloved professor died in the wake of the Brown University shooting just two days before.

‘This shocking loss for our community comes in a period of disturbing violence in many other places,’ she said in a statement. 

‘It’s entirely natural to feel the need for comfort and support. 

‘If you or anyone you know would like counsel or just a listening ear, I encourage you to make use of our many campus resources.

‘In time, the many communities Nuno belonged to will create opportunities to mourn his loss and celebrate his life.’

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The Bohai Strait Tunnel in China will feature two parallel tunnels for high-speed trains stretching 76 miles, slashing travel time between Dalian and Yantai by almost 90%

China is planning to build the world’s longest underwater tunnel (AI image)(Image: AI)

The world’s longest tunnel, set to cut a six-hour journey down to a mere 40 minutes and costing over £20billion, has been given the go-ahead. The Bohai Strait Tunnel in China will consist of two parallel tunnels for high-speed trains spanning an impressive 76 miles.

These trains, clocking speeds of over 150mph, will slash the travel time between the cities of Dalian and Yantai by nearly 90%. They’ll outpace Eurostar trains, which only hit 100mph when using the Channel Tunnel.

Depending on the exact route selected by the planners, the Bohai Strait Tunnel could stretch over 75 miles, with approximately 56 miles burrowing beneath the sea bed.

A whopping 56 miles of the tunnel would be submerged, surpassing the combined lengths of the 24-mile Channel Tunnel and Japan’s 14.5-mile underwater section of the Seikan Tunnel.

This incredibly ambitious project, carrying an estimated price tag of 220 billion Yuan (just over £23,300,000,000), is predicted to take between 10 and 15 years to finish. For comparison, it took roughly six years to construct the significantly shorter Channel Tunnel.

The planned route will slash journey times(Image: wikipedia)

Planners assure that the tunnel will boast cutting-edge safety technology, including advanced ventilation systems, waterproofing, structural sensors, and emergency exits, all designed to safeguard passengers as they traverse the earthquake-prone zone between the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas.

Both cities are crucial industrial powerhouses. Dalian has grown from a significant port into a leading financial, shipping and logistics hub for East Asia.

Meanwhile, Yantai, traditionally celebrated for its fruit cultivation, has recently witnessed substantial growth in petrochemicals, automotive manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceuticals and cutting-edge tech sectors.

At present, the quickest link between the two cities is the Bohai Train Ferry, which requires roughly eight hours to traverse the strait.

The trains will reach speeds of around 150mph (AI image)(Image: AI)

By dramatically reducing the journey time between the cities, Chinese officials aim to boost their expanding economic output. A government representative stated in 2018 that authorities were eager to launch the project “as soon as possible.”

Lu Dadao, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, informed journalists that a tunnel beneath the Bohai would revolutionise transport networks across China. They said: “By avoiding the hubs in Beijing and Tianjin it would relieve pressure on railways between Beijing and Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai, and even Beijing and Guangzhou.”

Du Yanliang, from the Chinese Academy of Engineering Sciences, explained to ThePaper that the tunnel would also forge stronger links between the north-east’s traditional industrial heartlands, the Bohai economic zone and the Yangtze delta region. The scheme hasn’t been without its critics, though, with green campaigners highlighting that the region teems with wildlife, particularly serving as a crucial habitat and breeding ground for the spotted seal, a Class 2 protected species.

Multiple zones within the planned construction area have been identified as possible locations for nature reserves.

Sun Fenghua from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has emphasised the importance of “serious research into all issues associated with construction of the tunnel… We must not proceed until these questions are fully understood.”

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Violent protests have erupted in Bangladesh, after the killing of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Protesters burnt down buildings and vandalised offices, including the HQ of the largest daily newspaper. Hadi was standing as a candidate in elections scheduled for early next year.

Published On 19 Dec 202519 Dec 2025

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