Get Crazy Strong Squatting And Pulling Every Other Week

For the past few years, I've been seeing more people pushing this idea that everyone needs to be doing the big compound lifts multiple times a week. And why not? After all, more is better, right?

More money is good. More sex is good. More protein is good. More squats and deadlifts must be good too, right?

Well, it turns out there are plenty of caveats that go along with more anything in life. And there's also that pesky diminishing returns thing that comes with "more."

Movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses can be trained often and lots of people have had success doing so. Lots of people have also gotten their asses handed to them by using things like daily undulating periodization, where you train the same big lifts 2-4 times a week or more. Or they've seen that approach work for just long enough to post some raving endorsement of it online…and then they came crashing into a wall a week or two later.

Why? Because the truth is, most lifters do a terrible job of taking their foot off of the accelerator. They floor it more often than they don't, and staying in the red most of the time will eventually cause some type of forced rest.

This has led me to explore lower-volume, lower-frequency programming options. One is my Bodybuilding.com All Access program Jacked in 3, where you alternate upper- and lower-body focused sessions in three total sessions a week. Another is to stop cramming two of the biggest lifts—the back squat and deadlift—into the same training week.

You just screamed and clutched your pearls. Well, hear me out.

The Russian Influence

I'm not going to overload this article with a bunch of twelve-week studies done on frat boys in some lifting test tube. I'll just offer up that a recent, well-designed study concluded that daily undulating periodization doesn't offer up any significant advantage in the strength or hypertrophy department when compared with plain ol' linear periodization.[1]

That's just one study, though. The most important factor in making any and every training program effective is that lifters buy into it—how strongly it resonates with their training soul. This isn't something that can be measured in a lab. The variables that make a training program productive are often the intangibles that appeal to an individual.

Personally, I trained for decades using very-low-volume approaches with high intensity. This appealed to me and thus, I made progress.

When I started venturing into powerlifting, I kept hearing that such an approach would not work because the lifts needed to be practiced early, often, and late. Lots of volume, many times a week. This was based on systems we had seen used by Russian lifters, where you squatted and benched multiple times a week (usually deadlifting once a week) with great success.

So, I did that. And hated it. It did not appeal to my training soul, and I ended up hating training.

At the same time, I couldn't quite figure out how to create a training methodology around my love of lower volume, combined with high intensity. Not for powerlifting, anyway. I read and read and just couldn't find anything that gave me affirmation and trust that I could train the big three in a more infrequent fashion, and still get strong.

Eventually I stopped reading, and did what I'd done for years and years. I figured it out myself.

Squat and Deadlift Every Other Week

The Internet was still in its infancy during the time I was developing this training strategy. That's one reason why I wasn't finding a lot of information on how to train for pure strength while keeping both frequency and volume lower than most training plans.

What I did know was that the squat and deadlift trained the posterior chain, and that most of the same muscle groups would be getting hit each week, even if I wasn't doing both lifts in a training week.

And while I'm an idiot in many facets of my life, the one area I am not a total ding-dong is figuring out how to make training work for me and my life. Despite the fact that most of the same muscles are trained in the deadlift and squat, they clearly place an enormous amount of tension in some very different areas. Thoracic extensors versus knee extensors, and all that jazz.

Sure, the quads do get some work in the deadlift, but the knee extension is very minimal. So, on the days I would be deadlifting, I knew I'd need to do some more direct work for the wheels. However, I wanted to make sure said work would not involve much more spinal loading. One thing most lifters don't realize about improving their squat or deadlift is that the erectors recover very slowly, and most often it's localized muscular fatigue in that area that is keeping them from performing at a higher level.

In other words, the squat and deadlift are usually enough to stimulate growth and strength in the erector spinae. After that, you should just leave well enough alone. Throwing in heaps of back extensions and super heavy good mornings is fairly redundant and for the most part useless if you've been doing some superlative deep knee bends and tugs.

It's All About the Assistance Lifts

So, how do you make deads and squats every other week add up to "enough?" It comes down to how you pair these main courses with the appropriate side dishes.

I chose the leg press after I did my deadlifts. It's good quad work, and done properly, spares the lower back and hammers the quads. Properly done leg presses means you use a full range of motion, but not so "full" that it causes you to go into spinal flexion (i.e. rounding at the low back). "Full range of motion" also means not loading up the machine with every plate in the gym to perform a two-inch range of motion.

In my experience, the leg press is also a great support movement for building the deadlift off the floor. What most people don't realize is that the deadlift is not just a pull. It's a serious push off the floor, then a pull over the knees. If you're performing the deadlift properly, then you're not just picking a bar up off the floor. You're pushing the whole world away from you with your legs, and then pulling that slag iron over your knees.

When I write it that way, it truly does sound majestic.

I applied this same thinking to my squat days, but in reverse. Squats, like leg presses, are a great movement for building the deadlift off the floor (leg strength, duh), but I wanted to make sure I was getting in some back work on this day so the muscles that do the majority of the work in the deadlift were still being attended to.

Thus, I chose the barbell row. It's like the Miller Lite version of the deadlift. You still get some axial loading, as the lower back is responsible for holding proper position in a static fashion, but you're never going to properly barbell row anything close to your maximal deadlift. And if you do, you're either doing some shitty barbell rows, or your deadlift flat-out sucks.

