Finland police continue gas pipeline rupture probe
HELSINKI, May 9 (Reuters) - Finnish police said on Friday that a probe into the rupture in 2023 of a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea is still ongoing and that cooperation with China has continued over the damage believed to have been caused by a Hong Kong-flagged vessel.
The South China Morning Post reported, opens new tab on Thursday that the captain of the NewNew Polar Bear container ship had been remanded in custody in Hong Kong on suspicion of the ship severing the pipeline.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Any measures taken by the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities in connection with the investigation are matters that will be communicated by the competent authorities themselves," Finland's National Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.
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Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Austrian school shooter sent his mother a farewell video telling her his plan but tragic twist meant she was unable to warn police in time - as girl, 15, is first victim to be pictured
A 'bullied' drop-out who turned his former school into a bloodbath on Tuesday as he massacred 10 students in a gun rampage had sent his mother a farewell video just moments before he opened fire. Investigators found the message yesterday when they searched the home of the 21-year-old shooter who took his life after his attack at BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in the city of Graz. Cops did not elaborate on investigators' findings in a brief post on social network X. But a senior official who acknowledged that the letter had been found on Tuesday night said it hadn't allowed them to draw conclusions. 'A farewell letter in analogue and digital form was found,' Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, told ORF public television. 'He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.' Alarmed by his confusing message, his mother immediately notified police, Austrian news outlet Heute reports. But despite her efforts to stop a tragedy from happening, it was too late, as she opened the video message 24 minutes after receiving it, and by then her son had already stormed into two classrooms. Ten people were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded as shots and screams rang out when a shooter stormed into his old classroom and gunned down students and teachers. Pictured: Special forces officer evacuates the school following the deadly shooting in Graz Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn't want to speculate. He said that wounded people were found on various levels of the school and, in one case, in front of the building. A 15-year-old Kosovan girl named Lea is the first of his victim's to be pictured. Mourning the teen in a Facebook post, her heartbroken aunt wrote: 'Today, my niece Lea tragically lost her life in the attack in Graz. We pray for her soul and express our gratitude to all those who share our pain during these difficult times.' More than a dozen others were wounded as shots and screams rang out when the shooter - named locally as 'Artur A' - stormed into his old classroom blasting a shotgun and a pistol which he legally owned. In the country's worst mass school shooting, terror-stricken pupils pretended to be dead as they cowered in corridors and two classrooms or ran for their lives. Chilling video captured the sound of shots followed by screams as the gunman picked off his victims. Pupils and teachers were said to be among the dead. Six female and three male victims died quickly, with one adult said to be among them. The tenth victim, a woman, succumbed to her injuries in hospital last night. The former pupil ended his deadly rampage when he turned a gun on himself in a toilet cubicle. Police later found a suicide note at his home nearby, which said he had 'felt bullied' at the school, according to Austria's Krone Zeitung newspaper, although authorities said only that he was an ex-pupil who had quit before completing his studies. Detectives are scouring data on his mobile phone and computers to build a picture of his recent movements and search for clues as to his motivation. Austria was plunged into a state of shock, with Chancellor Christian Stocker flying to Graz and declaring a 'dark day in the history of our country' as he announced three days of national mourning. More than 300 police and special forces descended on the school after 'screams and gunshots' were heard by emergency service workers during frantic calls at 10am local time. Armed Cobra police commandos charged into the four-storey building as part of an emergency response that included 65 ambulances, at least two air ambulances and 158 paramedics. Terrified pupils filmed themselves as gunshots rang out, and later as they fled down corridors as armed officers helped evacuate them from the 400-pupil school. Two schoolgirls were shown clinging on to each other as they ran from the school building. One teacher described being barricaded inside a classroom with pupils as they heard the gunshots. A distressing video showed victims lined up on stretchers outside of the school while dozens of paramedics tended to them. Some were covered by white sheets. Helicopter ambulances airlifted the most severely injured straight to Graz Regional Hospital. Desperate parents raced to the school as word of the massacre spread, with police reuniting them with evacuated survivors at a local hall. One father told how his son had survived by pretending to be dead. The man, named as Farag, told television channel Puls 24: 'Out of fear, he