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EU Offers UK Sweetener Before Brexit Summit

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The European Union (EU) is ready to extend the post-divorce transition period with Britain, diplomats said, amid efforts to revive chances to strike a Brexit deal at a key summit on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is due in Brussels later in the day to speak to the other 27 EU leaders on the stalled negotiations for Britain’s scheduled exit from the union on March 29.

Talks are at an impasse over the issue of a legal backstop to keep the border between British Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic open after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc.

But EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, has an idea to help break the logjam, two EU diplomats told AFP and Ireland’s top diplomat told the BBC.

Barnier is willing to add a year to the 21-month post Brexit transition period — taking it to the end of 2021, the two diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

“The aim is to gain more time to negotiate the agreement on the future (trade) relationship and thus further reduce the probability of having to resort to the backstop,” one of the diplomats said.

Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, said Barnier proposed an extension, but did not say for how long.

“What Michel Barnier has indicated very clearly is that the EU side is, certainly, willing to allow more time in the transition period to agree an alternative solution to a backstop,” Coveney told the BBC.

This offer would not in itself resolve the backstop issue which must be included in the withdrawal treaty and ratified before the end of March to avoid a damaging “no deal” scenario.

But it would avoid the need for separate plans for British-ruled Northern Ireland, which London staunchly opposes on grounds of sovereignty.

The diplomats said Barnier had revealed his offer to EU ministers at a meeting this week in Luxembourg.

It comes as European Council President, Donald Tusk, the summit host, said he would ask May to offer new “concrete ideas on how to break the impasse” when she arrives in Brussels

But Tusk said he had “no grounds for optimism” based on a report Tuesday from Barnier and May’s appearance in parliament on Monday where she stood her ground.

The choreography of Wednesday’s summit opening highlights British isolation.

May will meet one-on-one with Tusk at 5:45 pm (1545 GMT) before briefing her 27 European colleagues, but then the rest of the EU leaders will leave to discuss Brexit over dinner without her.

Tusk has made it clear that if May and Barnier do not signal concrete progress towards a draft deal he will not call a November summit to sign it.

Instead, the matter could either be pushed back to December or — more dramatically — the EU could use the November weekend to meet on preparations for a “no-deal” Brexit.

Previously, both sides had agreed that Britain crashing out of the Union on March 29 next year with neither a divorce agreement nor a road-map to future ties would be an economic and diplomatic disaster.

“There are still several weeks of space left, according to what the British are telling us, and they are the ones with calendar problems,” said a senior EU diplomat.

But with the row over the Irish border, fears of a debacle are mounting.

At a three-hour British cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, which included ministers with reservations about her strategy, May said a deal was possible if they all stood together.

Credit: AFP

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Five Dead, Five Injured As Amazon Cargo Plane Crashes Into Vehicle In Miami

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At least five people were killed when an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway after it landed Sunday at Miami International Airport, crashed into vehicles and caught fire, officials said.

Miami-Dade County fire chief Ray Jadallah told reporters that in addition to five fatalities, three people were transported to trauma centers “in critical condition” and two more were treated at a local hospital.

“The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles,” which left “a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles,” Jadallah said.

“A complex extrication with our technical rescue team” was needed, “including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft.”

Jadallah did not clarify whether the pilot or co-pilot survived, and officials declined to answer questions after brief statements were made.

Video showed thick smoke billowing from the blue and white Boeing 767 after it arrived at 1:58 pm (1758 GMT) from Puerto Rico, as fire trucks raced to the scene.

Officials investigate the scene where a Prime Air cargo plane overran the runway and crashed into other vehicles at Miami International Airport at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on September 6, 2026.

The plane operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 caught fire as a result of the “crash,” fire officials said.

“A total of 60 fire apparatuses arrived, just short, just shy of 200 men and women from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, to begin the actual search and rescue and firefighting,” Jadallah said.

“The actual cause of the incident will be determined by the FAA and the NTSB,” he added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

In a statement posted to X Sunday evening, fire officials said they used foam to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment.

