Reuters World News - Canadian shooter, Bondi grilling, and Olympic helmet ban

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Police identify an 18-year-old as the suspect in the Canadian school shooting. A Ukrainian skeleton racer is disqualified from the Olympic Winter Games over his "helmet of remembrance". U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi came under fire on the Hill for her handling of the Epstein files.  Newly-released bodycam footage shows the moments before a Chicago woman is shot by a border patrol agent. And there’s a high turnout as Bangladeshis vote in a landmark, Gen Z-inspired election.    Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. It's Thursday, February 12th. Today, police identify the suspect in Canada's school shooting. Pam Bondi comes under fire for how she's handled the Epstein files. And, Bangladesh votes in the world's first Gen Z-inspired election. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. We start in Canada, where police are continuing to investigate the shooting in the British Columbia town of Tumblr Ridge that left nine people dead, including the shooter. And they've identified the suspect. Reporter Ryan Patrick Jones has more. Police identified the shooter as an 18-year-old woman named Jesse Van Rootsilar.

She's a resident of Tumblr Ridge. She was born as a biological male, but six years ago began to transition to female and identified as a woman, according to police. She dropped out of school four years ago and wasn't currently attending school. Police said that she had a history of mental illness and that police had been called to the family home multiple times over the past several years. They say she had been apprehended under the province's Mental Health Act multiple times for an assessment and a follow-up. Police said officers had seized firearms from the family residence about two years ago but then returned them after the owner successfully appealed the decision, although they didn't actually identify. who the owner of the firearms were.

Police say the suspect first killed her 39-year-old mother and her 11-year-old stepbrother at the family home and then moved on to the local school where she killed six people, a 39-year-old female educator, and five students, three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13. One victim was found in the school's stairwell and the others were located in the library, according to police.

Two other female victims were transported by airily. live to hospital, a 12-year-old and a 19-year-old, they remain in serious but stable condition. And they clarified on Thursday that no one else was injured in the shooting. Police say officers entered the school and within minutes they found the shooter dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And that's when they located a long gun and a modified handgun. Canada has much stronger gun laws than the U.S., but Canadians can own firearms with a license. Police also said that she had previously had a firearms license, but that it had a firearms license, but that had expired in 2024,

and she didn't currently have any firearms registered to her. Police said they don't really know the motive at this time. School shootings are not very common in Canada, particularly when compared to the United States. Prime Minister Mark Carney was visibly upset when he spoke to reporters. He canceled a trip that he had planned to the Munich Security Conference in order to stay in Ottawa, and Friday has been declared a provincial day of morning in British Columbia.

To the Winter Olympics now, where Ukraine's skeleton racer, Vladislav Gerascovic, has been disqualified over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia. Ushin Shine is on site in Italy for the Games. Well, extraordinary news here at the sliding centre in the Olympics this morning, where the Ukrainian skeleton racer, Vladislav Gerascovich, was disqualified over his helmet, helmet of remembrance that he's got, which depicts the images of Ukrainian athletes, killed in the war with Russia. He's been wearing it all week, so really we've been heading towards this point for many, many days now. He knew that he wasn't allowed to wear it in competition,

although he had been able to use it in practice. Now, the IEC's new president, Kirsty Coventry, she's pretty new in the job. She made the five, six hour trip from Milan to Cortina to try and avert this. The various alternatives were laid out. He was allowed to present his helmet before and after competition. He was allowed to wear a black arm band. But no resolution could be found. He insisted on wearing it in competition, which left the IAC with no alternative but to disqualify him. I mean, it was incredible scenes really there this morning, a meeting at 720 in the morning.

Kirsty Coventry, as I say, the president, she was in tears, very upset by the whole situation. She said it was nothing at all to do about the message. it was strictly to do with the rules of the IOC. How many have you indicted? Excuse me. I'm going to answer the question. I answer my question. No, I'm going to answer the question the way.

I want to answer the question. No, you're going to answer the question the way I asked it. It was an unusually feisty day on Capitol Hill Wednesday, with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi defending her handling of the Epstein files in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Massive cover up. No, I'm answering a question.

