By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 07:55 EST, 21 February 2026 | Updated: 10:29 EST, 21 February 2026

Широкий спектр питань щодо страхування воєнних ризиків обговорили під час координаційної зустрічі команд Мінекономіки на чолі з міністром Олексієм Соболевим, Нацбанку — на чолі з головою Андрієм Пишним та представників страхового ринку.

На ринку вже наявні продукти з покриттям воєнних ризиків. Сумарна перестрахова ємність, сформована завдяки підтримці партнерів, зокрема Lloyd’s ($400 млн), DFC ($200 млн), ЄБРР (я110 млн), а також зростанню власного українського ринку (до $350 млн), сягнула понад $1 млрд. Це дає змогу пропонувати страхові продукти для покриття воєнних ризиків щодо майна, вантажів, автотранспорту та залізничного рухомого складу.

Уряд працює над тим, щоб зробити більш зручною та корисною для бізнесу державну компенсаційну модель, яку реалізує Експортно­кредитне агентство України. Із 1 січня 19 компаній виявили бажання стати учасниками державної програми. З них 15 подали заявки на компенсацію збитків на прифронтових територіях, а чотири уклали договори страхування від воєнних ризиків в інших регіонах України, де держава має намір знизити страховий тариф до 1% на суму до 1 млн грн.

Як ішлося на зустрічі, подальший розвиток страхування потребує комплексного підходу.

«Маємо спільне завдання — перейти від точкових рішень, які вже працюють на ринку, до розроблення комплексної єдиної архітектури, де є страхові продукти, доступні для кожного. Прагнемо якомога швидше напрацювати єдину стратегію страхування, яка б забезпечила максимальне охоплення всіх підприємств та інвесторів, і закріпити її законодавчо», — зазначив Олексій Соболев.

На зустрічі було представлено та погоджено концепцію трирівневої системи, яка має покрити потреби як малого й середнього бізнесу, так і великих інвесторів.

Перший рівень — державні програми з мінімальною вартістю, які найбільше підходять для тих зон та ризиків, де ринкові механізми не діють. 

Другий — гібридні продукти, де ринок та держава можуть гарантувати покриття спільно через співфінансування або компенсацію.

Третій — комерційні продукти без участі держави.

Як було зазначено, перевага представленої моделі полягає у долуюченні держави до процесу страхування ризиків там, де ринкові механізми не працюють: на прифронтових територіях, в окремих галузях тощо, повідомляє Мінекономіки.

The majority of Canadian exports will remain exempted from Donald Trump’s new 10 per cent global levy, as the U.S. president pivots after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to his plans to realign global trade.

A fact sheet from the White House said the latest tariff will not hit goods compliant under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade, known as CUSMA.

The duty will also not be applied on top of sector-specific tariffs like steel, aluminum and automobiles.

Trump signed an executive order Friday to enact the worldwide tariff beginning on Tuesday using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. That duty can only stay in place for 150 days, unless Congress votes to extend it.

“Those members of the Supreme Court who voted against our very acceptable and proper method of TARIFFS should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump posted on social media.

“Their decision was ridiculous but, now the adjustment process begins, and we will do everything possible to take in even more money than we were taking in before!”

Earlier Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded it was not legal for Trump to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, better known as IEEPA, for his “Liberation Day” tariffs and fentanyl-related duties on Canada, Mexico and China.

Trump declared an emergency at the northern border related to the flow of fentanyl in order to use IEEPA to hit Canada with 35 per cent tariffs. Those duties did not apply to goods compliant under CUSMA.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court said the U.S. Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress power over taxes and tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote “the Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch.”

The ruling did not say whether companies hammered by those tariffs should get refunds. As of December, federal data showed US$133 billion had been collected.

The court’s decision “reinforces Canada’s position that the IEEPA tariffs imposed by the United States are unjustified,” said Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc in a post on social media.

“While Canada has the best trade deal with the United States of any trading partner, we recognize that critical work lies ahead to support Canadian businesses and workers who remain affected by Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and automotive sectors,” LeBlanc said.

During a 40-minute press conference Friday afternoon, Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court justices and said the decision was “incorrect.” Trump also denigrated Europe as too “woke” and took aim at Canada, saying the country ripped off the U.S. and stole car plants.

