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4 dead, at least 9 injured in shooting at high school near Atlanta, authorities say

Cars are parked on the sides of a road as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, US Sept. 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 05 September 2024
AP
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4 dead, at least 9 injured in shooting at high school near Atlanta, authorities say

  • A suspect was in custody, authorities said
  • “What you see behind us is an evil thing,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a brief news conference outside Apalachee High School
Updated 05 September 2024
AP

ATLANTA, USA: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday that four people were killed and at least nine were injured in a shooting at a high school outside of Atlanta.
Students scrambled for shelter in the football stadium as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe.
A suspect was in custody, authorities said.
“What you see behind us is an evil thing,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a brief news conference outside Apalachee High School. He declined to give details about casualties, or about the suspect.
Jacob King, a sophomore football player, said he had dozed off in his world history class after a morning practice when he heard about 10 gunshots.
King said he didn’t believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. King said when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student.
Ashley Enoh was at home Wednesday morning when she got a text from her brother, who’s a senior at Apalachee High School:
“Just so you know, I love you,” he texted her.
When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a shooter at the school. Enoh’s younger sister, a junior at the school, said she had heard about the shooter and that everything was on lockdown.

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Few details were immediately available from authorities, who were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. to respond to an “active shooting,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Casualties have been reported, however details on the number or their conditions is not available at this time,” the statement added.
Helicopter video from WSB-TV showed dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounding the school in Barrow County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta.
When Erin Clark, 42, received a text from her son Ethan, a senior at the high school, that there was an active shooter, she rushed from her job at the Amazon warehouse to the school. The two texted “I love you,” and Clark said she prayed for her son as she drove to the high school.
With the main road blocked to the school, Clark parked and ran with other parents. Parents were then directed to the football field. Amid the chaos, Clark found Ethan sitting on the bleachers.
Clark said her son was writing an essay in class when he first heard the gunshots. Her son then worked with his classmates to barricade the door and hide.
“I’m so proud of him for doing that,” she said. “He was so brave.”
Students had only started the school year a little over a month ago before the shooting Wednesday.
“It makes me scared to send him back,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Traffic going to the school was backed up for more than a mile as parents tried to get to their children there.
“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp added.
In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta office said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Our agents are on scene coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”
The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed by his Homeland Security Adviser, Liz Sherwood-Randall, about the shooting and the administration will coordinate with federal, state and local officials as it receives more information.
Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County’s second largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System. It’s named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.
The shooting had reverberations in Atlanta, where patrols of schools in that city were beefed up, authorities said. More patrols of Atlanta schools would be done “for the rest of the day out of an abundance of caution,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.

Topics: Georgia Atlanta Apalachee High School Shooting

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Pope Francis opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters
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Pope Francis opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

  • Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday
  • A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon
Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters
ROME: Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff.
Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the Holy Year, to show that “hope does not disappoint.”
“In bad moments, we can all think that everything is over,” said the pontiff. “Do not lose hope. This is the message I wanted to give you. Do not lose hope.”
Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. This Jubilee, dedicated to the theme of hope, will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
Holy Years normally occur every 25 years, and usually involve the opening in Rome of four special “Holy Doors,” which symbolize the door of salvation for Catholics. The doors, located at the papal basilicas in Rome, are only open during Jubilee years.
The Vatican said the opening of the “Holy Door” at Rome’s Rebibbia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips.

China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’

Updated 26 December 2024
Reuters
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China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’

  • The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year
Updated 26 December 2024
Reuters

BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry on Thursday urged the Philippines to return to “peaceful development,” saying Manila’s decision to deploy a US medium-range missile system in military exercises would only bring the risks of an arms race in the region.
The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Typhon’s deployment for joint exercises was “legitimate, legal and beyond reproach.” Army chief Roy Galido said on Monday that the Philippines was also planning to acquire its own mid-range missile system.
Rivalry between China and the Philippines has grown in recent years over their competing claims in the South China Sea. Longtime treaty allies Manila and Washington have also deepened military ties, further ratcheting up tensions.
“By cooperating with the United States in the introduction of Typhon, the Philippine side has surrendered its own security and national defense to others and introduced the risk of geopolitical confrontation and an arms race in the region, posing a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry.
“We once again advise the Philippine side that the only correct choice for safeguarding its security is to adhere to strategic autonomy, good neighborliness and peaceful development,” Mao told reporters at a regular press conference.
China will never sit idly by if its security interests were threatened, she added.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which is also claimed by several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.

