Cincunri Sakia

Kamis, 20 Juli 2023

Two dead and multiple injured in Auckland shooting - The Independent

Two people were killed and multiple were injured in a Thursday morning shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, according to officials.

A gunman, 24, stormed into a high-rise construction site at 1 Queen Street in downtown Auckland around 7.20am local time, just hours before the city stages the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

The gunman was found dead in the building after a police shootout, during which two officers were wounded.

The shooting took place near hotels where the squad for the Norway team, who were scheduled to play in the opening match later on the same day, and other teams have been staying.

Describing it as a “shocking and traumatic” event, police commissioner Andrew Coster said the 24-year-old gunman was armed with a shotgun and did not have a licence to possess the weapon.

The gunman is believed to be a former worker at the building site, and the motivation for the shooting appeared connected to his work there, Mr Coster said.

He added that the gunman had a history of family violence and was serving a sentence of home detention after getting an exemption to work at the lower Queen Street site.

Armed New Zealand police officers stand at a road block in the central business district following a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023

“The offender has moved through the building site and continued to discharge his firearm. Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him,” police said in a statement.

“Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.”

Prime minister Chris Hipkins said the whole nation was mourning the deaths and described the two injured police officers as heroes.

“The victims went to work this morning as they do every morning, but they won’t be coming home tonight,” he said.

Ambulance operations officer Stuart Cockburn said they had assessed 10 patients and seven have been taken to hospital, including two police officers.

The gunman began spraying fire at around 7.20 am as people began their work day and he moved through the building firing at people as many workers fled or hid.

Police soon swarmed the commercial business district and imposed a lockdown, with streets cordoned off surrounding the tourist harbour ferry terminal.

Mr Coster said the gunman had barricaded himself in a lift shift on the third floor while Swat-type officers engaged him after securing the floors above and below.

“The offender fired at police, injuring an officer,” Mr Coster said. “Shots were exchanged and the offender was later found deceased.”

It is not yet clear if he died from a bullet discharged by police or killed himself, Mr Coster said.

Mr Coster said: “I want to acknowledge that this has been a shocking and traumatic event for those people who came to work and found themselves in the middle of an armed emergency.

“Thankfully, many people were able to escape the building, but I know for those who hid or remained trapped, this was a terrifying experience.”

As the incident unforded people were asked to remain inside their buildings and bystanders were asked to disperse.

“I can’t remember anything like this ever happening in our beautiful city,” Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said on Thursday. “This morning’s events have been tragic and distressing for all Aucklanders, as this is not something that we are used to.”

Officials say the Women’s World Cup will continue as planned

“While the details of the victims have not yet been confirmed, I want to express my condolences to their families,” he added. “I also want to express sympathy for those in the construction industry and commuters who will be feeling on edge following this incident.”

Mr Hipkins and New Zealand sports minister confirmed that the Fifa match will go ahead as planned as it was a “standalone incident”.

“People should feel safe while out and about in Auckland,” he said.

“There will be an increased police presence obviously around Auckland to provide public reassurance, but the police have indicated that they don’t think there is an ongoing security or safety risk,” he added.

Six people, including a police officer, were injured in shooting

He added that according to police information at this stage, the gunman was armed with a pump-action shotgun, and that officials think there was “was no political or ideological motive for the shooting.”

A bystander told 1 News he was inside the building where the shooting took place and hid inside an office.

“We just heard a massive gunshot, and then one of the guys walked outside the office and came running back in,” the man said.

“We ran to the back of the building where I saw a bloody hard hat. We could see the guy walking around with his gun.”

Officials confirmed that some World Cup teams were impacted by the shooting, with the Italy team delaying training after they were forced to shelter in place in their hotel.

“New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland CBD this morning,” the New Zealand team wrote on social media. “We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe but we will not be able to comment further while details are still emerging.”

“Please refer to New Zealand Police for further information. Preparations for the game tonight at Eden Park will continue as planned.”