Trump claimed that Canada said it hoped he would win at the Supreme Court “because if you don’t win you’ll actually be able to charge us, with additional work, higher tariffs.”

LeBlanc spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer by phone recently. When asked for comment on Trump’s claim about Canada, LeBlanc’s office referred to his social media statement.

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Greer told “Fox News” Friday that while the 10 per cent tariff is in place, the Trump administration will begin investigations of countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

That allows a president to take trade actions if the investigation finds a trading partner’s policies are unreasonable and discriminatory, but it would take months and include a period for public comment.

Friday’s ruling will have little effect on the Canadian economy since most of its exports to the U.S. are shielded by the CUSMA carveout, said CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld.

Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said it’s “not the last chapter of this never-ending story.” She cautioned that Canada should prepare for “new, blunter mechanisms to be used to reassert trade pressure.”

Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation have rattled Canada ahead of a mandatory review of the CUSMA trilateral trade pact later this year. Trump has called the trade agreement “irrelevant” and said it may have served its purpose.

A successful CUSMA review must see Trump’s separate sectoral tariffs dropped, said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a social media post.

Poilievre criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney for not securing a deal with the Trump administration.

“The truth is no one can control what President Trump will say or do and so we must instead focus on what we can control,” Poilievre said. “We must unblock our energy and minerals, unleash our economy, and bolster our military and self-reliance for leverage to fight for tariff-free trade with the U.S.”

The Supreme Court’s decision is a win for U.S. separation of powers and the American and Canadian economies, said George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin, who represented small businesses pushing back on the tariffs.

“But also for the rule of law,” Somin told The Canadian Press. “The rule of law is at odds with a system under which the president can impose any tariffs he wants on any country for any reason at any time.”

—With files from Craig Lord, Kyle Duggan and The Associated Press

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The FBI was warned that Jeffrey Epstein could have been destroying evidence in an incinerator after a ‘suspicious barn’ was built on his Zorro Ranch, where he allegedly buried ‘strangled girls’.

A former police officer who patrolled the area around the ranch for 15 years told the FBI he was worried that evidence was being destroyed, as seen in a document published by the US Department of Justice.

It comes amid swirling allegations about what role the hideaway in New Mexico played in sexual abuse or sex trafficking of underage girls and young women.

The disgraced financier’s ranch is now the subject of a new investigation after chilling claims about the bodies of two foreign girls being buried at the 7,600-acre property emerged.

The document, dated July 19, 2019, just days after Epstein’s arrest, was an FBI report log that included details of a call taken from a retired New Mexico State police officer, whose name has been redacted.

The former cop said he noticed the barn had a chimney and a ‘sally port’ – a secure entryway with multiple doors, set up so only one could be opened at a time.

A report of the call reads: ‘The property which is on Zorro Ranch Road, Stanley, NM, his recently had a large barn constructed.

‘The barn is suspicious as there is a garage door that appears to be a sally port, and there is a chimney.

‘[Redacted name] is concerned the property could potentially have an incinerator concealed within the barn.

‘An old 1970s mobile home was recently put right behind the barn, which believes does not follow Santa Fe County regulations.

‘[Redacted name] explained that there is a lot of security for the properties including cameras, sally ports, and other security measures.

‘[Redacted name] explained that the barn that was constructed doesn’t look like a barn you would use for ranching.

‘[Redacted name] wanted to report the information to the FBI because he is concerned evidence could be destroyed here.’

The ex-officer also told the FBI there had been ‘a lot of high-profile people seen frequently’ at the ranch.

According to the report, the retired policeman said he had heard ‘rumours’ about Epstein using the property for ‘recruited girls to visit’.

The ex-cop’s call to the FBI came just days after Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges on July 6, 2019, and weeks before his death on August 10.   

New Mexico’s attorney general has now reopened the investigation into Epstein´s former Zorro Ranch.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office said Thursday that the decision was made after reviewing information recently released by the US Justice Department.

Although New Mexico´s initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, state prosecutors say now that ‘revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.’

The New Mexico Department of Justice said special agents and prosecutors at the agency will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work with other law enforcement partners, as well as a new truth commission established by state lawmakers to look into activities at the ranch.

‘As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,’ the New Mexico Department of Justice said in a statement.

