More than a dozen injured in stabbing at Hamburg train station in Germany
BERLIN — More than a dozen people who were injured in a stabbing attack at the central train station in the German city of Hamburg were stable, police said Saturday.
A 39-year-old woman, a German national, was arrested at the scene of Friday's attack without putting up resistance and police said they believe she acted alone.
The Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper reported that two passersby overpowered the woman and took the knife from her.
It quoted a fire department spokesman, Philipp Baumann, saying that the attack injured 18 people between ages 19 and 85. Three women — ages 24, 52 and 85 — and a 24-year-old man were critically injured but were stable Saturday, police said.
There was no immediate indication of any political motive, and police said that investigators were looking into whether the suspect may have been mentally ill.
The woman was expected to appear before a judge Saturday and then placed in a psychiatric ward.
The attacker targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14 in the station around 6 p.m. Friday. The station in downtown Hamburg, Germany's second-biggest city, is a major hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
Carrying weapons, including knives, is banned at the station and on local transport in Hamburg.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
A quiet Tiananmen Square anniversary shows China's ability to suppress history
BEIJING — For most Chinese, the 36th anniversary of a bloody crackdown that ended pro-democracy protests in China passed like any other weekday. And that's just how the ruling Communist Party wants it. Security was tight Wednesday around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where weeks of student-led protests shook the party in 1989. Under then-leader Deng Xiaoping, the military was sent in to end the protest on the night of June 3-4. Using live ammunition, soldiers forced their way through crowds that tried to block them from reaching the square. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed, including dozens of soldiers. The party has tried, with some success, to erase what it calls the 'political turmoil' of 1989 from the collective memory. It bans any public commemoration or mention of the June 4 crackdown, scrubbing references from the internet. In recent years, that ban has been extended to Hong Kong, where a once-massive annual candlelight vigil is no longer permitted. Police said they brought 10 people on suspicion of breaching public peace to a police station for investigation. Three were still detained late Wednesday, while the rest were allowed to leave. Police also arrested a woman for failing to show her identity document and a man for obstructing police officers from performing their duties. It is only in Taiwan, a self-governing island that is claimed by China but runs its own affairs, that large June 4 gatherings can still take place. Tiananmen Square is a vast space in the center of Beijing with monumental, communist-era buildings along two sides and the mausoleum of Mao Zedong, who founded the communist era in 1949, on the south end. University students occupied this symbolically important site in the spring of 1989. Their calls for freedoms divided the party leadership. The decision to send in troops marked a decisive turning point in the evolution of modern China, keeping the party firmly in control as it loosened economic restrictions. Chinese officials have said the country's rapid economic development since then proves the decisions made at the time were correct. 'On the political turmoil that happened in the late 1980s, the Chinese government has already reached a clear conclusion,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Wednesday. He added that China would continue along its current path of what it calls 'socialism with Chinese characteristics.' Tiananmen Mothers, a group formed by relatives of the victims, made an annual online appeal to the government. Signed by 108 members, it called for an independent investigation into what happened on June 4, 1989, including a list of all who died. The group also demanded compensation for the families and a legal case against those responsible for the deaths. The British and German Embassies in Beijing posted videos commemorating the anniversary on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, but they were later taken down, presumably by censors. The Canadian and German Embassies displayed images of a single lit candle on large screens facing the main street. In Hong Kong, a carnival showcasing Chinese food and products was held in Victoria Park, where tens of thousands of people used to gather for a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary. Hong Kong authorities first shut down the vigil during the Covid-19 pandemic and arrested the organizers in 2021. The moves were part of a broader crackdown on dissent following monthslong anti-government protests in 2019 that turned violent and paralyzed parts of the city. A former district council member, Chan Kim-kam, said customs officers questioned her at her shop on the eve of June 4 after she advertised small white candles for sale in an Instagram post titled 'June, we don't forget.' 'You know, Hong Kongers have become silent lambs after 2019,' said King Ng, who was at the park on Wednesday. Police were out in force to try to prevent any protest, and took several people away from the park on Wednesday. They included a young woman wearing a school uniform and holding flowers, a man who lowered his head in apparent prayer, and a man wearing a white T-shirt reading 'Vindication for June 4. It's getting closer and closer.' Police also questioned a woman who lit up a mosquito lamp, but eventually let her go. Rows of electronic candles lit up the windows of the U.S. consulate, and the British consulate projected 'VIIV' — Roman numerals in reference to June 4 — on one of its walls. The British and Canadian consulates earlier posted social media messages about remembering June 4. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. The U.S. consulate posted a message from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on its website. 'The CCP actively tries to censor the facts,' Rubio said, referring to China's Communist Party. 'But the world will never forget.' Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te used the anniversary to position the island he leads on the frontline of defending democracy against authoritarianism. In a Facebook post, he drew a distinction between Taiwan's multiparty democracy and China's one-party rule. 'Authoritarian governments often choose to remain silent and forget about history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who have contributed to the ideals of human rights and the dreams they embrace,' Lai wrote. Taiwan transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy in a process that began in the late 1980s. It relies on support principally from the U.S., along with other democratic partners, to deter China from an invasion. Several hundred people gathered Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil in downtown Taipei's Freedom Square. In the center stood a scaled-down model of the 'Pillar of Shame,' a sculpture commemorating the protests that once stood on the campus of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities have placed bounties on some activists who have moved abroad. Other democracy advocates in the semi-autonomous Chinese city remain in jail or intimidated into silence. Wu Lang-huang, a Taiwanese professor who was present when troops arrived on the square in 1989, said he will continue to document what happened and collect related artifacts. 'It's not just about remembering what happened then but also for the lessons it tells us about modern Hong Kong and Taiwan,' Wu said. One of the vigil's organizers, who went by the name Mimi for fear of repercussions, said some may question why people born years after the 1989 protests still care. 'It's about memory, which is itself a form of resistance,' she said.
Politico
6 hours ago
- Politico
A quiet Tiananmen Square anniversary shows China's ability to suppress history
BEIJING — For most Chinese, the 36th anniversary of a bloody crackdown that ended pro-democracy protests in China passed like any other weekday. And that's just how the ruling Communist Party wants it. Security was tight Wednesday around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where weeks of student-led protests shook the party in 1989. Under then-leader Deng Xiaoping, the military was sent in to end the protest on the night of June 3-4. Using live ammunition, soldiers forced their way through crowds that tried to block them from reaching the square. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed, including dozens of soldiers. The party has tried, with some success, to erase what it calls the 'political turmoil' of 1989 from the collective memory. It bans any public commemoration or mention of the June 4 crackdown, scrubbing references from the internet. In recent years, that ban has been extended to Hong Kong, where a once-massive annual candlelight vigil is no longer permitted. Police said they brought 10 people on suspicion of breaching public peace to a police station for investigation. Three were still detained late Wednesday, while the rest were allowed to leave. Police also arrested a woman for failing to show her identity document and a man for obstructing police officers from performing their duties. It is only in Taiwan, a self-governing island that is claimed by China but runs its own affairs, that large June 4 gatherings can still take place. Tiananmen Square is a vast space in the center of Beijing with monumental, communist-era buildings along two sides and the mausoleum of Mao Zedong, who founded the communist era in 1949, on the south end. University students occupied this symbolically important site in the spring of 1989. Their calls for freedoms divided the party leadership. The decision to send in troops marked a decisive turning point in the evolution of modern China, keeping the party firmly in control as it loosened economic restrictions. Chinese officials have said the country's rapid economic development since then proves the decisions made at the time were correct. 'On the political turmoil that happened in the late 1980s, the Chinese government has already reached a clear conclusion,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Wednesday. He added that China would continue along its current path of what it calls 'socialism with Chinese characteristics.' Tiananmen Mothers, a group formed by relatives of the victims, made an annual online appeal to the government. Signed by 108 members, it called for an independent investigation into what happened on June 4, 1989, including a list of all who died. The group also demanded compensation for the families and a legal case against those responsible for the deaths. The British and German Embassies in Beijing posted videos commemorating the anniversary on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, but they were later taken down, presumably by censors. The Canadian and German Embassies displayed images of a single lit candle on large screens facing the main street. In Hong Kong, a carnival showcasing Chinese food and products was held in Victoria Park, where tens of thousands of people used to gather for a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary. Hong Kong authorities first shut down the vigil during the Covid-19 pandemic and arrested the organizers in 2021. The moves were part of a broader crackdown on dissent following monthslong anti-government protests in 2019 that turned violent and paralyzed parts of the city. A former district council member, Chan Kim-kam, said customs officers questioned her at her shop on the eve of June 4 after she advertised small white candles for sale in an Instagram post titled 'June, we don't forget.' 