lay down to pretend that he was killed so that he wouldn't be targeted any more.' He added: 'Who did this? What kind of problem did he have?' One mother said: 'My son called me to say he was in school and that he was being shot at, and that he thinks he is going to die. I've only found out now, two hours later, that he's still alive.' Metin Ozden, who was in his kebab restaurant near the school, said: 'I've never seen so many emergency services in my entire life.' He said parents passing his restaurant were crying as they rushed to the school. Police commander Franz Ruff said 'at least' a dozen people had been injured in addition to those killed. Krone Zeitung newspaper previously reported that 28 people were taken to hospital, with at least two of them in an 'extremely critical condition'. Seven required emergency surgery. Some victims had reportedly been shot in the head. The numbers have not been officially verified. Police confirmed the killer had legally owned the weapons, with the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper reporting he had purchased one of the guns just days ago. Attacks in public are rare in the nation of almost 9.2 million people, which ranks among the ten safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index. Last night the country's Chancellor said: 'A school... 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.' Austria's foreign minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said: 'As a mother of three children, my heart is breaking.' The local state governor Mario Kunasek said 'the green heart of Austria is crying', while president Alexander van der Bellen said: 'This horror cannot be captured in words.' Leaders from across Europe sent their condolences including Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky who said he was 'deeply saddened'. French education minister Elisabeth Borne said that one of those who died was a 'young fellow citizen' of France. At a news conference earlier in the day, Austria's interior minister Gerhard Karner refused to be drawn on 'speculation' in the case, saying it was the job of the criminal office to investigate. Police did confirm the killer was not 'known' to authorities before the attack. Last night Graz Cathedral held a service of reflection and the city's main square became a 'sea of lights' as candles were lit for the victims. In a nearby parish church, prayers were said for victims including one called Leo. 'We are lighting a light for Leo,' said Father Pesendorfer, who was in tears. Today, a nationwide minute's silence will be held at 10am local time. Flags on the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where the president has his office, will fly at half mast. Yesterday afternoon long queues formed outside a blood donation centre in Graz. Johanna, 30, said: 'I'm here because I wanted to do something. I felt helpless.' Austria has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, with roughly 370,000 Austrians legally owning 1.5 million registered firearms, according to the interior ministry. Wild hunting is popular in the country and more than half of Austria's registered firearms fall under the category of weapons that can be owned by any adult without a licence.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Madeleine McCann detectives discovered two buried GUNS during search of Portuguese land last week - with the firearms now being analysed by forensic experts
Investigators looking for new clues relating to Madeleine McCann 's disappearance found two buried guns near the resort where she vanished from, it has been revealed. German authorities who flew to Portugal last week launched fresh searches through Atalaia - a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman's Trail. Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for several days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA - Germany 's equivalent of the FBI - to conduct searches. Olive Press reported that the two firearms have now been sent back to Germany for analysis, along with bone fragments and 'bits of old adult clothing.' But not everyone is happy with how the operation, estimated to have cost £300,000, went. One officer told MailOnline: 'We always knew it was going to be a waste of time but we have to show cooperation. 'What did they expect to find after 18 years? We were happy to work with them but we knew it would be a waste of time.' But Portuguese media reported the search turned up enough material that investigators deemed worthy of further analysis at a laboratory. 'During the search, several items were seized that will be examined further by the German police,' reported CNN Portugal. The materials will now be carefully analyzed in the police laboratory 'to assess their potential relevance to the investigation', according the newspaper Correio da Manha. It comes as convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner - the man who German prosecutors believe was behind Madeleine's disappearance - draws closer to his release from prison. German police announced in 2020 that it had opened an investigation into Brueckner, 48, connecting him with Madeleine's abduction and murder. But he has not been charged – and the sands of time are running out. He has vehemently denied the allegations. Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 71-year-old woman, but is due for release in September and has already vowed to leave Germany. It means prosecutors will have trouble bringing him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine's disappearance. His earliest possible release date is September 17 - though his lawyer said he would have to pay €1,500 (£1,300) in outstanding fines from a series of motor offences to leave then. Brueckner's lawyer Philipp Marquort told MailOnline: 'I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal. 