Attention on the ranch comes as disturbing allegations surfaced in the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the US Government on January 30. 

Epstein allegedly ordered the burial of two ‘foreign girls’ near his ranch after they were strangled to death during ‘rough, fetish sex’, according to an email.

The email, sent by a person claiming to have worked for Epstein, also includes links purporting to show the late paedophile engaging in sex with underage girls.

The correspondence, first sent to a man named Eddy Aragon on November 21, 2019, before being forwarded onto the FBI.

In the email, titled ‘Confidential: Jeffrey Epstein’, the person, whose name has been redacted, claimed to have ‘been there and seen it all, as a former staff at the Zorro.’

They alleged the girls were buried on the orders of Epstein and ‘Madam G’, believed to be Ghislaine Maxwell, at Zorro Ranch.

In the email, they wrote: ‘Edward. This is sensitive, so it will be the first and last email depending on your discretion.

‘You can choose to take it or trash it but this comes from a person that has been there and seen it all, as a former staff at the Zorro.

‘The material below was taken from Jeffrey Epstein home as my insurance in case of future litigation against Epstein. SORRY NO QUESTIONS.

They added: ‘What is damning about Jeffrey Epstein is yet to be written. Did you know somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G? Both died by strangulation during rough, fetish sex.’

The sender also included links to videos which claimed to show Epstein having sex with minors, threesomes and sex with underage girls.

They then demanded a payment of one Bitcoin in return for the video and information.

The email was forwarded onto the FBI just three months after Epstein died while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

Documents released as part of the Epstein files also show the paedophile financier intended to leave his Zorro estate to his Belarusian girlfriend Karyna Shuliak.

Epstein bought Zorro Ranch in 1993 from Bruce King, a former three-time New Mexico governor.

The 13 square miles of high desert include a 26,700-square foot luxury estate, guest lodges, staff dwellings and several outbuildings.

It also has a firehouse, horse stables, a seven-bay heated garage, a greenhouse to grow fresh produce, a cattle grazing operation and private air strip, a hangar and a helipad.

Epstein owned the property until his death. His estate listed it in 2021 for $27.5million.

That price was later dropped to $18 million and the ranch sold for an undisclosed price in 2023 to a limited liability corporation that renamed the property the San Rafael Ranch, but whose owner is shrouded in secrecy.

Epstein used Zorro Ranch as an isolated getaway and playground for VIP guests who were able to come and go more discreetly than they could even to Little St James, his private Caribbean island off St Thomas.

In 2019 after Epstein’s death, a woman identified as Jane Doe said in court that he had molested her at Zorro Ranch in 2004, when she was 15. 

The woman recalled feeling small and powerless, describing how he laid her on the floor so she was confronted by all the framed photographs on his dresser of him smiling with wealthy celebrities and politicians.

‘People deserve to know the truth about what happened on Epstein´s ranch and are looking to leaders for answers,’ Garcia Richard said in a statement.

Civil filings claim that the compound hosted the former Prince Andrew, who was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexual abuse on three occasions, although not at the Zorro Ranch.

Andrew MOuntbatten-Windsor has always denied her claims.

However, civil findings produced photographs and written statements showing Giuffre visited the compound during the time she was trafficked as a teenager between 2000 and 2002.

Earlier Thursday, British police arrested the former Prince Andrew on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to the late sex offender.

In Washington, D.C., members of Congress are still working to lift the veil with more testimony from powerful people.

By GERARD COUZENS

Published: 13:25 EST, 20 February 2026 | Updated: 15:28 EST, 20 February 2026

The ‘barbaric’ owner of a filthy and stinking animal rescue centre where the carcasses of 41 dogs were found was jailed for five years today.

Oaveed Rahman, 27, took thousands of pounds from people who left him their pets when they were unable to continue looking after them.

He promised to stay in touch with them to let them know how the animals were doing but would then become difficult to contact or would block them on social media.

Concerns were raised through Action Fraud and a police raid at Save A Paw in Crays Hill, Essex, revealed the hellish scenes.

Remains of dogs were found in bins, outbuildings and gardens at the property, that also served as Rahman’s home.

The bodies were riddled with maggots and the site was also infested with rats.

