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Mannheim knife attack: Authorities suspect Islamist motive
Deutsche Welle
04 Jun 2024, 15:10
Image: Rene Priebe/dpa/picture alliance
German federal prosecutors have begun investigating a knife attack which left a police officer dead in Mannheim. On Monday, thousands of people gathered in the southwestern German city to pay their respects.
German authorities say they believe there was an Islamist motive behind a knife attack at an anti-Islam rally in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday during which a police officer was killed.
The federal prosecutor, Germany's highest prosecuting authority with responsibility for terrorism, espionage and international criminal law, is taking on the case due to its "particular importance," a spokeswoman said.
She said the suspected attacker, a 25-year-old Afghan national and nine-year German resident who was shot by police and remains in hospital, is suspected to have wanted to prevent critics of Islam from exercising their right to freedom of expression.
The suspect, who reportedly had no criminal record and was not known to German law enforcement, faces possible charges of murder, attempted murder and five counts of serious bodily harm.
'Clear indications of an Islamist motive'
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann of the Free Democrats (FDP), the junior pro-business partner in Germany's current coalition government, wrote on the social network X, formerly Twitter, that there were "clear indications of an Islamist motive."
He added that "Islam belongs to Germany, but Islamism does not" and said that "the danger posed by religious fanaticism and radical Islamism remains large."
Other FDP politicians demanded that Muslim community groups do more to combat extremism.
"Islamic groups and clergy cannot duck away from the fight against Islamism," Konstantin Kuhle, chair of the FDP's parliamentary group, told German media on Tuesday.
Mannheim: Thousands gather to mourn
Meanwhile, around 8,000 people gathered in Mannheim on Monday to pay their respects to the 29-year-old police officer who on Sunday succumbed to injuries sustained from stab wounds.
The event was organized by a broad cross-section of Mannheim society including Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders and local politicians.
"The death of this young person fills us all with grief, tears us apart and robs us of words," said local Catholic deacon Karl Jung, while Mustafa Aydinli, the imam of Mannheim's Muslim Community, called on citizens to stick together because "God wants us to live in peace."
Scholz to address parliament on security
After saying on Sunday that he was "deeply dismayed" by the death of the police officer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to make a statement on national security to the German parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday, according to a Chancellery letter seen by the German DPA news agency.
However, it's unclear whether the subject of Scholz's address will be domestic security in the wake of the attack in Mannheim or foreign policy following his recent decision to allow Ukraine to use German weapons to strike military targets within Russia's internationally-recognized borders.
High alert ahead of European elections and Euro 2024
Domestically, Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.
With European Parliamentary elections on June 9 and football's European Championships kicking off in Germany one week later, the country's domestic intelligence chief warned that the risk of such assaults is "real and higher than it has been for a long time."
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) told daily tabloid newspaper Bild that "we must defend ourselves against Islamist terrorism with determination" while Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) urged colleagues not to instrumentalize the attack by demanding tougher migration laws.
"If the aim of extremists, whether far-right or Islamist, is to split a free society, then the answer has to be that we answer together as a society," she said at an event in Düsseldorf organized by the local Rheinische Post newspaper on Monday evening.
"Of course I was deeply affected," she said of the Mannheim attack, but still urged German society and democracy not to allow itself to be "destroyed by hate, violence and murderous intent."
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Floods in southern Germany: 40 hours of disaster
The flooding in southern Germany has caused dams to burst, thousands of evacuations and left communities inundated. Oliver Pieper reports from Augsburg.
Tobias Kunz has been under constant pressure since 6 a.m. on Saturday. The mayor of Nordendorf, a small community of 2,600 inhabitants north of Augsburg, is desperately fighting the floodwaters of the River Schmutter. Together with 300 volunteers, he is trying to save the local primary school itself.
"Yesterday we filled 40,000 sandbags and built a 240-meter-long dike with them," he told DW. "Some of the helpers have been on their feet for 40 hours without sleep. But with the extreme amounts of water today, even that wasn't enough."
