At least 12 people injured in Hamburg train station stabbing, suspect in custody: Authorities
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(HAMBURG, GERMANY) — At least 12 people were injured, including three critically, in a stabbing attack at a train station in Germany on Friday, authorities said.
The suspect in the stabbing — a 39-year-old woman — has been arrested, police said.
The incident occurred at a train station in Hamburg. A knife was used in the attack, police said.
Police have not publicly identified the suspect. She is believed to have acted alone, according to Hamburg police, who said they are investigating her background. Police believe she may have been in “mental distress.”
“So far, we have no evidence that the woman could have acted with political motivation,” Hamburg police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth told reporters. “Rather, we have findings on the basis of which we are now investigating in particular whether she may have been in a state of mental distress.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images
(VATICAN CITY) — One day after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the U.S., seven American cardinals sat down with reporters on Friday to discuss the Chicago native who now leads the Roman Catholic Church and how he will follow the footsteps of Pope Francis, but not as a “photocopy.”
The cardinals that gathered — Daniel DiNardo, Timothy Dolan, Joseph Tobin, Blase Cupich, Wilton Gregory, Robert McElroy and Christophe Pierre — agreed that all members of the clergy worked effectively together to elect a pontiff that would follow Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
“It was an amazing opportunity to see such a diverse assembly of humanity coming from many different perspectives, facing many different challenges, but coming together for a common purpose to find Peter’s successor, and I think we did well,” Gregory, the archbishop emeritus of Washington, said during the press conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
Several of the cardinals admitted they were surprised an American was selected, including Robert McElroy — archbishop of Washington — who “always thought it would be impossible.”
But Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said he did not think the fact that Leo was from the U.S. “carried much weight” in the decision to elect him as the 267th leader of the church.
He also suggested that Leo’s election wasn’t a reaction to President Donald Trump.
“I don’t think at all my brother cardinals would have thought of him as a counterweight to any one person,” he said.
Regarding remarks made earlier by Cardinal Maung Bo — who said Leo will “build a bridge” with Trump — Dolan said the new pontiff will instead “build bridges with leaders of every nation.”
Dolan said Leo’s potential meeting with Trump would “not be of more heft” than conversations with other world leaders.
Overall, Gregory — who agreed with Dolan’s suggestion that American politics had nothing to do with the decision to elect Leo — told reporters the cardinals were attempting to elect someone who could lead the Catholic Church and could answer these questions: “Who among us can bring us together? Who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places it has grown weak?”
During the conclave itself, Gregory said Leo engaged in conversations with members of the clergy in “smaller groups,” specifically during meal times and coffee breaks.
“It wasn’t like he got up and made an overwhelmingly convincing speech that wowed the body,” Gregory said.
Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington, said it was not the substance of what Leo said during the conclave, but the “manner in which he said it” that resonated with the cardinals.
Tobin, archbishop of Newark, described a moment during the conclave, when he saw Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, with “his head in his hands” after realizing he could possibly become pope.
“I was praying for him, because I couldn’t imagine what happens to a human being when you’re facing something like that, and then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it,” Tobin said. “All of whatever anguish was resolved by the feeling that, I think, that this wasn’t simply his saying yes to a proposal, but God would make something clear.”
The clergy also noticed that Leo had the mind of Pope Benedict and the “missionary zeal” of Francis, Dolan said. Similarly, McElroy said Leo has the “same type of freedom that is in his heart and soul that was in Francis,” but the new pontiff may not express that freedom in the same manner.
“We are looking for someone following the pathway, but we are not looking for a photocopy,” McElroy said.
Gregory, who said he spoke to Leo during the conclave about how they are both from Chicago, advised the world to give the new pope patience as he grows into this role, joking that he has only been in this position for a day.
“He’s never been pope before,” Gregory said. “Pope Leo will surprise us as he brings his gifts, confronts the challenges and responds in grace to the needs of the church.”
