German and Austrian ministers break off a planned Syria trip because of a possible threat
BERLIN — The German and Austrian interior ministers broke off a planned trip to Syria on Thursday because of a possible threat to their delegation, German authorities said.
Germany's Nancy Faeser had planned to visit Damascus with her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, and a German military plane was supposed to fly Faeser's delegation into Syria from Jordan on Thursday morning.
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The Hill
35 minutes ago
- The Hill
Here's what we know about a school shooting in Austria
GRAZ, Austria (AP) — A shooter opened fire inside a school in Austria's second-biggest city Tuesday, fatally wounding 10 people, authorities said. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in Austria's postwar history. Many others were wounded in the attack, and the gunman later died by suicide in a bathroom in the school in Graz, officials said. Details about the suspect's motive, as well as information about the victims, were not immediately available. Here's what we know: The shooter opened fire at a school in Graz, fatally wounding 10 people before taking his own life, authorities said. Authorities earlier said another 12 people were wounded. Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometer (over half a mile) from Graz's historic center, after a call at 10 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., police wrote on social media that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 'A school is more than just a place of learning,' Stocker said. 'It is a space of trust, of security, of the future. The fact that this safe space was shattered by such an act of violence leaves us speechless.' Graz, Austria's second-biggest city, is located in the southeast and has about 300,000 inhabitants. The gunman was a former student at the school who didn't finish his studies, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. His name has not been made public in line with Austrian privacy rules. Authorities say he was a 21-year-old Austrian man who had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police said they didn't immediately have information on the man's motive, but said he died by suicide in a bathroom after the attack. Other attacks in the country include when four people were killed in Vienna in 2020 and the suspect, a sympathizer of the Islamic State group, also died in a shooting that stunned the Austrian capital. More than 20 other people, including a police officer, were wounded. In 2019, a 25-year-old man turned himself in to Austrian police after he killed his ex-girlfriend, her family and her new boyfriend in the Alpine resort town of Kitzbuehel. And almost exactly 10 years ago, on June 20, 2015, a man killed three people and injured more than 30 when he drove through a crowd in downtown Graz with an SUV. Austria has some of the more liberal gun laws in the European Union. Traditionally, many in the Alpine country go hunting, and it's more common to carry a weapon for that and less for self-defense. Some weapons, such as rifles and shotguns that must be reloaded manually after each shot, can be purchased in Austria from the age of 18 without a permit. Gun dealers only need to check if there's no weapons ban on the buyer, and the weapon is then added to the central weapons register. Other weapons, such as repeating shotguns or semi-automatic firearms, are more difficult to acquire — buyers need a gun ownership card and a firearms pass.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ten killed in Austria school shooting
Ten people have been killed in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz, in what is the deadliest gun attack in the country's recent history. Police said the 21-year-old gunman, a former student, took his own life in a school bathroom shortly after. The incident took place at Dreierschützengasse secondary school in the north-west of the city. Six females and three males were killed in the attack, according to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. A further 12 people were injured, some seriously, according to police. Later on Tuesday, local media reported an injured female had died in hospital, bringing the number of victims killed to 10. The gunman, who has not yet been named, was a former Dreierschützengasse student who didn't graduate from the school, Karner told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. There has been a lot of speculation about the case, Karner noted, adding it is now the job of the criminal office to investigate. In the same conference, police said the gunman's motive was still under investigation. Officers also confirmed the gunman was not known to police before the attack. Current information suggests the shooter legally owned the two guns used in the attack and had a firearms licence, police added. Local media outlets have reported the suspect used a pistol and a shotgun to carry out the shooting. He was an Austrian man from the wider Graz region who acted alone, police said. Three days of mourning have been declared in Austria, and a nationwide minute's silence will be held on Wednesday at 10:00am local time in memory of the victims. Flags on the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where the President Alexander Van der Bellen has his office, will fly at half mast. The school where the attack took place will remain closed until further notice, according to Austria's Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr. The Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Tuesday was a "dark day in [the] history of our country" and declared the shooting a "national tragedy". "A school is more than just a place to learn - it is a space for trust, for feeling comfortable and for having a future," he told the conference, adding