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2023-07-20 06:59:49Z
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Russia-Ukraine war live: 18 wounded in strike on port city of Mykolaiv; Odesa targeted for third night - The Guardian

From 4h ago

Deaths have been reported in Mykolaiv after Russia launched strikes on the southern port city, the Ukrainian military and the local governor have said.

The city centre was hit in the attack and a garage and three-storey residential building were set on fire, governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. Nine people were wounded, including five children, Kim said, later adding “there are also dead”.

Two people were also hospitalised after strikes on Odesa, the military said. The Black Sea port has already endured two nights of Russian bombardment after Moscow said it was pulling out a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

Earlier the military had warned that both cities were being targeted by Kh-22 anti-ship missiles.

Here are a couple of more images from Mykolaiv, which Russia struck overnight.

In an image released by Ukraine’s emergency services, firefighters work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged in Mykolaiv.

A local resident removes shards of glass from a window after a Russian missile attack on Mykolaiv.

Authorities in Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, have declared a municipal state of emergency in the area where a drone struck earlier. [See 4.25 BST]

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, offers this round-up of overnight news from Ukraine. It reports:

At night, the Russian Federation launched over Ukraine seven Onyx cruise missiles, four Kh-22 cruise missiles, three Kalibr cruise missiles, five Iskander-K cruise missiles and 19 Shahed drones. Air defence forces shot down two Kalibrs, three Iskanders and 13 drones.

In Mykolaiv, they hit a three-storey building, part of the building was destroyed, and they continue to clear the debris there. Residential buildings and about 15 garages were damaged in the city. Currently, 19 victims are known, two of them are hospitalised, including a child.

In Odesa, due to a rocket attack, four people were injured, one more person may be under the rubble, mayor Trukhanov said. In the city, the administrative building was destroyed, and houses were damaged by the blast wave. Warehouses were hit in the region.

In Sumy, a drone hit the building of a children’s camp on the outskirts of the city, an injured woman was treated on the spot. In Chernihiv region drones hit residential buildings, the number of victims is being specified.

Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions were also under fire at night. Residential buildings and an infrastructure object were damaged. There are no casualties.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Russia is responsible for a major global food supply crisis, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Thursday, some days after the Kremlin announced it would suspend an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.

“What we already know is that this is going to create a big and huge food crisis in the world,” Reuters reports Borrell told journalists before heading into a EU foreign ministers’ meeting.

Borrell also accused Russia of deliberately attacking grain storage facilities in the southern port city of Odesa, which he said would further deepen the food crisis.

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak has made another appeal for tougher sanctions against Russia and more air defence supplies for Ukraine, tweeting:

We must unite against Russian evil. Russia’s economy should suffer a devastating sanctions blow, the military-industrial complex should be limited in its ability to produce weapons, and Ukraine should receive more weapons for defence of the sky and offensive actions.

Here is a reminder that earlier the Russian ministry of defence said that it would now be treating all ships heading to Ukrainian ports as potential carriers of military cargo. In a statement, the ministry said:

In connection with the termination of the Black Sea initiative and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, from midnight Moscow time on 20 July 2023, all ships proceeding to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea waters will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo.

Accordingly, the flag countries of such ships will be considered involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime.

A number of sea areas in the north-western and south-eastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea have been declared temporarily dangerous for navigation. Relevant information warnings about the withdrawal of safety guarantees for seafarers have been issued in the prescribed manner.

Police in Odesa have announced some road closures as they deal with the consequences of the overnight attack on the city, Suspilne reports.

The wires have sent through some pictures from Mykolaiv, where the governor said earlier that 18 people had been injured in Russian missile strikes overnight.

Fire engines at the site of an apartment block on fire after being hit by a Russian missile site.

Ukraine’s military shot down five cruise missiles and 13 attack drones launched by Russian forces overnight at the southern Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, Reuters has reported citing Kyiv’s air force.

It said Russia fired 19 cruise missiles and 19 drones in total, but did not specify exactly where the others struck.