On deadlift day, I would occasionally follow up the leg press with a single all-out set of hack squats. On squat day, I'd also follow up the barbell rows with some lat pull-downs. This gave me what I felt like was some completeness within the program.

Here's what it looks like in action:

Week 1, Day 1

Week 1, Day 4

Week 2, Day 1

Week 2, Day 4

I usually trained the squat or deadlift on Monday of each week, and then hit the upper-body work on Thursday. Every once in a while, I would venture in to the gym on a Saturday if either of those sessions blew chunks, and I'd do a lighter version of the same workout. I considered it "make up" work for having a terrible workout. This did not happen often, however. Guys really need to get over their fear of not being in the gym every day of the week, lest they lose their gains.

When I did decide to do a make-up session, though, it was not heavy or balls-out. I would do the movements, but at around 50 percent of what I had used in the planned session for the week, for a few sets. In retrospect, I most likely didn't even need to do these, but I'm human and like most people suffering from the human condition, it was mostly a mental thing to make me feel better about having a down session.

Stop Freaking Out, Start Getting Strong

You may scoff at training two days a week, but let me be clear: This is hard training, and it's not for beginners. I definitely don't recommend this type of training for someone in their first year of training. Noobs do need the practice with the movements, and the simple act of developing that neuromuscular efficiency is plenty to spur on the noob gains we all love.

After a solid year or two of training, this type of approach could be implemented with great success if one were so inclined—and if one had the discipline to make it work.

Since the time I trained this way, I've actually come across a lot of very strong dudes who have used the same approach. The Lilliebridge family, perhaps the strongest family in powerlifting, happened to be one. And they've done alright, to say the least. Jim Wendler, the creator of the iconic 5/3/1 program, later adopted a similar strategy into his own training and did very well with it, too.

This was one of the most productive strength-building routines I ever used. I consistently felt fresh and motivated. I broke rep PRs on an almost weekly basis and never felt beat down, tired, or had nagging overuse injuries. For myself, I didn't suffer from "more" syndrome, and I finally succeeded in making the program work for me, rather than simply working for the program.

If you simply love being in the gym all the time, that's great. But, if lower frequency and volume appeals to you, then give this a run. I think you'll be happy with the gains.

Read More

The Best Damn Trap Bar Workout, Period

A while ago, in Internet "expert" land, someone decided to blast out the idea that deadlifts aren't deadlifts unless you're using a straight barbell. A trap bar, they said, is something different. It's kind of a squat, kind of a leg press, kind of a cheater deadlift. Well, they're wrong.

My respect to the people who can grip and rip a whole heap of weight using a straight barbell. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But the truth of the matter is, unless you compete in powerlifting or another lifting sport where barbells are required, the vast majority of people can get all the same rewards, with fewer of the risks, using a trap bar. That's why I wrote this. Because someone had to.

The truth of the matter is, using the trap bar is one of the smartest moves you can make as a lifter who's after deadlift performance. It's time someone made a case for this lift. Here are my reasons for loving it, and how I like to program it.

Reason 1: It's Friendlier to Lifters with Long Levers

A 6-foot-6 basketball player, or someone of similar size, will almost always have an awkward and difficult time attaining a strong barbell deadlift, and the reason has much less to do with their so-called "mobility" than many coaches are willing to admit. In truth, it's about leverage. Some of us are built in ways that simply aren't conducive to strong pulls using the straight bar.

Having a strong pull means the bar needs to travel in a straight line from bottom to top. It also means the shoulder blades need to start in a position above the bar to create the sturdiest base of support. Remove one of these two factors and not only will your form suffer, you'll have a low ceiling on how much you can lift. To illustrate, check out my quick tutorial on barbell deadlifting.

The reason why the trap bar creates less of a problem for taller or longer-limbed lifters is due to the fact that there's no longer a straight bar blocking the shins from migrating forward via ankle dorsiflexion. It's already aligned with your center of gravity. This allows a lifter to drop their butt a couple of inches, keep a straighter spine, and ultimately pull from a safer and more powerful starting position.

Reason 2: It Promotes Healthier Shoulders

We've all seen a deadlift performed with a double overhand grip. Though everything is symmetrical when performing pulls this way, there's no escaping the fact that even a double overhand grip is still promoting a loaded pull while internally rotated at the shoulder joint.

That may not be much of a problem if you're not into lifting ultra-heavy, or if you don't have a history of poor posture. Unfortunately, I'll go as far as to assume that 5 out of 10 people reading this are dealing with one of the two. For those reasons, lifting with the neutral grip that a trap bar can provide places your arms in a slightly externally rotated position. This is both closer to healthy anatomical position, and much more similar to the real-world posture for carrying a heavy load.

Reason 3: It Hits All the Same Muscles, But is Safer on the Spine

In all honesty, you can target your posterior chain a bit more easily when performing barbell deadlifts. I'll admit that. But the reality is this: Most people who like to pull really heavy from the floor aren't doing it to zero in on their glutes and hams. They're doing it to crush a strength PR, and just to be able to pull heavy. And heavy trap bar deads still make the glutes and hams work plenty—just not quite as hard as the barbell deadlift. It works all the same muscles, in slightly different ratios.