(LONDON) — At least 22 people have been killed and three others were injured in a fire at a restaurant in northern China on Tuesday afternoon, according to Chinese state media.
The blaze broke out at around 12:25 p.m. local time on Tuesday in the city of Liaoning, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency and national broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out efforts to treat the injured, assist victims’ families and investigate the cause of the fire, Xinhua and CCTV reported.
Investigators have not yet discovered the cause of the fire but, according to the Associated Press, images from the scene showed huge flames spurting from the windows and doors of the two- or three-story building.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
LONDON — The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced some changes at its Khan Younis aid distribution center on Monday, as Palestinians continue to report mass killings and chaos near aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip.
The center will now use “a flag system” in place to indicate the status of the site, with the red flag signifying the site is closed and the green flag showing it is open, according to a social media post from GHF.
The announcement comes after major controversies around GHF’s operations since it took over most of the humanitarian aid distribution in the Gaza Strip on May 27 after Israel had blockaded supplies getting into the strip for more than two months.
Since the end of May, at least 798 people have been killed near and around food aid sites, according to a United Nations statement on Thursday. Among them, 615 people were killed on their way to GHF sites and 183 near other aid convoys, the UN statement added.
Reacting to the new GHF flag system, Ibrahiem Mohammed Abdul Raouf Al Qatrawi, a 22-year-old Palestinian, called for the total cancellation of the GHF aid system, telling ABC News on Monday that “respect and dignity” should be restored.
“The humiliation we live is really difficult at the American aid centers, not to mention the fear, I even feel sorry for myself, going through this,” Al Qatrawi said.
“It’s a death trap, it’s very dangerous over there,” Hazem Al Taweel, a Palestinian who had recently returned from getting aid at one GHF center, told ABC News on Sunday. “You can go there to bring a bag [of food] but you get brought back in a bag.”
“You see snipers, quadcopters and tanks. You feel the whole world is fighting you over your food. It’s very difficult, even those who get minor injuries bleed to death while no one can help them,” Al Taweel added. As he went to collect aid recently, he said he was surrounded by dead bodies. Ambulances were not allowed to reach the injured, he said.
Responding to ABC News on the hundreds killed near the aid site, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Saturday in a statement it “allows the American civilian organization (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF added, “The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
Israel says it implemented the distribution system built around GHF to keep Hamas from stealing aid and using it to support its militants. Israeli officials have long accused Hamas of seizing humanitarian goods and selling them to fund militant activity. Hamas denies those claims. A State Department spokesperson issued a statement to the Wall Street Journal that said the Trump administration supports GHF, because it is “the only pipeline that denies Hamas resources and control.”
The GHF called the UN report “false and misleading” in a statement, accusing the UN of using numbers from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The organization added, “The UN’s reliance and coordination with a terrorist organization to falsely smear our effort is not only disturbing but should be investigated by the international community.”
Nonetheless, the risk is mounting for hungry Palestinians as they try to get food and water.
On Sunday, 12-year-old Siraj Khaled Ibrahim was waiting in line to collect water for his family in Nuseirat Camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, when he was killed in an airstrike, his family told ABC News. Siraj and at least nine other Palestinians, including five other children, were killed in the IDF airstrike near the water distribution point, according to Al-Awda hospital, where the deceased were taken.
ABC News has verified video of Siraj’s father carrying his son’s blood-covered body in the aftermath of the attack. The video was widely shared online. In the video, Siraj’s father can be heard saying, “Oh my boy, why did you go to fetch water? We didn’t need water.”
“He had the most beautiful heart in the world,” Hamza Ibrahim, a relative of Siraj, told ABC News. “He would memorize Quran and was a football fan,” he added.
The IDF told ABC News on Sunday that the strike near the water distribution was “a technical error with the munition,” and the main target was “an Islamic Jihad terrorist” in the central Gaza Strip. “The IDF is aware of the claim regarding casualties in the area as a result, and the details of the incident continue to be examined,” the statement added.