The volunteers are hurrying to pack the black sandbags from one corner to the other, while Kunz, coordinating the relief efforts, gets bombarded with questions by the second. The school will definitely be closed this Monday, he explains with a sad laugh. But what particularly depresses him is that the battle against the water around the new sports field has been lost — the dam has broken.
"Our school sports field, which cost around a million to build, was under water in a quarter of an hour. The entire infrastructure is flooded. Our sewage system is also not working, so the students can't even go to the toilet," he said.
Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria particularly hard hit
The same thing is happening in Nordendorf as in many communities in southern Germany: The dams cannot withstand the water, and dozens of villages have had to be evacuated. The initial assessment: In some places, more rain fell in 24 hours than the average for an entire month, and the water reached levels that are usually only reached once in a century. Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria were particularly affected this weekend, with some communities having to issue a state of emergency. One firefighter died and at least one person is missing.
For many, the extent of the flooding came as a complete surprise, which was also the case for the four young men standing a little indecisively a few kilometers further south in Kühlenthal. Their problem: They can no longer reach the house that they had been busy protecting with sandbags yesterday because of the flooding today. The village has now been evacuated.
"It's the house of one of our parents, who are on vacation in Austria," they told DW. "We tried to save what we could yesterday. But the water came from all directions. At least we were able to drive the two cars up the mountain and bring them to safety."
Better prepared after Ahrtal
In Diedorf, a few kilometers west of Augsburg, six car owners were not so lucky. An underground car park was completely flooded, as were the cellars of the surrounding houses. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief is now on site, using a special device to pump out the brown sludge, at a rate of 10,000 liters per minute.
A dyke and a dam also broke in Diedorf. Although the floodwaters are now slowly receding and the water levels are falling again, no one in the small fire station wants to sound the all-clear. Not even Philipp Niegl, the local fire brigade commander. Like everyone else, Niegl does this job on a voluntary basis — he is also a vocational school teacher. His conclusion: "After the flood of the centuryin the Ahr valley [in 2021], we added to our equipment to be better prepared: we now have a supply truck that can drive through deep water. This time it was able to transport a lot of people."
Evacuation camp set up in record time
Those who had been evacuated and had not been able to find a place to sleep with relatives or friends were able to spend the night in the nearby sports hall in Diedorf. In the city of Augsburg, the central reception center for all those stranded is the huge exhibition hall. A camp with beds for 300 people was set up here in record time.
Augsburg has experience in disaster management, explains press officer Raphael Doderer. At Christmas 2016, the city had to evacuate 54,000 people because of a World War II bomb. "We had 170 people here last night, at noon it was still 130 and now 80," Doderer told DW. "Most of them are elderly people who live in nursing homes, including dementia patients. We had to carry some of the senior citizens out of the house to a boat with a Unimog truck, then back into a Unimog truck and finally into the ambulance."
Some elderly people were still left in the huge reception hall, including Sabine Fischer's parents and two female neighbors. The night ended for the Fischer family at 2 a.m. The Schmutter, which normally meanders quietly through the town of Kühlenthal behind the house, was suddenly four meters wide and water was seeping into the basement.
"We are waiting and waiting here and don't know how much water has penetrated our property," Fischer told DW. "It was simply inconceivable to us that it would be so bad. Our only wish: To go home as soon as possible."
Mannheim knife attack: Authorities suspect Islamist motive
German federal prosecutors have begun investigating a knife attack which left a police officer dead in Mannheim. On Monday, thousands of people gathered in the southwestern German city to pay their respects.
German authorities say they believe there was an Islamist motive behind a knife attack at an anti-Islam rally in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday during which a police officer was killed.
The federal prosecutor, Germany's highest prosecuting authority with responsibility for terrorism, espionage and international criminal law, is taking on the case due to its "particular importance," a spokeswoman said.