'What I will say is that I don't think he will be coming out in September as he doesn't have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can't see him leaving prison until early next year. 'He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.' Meanwhile, German prosecutors have been accused by Portuguese media of failing to properly investigate a claim that Madeleine was run over by a drunk driver. Portuguese officers allegedly received a tip about a British man who was 'covering up a dark secret' about his German wife running over the young girl while drunk, then hiding the body. But German authorities rejected a Portuguese request to use an undercover police officer to try to befriend the wife and firm up their suspicions, Correio da Manha claimed. The report - which says a sister of the British husband made the tip-off to UK police in 2018 - said: 'German prosecutors were asked to authorise a covert police operation with someone posing as a friend of the woman's and trying to get her to confess, but the courts refused. 'It was decided to continue solely with the investigation into suspect Christian Brueckner, rejecting other possibilities.' Correio da Manha said the mystery couple were 'alcoholics' and the wife had been drinking near the Ocean Club on the night Madeleine went missing. It also claimed the couple's neighbour had told police she heard them having a row the day after the three-year-old disappeared. She said she heard the man repeatedly yelling 'Why did you bring her?' Portuguese police are said to have got the knock-back from the Germans after urging them to look more closely into the possibility the 'German wife' had driven home 'drunk' with Madeleine after running her over, then enlisting her husband's help in disposing the body at sea.
BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Two weeks of paternity leave is just too little for the 21st Century'
As a new report describes the UK's paternity leave policy as "one of the worst in the developed world", we speak to a new father, a campaigner and a business group to see just what the problem is. "When my son was born there's a lot of happiness and joy, you have a newborn but this a huge change in your life," says Luis Palacio."You find yourself being tired, sleep deprivation and I also like taking care of the newborn, but you're still expected to do eight hours at work," the technical manager, who lives in Leeds, in 2003, statutory paternity leave, allows most new fathers and second parents in the UK to take up to two weeks off says although welcome, a fortnight is not enough time "to adapt" to the huge changes fatherhood imposes."Not only tangible changes in your daily life and routines, but the changes in your mental health."Two weeks seems too little for the 21st Century," he adds. Fathers who are eligible receive £187.18 a week or 90% of their average earnings, whichever is a father is self-employed or earns less than £123 a week then he is not entitled to paternity businesses may offer more generous policies as part of their benefits for statutory offer is the "worst in Europe," according to Alex Lloyd Hunter, the co-founder of campaign group The Dad of fathers are expected to picket outside the Department for Business and Trade in London later calling for an overhaul of the UK's parental leave Lloyd Hunter says the average paternity leave across Europe is eight weeks on full most generous offer is Spain, which gives dads 16 weeks on full pay, while further north Sweden offers parents 90 days each and an extra 300 days they can share between them."There are loads of examples of how to do this well," he says. Luke Charters, Labour MP for York Outer, agrees the system needs changing and has been advocating for a more generous policy."Those few weeks at the start of a child's life are just so important and form that bond and connections," he is something Mr Palacio is also aware of."There are studies showing that if fathers don't get this bonding with their children from the beginning it can create a long term disengagement," he says. A report published on Tuesday by the Women and Equalities Committee says paternity leave rules "entrench outdated gender stereotypes" and that "bold" action is needed - albeit at a steep financial Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses across the area, says the "growing national conversation around parental leave" is executive Louisa Harrison-Walker believes proposals to support working parents could "offer long-term benefits" to both individuals and businesses."However, any changes to statutory entitlements must also carefully consider the financial and operational realities that employers – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – are currently facing," she Lloyd Hunter says 90% of fathers want to be involved more in their children's lives and the system needs to "catch up"."Fathers recognise how important it is to be more involved in their chidren's lives."As a society we are blocking that by not updating a system that was built for an era that no longer exists," he addsA Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said the government was carrying out a review to see how it best can support working families."This government is committed to making sure parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and home lives," they said.A spokesperson added it was already in the process of ensuring dads no longer need to be employed for 26 weeks to be entitled to paternity leave.