The difference is what happens at the spine. When it comes time to lift heavy, no matter how strong you are, you're placing yourself at a greater risk for acute lumbar spine injuries compared to doing the same thing with a much lighter load. It just takes one missed rep.

Now, think about my first point. If you're a person with leverages that aren't favorable for deadlifts, you're probably at even greater risk. But time and time again, we try to force-feed this lift to ourselves and our clients, telling them they need to meet arbitrary single-rep strength standards in order to consider themselves strong or capable.

I would argue that it's smart to sacrifice that smidgen of posterior dominance that a barbell deadlift may provide in exchange for the more even force distribution the trap bar spreads between the quads, glutes, back, and hamstrings. If you're talking about slightly higher-rep sets, like the 8 reps I'll have you do in the workout below or something higher, that exchange is even smarter.

And if you have any kind of injury history, well, the case is clear. The trap bar allows you to get low, dig in, and crush a new pulling PR with greater confidence.

Getting the Most out of Trap Bar Deadlifts

You can program trap bar deadlifts exactly the way you programmed your barbell deadlifts. It lends itself to pretty much every classic size and strength rep scheme. They're fantastic for cluster sets, which I explained in my article "The Simple Strength Trick to Get the Most Out Of Heavy Lifts." And yes, you can usually pull a bit more on the trap bar than the straight bar, though the amount varies dramatically lifter by lifter.

But before you go balls-to-the-wall and try to clear every plate in the gym, compare the different options the bar offers. I like to think of them as a progression.

Step 1: High Handle

Keeping the trap bar high handles-up is a great introduction to the apparatus, and if it's more comfortable, it's also fine to use throughout your entire training journey. Play around with foot width until you find one that's both comfortable and powerful, and vary your tempo from a dead-stop style to a controlled eccentric touch-and-go method.

Step 2: Low Handle

To get used to pulling from the same place you pulled barbells from, simply flip the trap bar over and use the bottom handle, if your bar has one (most do, but some don't). You'll likely have to hinge farther, since your hands will be farther apart than a typical conventional barbell deadlift asks of them. This will bring in more glute and hamstring activation.

Step 3: Deficit

Set up low handle (or high handle, if your fingers might get mashed on the low handle like in the below video), and then add a plate or two under the feet or step on an aerobic step. You'll have to get down lower, and pull for longer. It also brings in more quad, to go along with plenty of glute and hamstring. It's an easy way to make light weight feel heavier, and also a way to focus on your form.

I believe in increasing pulling space and general range of motion before adding significant weight. Only when you can match your old rep PR's using this three-step procedure should you consider adding more plates to the bar.

Use Indicator Sets

An indicator set is a preselected weight you use in order to gauge your freshness and strength for the day. It's a helpful tool if you go into a workout intending to lift heavy, because everyone has off days, and for most of us, it's best we don't learn that the hard way.

Indicator sets involve a weight you can move with ease, but that's still heavy enough to require perfect form to lift. The empty bar won't cut it, and neither will the first ramping set up.

Personally, in heavy squat, deadlift, and bench press workouts, my indicator set was always 275 pounds. I made sure to hit that number in my ramp each time in order to see how fast it moved. Sometimes it moved like butter, and other times it moved like molasses. Depending on that set, it allowed me to tailor the rest of my workout appropriately. The last thing you want to do is attempt a lifetime PR when you can hardly move half of that weight with ease.

The Best Damn Trap Bar Workout, Period

I recommend alternating these workouts each week. Yes, this means you only get to crush a heavy 3-rep set once every two weeks, but if your goal is long-term progress rather than short-term ego-stroking—and it should be—that's enough. If you're someone who prefers twice a week, sure, you can alternate the two workouts.

Week 1: Heavy/CNS Load

• Empty Cradle x 6
• 30% of 1RM x 3
• 50% of 1RM x 3
• 60% x 3
• 70% x 3**
• 75% x 3
• 80% x 3
• 85% x 3
• 90% 3-5 sets x 3
• Rest 3 minutes between sets.

Indicator set.** I chose 70 percent based on the fact that the workout asks for heavy sets of 3 reps. Seventy percent of this number will likely be a load you can typically handle for 10 reps or more. It's a good place to put an indicator set and gauge your power, speed, and joint stress on any particular day.

Week 2: High Volume

• Empty Cradle x 8
• 30% of 1RM x 8
• 50% x 8
• 60% x 8
• 75% 3-5 sets x 8
• Rest 2 minutes between sets.

One Last Thing: Know What You're Lifting

Trap bars come in many shapes and sizes. At the gym where I work with clients, the trap bars are 45 pounds. At the gym where I train myself, the trap bars are 60 pounds. There are some on the market that are even lighter or heavier than those.

Knowing the exact weight of the bar you're lifting could make the difference between a comfortable 3RM and one that feels difficult for a reason you aren't yet aware of. Take it into consideration!

Now go get in the hexagon, and make some gains without shame!

Read More

Chinese Bodybuilding Comes of Age

China is flexing a lot of muscle these days. Its government is ramping up its military presence in the South China Sea, taking off the gloves in trade talks with the United States, establishing a stronger presence in outer space, and continuing its strategic investments in everything from Park Avenue high rises to African potash mines.