She said the suspected attacker, a 25-year-old Afghan national and nine-year German resident who was shot by police and remains in hospital, is suspected to have wanted to prevent critics of Islam from exercising their right to freedom of expression.
The suspect, who reportedly had no criminal record and was not known to German law enforcement, faces possible charges of murder, attempted murder and five counts of serious bodily harm.
'Clear indications of an Islamist motive'
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann of the Free Democrats (FDP), the junior pro-business partner in Germany's current coalition government, wrote on the social network X, formerly Twitter, that there were "clear indications of an Islamist motive."
He added that "Islam belongs to Germany, but Islamism does not" and said that "the danger posed by religious fanaticism and radical Islamism remains large."
Other FDP politicians demanded that Muslim community groups do more to combat extremism.
"Islamic groups and clergy cannot duck away from the fight against Islamism," Konstantin Kuhle, chair of the FDP's parliamentary group, told German media on Tuesday.
Mannheim: Thousands gather to mourn
Meanwhile, around 8,000 people gathered in Mannheim on Monday to pay their respects to the 29-year-old police officer who on Sunday succumbed to injuries sustained from stab wounds.
The event was organized by a broad cross-section of Mannheim society including Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders and local politicians.
"The death of this young person fills us all with grief, tears us apart and robs us of words," said local Catholic deacon Karl Jung, while Mustafa Aydinli, the imam of Mannheim's Muslim Community, called on citizens to stick together because "God wants us to live in peace."
Scholz to address parliament on security
After saying on Sunday that he was "deeply dismayed" by the death of the police officer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to make a statement on national security to the German parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday, according to a Chancellery letter seen by the German DPA news agency.
However, it's unclear whether the subject of Scholz's address will be domestic security in the wake of the attack in Mannheim or foreign policy following his recent decision to allow Ukraine to use German weapons to strike military targets within Russia's internationally-recognized borders.
High alert ahead of European elections and Euro 2024
Domestically, Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.
With European Parliamentary elections on June 9 and football's European Championships kicking off in Germany one week later, the country's domestic intelligence chief warned that the risk of such assaults is "real and higher than it has been for a long time."
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) told daily tabloid newspaper Bild that "we must defend ourselves against Islamist terrorism with determination" while Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) urged colleagues not to instrumentalize the attack by demanding tougher migration laws.
"If the aim of extremists, whether far-right or Islamist, is to split a free society, then the answer has to be that we answer together as a society," she said at an event in Düsseldorf organized by the local Rheinische Post newspaper on Monday evening.
"Of course I was deeply affected," she said of the Mannheim attack, but still urged German society and democracy not to allow itself to be "destroyed by hate, violence and murderous intent."
Toyota apologizes as Japanese car testing scandal widens
The head of the Japanese car making giant gave an apologetic press conference after an internal review found Toyota had cheated on certification tests. Japan's government is also investigating.
Toyota Motor Corporation on Monday admitted to cheating on various certification and safety tests for seven models of cars sold in Japan, three of which are still in production.
Chairman Akio Toyoda apologized at a press conference in Tokyo, offering a customary low bow as he did so.
His comments were based on the findings of an internal Toyota review, launched as the Japanese government announced its own investigation at the beginning of the year. That probe is ongoing and affects multiple car manufacturers.
'We are not a perfect company. But if we see anything wrong, we will take a step back and keep trying to correct it,' Toyoda said.
The issue does not affect the non-Japanese market for Toyota. However, it is providing a stern test for Japanese car companies in their lucrative and symbolically important home market.
Only China and the US currently manufacture more cars than Japan, although China makes more than Japan and the US combined these days.
What did Toyota's investigation find, which cars were affected?
Toyota said in a press release that seven models were affected in all.
'The model certification applications in question involve inadequate data in pedestrian and occupant protection tests for three production models,' the Corolla Fielder a station wagon version of the world's most popular sedan, Toyota Corolla, the hybrid Corolla Axio, and the compact SUV called the Yaris Cross.