“One person was trapped under one of the involved vehicles and had to be extricated by specialized technical rescue personnel. Specialized hazardous materials (HazMat) units safely shut down the aircraft’s engine and worked to control a fuel leak,” the statement said.

Investigation Launched
The NTSB said in an X post on Sunday that the B-767-300 cargo airplane was flying into Miami from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and they have “launched a go team to investigate Sunday’s runway excursion accident.”

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement the tech giant will cooperate with any investigation into the incident.

“We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss,” Nantel said.

Miami Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told reporters Sunday that her officers encountered a “really tragic scene,” but there was “no apparent threat to public safety.”

The airport closed all runways and taxiways because of the incident and posted an update to its website Sunday evening that travelers should check directly with their airline before heading to the airport.

After hours of holding all flights at the international airport Sunday, with numerous delays and canceled flights for commercial airline passengers, the Miami Herald newspaper reported that two of the airport’s four runways had reopened Sunday.

In a statement on X, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava thanked first responders for their speedy response, saying “our fire rescue team was there within seconds of the crash, so we’re deeply grateful.”




AFP

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Trump Suggests Renaming New Mexico State ‘New America’

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US President Donald Trump’s name-changing spree found an unlikely new target on Sunday when he suggested the state of New Mexico could become “New America.”

His proposal, which was immediately dismissed by the state’s governor, comes days after he signed an order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in the middle of a trade war with neighboring Canada.

“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico… to NEW AMERICA,” the Republican president posted on social media. “So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!”

The White House reposted an image showing the Mexico part of the state’s name crossed out and replaced with “America.”

Some US media reports said the idea originated as an internet hoax.

State governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told Fox News that the name “isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”

She said the president wanted to “distract Americans” from issues such as soaring gas prices.

Trump last week suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” as the war with Iran continues — then hours later implied he was not serious about the plan.

He renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in the White House in 2025 in a move rejected by Mexico.

Canada has also rejected the attempt to rename Lake Ontario.




AFP

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Judge Declares Mistrial In Case Of Woman Accused Of Killing Her Three Children

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A judge declared a mistrial on Friday in the high-profile case of an American woman who killed her three children but put his decision on hold to allow the defense to appeal the decision.

Judge William Sullivan said he was freezing his mistrial ruling in the trial of Lindsay Clancy for one hour to allow her lawyer to file an appeal with a higher court.

The jury has been deadlocked 11-1, with the majority apparently leaning towards finding the 36-year-old Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity.

The dramatic developments came after the jury sent a note to the judge Friday morning saying that it was with a “heavy heart” that they were unable to reach a verdict in the case, which has cast a spotlight on maternal mental health.

Clancy does not deny strangling Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months, but claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis — excusing her from criminal responsibility.

To reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree.

Judge William Sullivan addresses the jury (out of frame) during deliberations in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2026.


If they cannot agree, the judge declares a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to try the case again with a new jury.

Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, has repeatedly demanded the replacement of the holdout juror with one of several alternate jurors, but Sullivan declined to do so.

Clancy’s televised five-week trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, has sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.

Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children.

Her lawyers say this was caused by postpartum psychosis, a condition that experts say affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births.

Prosecutors have rejected that argument, saying Clancy had carefully planned the murders of her children and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.

Psychiatrists and people close to Clancy, as well as her estranged husband, were among the witnesses who testified about her fragile mental health during the trial.



‘Lousy Medical Care’

Dozens of women dressed in pink have shown up at the court in Plymouth to extend their support for Clancy — and to make a statement about women’s health more generally.

During closing arguments, Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, said she had made numerous pleas for help before the killings but had received “lousy medical care” from the doctors she consulted.

After the murders at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, Clancy jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralysed from the waist down.

The former nurse faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder.

Jurors can also find Clancy guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility — a verdict that would see her confined to a psychiatric facility.

The trial has revived memories of a similar case that also captivated the country 25 years ago: that of Andrea Yates, a Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.

Yates was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 2006 retrial and committed to a psychiatric hospital.





AFP

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