More Chinese people are flexing their muscles, too—but with good ol' iron. There are no exact numbers for the total number of Chinese actively engaged in strength training, but interest in bodybuilding among even just a fraction of the country's 1.4 billion citizens has the potential to reshape the fitness industry. And for bodybuilding-related companies actively pursuing international business, China presents a tantalizing target.

Love the Mass Gainers, Not the Sweet Tooth

The supplement brand MuscleTech, part of Iovate Health Sciences International Inc., a company founded in Canada, has one of the strongest sports-nutrition presences in Asia. Iovate was purchased in 2016 by the Xiwang Group Company Ltd., a Chinese conglomerate active in beverage, food, and steel logistics, among other industries.

MuscleTech quickly found out that it couldn't simply take its entire product line and market them as-is in China.

"The palates are just very different," says Justin Chen, senior international sales and brand manager at Iovate. He grew up in China and now lives in Canada. "U.S. products are way too sweet for most Chinese people," he adds, "even though they are very well received by Americans."

Chen says that MuscleTech changed its formulas to make a less-sweet mass gainer, which is now the company's top-selling product in China.

The popularity of mass gainers among Chinese bodybuilders stems, according to Chen, from the traditional Chinese diet, as well as from popular misconceptions about protein. Historically, the Chinese diet has been built around rice and vegetables. Protein-rich foods such as soybean products, meat, and fish have typically played a side role, used as flavor accents rather than main courses. So, if you're Chinese and want to build muscle, Chen says, you'll have a hard time doing so with traditional Chinese foods. You need more concentrated protein sources. You need supplements.

Adding to the confusion, many Chinese people believe that too much protein can be harmful, leading to excessive body fat and overburdening the internal organs, like the kidneys, that process and metabolize protein.

"These are common misconceptions in the local market," Chen says. "That's why we have to actively educate the fitness crowd. We try to help them understand protein is good and that you need certain levels of protein to maintain body function and build muscle."

The Ideal Chinese Physique: Not Too Big

But not too much muscle, adds Chen. Very few Chinese bodybuilders want to look in the mirror and see an oversized physique. Phil Heath, Big Ramy, Shawn Rhoden—these top bodybuilders are not aspirational for most Chinese lifters.

"There's a small cluster of hardcore gym enthusiasts who hope to emulate such massive physiques," Chen says, "but most people aspire toward more fitness-related models."

Unlike U.S. culture and its fascination with superheroes and Rambo films, most Chinese heroes rely on martial arts, rather than muscles, to overwhelm their enemies. The 1930s saw a brief flurry of interest in bodybuilding in China, but in 1953, the Chinese Communist Party essentially outlawed it, calling it a bourgeois pursuit. It wasn't until the early 2000s that sheer physical strength, as embodied in bodybuilding, became popular again in China.

Rising Incomes Make Room for Fitness

Chen attributes rising interest in strength training to the growth of a Chinese middle class with enough disposable income to invest in themselves through physical fitness. Through social media and films, Chinese people have also been influenced by the fitness crazes sweeping other countries. The Chinese government has stoked the fire of free weights by investing heavily in sporting activities, with an eye toward containing rising health care costs. Chen says that the government currently plans to invest a cool $ 200 billion or so to encourage sports participation among its citizens.

In what becomes a virtuous circle effect, people now have greater exposure to very fit individuals, and want to become like them—and the government is there to give them a hand.

Creating a Bodybuilding Ecosystem

Although fitness training in general has yet to hit the Chinese masses, a new ecosystem is forming to support it. There is now a Chinese Bodybuilding Association (CBBA), which is a member of the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB). Trade events such as ChinaFit and FIBO highlight the discipline. China will host its first Olympia-related event for Asian contestants in Beijing this June. And in September, athletes from more than 60 countries will attend the CBBA-sponsored 2018 IFBB Belt and Road event in Xi'an, China.

As the number of competitive events in China grow, so too do the number of Chinese bodybuilders—men and women alike—starting to make their mark on the industry. Long Wu became the first Chinese IFBB pro after competing in the 2015 Olympia Amateur Asia. He has since placed 10th at the 2017 IFBB Arnold Classic in Ohio, and 14th at the 2017 Olympia.

Mou Cong became China's first female bodybuilding world champion after she won the figure D class and the Amateur Overall Figure competition at the 2017 Arnold Amateur. The Chinese media later dubbed her "the world's prettiest bodybuilder." Cong is also the first Chinese woman to win an IFBB membership. Today, she is a Nike-sponsored athlete, sports model, and fitness instructor.

The Rise of the Training Class

Chen says that the number of personal training schools is exploding as Chinese athletes see this as an attractive profession that meets the needs of the emerging "fitness class." (In the early 2000s, the number of fitness centers numbered in the low hundreds. Today there are more than 17,000.)

"[Personal training] is actually becoming one of the hottest professions in China because the entry point is relatively low," says Chen. "You don't need a lot of education to get in, and it doesn't take you a long time to graduate. And once you have a job as a personal trainer, you can make a lot of money."