For four models discontinued in 2014 the Crown, Isis, Sienta and an older version of the luxury Lexus RX there were 'errors in crash tests and other test methods,' the company said.
However, Toyota also asserted that while the cars did not undergo the proper certification and testing procedures, 'we can confirm that there are no performance issues that contravene laws and regulations.' In other words, the company claims the cars would have passed all properly required checks.
'Therefore, there is no need to stop using the affected vehicles,' Toyota said. 'However, considering these findings, we have taken action to temporarily halt shipments and sales of three models currently produced in Japan, effective today.'
The company said it would continue to cooperate with Japanese investigators and 'expedite appropriate measures, including conducting testing in the present of witnesses.'
'Again, we extend our sincere apologies to our customers and stakeholders,' the statement concluded.
Honda, Mazda report similar issues but also say cars still meet regulations
Also on Monday, Mazda Motor Corp reported similar irregular certification testing for two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2. Like Toyota, it temporarily halted production of both. Three other discontinued models were also affected, it said.
Like Toyota, Mazda said none of the violations affected the vehicles' safety or its performance.
Honda also apologized for improper testing on issues like noise levels and torque on a range of older models no longer in production. Again it said all the vehicles conformed with the laws despite not having undergone the proper scrutiny.
First signs of the certification issues started surfacing around two years ago at Toyota, its truck maker Hino Motors, Daihatsu Motor Co specializing in the compact city cars that are particularly popular in Japan and its machinery and car parts subsidiary, Toyota Industries Corporation.
Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder Kichiro Toyoda, suggested some of Japan's certification rules might be overly stringent, noting how tests vary around the world. But he also repeatedly said that did not condone the violations.
He said the company might have been too eager to get the models approved, at a time when Toyota was manufacturing a very broad selection of vehicles as it was winding down one generation of cars and launching the next.
Toyota sells more than 10 million cars around the world each year, more than any individual company. Most of its manufacturing in Japan takes place in the giant city named after the company, near Nagoya to the west of Tokyo.
Several killed in Czech train crash, dozens injured
At least four people were killed when a passenger train collided head on with a freight train in the Czech city of Pardubice, according to rescue services.
Four people died and more than two dozen were injured after a passenger train collided with a freight train late on Wednesday in the Czech city of Pardubice, the regional governor said.
"A head-on collision between a RegioJet train and a freight train claimed several lives and left dozens injured," Martin Netolicky, governor of the Pardubice region,
said on Facebook.
Firefighters, paramedics and doctors, as well as at least one rescue helicopter, have been deployed at the scene of the accident, some 100 kilometers east of Prague.
The country's interior and transport ministers said they were headed to the accident scene, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed his "sincere condolences to all the bereaved" in a post on social media platform X.
300 passengers on board, carriage derailed
The fast train, operated by RegioJet, was traveling overnight from Prague to Kosice in eastern Slovakia, the Railway Administration said.
The accident occurred shortly before 23:00 (2100 GMT) near the main train station in Pardubice, Czech TV reported.
As per Fire Rescue Services, over 300 passengers were on board.
Many of the passengers were foreigners, Czech TV said.
Footage on local media showed at least one carriage off the track after the crash.
While passengers were being ushered into buses near the Pardubice main station, Czech TV said.
Transport Minister Martin Kupka said a major track between Prague and the eastern part of the country had to be shut down while authorities investigate the collision.
China ready to ‘forcefully’ stop Taiwan independence: Defence minister
Dong Jun says 'whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and suffer his own destruction'.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has said the country’s military was ready to 'forcefully' stop Taiwan’s independence, in a fiery speech at a Singapore security forum.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore on Sunday, Dong said the self-ruled democracy of Taiwan was the 'core of core issues' for China, but claimed Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was incrementally pursuing separatism and bent on erasing Chinese identity.