Later today the lawfulness of the UK sanctions regime set up in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will face its biggest legal test, when a Soviet-era oligarch and ally of Roman Abramovich seeks a court order to release his assets, which include two private jets.

The case being brought by Eugene Shvidler, a billionaire oil businessman, follows similar challenges by oligarchs now entering the courts in Europe where a separate but similar sanction regime operates.

At stake is billions of pounds worth of assets, some of which the west wants to siphon off to help fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Shvidler’s request for the release of his assets is the first case to reach the UK high court involving an individual. A number of other cases are waiting to be heard if he succeeds.

Russia likely made the decision to quit the Black Sea grain deal “some time ago because it decided that the deal was no longer serving its interests”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update on the war.

Russia has masked this with disinformation, claiming its withdrawal is instead due to concerns that civilian ships are at risk from Ukrainian mines and that Ukraine was making military use of the grain corridor without providing evidence for these claims.

It added that Russia’s Black Sea fleet (BSF) would now likely take a more active role in disrupting any trade that continues.

However BSF blockade operations will be at risk from Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles and coastal defence cruise missiles.

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2023-07-20 07:10:00Z
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Rabu, 19 Juli 2023

US soldier who fled to North Korea captured in final DMZ tour image - live - The Independent

US soldier who fled to North Korea had served time in a South Korean prison

The US soldier who joined a civilian tour only to run across the DMZ into North Korea previously shouted profanities about Koreans and their military.

The mother of the soldier said she was “shocked” and just wanted him to return home.

Private 2nd Class Travis King, who is in his early 20s, crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border to enter North Korea where he is believed to be detained, in an incident that has threatened a new diplomatic row and a crisis with the nuclear-armed state.

His mother, Claudine Gates, of Racine, Wisconsin, told ABC News that she heard from her son “a few days ago”.

“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Ms Gates said.

He was accused of kicking a Seoul police vehicle last year, leading to hundreds of dollars in damage. As he was detained by officers, he shouted profanities about Koreans and the country’s military.

Meanwhile, a photo has emerged showing Mr King in the DMZ moments before he sprinted to the North.

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PHOTO: US soldier who fled to North Korea captured in final DMZ tour image before daring escape

<p>U.S. Private Travis T. King (wearing a black shirt and black cap) is seen in this picture taken during a tour of the tightly controlled Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas, at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, July 18, 2023</p> — U.S. Private Travis T. King (wearing a black shirt and black cap) is seen in this picture taken during a tour of the tightly controlled Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas, at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, July 18, 2023

Gustaf Kilander19 July 2023 20:26

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Trump and Kim Jong Un shook hands at the borderline in 2019

North Koreans who flee to South Korea — an estimated 30,000 since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War — have mostly used the more porous border between North Korea and China.

In 2019, during a period that saw unprecedented diplomacy between North Korea and the United States and South Korea, Trump and Kim Jong Un shook hands at the borderline. Trump stepped over the concrete slab, becoming the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korean territory.

On Tuesday, Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, became the first known American detained in the North in nearly five years, after he bolted across the border at Panmunjom.

King, who had served nearly two months in a South Korean prison, had been held on assault charges and was being sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, on Monday, where he could have faced additional military disciplinary actions and discharge from the service. But officials say that instead of getting on the plane, he left the airport and later joined a tour of Panmunjom.

AP20 July 2023 03:15

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Months and years often pass without incident at the border, but when something happens, it can be violent

There are occasional verbal exchanges between U.S. soldiers and their North Korean counterparts, often businesslike, at the Demarcation Line in the village.

It’s a thrill, perhaps, for the tourists, but it’s a dangerous proposition for the soldiers keeping watch, often only meters (feet) apart.

Months and years often pass without incident, but when something happens, it can be violent.

In 1976, North Korean soldiers axed two American army officers to death, and the United States responded by flying nuclear-capable B-52 bombers toward the DMZ in an attempt to intimidate the North.