Veterinary surgeon Amy Cooper, who attended the scene with police on May 13 last year, said in a statement that the putrid odour immediately hit her as she left her car, which was parked 130ft away.

‘I can honestly say what I smelt and saw was the most horrific thing I have ever seen,’ she said.

Pens and cages were covered in faeces and surviving dogs were severely underweight but were tormented by the fact that they could smell open bags of food nearby but were unable to get to them.

One pet was so traumatised it was no longer able to bark.

Rahman, who appeared at Basildon Crown Court by videolink today, has been on remand at Chelmsford Prison since his arrest last year.

He was given a 38-month jail term after admitting cruelty against 21 dogs and a cat that were left without food and water, and a consecutive 22 months for 11 counts of fraud by false representation which he pleaded guilty to.

A concurrent three-year sentence was imposed for owning a fighting dog, namely an unlicensed XL Bully.

Campaigners complained he had slipped through a gap in the law as the deliberate killing of animals is not a recognised offence and he could only be prosecuted for the cruelty.

The dead animals were so badly decomposed that post-mortem examination could not be carried out.

Critics also fear scores of other animals may have died there – including exotic creatures such as marmoset monkeys and a llama which he posted about online – as they remain unaccounted for.

Judge Richard Conley told the privately educated defendant he had committed an ‘act of betrayal of epic proportion that has devastated many lives’.

He added: ‘You managed to convince dog owners through personal charm and persuasion to hand over their pets and, in many cases, significant quantities of cash on a series of promises you would provide their beloved pets with a home.

‘All of those animals received none of those things but instead you subjected them to prolonged and barbaric misdeeds and neglect.

‘All of them endured unbelievable pain, misery and torment.’

Rahman was also banned from owning cats or dogs for life. He can apply to lift the disqualification after 15 years.

An angry mob of around 50 people, including owners of dogs that perished at Save A Paw and other animal lovers, had been prevented from entering the court by police before the hearing because of concerns about ‘crowd control’.

Around 30 were eventually let in but had to be told to calm down by Judge Richard Conley as they sighed, tutted and laughed when the defendant’s lawyer said he had expressed remorse for his crimes. Many also sobbed throughout the hearing.

The court was told that Rahman, who had previously worked as an estate agent and in the hotel industry, had advertised his rehoming and training services for his unregistered charity on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. 

When police visited his premises, 37 dead dogs were found and another four were discovered when a shed was demolished at a later date.

Police also recovered 21 live dogs but three were so unwell they had to be put down and another went blind.

Victim impact statements read out by prosecutor Tom Godfrey included one from Emma Thompson, who had to give up her dalmatian pointer cross, Lennon, because he had shown signs of aggression when she was pregnant.

Ms Thompson, who gave Rahman £500 towards her pet’s care, said she was ‘extremely traumatised’ at the thought of ‘how confused, scared and sad Lennon must have felt. Hers was one of the dogs found dead.

She added: ‘He would have smelt the death of other dogs at the property.’

Tim Davis was ‘devastated’ at having to rehome his pet Chad after he had a fight with another dog. The dog’s remains were never found.

He said: ‘I torture myself, wondering how much he suffered.’

Police spoke to people in 20 counties and as far afield as Scotland after launching their investigation.

During a police interview, the defendant claimed he had not charged a fee to save dogs and some of those that died had been ‘abandoned by their owners’.

Inspector Steve Parry, of Essex Police, said: ‘This was an unprecedented investigation.

‘The scenes which officers encountered, the treatment of the dogs found alive and the scale of it were deeply upsetting for all who attended.’

One officer who took part in the raid said: ‘There is not a day when I do not think about the dogs… This was one of the most distressing and revolting jobs.’

Molly Pinkus, defending, had to wait for Judge Conley to demand quiet in court as she spoke of her client’s remorse.

Asked what Rahman’s motivation was for the crimes as it is ‘so impossible to understand what can cause a person to do the things that he did’, she told him he suffered from depression and had started the enterprise with good intentions.

Mr Godfrey said: ‘Rahman made the decision to house those dogs in inhuman conditions.

‘Whether this was some satisfaction from the power that he was able to exert over these dogs is a matter for Your Honour.

‘But it is difficult to see why else Rahman would house the live dogs with the deceased dogs.’

