Swedish police say mass shooter was connected to school where he opened fire

Swedish police say mass shooter was connected to school where he opened fire
The school, Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training, and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Stockholm. (AP)
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Updated 07 February 2025
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Swedish police say mass shooter was connected to school where he opened fire

Swedish police say mass shooter was connected to school where he opened fire
  • Swedish police say the shooter who killed 10 people in the country’s worst mass shooting was connected to the adult education center where he opened fire with at least one rifle-like weapon
  • Authorities said the gunman, who has not yet been officially identified, may have attended school there

OREBRO:The shooter who earlier this week killed 10 people in Sweden’s worst mass shooting was connected to the adult education center where he opened fire with at least one rifle-like weapon, law enforcement officials said Thursday.
Authorities said the gunman, who has not yet been officially identified, may have attended school there before Tuesday’s violence on the school campus west of Stockholm. The shooter was later found dead with three guns, 10 empty magazines and a large amount of unused ammunition next to his body, officials told a news conference.
It was not clear how he died but officials said officers did not return his gunfire.
The school, Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training, and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Stockholm.
Some 130 officers arrived Tuesday after alarms summoned them to the school to find chaos across the campus. They described the scene as an “inferno” and believe the gunman turned his weapon toward them as they entered the building.
“Dead people, injured people, screams and smoke,” local police chief Lars Wirén said during the news conference. “Many people running inside and outside the premises.”
Officers found at least five people, all over age 18 with serious gunshot wounds. Two of them remained in intensive care Thursday in serious but stable condition. The other three were in stable condition after surgery.
A sixth person was treated for minor injuries.
Police were forced to search the large school — 17,000 square meters (180,000) square feet) — to ensure there were no other casualties.
Investigators had not uncovered a definitive motive behind the bloodshed by Thursday. Police said there were no warnings beforehand, and they believe the perpetrator acted alone. Authorities said there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point.
Days of ‘shock and grief’
In Orebro, a town of 160,000 that’s considered Sweden’s seventh-largest municipality, Thursday brought more sadness but still few answers.
“It has been two days of shock and grief,” John Johansson, chairman of the town’s municipal board, told The Associated Press. “We are still asking questions of why, still wondering what has happened. The outpouring of grief and togetherness has been enormous.”
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, as well as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, visited Orebro on Wednesday and attended a memorial service. The Swedish Football Association pledged to begin its future international matches with a moment of silence.
Mourners elsewhere in the the Scandinavian nation, where gun violence at schools is very rare, struggled to process the thought of mass violence in their own country.
““This is not a Swedish problem, it’s a problem that we have seen throughout the world,” Johansson said.
The shooting’s online presence has prompted friends of Orebro resident Petter Jorman, a 60-year-old father whose son previously attended the school, to call and text him asking “how are you? Are you OK? I know you live close.”
‘The worst hours of my life’
The shooting started Tuesday afternoon, after many students had gone home following a national exam. Survivors scrambled for cover as shots rang out, sheltering behind or under whatever they could find to escape the gunman and the gore. One woman with children feared she might never see them again, while another used her friend’s shawl to staunch the bleeding of a man who’d been shot in the shoulder.
“Those were the worst hours of my life. I did not know if I would get shot there and then, or in 10 minutes. You simply waited,” Hellen Werme, 35, told the Expressen newspaper.
Guns in Sweden
While gun violence at schools is very rare in Sweden, people were wounded or killed with other weapons such as knives or axes in several incidents in recent years.
Authorities said the shooter had licenses for four weapons, three of which were found next to his body. Police have seized the fourth.
In order to possess a firearm legally, applicants must obtain a weapon license and demonstrate that it will be used for an acceptable purpose, such as hunting or target shooting, and not be misused. Applicants must also submit previously obtained hunting or target shooting certificates. Hunting certificates require people to pass a training course, while target shooters must be certified as active and experienced members of clubs.
In Sweden, a country of roughly 10.5 million people, there were just over 660,000 registered gun owners at the beginning of 2024, according to the Swedish news agency TT. Those registered owners had some 2 million guns, objects that are considered firearms and weapon parts that require a permit.
TT reported that 1.6 million of those guns are registered for hunting, and another 176,000 for target-shooting.
All weapons must be stored in secure cabinets approved by the police. Applications for fully automatic weapons or one-handed weapons are only granted for exceptional reasons, and such permits are generally time-limited.
Permits are revoked if the weapon is modified to be substantially different from its original function.


Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief

Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief
Updated 28 min 34 sec ago
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Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief

Sudden US aid withdrawal risking millions of lives: UNAIDS chief
  • She warned that without more funding there will be an additional 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths in the next four years

GENEVA: The sudden halt to US foreign aid funding has been “devastating,” the UNAIDS chief said Monday, warning that without more funding, millions more will die and the global AIDS pandemic will resurge.
The United States has historically been the world’s largest donor of humanitarian assistance, but President Donald Trump has slashed international aid since returning to the White House two months ago.
“It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding over time, but the sudden withdrawal of life-saving support is having a devastating impact,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told reporters in Geneva.
“We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services, life-saving services.”
She warned that without more funding, “there will be an additional... 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths” in the next four years.
At the last count, in 2023, some 600,000 AIDS-related deaths were registered globally, she pointed out.
“So you’re talking of a 10-fold increase.”
At the same time, Byanyima said her agency expected to see “an additional 8.7 million new infections.”
“You’re talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious.”
Looking further ahead than the next four years, if aid funding is not restored, “in the longer term, we see the AIDS pandemic resurging, and resurging globally,” Byanyima said.
“Not just in the countries where now it has become concentrated, in low-income countries of Africa, but also growing among what we call key populations in Eastern Europe, in Latin America,” she said.
“We will see a... real surge in this disease. We’ll see it come back, and we’ll see people die the way we saw them in the ‘90s and in the 2000s.”


Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician

Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician
Updated 24 March 2025
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Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician

Mob ransacks Indian comedy venue after parody of politician
  • Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
  • Latest performance included parody song referring to Eknath Shinde in the state government as a “traitor.”

MUMBAI, INDIA: A mob ransacked a club in India’s financial capital after a stand-up comedian ridiculed one of the city’s leading politicians from the stage, prompting a police investigation into the performer.
Kunal Kamra, one of India’s leading comics, is known for his acerbic commentary on Indian politics.
His Sunday performance in Mumbai included a parody song referring to Eknath Shinde, the number two figure in the state government, as a “traitor.”
Soon after the show finished, supporters from Shinde’s Shiv Sena party stormed The Habitat comedy venue and began wreaking havoc.
Footage widely shared on social media showed dozens of men throwing chairs, smashing light fittings and breaking apart paintings mounted on the wall.
At least 20 people were being sought in relation to the vandalism at the club, local media reported.
The Habitat said in a Monday social media post that it was shutting its doors until it determined the “best way to provide a platform for free expression” without putting the venue “in jeopardy.”
Police were attempting to locate Kamra after an official complaint was registered against him for making defamatory remarks.
Maharashtra state chief minister — and Shinde’s boss — Devendra Fadnavis said the comedian “should apologize” and that “insult of leaders cannot be tolerated.”
“Everyone has a right to perform stand-up comedy. But freedom should not be unrestrained behavior... Action will be taken against him as per the law,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
The “traitor” remark was a reference to Shinde’s decision to switch his political allegiance in 2022, precipitating a weeklong political crisis in the state that forced the resignation of the then-chief minister.
Kamra has yet to publicly comment on the incident, but the backlash against him is not the first time that an Indian comic has come under fire from supporters of politicians.
In 2021, Muslim comedian Munawar Faruqui was held in prison for more than a month after being accused of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses.
He later canceled three shows in Mumbai after a Hindu activist group threatened to set the venue on fire.
 


US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday

US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday
Updated 24 March 2025
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US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday

US trade officials to visit India for trade talks from Tuesday
  • Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group
  • President Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 are causing alarm among Indian exporters

NEW DELHI: A delegation of officials from the United States will visit India from March 25 to 29 for trade talks with Indian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.

Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group. “This visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India,” the spokesperson said.

Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spent nearly a week in the United States earlier this month where he held trade discussions, and as US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 causing alarm among Indian exporters. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last month, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, with a target of reaching $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. India and the US are engaged in discussions to resolve tariff-related issues, and finalize a framework for a bilateral trade pact, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, said last week.

“We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner,” the US embassy spokesperson said.


UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Updated 24 March 2025
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UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UN seeks nearly $1 billion in aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
  • UN and its more than 100 partners launching a 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis
  • Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh

GENEVA: The UN said Monday it and partners were seeking nearly $1 billion to provide life-saving aid this year for some 1.5 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh.
The United Nations said that it and more than 100 partners were launching a 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis, amid “dwindling financial resources and competing global crises.”
The appeal, it said in a statement, “seeks $934.5 million in its first year to reach some 1.48 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.”
Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar.
“In its eighth year, the Rohingya humanitarian crisis remains largely out of the international spotlight, but needs remain urgent,” Monday’s statement said.
It stressed that “any funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population.”
It could, it added, “force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety.”
The UN said that more than half of the refugee population in the camps are women and girls, “who face a higher risk of gender-based violence and exploitation.”
And it highlighted that a third of the refugees are aged between 10 and 24, warning that “without access to formal education, adequate skills building and self- reliance opportunities, their futures remain on hold.”
“Until the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is peaceful and conducive to returning safely and voluntarily, the international community must continue to fund life-saving assistance to refugees in the camps.”


China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte
Updated 24 March 2025
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China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte
  • Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays

BEIJING: China has not received any application for asylum from Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.
The former president was arrested on March 11 at Manila’s main airport on his arrival from Hong Kong at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.