CALIFORNIA: A homicide suspect died in a shootout with police Wednesday in the middle of a San Francisco Bay Area freeway as stunned motorists looked on, some recording the scene on their cellphones and sharing it on social media.
Traffic came to a standstill for hours on the busy Interstate 80 that connects San Francisco with several other cities during the standoff between police and the unidentified man who had been chased about 40 miles (65 kilometers) by police.
The morning rush-hour standoff shut down all lanes of I-80 in the suburb of Emeryville. It ended when the suspect got out of a black sports utility vehicle and “officers received gun fire from the suspect,” authorities said. Officers fired back at the man, who was wounded and died of his injuries at a hospital.
The events unfolded after police in the city of Fairfield tried to detain the man, who they said was wanted in a homicide. Police did not identify him or provide details about the homicide.
When the driver refused to stop, Fairfield police chased the vehicle, officials said. Assisting them were officers from the city of Richmond and the California Highway Patrol.
Highway patrol officers used a spike mat to pierce the SUV’s tires and the standoff began with the vehicle stopped in Emeryville, surrounded by a dozen police cruisers.
“Officers negotiated with the suspect for an extended period of time until officers received gun fire from the suspect,” said a statement issued by the Emeryville, Fairfield and Richmond police departments. “Officers on scene returned fire and the suspect was struck during the exchange.”
The statement did not specify how many shots were fired or what type of weapons were involved.
A Facebook Live video shot from the air showed the man getting out of the car and taking a step before falling to the ground. Another video shot by a motorist appeared to show officers firing their guns and the sound of at least 20 gunshots.
Traffic was shut down during the standoff for miles (kilometers) on several key roads into San Francisco and surrounding cities.
California Highway Patrol Officer Matthew Hamer said the danger to motorists ended about 10:30 a.m.
The freeway’s eastbound lanes were reopened but the westbound section of the freeway remained closed Wednesday afternoon. Officials said they did not know how long it would be closed.
Suspect shot in standoff with officers on California freeway
Suspect shot in standoff with officers on California freeway
UN chief says 37,000 West Bank Palestinians displaced in 2025; warns Gaza war threatens two-state solution
- ‘We enter 2026 with the clock ticking louder than ever. Will the year ahead bend towards peace or slip into the abyss of despair?” asks Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
- Illegal settlement expansions, demolitions, displacements and evictions in the West Bank are accelerating, he says
NEW YORK CITY: More than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the occupied West Bank during 2025, a year in which there were also record-high levels of violence committed by Israeli settlers, UN secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
The situation on the ground was rapidly eroding the prospects for a two-state solution, he warned.
“We enter 2026 with the clock ticking louder than ever,” Guterres told the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
“Will the year ahead bend towards peace or slip into the abyss of despair?”
Illegal settlement expansions, demolitions, displacements and evictions in the West Bank were accelerating, said Guterres, who described the Israeli actions as destabilizing in nature and unlawful under international law.
“The recently published tender by Israel for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area (of the West Bank), alongside continued demolitions, is profoundly alarming,” he added.
“If carried forward, it would sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermine territorial contiguity, and strike a severe blow to the viability of a two-state solution.”
Turning to the situation in Gaza, Guterres said Palestinians there continued to endure “grave suffering.” More than 500 have been killed since the truce between Israel and Hamas in October, he noted.
“I urge all parties to implement the (ceasefire) agreement in full, exercise maximum restraint, and comply with international law and UN resolutions,” he said.
He called for the rapid and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid at scale, including through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Israel reopened on Monday.
Guterres criticized Israeli authorities for the continued suspension of international non-governmental organizations that provide aid, which he said “defies humanitarian principles, undermines fragile progress, and worsens the suffering of civilians.”
Regarding the future of Gaza, he said any sustainable solution must include governance of the territory and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by a unified and internationally recognized Palestinian government.
“Gaza is and must remain an integral part of a Palestinian state,” Guterres added.
He also reaffirmed his support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and condemned recent Israeli legislation and other actions he said impeded the ability of the agency to operate, including moves to demolish its Sheikh Jarrah compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
“Let me be clear: UNRWA premises are United Nations premises,” he said. “They are inviolable and immune from any form of interference.”
Guterres described public threats against UNRWA staff as “utterly abhorrent,” and said Israel was obliged under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the UN.
He also reiterated that an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was essential.
“There is only one viable route (to peace): the two-state solution, in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,” he said, as he called on the international community to act “with clarity, unity and determination” on the issue.