Topics: China Philippines US

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Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs

Updated 26 December 2024
Reuters
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Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs

  • The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services
Updated 26 December 2024
Reuters

MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
On Dec. 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service killed Lt. Gen. Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow outside his apartment building by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Russia said the killing was a terrorist attack by Ukraine, with which it has been at war since February 2022, and vowed revenge.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has prevented a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking military personnel of the Defense Ministry,” the FSB said.
“Four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of these attacks have been detained,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine’s SBU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services.
One of the men retrieved a bomb disguised as a portable charger in Moscow that was to be attached with magnets to the car of one of the Defense Ministry’s top officials, the FSB said.
Another Russian man was tasked with reconnaissance of senior Russian defense officials, it said, with one plot involving the delivery of a bomb disguised as a document folder.
“An explosive device disguised as a portable charger (power bank), with magnets attached, had to be placed under the official car of one of the senior leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it said.
The exact date of the planned attacks was unclear though one of the suspects said he had retrieved a bomb on Dec. 23, according to the FSB.
Russian state TV showed what it said was footage of some of the suspects who admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence for bombings against Russian defense ministry officials.
Moscow holds Ukraine responsible for a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil designed to weaken morale — and says the West is supporting a “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, was killed in August 2022 near Moscow. The New York Times reported that
US intelligence agencies
believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the killing.
US officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said. Ukraine denied it killed Dugina.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Rural communities urged to flee east Australia bushfire

Updated 26 December 2024
AFP
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Rural communities urged to flee east Australia bushfire

  • About 600 firefighters battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers west of Melbourne
  • State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities
Updated 26 December 2024
AFP

MELBOURNE: Australian authorities urged people in dozens of rural communities to leave home “immediately” Thursday to escape an out-of-control bushfire tearing through a national park.

About 600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of Melbourne, a Victoria state emergency services spokesperson said.

The blaze has persisted for more than a week in hot, windy conditions, scorching 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) — about one-third of the park — so far without causing deaths or destroying homes.

State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities, with populations ranging from as few as six to as many as several hundred.

People in several other communities were told to take shelter indoors because it was unsafe to leave.

Firefighters expected shifting winds to complicate their task during the day, said Victoria state control center spokesman Luke Hegarty.

“We are reaching a critical part of the day when we see the wind change moving through the western part of the state,” he said in an afternoon update.

“We’re expecting strong winds and variable winds to be a concern for us over the next few hours.”

A total fire ban was declared across the whole of Victoria, barring any fires in the open air.

Topics: wildfire Australia

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Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead 20 years on

Updated 26 December 2024
AFP
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Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead 20 years on

  • A 9.1-magnitude earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004 pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia
  • A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database
Updated 26 December 2024
AFP

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Tearful mourners prayed on Thursday as ceremonies were held across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters.
A 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip on December 26, 2004, generated a series of waves as high as 30 meters (98 feet) that pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
In Indonesia’s Aceh Province, where more than 100,000 people were killed, a siren rang out at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to kick off a series of memorials around the region, including in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, which the tsunami hit hours later.
People recounted harrowing tales of horror and miraculous survival as giant waves swept in without warning, carrying debris including cars and destroying buildings in its wake.
“I thought it was doomsday,” said Hasnawati, a 54-year-old teacher who goes by one name, at the Indonesian mosque that was damaged by the tsunami.
“On a Sunday morning where our family were all laughing together, suddenly a disaster struck and everything’s gone. I can’t describe it with words.”
At Aceh’s Siron mass grave, where around 46,000 people were buried, emotional relatives recited Islamic prayers in the shade of trees that have since grown there.
Khyanisa, a 59-year-old Indonesian housewife, lost her mother and daughter, searching in vain for them in the hope they were still alive.
“I kept chanting God’s name. I looked for them everywhere,” she said.
“There was a moment where I realized they were gone. I felt my chest was in pain, I screamed.”
The victims included many foreign tourists celebrating Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, bringing the tragedy into homes around the globe.
The seabed being ripped open pushed waves at double the speed of a bullet train, crossing the Indian Ocean within hours.
In Thailand, where half of the more than 5,000 dead were foreign tourists, commemorations began early in Ban Nam Khem, its worst-hit village.
Tearful relatives laid flowers and wreaths at a curved wall in the shape of a tsunami wave with plaques bearing victims’ names.
Napaporn Pakawan, 55, lost her older sister and a niece in the tragedy.
“I feel dismay. I come here every year,” she said.
“Times flies but time is slow in our mind.”
After an interfaith ceremony, Italian survivor Francesca Ermini, 55, thanked volunteers for saving her life.
“I think all of us (survivors), when we think about you, it makes us feel so hopeful,” she said.
Unofficial beachside vigils were also expected to accompany a Thai government memorial ceremony.
A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database.
There was no warning of the impending tsunami, giving little time for evacuation, despite the hours-long gaps between the waves striking different continents.
But today a sophisticated network of monitoring stations has cut down warning times.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people perished, survivors and relatives gathered to remember around 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
The mourners boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed to Peraliya — the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Colombo.
A brief religious ceremony was held with relatives of the dead there while Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies were also organized to commemorate victims across the South Asian island nation.
Nearly 300 people were killed as far away as Somalia, as well as more than 100 in the Maldives and dozens in Malaysia and Myanmar.
Dorothy Wilkinson, a 56-year-old British woman who lost her partner and his parents to the tsunami in Thailand, said the commemorations were a time to remember the best of those who died.
“It makes me happy to come... a bit sad,” she said.
“It’s celebrating their life.”

Topics: earthquake Banda Aceh Indonesia

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