The cream of the training crop goes on to work with emerging bodybuilding stars such as Long Wu and Mou Cong. These trainers can also position themselves as key opinion leaders, capable of influencing people's fitness decisions and driving consumer traffic to e-commerce platforms for fitness programs and gear. They can also make money as sponsored athletes. Until recently, the relative lack of Chinese supplement and fitness-gear companies made these opportunities few and far between—and they paid far less than what models earn in the U.S.

"There's more money there now," says Chen. "Going forward, we'll see more athletes able to support themselves through modeling and sponsoring. It won't be long before we see more Chinese bodybuilders attracting international attention and making enough money to travel overseas for top-tier training."

Read More

Germany's Jews urged not to wear kippahs after attacks

The leader of Germany's Jewish community has advised Jews to avoid wearing traditional skullcaps (kippahs) following anti-Semitic attacks.

Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Berlin public radio that Jews should exercise caution in big cities.

His comments come ahead of a "Berlin Wears Kippah" solidarity march in the German capital on Wednesday.

Last week, two young men wearing kippahs were assaulted in the city.

The attacker was filmed shouting anti-Semitic abuse.

Jewish organisations in Germany have expressed alarm over a number of recent anti-Semitic insults and threats in schools.

At the weekend, Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned what she described as "another form of anti-Semitism".

She told Israel's Channel 10 TV network that aside from anti-Semitism by right-wing groups, similar threats were coming from some Muslim refugees in the country.

• Conductor protests in anti-Semitism row
• German fury at Holocaust memorial remark
• Berlin anti-Semitic attack caught on video

What did Josef Schuster say?

"Defiantly showing your colours would in principle be the right way to go [to tackle anti-Semitism]," he said.

"Nevertheless, I would advise individual people against openly wearing a kippah in big German cities," Mr Schuster added.

But he also stressed that if Germans refused to stand up to anti-Semitism "our democracy would be at risk".

"This is not only about anti-Semitism - it goes along with racism, it goes along with xenophobia. You need a clear stop sign here."

What about reaction from other groups?

Mr Schuster's comments apparently contradict the position taken on the kippah issue by the Berlin-based Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism - the organisation which shared video of last week's attack on Facebook.

Media captionFootage of last week's attack in the Prenzlauer Berg area of Berlin

"I used to always advise my Jewish friends and acquaintances not to wear a kippah so as not to show their Jewish identity. I changed my opinion," a spokesman said last week.

"We must take up this fight and be visible again in public."

Separately, the head of Germany's Central Council of Muslims condemned recent anti-Semitic attacks.

"Anti-Semitism, racism and hatred are great sins in Islam, therefore we will also never tolerate that," Aiman Mazyek told Germany's Rheinische Post newspaper.

Germany's Jewish population has grown rapidly since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Before 1989, the population was below 30,000 but an influx of Jews, mainly from the former Soviet Union, has raised the number to more than 200,000.

Read More

Supreme court upholds teenager's 241-year prison term

Bobby Bostic committed several violent crimes in 1995, including armed robbery, but his lawyers argued his sentence was unconstitutional.

They cited the Eighth Amendment, which forbids "cruel and unusual punishments" and demanded a retrial, but in vain.

The justices did not give a reason for their decision.

The teenage Bostic had robbed people delivering Christmas presents at gunpoint, shot and injured a man, and stole a car.

Bostic's lawyers wrote in their petition that the unfair sentencing meant Bostic, "who committed only nonhomicide offenses as a 16 year old, will never be fit to rejoin society, no matter how successfully he demonstrates maturity and reform as an adult".

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution "prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide."

• The teenager sentenced to 241 years in prison

Bostic was sentenced in 1997, at the age of 18, and the judge who sentenced him has since said: "This is the only one where I regret the amount of time I gave."

Evelyn Baker was a judge for 25 years, retiring 10 years ago. The Bostic sentence was the longest she ever gave.

"This is the only one where I regret the amount of time I gave," she told the BBC earlier this year. "The amount of time is ridiculous."

The Supreme Court's rejection means Bostic will not be eligible for parole until he is 112.

Read More

Kidnapped Mexico students dissolved in acid

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionRelatives and friends of the missing students have been holding protests, demanding their safe return

Three Mexican film students kidnapped last month in the western Jalisco state were later killed and their bodies dissolved in acid, local officials say.

They say the male students, all in their 20s, were killed by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel gang, who likely confused them with rival gang members.

Genetic remains of the missing students were found on a farm in recent days, the officials say.

The students were kidnapped on 19 March in the town of Tonalá.

• Mexico's most-wanted: A guide to the drug cartels

Reports in local media say they were seized by a group of men disguised as police when their car broke down on a motorway.

They students have been named as Salomón Aceves Gastélum, Jesús Daniel Díaz and Marco Ávalos.

The Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal gangs, controls large areas of the western state.

In January, three Italian men disappeared there, and are believed to have been handed over by local police to gangsters.

• Mexico police officers sought over three missing Italians

More than 200,000 people have been killed or have disappeared since Mexico's government declared war on organised crime in December 2006.

The military offensive has led to the destruction of some drug gangs, splits within others and the emergence of new groups.

But with widespread corruption and impunity exacerbating Mexico's problems, there is no end in sight to the violence.

In 2014, 43 students disappeared in the southern state of Guerrero.

• Mexico missing students: Key suspect arrested

The state prosecutor in that case said that the students had been handed by corrupt local police to a criminal gang, who killed them and burned their bodies.

Read More

Toronto van attack: Alek Minassian charged with 10 counts of murder

Media caption"I have a gun in my pocket" – the moment Alek Minassian was arrested.A driver suspected of killing 10 people and injuring 15 more by ploughing a rental van into pedestrians in Toronto has appeared in court in the city.

Alek Minassian, 25, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Mr Minassian wore a white jumpsuit, with a shaved head and his hands behind his back. He showed little emotion.

He was read the charges and ordered to have no contact with surviving victims. He will return to court on 10 May.

A man believed to be a relative of Mr Minassian's sat in the front row of the court and wept. Asked by reporters after the hearing if he had anything to say, the man replied "sorry".

Skip Twitter post by @TomLlamasABC

Tom Llamas

✔@TomLlamasABC

This man, believed to be Minassian's relative, was escorted out by court officials and was crying in the front row during the hearing. He said "sorry" when asked if he had anything to say to the people of Canada and softly said "no"when asked if there were warning signs. @ABC

9:25 PM - Apr 24, 2018

• 6

• See Tom Llamas's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @TomLlamasABC

Mr Minassian's court appearance came shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed reporters in the city, calling the incident a "senseless attack and a horrific tragedy".

The suspect was arrested several blocks from the scene of Monday's attack, after a tense standoff with a police officer.

• How is Toronto attack suspect not dead?
• What we know about Alek Minassian
• Victim Anne Marie D'Amico was 'full of life'

Image copyrightINSTAGRAM/VODKAWATERPAPIImage captionThe suspect confronted a police officer and claimed to have a gun

What do we know about Alek Minassian?

Police say Mr Minassian is from the northern Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill and was not previously known to authorities.

Public safety minister Ralph Goodale said there "would appear to be no national security connections" and Canadian broadcaster CBC cited government officials as saying Mr Minassian was not associated with any known terror groups.

Facebook has deleted Mr Minassian's account, but a copy of a post has emerged published by the suspect shortly before the attack on Monday.

Image copyrightLINKEDIN

The post, which Facebook confirmed as real to the BBC, praises Elliott Rodger, a 22 year old from California who killed six people with his car in 2014.

It reads: "The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"

The term "incel" refers to a now-banned group on the message site Reddit where young men discussed their lack of sexual activity and attractiveness to women - often blaming women for the problem.

"Chads and Stacys" refers to attractive men and women who are perceived as better than or unavailable to "incels", which is short for "involuntary celibate".

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) confirmed that Mr Minassian was a member for two months in late 2017. He did not complete his recruit training and requested to be voluntarily released from the CAF after 16 days of the training.

Mr Minassian had previously attended a school for students with special needs in north Toronto, former classmates said.

He would be seen walking around Thornlea Secondary School with his head down and hands clasped tightly together making meowing noises, Shereen Chami told Reuters.

But she said Mr Minassian had not been violent. "He wasn't a social person, but from what I remember he was absolutely harmless," she told Reuters.

Another former student, Ari Bluff, told CBC that Minassian did not seem to have many friends. "I remember seeing him probably just walking down the halls, usually by himself, or in the cafeteria by himself," he said.

Mr Minassian went on to attend Seneca College in the North York area of Toronto, where the van incident took place, CBC reported. Reporter James Moore, with Newtalk 1010, told the BBC he had heard reports that Mr Minassian was regarded as being "quite brilliant".

Who were the victims?

Image copyrightFACEBOOKImage captionAnne Marie D'Amico was "full of life", her colleague said
So far, the name of only one of those who died has emerged.She has been identified as Anne-Marie D'Amico, who worked for the US investment company, Invesco, CBC reports. The company's Canadian headquarters are on Yonge Street.

A South Korean foreign ministry official told AFP news agency that two of its citizens were among the dead. The 15 injured remain in hospitals throughout Toronto.

How did the incident unfold?

Police said the suspect in the van mounted the kerb on Yonge Street between Finch Avenue and Sheppard Avenue at about 13:30 local time (17:30 GMT) on Monday and drove into pedestrians along a 1km (0.6-mile) stretch.

Reza Hashemi, who owns a video shop on Yonge Street, told the BBC he heard screaming on the other side of the road. He said the van was repeatedly mounting the pavement and running into people.

• 'It was awful': What eyewitnesses saw

One witness told City News that the driver was "hitting anything that comes in the way".

"People, fire hydrants, there's mail boxes being run over," said the unnamed man, who said he was driving behind the van during the incident.

As the van continued, the man said he sounded his horn to try to warn pedestrians. "I witnessed at least six, seven people being hit and flying in the air, like killed, on the street," he said.

Pictures from the scene showed bodies covered in orange sheets along the van's route. Debris and items of clothing were scattered across the pavements and road.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionPeople signed a memorial card for the victims near the scene

The van was brought to a halt by police several streets away and was quickly surrounded.

The suspect pointed an object at the officer and claimed to have a gun.

