GERMANY
Nightclub shooting kills one
A 34-year-old man yesterday opened fire in a nightclub in the southern city of Konstanz, killing one person and seriously injuring three, police said. The suspect suffered life-threatening injuries in a gunfight with police officers outside the music venue after they had rushed to the scene shortly after the incident at about 2:30am. The suspect was taken to a hospital. The motive for the shooting is unclear. One police officer was also injured in the exchange of fire with the suspect. Police said in a statement that special commando forces have been deployed in the city, as it was not clear if the suspect had acted alone or had accomplices.
TURKEY
Clothing violence protested
Hundreds of Turkish women on Saturday marched in Istanbul to protest against the violence and animosity they face from men demanding, they dress more conservatively. The march, dubbed “Don’t Mess With My Outfit,” started in Kadikoy District on the Asian side of the city. Women chanted slogans and carried denim shorts on hangers as examples of the types of clothing some men say are unacceptable. Critics say President Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted AK Party have shown little interest in expanding rights for minorities, gays and women, and are intolerant of dissent. Protesters say there has been an increasing number of verbal and physical attacks against women for their choice of clothing. The march was joined by several members of the gay and transgender community after Istanbul’s pride march was banned by authorities late last month.
SPAIN
Fire engulfs music festival
A spectacular fire at a music festival has forced the evacuation of more than 20,000 concertgoers in Barcelona, the regional government said. The city’s firefighters say there were no injuries on Friday night when more than 22,000 people evacuated the concert. Images show towering flames consuming a large outdoor stage at the Tomorrowland electronic music festival held at the Parc de Can Zam. Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire. The festival’s Web site published a statement saying the “stage caught fire due to a technical malfunction.” The festival was one of several offshoots of a main Tomorrowland festival in Belgium.
GERMANY
Cash, gold found under tree
A briefcase filled with 3,500 euros (US$4,113) along with 22 gold bars weighing a total of 1kg and worth 30,000 euros was discovered beneath a tree by an honest finder who promptly turned over the small fortune to Berlin police, authorities said on Friday. The cash and gold were found just outside a bank in Neukoelln District, one of Berlin’s poorest areas. The fortunate owner later told police he had put the briefcase down to lock up his bicycle, but then forgot about it.
UNITED STATES
Gold lunar module stolen
Ohio police say a rare gold replica of the lunar space module has been stolen from the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. Wapakoneta police late on Friday responded to a museum alarm and discovered the 12.7cm high, solid-gold replica had been stolen. Replicas of the lunar excursion module produced by Cartier were presented to Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, in Paris shortly after their historic space mission. Police say the value of the replica cannot be determined. The FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are assisting in investigating the theft.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing