Nikolas Cruz is taken into custody at Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on February 15, 2018 after 17 people were shot dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Miguel Guttierez / AFP TV / AFP
Nikolas Cruz is taken into custody at Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on February 15, 2018 after 17 people were shot dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.Show more

Authorities accused of missing warning signs over Florida school shootings



The 19-year-old man arrested after a mass shooting at a school in Florida has been charged with 17 counts of murder as authorities faced growing questions about why they failed to act on a string of warning signs.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, was arrested on Wednesday about a mile from the scene of the killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Pupils, staff and neighbours described a troubled young man as it emerged the FBI had been warned about his activities last year.

President Donald Trump consoled the nation in a televised address on Thursday with a message to those affected by the attacks. “We are here for you,” he said.

He also offered a message to children worried about future attacks.

“If you need help turn to a teacher, a family member, a local police officer or a faith leader. Answer hate with love, answer cruelty with kindness,” he said, adding that he planned to visit Parkland, Florida, where the shooting happened.

The killings marked the 18th gun incident at an American school so far this year, according to the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, prompting fresh, familiar calls for tighter restrictions on lethal weapons.

Police said Cruz was a former student at the school. He allegedly returned with a legally owned AR-15 assault rifle, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition shortly before classes ended.

They described how he set off the fire alarm so that pupils streamed out of classes as he opened fire.

Witnesses said he pursued victims through hallways before fleeing the building along with other pupils amid the chaos.

Students said they had been worried about his behaviour, describing how he posed with weapons for photographs posted on social media.

Read more: What we know so far about Florida school shooting suspect

Dakota Mutchler, 17, said he had once been friends with Cruz.

“He started going after one of my friends, threatening her, and I cut him off from there," he said, adding that Cruz had been expelled from school last year.

Last autumn, a YouTube vlogger warned authorities about comments left on a video.

“I'm going to be a professional school shooter,” said a user named Nikolas Cruz, prompting Ben Bennight to email a screenshot of the comment to the FBI, according to Buzzfeed News.

The FBI said there was not enough information to trace the person behind the comment.

"No other information was included with that comment which would indicate a time location or the true identity of the person who made the comment," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Lasky told reporters on Thursday.

Cruz’s father died a few years ago and his mother died in November, said Jim Lewis, a lawyer representing the family with whom Cruz was living.

He brought with him an AR-15 assault rifle when he moved in, he added, and had been treated for depression which the family attributed to his mother’s death.

"They didn't see any danger. They didn't see any kind of predilection this was going to happen," Mr Lewis told CNN.

Aaron Feis, an assistant coach on the school's football team who was shot while shielding students, was the first victim to be publicly identified.

Mr Trump’s address will anger gun control advocates who fear Republicans will shift blame to mental illness.

“We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health,” he said.

He made the same point in an earlier tweet, earning immediate condemnation. A Twitter user believed to be a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hit back at the president in a message that quickly went viral.

“I don’t want you condolences...” said chaddiedabaddie.

“Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead. Do something instead of sending prayers.

“Prayers won't fix this. But Gun control will prevent it from happening again.”

Melissa Falkowski, a teacher at the school, described how she had shepherded her students into a cupboard as the mayhem unfolded.

“Broward County Schools has prepared us for this situation and to still have so many casualties, at least for me, it's very emotional. Because I feel today that our government, our country has failed us and failed our kids and didn't keep us safe,” she said.

Wednesday’s shooting was the second worst attack at a school in American history, second only to the 26 people shot dead at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012.

Yet opinion polls suggest momentum is shifting towards the gun lobby. In 1993 Pew found a clear majority in favour of greater gun control – 57 per cent over 35 per cent. In its latest survey, the lead had narrowed to 51 per cent of respondents saying gun control was more important than gun rights compared with 47 per cent who said the opposite.

Iain Overton, director of Action on Armed Violence and author of Gun Baby Gun, said the Second Amendment, guaranteeing the right to bear arms, was too deeply entrenched to allow tougher legislation.

“The Gordian Knot that is the 2nd Amendment - one made up of twisted strands of civil liberty arguments, political financing, healthy profits from an unrestrained firearm industry, and a cultural mantra of the virtues of 'good guys' with guns - means it will take more than a massacre to change the law. It would take a social revolution.”

What%20is%20cystic%20fibrosis%3F
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ECystic%20fibrosis%20is%20a%20genetic%20disorder%20that%20affects%20the%20lungs%2C%20pancreas%20and%20other%20organs.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIt%20causes%20the%20production%20of%20thick%2C%20sticky%20mucus%20that%20can%20clog%20the%20airways%20and%20lead%20to%20severe%20respiratory%20and%20digestive%20problems.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPatients%20with%20the%20condition%20are%20prone%20to%20lung%20infections%20and%20often%20suffer%20from%20chronic%20coughing%2C%20wheezing%20and%20shortness%20of%20breath.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ELife%20expectancy%20for%20sufferers%20of%20cystic%20fibrosis%20is%20now%20around%2050%20years.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Our legal advisor

Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation. 

Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

Company%20Profile
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Company%20profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

The specs

Common to all models unless otherwise stated

Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi

0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)

Power: 276hp

Torque: 392Nm

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD

Price: TBC

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Naga
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scores:

Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf

Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)

Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17

Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)

Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40

Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community

• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style

“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.

Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term. 

From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”

• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International

"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed.  Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."

• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."

• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com

"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.

His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.

Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."

• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher

"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen.  He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”

• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org

"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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