"I don't care. Get down," the officer said, before arresting Mr Minassian without firing a shot. The arrest was filmed by two bystanders and the officer was praised for not opening fire.

Mr Trudeau praised the police response, saying officers "faced danger without a moment of hesitation".

Read More

Trump threatens 'big problems' for Iran if they resume nuclear tests

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran of "big problems" if it resumes the nuclear programme it agreed to curb in a 2015 international accord.

Speaking at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr Trump called the Iran deal "insane".

Mr Macron, who is lobbying Mr Trump to preserve the deal, said it was possible to forge a new Iran accord.

The US president has been threatening to reject an extension of the Obama-era nuclear pact by a 12 May deadline.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit the US capital on Friday to make a last-minute bid to dissuade Mr Trump from potentially torpedoing the Iran agreement.

Media captionWhat French people think about Trump and Macron meeting

"It won't be so easy for them to restart," Mr Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday when a journalist asked him about the possibility of Iran relaunching its nuclear programme if the deal is scrapped.

"They're not going to be restarting anything. They restart it they're going to have big problems, bigger than they've ever had before.

"And you can mark it down - they restart their nuclear programme, they will have bigger problems than they've ever had before."

Mr Trump's stark warning comes a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened "severe consequences" if the US withdraws from the nuclear deal.

Mr Rouhani did not specify what retaliatory action Tehran might take. But his Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, has said a probable response would be to restart the enrichment of uranium - a key bomb-making ingredient.

Media captionThe ups and downs of Trump and Macron

Mr Macron is the first foreign leader to be treated to a state visit during the Trump presidency.

At a joint news conference later on Tuesday, Mr Macron said he had had a very frank discussion with Mr Trump.

The French president told reporters he believes it is possible to forge a new agreement on the Iran issue.

"We want sustainable stability and I believe the discussions we've had together make it possible to open the way, to pave the way for a new agreement," said Mr Macron.

Under the deal, Tehran agreed to mothball its nuclear programme, which it maintains was for peaceful civilian purposes, in return for an easing of economic sanctions.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionMr Trump wipes away "dandruff" from Mr Macron's shoulder

Mr Trump has long complained that the accord - signed by the US, Iran, Europe, Russia, China and Germany - does nothing to halt Iran's support for militant groups in the region such as Hezbollah.

The US president is also demanding that signatories to the pact agree permanent restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment. Under the current deal they are set to expire in 2025.

At one point during Tuesday's Oval Office photocall, Mr Trump wiped "dandruff" from Mr Macron's shoulder.

"We do have a very special relationship," Mr Trump told journalists gathered in his office.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe dining room has been prepared ahead of Tuesday dinner

"In fact I'll get that little piece of dandruff off.

"Little piece! We have to make him perfect. He is perfect."

The Iran deal is not the only potential source of discord between the two leaders.

Also on the agenda is the Paris climate accord, the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and planned US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.

Earlier in the day, Mr Macron and his wife were welcomed to the White House with a military ceremony and a 21-gun salute.

In welcoming remarks, Mr Trump thanked France for joining the US and Britain earlier this month in launching air strikes after an alleged chemical attack in Syria.

On Tuesday evening, the White House will host an official state dinner for the Macrons, who will be served lamb and jambalaya, a traditional Cajun stew.

Read More

Kenya dams 'a flood risk' after heavy rains

Two dams in Kenya are close to overflowing because of heavy rains, threatening the lives of thousands of people, the Red Cross has told the BBC.

Abbas Gullet, the head of the Kenya Red Cross, advised people in east and central regions to move to higher ground because of the flood risk.

He said that 200,000 had already been displaced because of flooding, many staying in schools or open areas.

Roads have been submerged under water and there have also been landslides.

The two dams - Masinga and Kamburu - are fed by water from Mount Kenya.

People have been sharing pictures on social media of the aftermath of the flooding, including one of a Red Cross member of staff helping an elderly man in south-eastern Tana River county, where 50,000 have had to leave their homes.

End of Twitter post by @KenyaRedCross

The rains have forced President Uhuru Kenyatta to cancel his travel plans to western Kenya, where marooned houses can be seen below. He was due to attend a high-profile conference and has now decided to read his speech via video link.

Skip Twitter post 2 by @KenyaRedCross

Kenya Red Cross

✔@KenyaRedCross

Reports of families marooned by floodwaters in Ahero, Kisumu, coming in. The Kenya #RedCross together with the county government of Kisumu is responding.

7:29 PM - Apr 23, 2018 · Nairobi, Kenya

• 22

• 17 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post 2 by @KenyaRedCross

A drone shot shared by a local TV station shows a damaged section on a major road. It is in Mahi-Mahiu in the south-west where a huge crack that might one day split Africa into two appeared.

Skip Twitter post by @ntvkenya

NTV Kenya

✔@ntvkenya

The mess that is Narok- Mai Mahiu road. Kenya Police Service advices motorists to drive with caution and obey instructions by Traffic Police. #FloodsKe #NTVNews

5:40 PM - Apr 24, 2018

• 60

• 96 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @ntvkenya

The police posted a picture of this officer directing traffic on a flooded road.

