FRANKFURT, Germany: A German court on Saturday ordered a 25-year-old man born in Afghanistan held on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a knife attack at an event organized by a group opposing “political Islam” that left six people injured.
The victims included a police officer who remained hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after he was stabbed while trying to intervene, police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.
Officials offered no information regarding the motive for the attack on Friday on the central square in Mannheim.
A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children. His apartment in the town of Heppenheim was searched Friday night and police recovered digital devices whose contents were being evaluated.
Officials said that the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, was hospitalized and not in a condition to be questioned. They said he had no prior police record.
They haven’t disclosed the suspect’s citizenship or immigration status or how he came to Germany.
The group, Pax Europa, describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam.” Michael Stürzenberger, an anti-Islamist activist who is one of the group’s leading figures and has spoken at its events, was among those wounded.
Stürzenberger, 59, posted a picture of himself on his Telegram channel from his hospital bed, showing a long, bandaged cut on his upper lip and cheek. He said he had suffered “significant blood loss” from a stab wound in his thigh as well as a cut on his jaw that had been stapled shut.
The other victims were five men ages 25, 36, 42, and 54. The 25-year-old man has been released from the hospital, while the others were still be treated. The 54-year-old man suffered injuries that were initially life-threatening, but he was now out of danger.
German court orders man born in Afghanistan held after knife attack at an anti-political Islam event
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German court orders man born in Afghanistan held after knife attack at an anti-political Islam event
- A statement from police and prosecutors said that the suspect had lived in Germany since 2014, was married and has two children
- Officials said that the suspect, who was shot and wounded by police, was hospitalized and not in a condition to be questioned
Trump hush money sentencing delayed due to immunity decision
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: A New York judge on Tuesday delayed Donald Trump’s sentencing for his conviction on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until Sept. 18, after the former US president asked for a chance to argue he should have been immune from prosecution.
The sentencing had previously been set for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee on July 15. The new timeline means Trump will likely have been nominated by his party to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden by the time he is sentenced. Justice Juan Merchan will now decide Trump’s punishment, including whether to jail him, in the thick of the general election campaign ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned, since much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his time in office. Trump’s lawyers on Monday asked Merchan to allow them to argue his conviction in New York state court in Manhattan should be overturned due to the US Supreme Court’s ruling on July 1 that presidents are entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said earlier on Tuesday that Trump’s argument was “without merit,” but agreed to delay the sentencing to give Trump the chance to make his case. In a written ruling, Merchan said he would rule on Trump’s request by Sept. 6, with sentencing to follow less than two weeks later should the judge decide to uphold the conviction. Trump’s lawyers must submit their arguments by July 10, and prosecutors face a July 24 deadline to respond. A Manhattan jury on May 30 found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Prosecutors said the payment was part of an illicit scheme to influence the election. Trump denies having had sex with Daniels and has vowed to appeal the conviction after his sentencing.
’A PURELY PERSONAL ITEM’
In their letter to Merchan, defense lawyers argued that prosecutors had presented evidence involving Trump’s official acts as president, including social media posts he made and conversations he had while in the White House.
Under the Supreme Court’s ruling, prosecutors cannot use evidence related to official actions to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.
“This official-acts evidence should never have been put before the jury,” lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote. Last year, Trump made a similar argument as part of an unsuccessful push to move the hush money case to federal court. In denying Trump’s request in July 2023, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote that the payment to Daniels “was a purely personal item.”
“Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump’s lawyers appealed Hellerstein’s decision, but later abandoned the effort.
A stampede at a religious event in India has killed at least 60 people
- Stampede occurred when thousands rushed to leave makeshift tent following event with Hindu figure Bhole Baba
- Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas
LUCKNOW, India: A stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 60 and left scores injured, officials said Tuesday, adding the toll could rise.
Attendees had rushed to leave the makeshift tent following an event with Hindu figure Bhole Baba, local media reported. Video of the aftermath showed the structure appeared to have collapsed. Women wailed over the dead.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Police officer Rajesh Singh said overcrowding may have been a factor in the stampede in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.