'You know, Hong Kongers have become silent lambs after 2019,' said King Ng, who was at the park on Wednesday. Police were out in force to try to prevent any protest, and took several people away from the park on Wednesday. They included a young woman wearing a school uniform and holding flowers, a man who lowered his head in apparent prayer, and a man wearing a white T-shirt reading 'Vindication for June 4. It's getting closer and closer.' Police also questioned a woman who lit up a mosquito lamp, but eventually let her go. Rows of electronic candles lit up the windows of the U.S. consulate, and the British consulate projected 'VIIV' — Roman numerals in reference to June 4 — on one of its walls. The British and Canadian consulates earlier posted social media messages about remembering June 4. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. The U.S. consulate posted a message from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on its website. 'The CCP actively tries to censor the facts,' Rubio said, referring to China's Communist Party. 'But the world will never forget.' Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te used the anniversary to position the island he leads on the frontline of defending democracy against authoritarianism. In a Facebook post, he drew a distinction between Taiwan's multiparty democracy and China's one-party rule. 'Authoritarian governments often choose to remain silent and forget about history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who have contributed to the ideals of human rights and the dreams they embrace,' Lai wrote. Taiwan transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy in a process that began in the late 1980s. It relies on support principally from the U.S., along with other democratic partners, to deter China from an invasion. Several hundred people gathered Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil in downtown Taipei's Freedom Square. In the center stood a scaled-down model of the 'Pillar of Shame,' a sculpture commemorating the protests that once stood on the campus of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities have placed bounties on some activists who have moved abroad. Other democracy advocates in the semi-autonomous Chinese city remain in jail or intimidated into silence. Wu Lang-huang, a Taiwanese professor who was present when troops arrived on the square in 1989, said he will continue to document what happened and collect related artifacts. 'It's not just about remembering what happened then but also for the lessons it tells us about modern Hong Kong and Taiwan,' Wu said. One of the vigil's organizers, who went by the name Mimi for fear of repercussions, said some may question why people born years after the 1989 protests still care. 'It's about memory, which is itself a form of resistance,' she said.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Madeleine McCann Portugal search to enter third day
Searches for Madeleine McCann are due to resume on Thursday morning near to where she disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal. German and Portuguese investigators have until Friday to look for evidence relating to the disappearance of the British toddler 18 years ago. Officers are scouring a 21 sq km (8.1 sq miles) site between where she went missing and where the German investigators' prime suspect, Christian Brückner, had been staying at the time. The 48-year-old is serving a prison sentence in Germany for an unrelated rape case, however he could be released as early as September. Madeleine McCann search goes on but is it 18 years too late? Three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from an apartment in the Algarve while on holiday with her family in May 2007. Her disappearance is one of the highest-profile missing person cases in the world. Madeleine's case was initially handled by the Portuguese authorities with the aid of the Metropolitan Police. However German police took the lead in 2020 when they identified Brückner as a suspect. He is known to have spent time in the same part of Portugal between 2000 and 2017. German police suspect him of murder. British police continue to treat the case as a missing persons investigation. Brückner has repeatedly denied any involvement and no charges have been brought against him relating to Madeleine's disappearance. A European warrant has been approved by Portuguese prosecutors to allow German teams to conduct the latest searches on private land. Diggers and specialist equipment were brought in to help scour scrubland and abandoned buildings on Wednesday. Searches were last carried near the Barragem do Arade reservoir in 2023 as Brückner had photographs and videos of himself in the area. On the night Madeleine disappeared, her parents had been at dinner with friends at a restaurant a short walk away while their three-year-old daughter and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the ground-floor apartment. Last month, Kate and Gerry McCann marked the 18th year anniversary of her disappearance, saying their "determination to leave no stone unturned is unwavering". However they would not comment during the "active police investigation", staff at the Find Madeleine Campaign said. Watch: Searching derelict and desolate area in Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann suspect release date pushed back Madeleine McCann disappearance: A timeline