Chairman, will you restore her time? The witness is interrupted. I'm not going to get in the counter with this woman. Stop the time. She's doing the actual. Bondi claimed the Epstein focus was meant to distract from Trump's accomplishments. This is so ridiculous and that they are trying to deflect from all the great things Donald Trump has done. But it wasn't just Democrats.

Republican Thomas Massey, who has spearheaded the congressional crusade to force the files release, questioned why billionaire Leslie Wexner's name was redacted in an FBI document listing potential co-conspirators. Within 40 minutes. Wexner's name was added back. Within 40 minutes of me catching you red-handed. Red-hand, there was one redaction out of over 40, 700. And we invited you in. This guy has Trump D'Arangement syndrome.

Democrats also accuse Bondi of turning the DOJ into a political weapon under Trump. And her appearance came hours after a grand jury rejected an attempt by the Justice Department to indict some Democratic lawmakers for urging members of the military not to come comply with unlawful orders. Also on Capitol Hill, a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump. The Republican-controlled House has backed a measure disapproving of his tariffs on Canada. Lawmakers narrowly voted to terminate the President's use of a national emergency to slap taxes on Canadian goods. A veto is expected in the Senate.

For more econ and finance news, be sure to check out our sister markets podcast Morning Bid, available wherever you get your podcasts. Actor James Van Der Beek has died after a battle with cancer. He was 48 years old. In an Instagram post, his wife says he passed peacefully on Wednesday morning. Van Der Beak was best known for playing Dawson Leary on Dawson's Creek, a role that shaped teen TV in the US and helped define an era of pop culture. A go-fund me for his wife and six children has raised more than a million dollars since its launch.

Now, some of the language and content in this next segment may be disturbing for some viewers. Federal prosecutors have released body cam footage in the case of a Chicago woman who survived being shot multiple times by a border patrol officer last fall. The government said Marimar Martinez, a Montessori teacher and US citizen, rammed agents with her car during an immigration crackdown. But the footage suggests the agents could have struck her vehicle first, with one agent heard saying, it's time to get aggressive before making contact and firing five shots. We advise, we've been struck, we've been struck. Martinez was labelled a domestic terrorist by Homeland Security, though charges against her were later dropped.

With funding for the Department of Homeland Security set to expire Friday, Democrats are demanding reforms over the tactics used by ICE agents. Flights are moving again in El Paso, Texas, after the US government abruptly shut down the city's airspace for hours on Wednesday. The move caught airlines, local officials, and even other parts of the government, completely off guard, with no advance warning and no clear expert. for how it was resolved so quickly. Officials publicly blamed a Mexican cartel drone,

but government and airline sources say the real issue with safety concerns about a laser-based counter-dron system the army was testing at Fort Bliss, right next to the airport. The FAA lifted its restrictions after the army agreed to more safety tests before using the system.

In Bangladesh, voters are at the polls in the world's first Gen Z-inspired election. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a youth-level uprising in August 24. The group that ousted her has since aligned with Islamist Jamati Islami and they're putting up a strong challenge against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party who are widely expected to win.

At least a third of voters in Bangladesh are under 30. Our reporter in Dhaka, Tora Agarawali, explains why they're feeling conflicted about this election. For one, there is considerable excitement about participating in elections because for many of them, even if they have been eligible to vote earlier, they haven't had the opportunity to vote or they've chosen not to vote because elections in the last 15 years have been perceived to be rigged. So for many, this is the first time they are voting. So while they are excited about voting and participating in the electoral process,

they are a little disappointed because they are choosing between two established parties who are not, say, a new alternative. Tora says a decisive outcome is vital for Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of ready-made garments to the world. And because of political instability, because of the Trump tariffs, it has meant that the sector has been on a downward slump, and buyers have lost confidence. Apart from that, the law and order situation hasn't been really great,

there's been some rise in mob attacks. There is a feeling of optimism, because with an elected government would come stability, they hope. And for today's recommended read, Brittany Spears has sold her rights to her music catalogue. She's the latest artist to strike a deal for her work and struck it with independent music publisher Primary Wave. You can read more about it by following the link in the pod description.

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