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification.
Last month it staged two days of war games around the island after the May 20 inauguration of President William Lai Ching-te. Lai and the DPP say it is up to the people of Taiwan to decide their future. Beijing calls him a 'separatist'.
'Those separatists recently made fanatical statements that show their betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history,' Dong said.
'The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defence of the unification of the motherland, and it will act resolutely and forcefully at all times to curb the independence of Taiwan and to ensure that it never succeeds in its attempts,' Dong told the forum on Sunday.
'Whoever dares to split Taiwan from China will be crushed to pieces and suffer his own destruction.'
Reacting to the Chinese minister's statements, Taiwan’s government said it deeply regretted the 'provocative and irrational' remarks.
Dong's comments in Singapore followed the first substantive face-to-face talks in 18 months between the defence chiefs of China and the US. Dong and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met for more than an hour at the luxury hotel hosting the forum.
'We have always been open to exchanges and cooperation, but this requires both sides to meet each other halfway,” Dong said. “We believe that we need more exchanges precisely because there are differences between our two militaries.'
After the meeting, Austin said telephone conversations between US and Chinese military commanders would resume 'in the coming months', while Beijing hailed the “stabilising” security relations between the two countries.
President Joe Biden’s administration and China have been stepping up communication to ease friction between the nuclear-armed rivals, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing and Shanghai last month.
A key focus has been the resumption of military-to-military dialogue, which is seen as critical to preventing flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control.
China scrapped military communications with the US in 2022 in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
On the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely and where it has been involved in frequent confrontations with Philippine vessels, Dong warned of 'limits' to Beijing's restraint.
Source: Aljazeera
June 16: Eid in Saudi Arabia
The moon of the month of Zilhaj was sighted in Saudi Arabia in 1445 AH. So next June 16 will be the holy Eid-ul-Adha and June 15 will be the day of Arafah.
Khaleej Times reported this news on Thursday (June 6) night.
According to Saudi Arabia, the report said that the moon of the month of Zilhaj was sighted in Saudi Arabia on Thursday (June 6). Moon was seen by a man from Al Hari. So Thursday June 6 is the last day of Zilhaj and Friday June 7 is the first day of Zilhaj. That is, the first day of Eid-ul-Azha will be Sunday, June 16 (Zilhaj 10).
The Day of Arafah, which marks the day before Eid and is known as the holiest day in Islam, falls on Saturday, June 15 (9 Zilhaj).
For Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, this Eid is one of the most anticipated religious holidays, with most employees allowed a long weekend.
UAE residents will get one day off on the Day of Arafah (9th of Zilhaj) and three days off on Eid ul-Adha (10th to 12th of Zilhaj).
Eid ul-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is marked by special prayers. Muslims usually slaughter goats, sheep, cows or camels to commemorate the faith of Hazrat Ibrahim (as).
WWII bomb at Frankfurt Airport detonated safely
A phosphorus bomb dating back to the Second World War was found by construction workers on the airport's grounds, according to police.
Frankfurt police announced late on Friday that a World War II bomb discovered at Frankfurt Airport had been successfully detonated.
The phosphorus bomb was discovered during construction work around the new Terminal 3.
Airport operator Fraport had warned that flights may be disrupted as a result of the find.
Authorities cited by Germany's DPA news agency said a highway was closed and four runways could not be used while the operation to detonate the bomb was underway.
Fraport said on X, formerly Twitter, that any disruptions were expected to last until 9 p.m. local time (1900 UTC/GMT).
"Check flight status before traveling to the airport and allow extra time for your journey. We also recommend you check in as early as possible for your flight," the post on X said.
Later on Friday, police said the A5 highway had been reopened.
The discovery of unexploded World War II ordnance in German cities is not unusual.
The country experienced heavy bombing from Allied forces during the conflict, and explosive devices are frequently unearthed, especially at construction sites.