Campaigners who combed through Rahman’s social media accounts estimate at least 180 other animals are unaccounted for, although this was not heard in court and there is no hard evidence to back this up.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: ‘This has been a deeply distressing case and our thoughts remain with everyone affected by what has come to light.’

Two people have been charged with murder after a ‘seriously injured’ boy was admitted to hospital and later died from his injuries.

London’s Met Police launched an investigation after a three-year-old boy was admitted to hospital on Saturday, January 3 with severe injuries.

Police said they later launched a safeguarding and criminal investigation. Despite efforts of medical staff, the youngster died on Monday, January 19th.

They have named him as Isiayah Henry from Woolwich.

A spokesperson from the Met said: ‘Enquiries have been ongoing within the Met’s Specialist Crime Command. On Friday, 20 February, two people were charged with murder and causing/allowing the death of a child in connection with Isiayah’s death following an appearance at Woolwich Crown Court.’

Tanisha Henry, 28, of Woolwich and Mikael Williams, of Walworth, will next appear at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, 22 April.

The Met added that Isiayah’s family have been informed and continue to receive support from specialist officers.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Прем’єр­міністр Юлія Свириденко повідомила про створення єдиної платформи урядових зимових програм підтримки для людей, ОСББ, бізнесу та громад під час складної зими.

«Тут зібрано повну інформацію про всі чинні програми, їхні умови та порядок подачі заявок. Це єдина точка доступу до інструментів, які допомагають посилити енергонезалежність домівок, підтримати людей і забезпечити безперебійну роботу бізнесу», — зазначила очільниця уряду. 

Допомога для людей:

• щомісячні виплати для працівників ремонтних бригад;
• «СвітлоДім» для енергонезалежності будинків; пакунки тепла для людей з інвалідністю та одиноких пенсіонерів;
• екофлоу для дітей з інвалідністю групи А.

19 лютого дано початок ще двом програмам для посилення енергонезалежності багатоквартирних будинків і приватних домівок: енергопідтримка для ОСББ та ЖБК; енергопідтримка для приватних будинків і таунгаусів.

Підтримка бізнесу: допомога ФОПам на енергостійкіть від 7500 до 15 000 грн на придбання або ремонт генераторів, пальне чи оплату комунальних послуг; кредит 0% на енергообладнання до 10 млн грн строком до трьох років на генератори; доступні кредити 5—7—9% на енергообладнання, повідомляє Департамент інформації та комунікацій з громадськістю Секретаріату КМУ.

The NDP leadership candidates began the final official debate with a general acknowledgment they agree on policies, but have different visions for how to achieve their most existential goal — rebuilding the party.

At the close of the debate, each candidate was asked if they are running to rebuild the party or become the prime minister. Four of the five candidates said they are running to rebuild the party, while Ontario organic farmer Tony McQuail was the lone candidate who said he is eyeing the Prime Minister’s Office.

During opening remarks in the Vancouver-area debate, Alberta MP Heather McPherson said the party needs someone who knows how to turn NDP policies and values into electoral wins. She said she has a track record of beating Conservatives in her home province and can expand that nationally.

Following the debate, she said that the NDP has always been the party of “big ideas” but to get them implemented you need get people elected.

“What we really need to do is look across the country and pick up seats where we have lost support, and I think we can do that,” McPherson said after the debate.

“I think there are many areas across the country where we have seen New Democrats are strong, where people actually thought they were electing — they were voting for something they didn’t get,” McPherson said after the debate, alluding to votes lost to the Liberals in 2025.

She then pointed to areas she sees as winnable for the NDP including Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and southern Ontario.

Documentarian Avi Lewis said the same approaches seen in past elections will not work and the NDP needs to be putting forward big, bold ideas. He said this can be a winning strategy as his campaign has pulled in the most donations, nearly $780,000 as of Dec. 31, 2025, and is getting significant member support.

Lewis disputed the assertion that they all agree on what the NDP needs to do, and talked about his push for government-run options in groceries, telecoms and banking as a means of addressing affordability.

“We’ve raised almost as much money on our campaign as all the other campaigns combined, we have signed up new members in 338 out of 343 ridings and we have giant events packed with hundreds of people across the country. So something about our offer is resonating,” Lewis said after the debate.