Initial reports suggested that over 15,000 people had gathered for the event, which had permission to host about 5,000.
“People started falling one upon another, one upon another. Those who were crushed died. People there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Bodies were brought to hospitals and morgues by trucks and private vehicles, government official Matadin Saroj said. Government official Ashish Kumar told The Associated Press that at least 60 had reached mortuaries in the district.
More than 150 people were admitted to hospitals, medical official Umesh Tripathi said.
Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the stampede “extremely sad and heart-wrenching” in a post on social media platform X. He said authorities were investigating the cause.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
Man convicted of terrorism offense for planning attack on UK military base
- Farooq was arrested outside St. James’s Hospital in Leeds, where he had previously worked as a student nurse
- Police who attended the scene discovered in Farooq’s bag a pressure cooker with wires attached
LONDON: A British man was convicted on Tuesday of planning an attack on a military base after being arrested with an explosive device in the grounds of a hospital, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said.
Mohammad Farooq was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, in northern England.
The 28-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life, possession of an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances, possession of information likely to be useful to a terrorist, and other offenses.
Farooq was arrested outside St. James’s Hospital in Leeds, where he had previously worked as a student nurse, after showing a member of the public a gun and saying he “felt like killing everyone,” the CPS said.
Police who attended the scene discovered in Farooq’s bag a pressure cooker with wires attached, which bomb disposal experts found to be a viable explosive device.
The CPS said Farooq’s electronic devices revealed evidence of his interest in extremist ideology and research into RAF Menwith Hill, a nearby Royal Air Force base in North Yorkshire.
Farooq had pleaded not guilty to but was convicted of preparing a terrorist attack at RAF Menwith Hill. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Bethan David, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Farooq is an extremely dangerous individual who amassed a significant amount of practical and theoretical information that enabled him to produce a viable explosive device.
“He then took that homemade explosive device to a hospital where he worked with the intention to cause serious harm. Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred toward his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers.
“It is clear from his Internet searches that he was also conducting extensive research of RAF Menwith Hill, with a view to launching a potential attack.”
Indian worker’s employer arrested for murder in Italy
- Antonello Lovato was arrested for second degree murder over the death of Satnam Singh
- “If the Indian, who died due to copious blood loss, had been promptly helped, he would in all likelihood have been saved,” the Latina prosecutors’ office said
ROME: Italian police Tuesday arrested the employer of an Indian farm laborer who was left on the road to die after a work accident that severed his arm and crushed his legs.
Antonello Lovato was arrested for second degree murder over the death of Satnam Singh, who was injured while working on a farm in Latina, a rural area south of Rome where tens of thousands of Indian farmhands work.
“If the Indian, who died due to copious blood loss, had been promptly helped, he would in all likelihood have been saved,” the Latina prosecutors’ office said, citing a medical examiner.
Singh, who was 31 and working without legal papers, had his arm sliced off by a machine which also crushed his legs.
Lovato then dumped Singh and his wife on the roadside, along with the severed limb in a box, according to trade unions who are supporting Singh’s widow.
“The worker’s condition after the accident was so serious as to make the need for prompt assistance clear,” the prosecutors’ office said.
Prosecutors said an ongoing investigation would continue into working conditions on the farm.
Undocumented workers in the region where the farm is located are paid an average of 20 euros ($21) a day for up to 14 hours labor, according to the Osservatorio Placido Rizzotto, which analyzes conditions in the agriculture industry.
Italy’s financial police identified nearly 60,000 undocumented workers from January 2023 to June 2024.
But Italy’s largest trade union CGIL estimates that as many as 230,000 people — over a quarter of the country’s seasonal agricultural workers — do not have a contract.
Ukraine to get ‘good news’ on air defense at NATO summit, US official says
- The Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems
BRUSSELS: Ukraine is expected to get “good news” in its quest for more air defense systems at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.
“We hope we’ll be able to get to the summit and make some new announcements on air defense,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You’ve heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we’ll have some additional good news for them on that front.”
The official did not provide any further details.
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Leaders gather for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington from July 9 to July 11, intended in part to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.