this safe place had been "violated". "In these difficult hours, being human is our strongest point," he said. Austria's APA news agency has reported that seven of those killed were pupils. The attack "strikes our country right at its heart", Stocker said in the immediate aftermath. "These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them." Police said they began an operation at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) after gunshots were heard from inside the school. A specialist Cobra tactical unit - which handles attacks and hostage situations - was deployed to the school, police said. Authorities evacuated all pupils and teachers from the building. Police confirmed the school had been secured and there was no further danger posed to members of the public. "Locally, we have seen people crying on the streets, talking to friends that have been at the school when the shooting happened, who have maybe lost a friend," said Fanny Gasser, a journalist for the Austrian daily newspaper Kronen Zeitung. She told BBC News "everybody knows somebody" at the school because Graz - despite being the second-largest city in Austria - is "not that big". She said the school was likely unprepared for the possibility of an attack. "We are not living in America, we are living in Austria, which seems like a very safe space." Local mayor Elke Kahr called the incident a "terrible tragedy". European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas said she was "deeply shocked" by the news. "Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence," she posted on X. The incident is the deadliest mass shooting in the country's recent history. In 2020, jihadist gunman Kujtim Fejzulai shot four people dead and wounded 23 others on a rampage through Vienna's busy nightlife district. Meanwhile, in 2016, a gunman opened fire at a concert in the town of Nenzing, killing two people before shooting himself dead. Eleven other people were injured in the attack.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
German politician strips naked, calls on ‘open-minded citizens' to join him on swingers trip in France
A local German politician has copped backlash from fellow councillors after he stripped naked and called on residents to join him on a swingers trip in France. Julien Ferrat, a councillor at Mannheim City, in southwest Germany, and representative of local political party 'Die Mannheime', said the eight-day trip to swinger hotspot, Cap d'Agde, in the south of France, is to investigate how it became a global hub in nudist and sex tourism – and how this can help boost Mannheim's local economy. He gained plenty of attention – and pushback from fellow councillors – when a story of his unconventional idea appeared in the local Mannheim Official Gazette in May. It was accompanied by a naked photo of Ferrat on the beach with just a sign covering his genitals. The headline read – 'Political Education Trip to Cap d'Agde', translating to – Political education trip to Cap d'Agde. Julien Ferrat said the eight-day trip to swinger hotspot, Cap d'Agde, in the south of France, is to investigate how it became a global hub in nudist and sex tourism – and how this can help boost Mannheim's local economy. 'The naturist village in Cap d'Agde is considered a mecca for nudists and swingers,' the 33-year-old said in the article. 'What few people know: Without government support for tourism (…) this place would never have been created.' He has called for 'curious and open-minded citizens' to accompany him on the trip which will involve a training camp, to ensure no participant heads into the resort 'unprepared'. The training camp, according to the Daily Mail, involves outdoor sex on the Friesenheimer Insel in Mannheim. He stressed the training camp will 'exclude the media' to protect the participants' privacy. 'In Cap d'Agde, sex on the beach is taken literally. And anyone who's always wanted to shop naked in the supermarket can easily indulge that desire there,' he said. 'Having sex in your own bedroom is different than on the beach with a group of masturbating men like in Cap d'Agde.' He said a 'great deal can be learned' from the project village, which is now a leading naturist resort on the Mediterranean coast with professional swinger clubs and privately-run nude restaurants, bars, and a beach, the Daily Mail reported. He plans to have discussions with the tourist office and local business owners, including hotel operators. As of May 16, 75 people expressed interest in the unique holiday, with 22 people – including 14 men and eight women – confirming their place. However, not everyone has expressed their support with one councillor calling it 'embarrassing' and 'idiotic'. Ferrat gained plenty of attention when a story of his unconventional idea appeared in the local Mannheim Official Gazette in May. Julien Ferrat/Facebook 'I find this call idiotic because I believe it actually harms politics,' Christian Hötting, CDU district chairman in Mannheim and city councillor, told local publication, SWR Aktuell. 'I don't see anything sensible in it that will move the city, or the people of this city, forward. 'It's just a bit embarrassing.' Ferrat retaliated, saying, 'Nobody is forced to go there. Anyone who is bothered by it should simply put the article down.' According to the publication, the city administration is reluctant to comment on the article. 'The official gazette, as the municipality's official publication, is subject to special partisan neutrality,' a spokesperson for the council said, according to the publication. It added, that members of the municipal council write their articles on their own responsibility. It's not the first time councillor Ferrat has stripped naked. Last year, he published an introduction to himself in the official gazette alongside a photo of himself naked with his hands covering his genitals.