Dockworker union leader Rob Ashton disputed this, and said people need quicker fixes to address the affordability crisis and establishing these new Crown services will take too long.

Ashton said in his opening statements that the party needs to go back to its working-class roots if it wants to try and win back ridings that it lost in the last election to the Conservatives and Liberals. Ashton said that without that support, their ideas will remain ideas.

He later took a shot at Lewis for his authorship role in the Leap Manifesto, saying it killed the Alberta NDP’s chances of being re-elected under former premier Rachel Notley.

“The part that I disagree with is not communicating with the provincial NDP, the Alberta NDP, before bringing it forward, before dropping it on the table in Alberta,” Ashton said after the debate.

“Because that’s when the sitting government, sitting NDP government had to fight and defend themselves.”

Lewis defended the Leap Manifesto saying it had wide union buy-in and was adopted as a resolution by three-quarters of NDP members as a federal policy resolution at the party’s 2016 convention in Edmonton.

McPherson said that the party only agreed to look at the Leap Manifesto and it gave provincial conservative leaders, including former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, a cudgel to beat the NDP with.

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Social worker Tanille Johnston opened the debate saying that she is honoured to be the first Indigenous person to be on a federal leadership ballot.

She said Canada needs to bring in a universal basic income to pull people out of poverty, end fossil fuel subsidies and have proper government-to-government relations with Indigenous communities.

Johnston said that the party and leader need to physically go to more places they don’t have seats, speak to people and more importantly listen to those community needs.

“Not going to the places and spaces where we have big opportunities is not helping us. Prince Albert, huge opportunity in Prince Albert, (Sask.) and a lot of people might not see that. Prince Albert has a very high Indigenous population and people tell me all the time well Indigenous people don’t vote,” Johnston said during the debate.

“I’m like ‘well have you had a gone and had a conversation with them?’ … No we haven’t.”

McQuail said Canada needs a radical societal reworking to address climate change and the affordability crisis. He said Canada needs to redistribute wealth and shift the country’s capitalist, consumer society to a more sustainable system.

“We have to talk about how do we not only change the economy and transition it to renewables, but how do we redesign to drastically reduce the amount of energy and resources that economies use,” McQuail said during the debate.

“Because our economic growth, which has been promoted for the 45 years since I got involved in politics is actually becoming a cancer on the planet.”

Yves Engler, a Montreal activist who was not allowed to run in the race, and a small group of protesters tried to enter the studio during the debate. They banged on the doors, shouting “Let us in!”

Local police arrived at the studio in New Westminster, B.C., to remove the protesters.

The broadcast of the debate was not interrupted by the protest.

Engler had promised to disrupt the race after his candidacy was not approved.

The race will be decided through a ranked ballot vote. Voting opens on March 9 and closed on March 28 at 7 p.m. Voters will be able to cast their ballot online, by phone or mail.

The next NDP leader will be announced on March 29 during the party’s convention in Winnipeg.

A climber who abandoned his girlfriend to die at the top of a freezing mountain has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Thomas Plamberger, 39, stood trial on Thursday after his girlfriend, Kerstin Gurtner, 33, died just 150ft below the summit of the 12,460ft Grossglockner in January last year as temperatures plunged to minus 20C.

He was accused of leaving Gurtner ‘exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented’ while he went to get help, during his trial, which opened today in Innsbruck.

Following the guilty verdict, Plamberger has been sentenced to five months’ imprisonment, suspended for 3 years, and handed a fine of £8,400. 

Plamberger said at the beginning of his roughly two-hour interrogation before Judge Norbert Hofer: ‘I am incredibly sorry’. He said he had ‘loved’ his girlfriend and that they had ‘always planned their tours together’.

The defendant repeatedly emphasised that he had ‘no alpine training whatsoever’ and could therefore have not played the role of a mountain guide to Gurtner.

He said: ‘I trained myself, for example with videos.’ He claimed his girlfriend was almost as knowledgeable and skilled at mountain climbing as he was. 

‘I may have done more tours, but she knew exactly what she was getting into,’ he explained in the packed courtroom, attended by around 50 media representatives.

Plamberger claimed his girlfriend shouted at him to ‘Go, now go!’ after he spent an hour and a half with her in freezing conditions when the couple experienced a rope jam.

He said he ‘really couldn’t say’ how the rapid physical deterioration had occurred and described it as an ‘exceptional situation’ for both of them. 

The seasoned climber told the hearing he had only attempted the descent of the mountain after the couple had discussed it, saying that his girlfriend encouraging him to leave saved his life.  

But Judge Hofer found the circumstances of how Gurtner’s body was found inconsistent with Plamberger’s explanations.

The judge showed a photograph of Gurtner hanging freely from the rock face – indicating that she had fallen, he said.

Plamberger said he had left her at a different location approximately ten metres away, and restrained.

He claimed he secured her to the rock face with a rope to prevent her from falling.

But the court heard she was found dangling from the rope and had been hanging on the rock face for two hours before she died.

The Innsbruck prosecutor’s office said he left Gurtner at 2am and a rescue operation began 90 minutes later when he called emergency services.

Rescue teams were unable to reach Gurtner until the following day due to hurricane-force winds, and she was found just below a cross that marks the summit.

The head of the mountain rescuer team who found her body told the judge’ it was certainly not a pretty sight for us’, adding ‘it looks as if she had climbed down’.

Given the extremely harsh conditions, the defendant should have turned back earlier, prosecutors said.

Even when he had left his partner to get help, he did not bring her to a wind-protected place and did not use bivouac sack or aluminium rescue blanket.

The mountain rescue station’s group instructor said Plamberger’s ‘account of the situation didn’t quite add up’.

He said the 39-year-old ‘couldn’t explain why he hadn’t used the bivouac sack’ and that he could have used one if she was left in the spot he claimed.

During the trial, the questioning of a total of 15 summoned witnesses and two expert witnesses took place.

Gurtner’s mother and father were called to the witness stand first. Both stated that their daughter had been ‘really active’ in mountaineering since 2020.

During the climb, Gurtner had kept her mother updated via messages and eventually sent her a text saying ‘we’re down’ – a move she believes was to reassure her.

Plamberger was also accused of making a series of mistakes on the trip, which resulted in Gurtner’s death, including being poorly equipped and failing to call for help despite realising the situation was critical. 

Webcam images show the glow of the couple’s two headtorches as they slowly edge towards the summit at around 6pm – almost 12 hours after setting off – then, hours later, only one light is seen as it moved down.

Gurtner’s social media profile is illustrated with dozens of images of her and Plamberger climbing and hiking, and she described herself as a ‘winter child’ and ‘mountain person’.

As part of their probe, investigators examined their mobile phones, sports watches, laptops and photographs the couple had taken as they made their way to the summit, before concluding he made several errors.

They highlighted how the couple were poorly equipped – Gurtner was wearing snowboard soft boots instead of proper hiking footwear – and officials say he ‘turned away’ despite a helicopter flying low over the area.

Through his lawyer, Kurt Jelinek, Plamberger denied the allegations and insisted he turned away to get help, and it was simply a ‘tragic, fateful accident’.

In a statement announcing the charge, Innsbruck prosecutor’s office said: ‘At approximately 2am on January 19, the defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters below the summit cross of the Grossglockner.

‘The woman froze to death. Since the defendant, unlike his girlfriend, was already very experienced with alpine high-altitude tours and had planned the tour, he was to be considered the responsible guide of the tour.’

He was also accused of scheduling the start of the climb around two hours later than prudent, while not carrying any sufficient emergency equipment.

Given the harsh weather conditions with wind speeds of up to 46 mph and temperatures of minus eight degrees, which felt like minus 20 degrees when combined, the defendant should have turned back earlier, according to the public prosecutor.

Plamberger and Gurtner were stranded from around 8.50pm, and he allegedly did not give any distress signals when a police helicopter flew over at 10.50pm.

After several attempts by the Alpine Police, he finally spoke to an officer at around 12.35am.

Officials say he had put his phone on silent and could not be contacted by Alpine Police, but eventually, at 3.30am, he decided to notify the rescue services after having left Gurtner alone.

It also emerged that the seasoned climber allegedly left an ex-girlfriend on the mountain range following a ‘heated argument with her on the Grossglockner in winter’.

Prosecutors said he left his ex-girlfriend alone on the mountain in pitch darkness after she complained about the difficulty of the climb.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.