Skip Twitter post by @NPSOfficial_KE

View image on Twitter

National Police Service-Kenya

✔@NPSOfficial_KE

IG @JBoinnet commends Police Constable Abdi Galgalo of Sultan Hamud Police Station captured by a motorist while directing traffic on a flooded section of the Nairobi/Mombasa highway. His action exemplifies the selfless service rendered by many officers to Kenyans each day.

6:14 PM - Apr 23, 2018

• 1,113

• 609 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @NPSOfficial_KE

This aerial shot of Garissa town, in the north-east of the country where thousands have been displaced, shows the swollen River Tana.

Skip Twitter post by @RadioCitizenFM

Radio Citizen

✔@RadioCitizenFM

#FloodsKe watch
River Tana in Garissa town

4:47 PM - Mar 20, 2018

• 10

• See Radio Citizen's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @RadioCitizenFM

In the capital, Nairobi, one tweeter considered his options for getting home.

Skip Twitter post by @mmtairo

Martin Tairo@mmtairo

My way home every evening. But I have options...
1. Swim across
2. Use the overpass to KQ Pride Centre and drive through a KM of black cotton back to my house
3. Join Outering Rd and drive to Donholm or Umoja then turn back
4. Not go home
Viva Nairobi!

12:23 PM - Apr 23, 2018

• 215

• 305 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @mmtairo

Another Nairobi tweeter sent out a rallying call for the city's residents to snap similar pictures to show the authorities that there is a drainage problem.

Skip Twitter post by @lagaless

View image on Twitter

LAGALESS 33° @lagaless

Let's document Nairobi's drainage problem using this hashtag #CityUnderWater. We are tired of Shouting Nairobi Floods, making them think it is an occasional problem.
Drainage is a persistent problem so. #CityUnderWater @KenyanTraffic

4:34 PM - Apr 24, 2018

• 11

• 44 people are talking about this

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Report

End of Twitter post by @lagaless

And some on social media appreciated that the flood waters had forced motorists to observe traffic rules. The notorious public buses called "matatus" - like the one in the tweet below - are not known for staying in single file.

Skip Twitter post by @MacOtani

View image on Twitter

Mac Otani

✔@MacOtani

The law against overlapping has been strictly implemented. #FloodsKe

5:14 PM - Apr 24, 2018

• 138

• 139 people are talking about this

Read More

Vincent Bolloré: French tycoon held over 'Africa corruption'

French billionaire Vincent Bolloré has been detained for questioning by anti-corruption police near Paris.

Officers in Nanterre are asking him about suspected corruption in Africa, reports say. It comes days after he stepped down as chairman of the media group Vivendi.

His holding company the Bolloré Group has denied any irregularities.

It is alleged that a subsidiary helped two African presidents win power in return for lucrative contracts.

Two rival firms have taken the Bolloré Group to court over the concessions.

• Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories

Mr Bolloré's business empire includes shipping, advertising, construction and media and has large interests in Africa. He is one of France's best-known businessmen.

Investigators are looking into allegations that his Havas advertising agency provided discounted communications advice to Guinean President Alpha Condé and Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé at election time in return for the Bolloré Africa Logistics company being given licences to operate container ports in Conakry and Lomé.

All parties deny the allegations.

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY

Image captionThe Guinean government says there is nothing wrong with the contract for Conakry port

After the election in Guinea, Mr Condé terminated the contract of Conakry port's existing operator and gave it to the Bolloré Group.

A spokesman for the government of Guinea said there was nothing wrong with the contract for the shipping container terminal.

The Bolloré Group says that its long record of investment in Africa was already sufficient grounds for it to have been awarded the licences.

Read More

Oil at $75 as Iran sanction fears mount

Oil prices hit $75 on Tuesday, the highest level in nearly three and a half years, as fears mounted over the prospect of new US sanctions on Iran.

Brent crude jumped for the sixth consecutive day, trading as high as $75.27 before falling back slightly.

The US will decide by 12 May whether to abandon a nuclear deal with Iran and re-impose sanctions.

Such a move on the third-biggest oil producer in the Opec cartel threatens to further tighten global supplies.

Oil prices have been rising since the 14 nations in Opec, as well as other producers including Russia, decided to restrict output last year.

In November they agreed to extend those cuts until the end of 2018.

Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM said the prospect of President Trump pulling the US out of the nuclear accord that Iran signed with world powers in 2015 was the most significant element of Brent's recent rally.

"All bets are off on the US staying in the nuclear agreement," he said.

The US president has said that unless European allies fix what he has called "terrible flaws" in the accord by 12 May, he will restore US economic sanctions on Iran.

The other nations that signed the deal - the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China - all want to keep in place the agreement, which has halted Iran's nuclear programme in return for most international sanctions being lifted.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Restoring US economic sanctions on Iran would be a severe blow to the pact.

Stephen Innes of futures brokerage OANDA said new sanctions against Tehran could push oil prices up by as much as $5 a barrel.

The Opec production curbs have reduced stockpiles, but those cuts have been partially offset by a surge in US oil output.

Meanwhile, demand in Asia - the region that consumes the most oil, has hit a record high, prompting the opening of new refineries in China and Vietnam.

Brent was up 14 cents at $74.90 by 1100 BST, while US crude rose 51 cents to $69.15 - its highest price since 28 November 2014.

Read More