In 1984, North Korean and U.N. Command soldiers traded shots when a Soviet citizen defected by sprinting to the southern side. Three North Korean soldiers and one South Korean soldier were killed.

In 2017, when a fleeing North Korean soldier crashed his jeep and then sprinted across the border, North Korean soldiers fired handguns and rifles before Southern soldiers could drag the wounded soldier to safety. South Korean soldiers didn’t return fire.

AP20 July 2023 02:30

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Mother of US soldier Travis King who crossed into North Korea speaks out: ‘Just want him home’

The mother of the American soldier who illegally crossed into North Korea said she was “shocked” and just wanted him to return home.

Meanwhile, his uncle has said that he was “breaking down” following the death of his seven-year-old cousin.

Private 2nd Class Travis King, who is in his early 20s, crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border to enter North Korea where he is believed to be detained. The incident has threatened a new diplomatic row and a crisis with the nuclear-armed state.

His mother, Claudine Gates, who lives in Racine, Wisconsin, told ABC News that she heard from her son “a few days ago”.

“I can’t see Travis doing anything like that,” Ms Gates said, adding that she was taken aback when she was told her son had crossed into North Korea.

Gustaf Kilander and Shweta Sharma20 July 2023 01:45

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Tours to the southern side reportedly drew around 100,000 visitors a year before the pandemic

A carnival atmosphere can occasionally take hold in the area around Panmunjom, with souvenir shops, fast-food restaurants and throngs of tourists, though North Korea has been closed to tourism because of the pandemic since early 2020. The South Korean side has an amusement park not far from the village, and used to have a Popeyes chicken outlet.

Tours to the southern side reportedly drew around 100,000 visitors a year before the pandemic, when South Korea restricted gatherings to slow the spread of COVID. The tours resumed fully last year.

The area is also a throwback to the Cold War, a time of barely contained, simmering hostility between nuclear-armed rivals. There have been ax killings, U.S. bomber fly-bys and desperate defections along the border. U.S. presidents and senior officials regularly make the trip to the southern side of the DMZ for photo ops. The village is formally administered by neither North or South Korea.

The tourist area is a short drive from Seoul, which lies in easy artillery range of the estimated 70% of North Korea’s 1.2 million troop arrayed along the border.

AP20 July 2023 01:00

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Panmunjom site of 1953 truce

Panmunjom, a once-obscure farming village inside the DMZ that now hosts a “Joint Security Area,” is different. It’s a tourist site, albeit one of the world’s most surreal.

Seven decades of division since the end of the Korean War are made palpable by the South Korean soldiers who stand on guard, glaring across the border. North Korea soldiers are there, too, but less visible most days.

The Korean Peninsula was split at the end of World War II into a Soviet-controlled North and U.S.-backed South. It was in Panmunjom that U.S. and North Korean forces negotiated and eventually signed the 1953 truce that ended fighting in the Korean War and created the DMZ. There has never been a formal peace treaty, the village is formally administered by neither North or South Korea.

AP20 July 2023 00:15

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‘People couldn’t really quite believe what had happened'

After Travis King ran, the soldiers hustled all the tourists into a building and then took them to an information centre to give statements, according to Sarah Leslie. She said many of the tourists, including her father, hadn’t seen Mr King run but a soldier explained the events to them.

“People couldn’t really quite believe what had happened,” Ms Leslie said. “Quite a few were really shocked. Once we got on the bus and got out of there we were all kind of staring at each other.”

Ms Leslie, a lawyer from New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, said she’d long had an interest in the Koreas after studying politics at university and seeing South Korean movies.

She said she found it hard to understand why Mr King would head to North Korea.

“I just didn’t think anyone would ever want to do that,” she said.

Gustaf Kilander and AP19 July 2023 23:30

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‘I assumed initially he had a mate filming him in some kind of really stupid prank or stunt, like a TikTok'

Sarah Leslie told the AP that to be part of the DMZ tour, they had to submit their passports and get permits ahead of time.

The group left Seoul early in the morning, with Ms Leslie noticing that Mr King was journeying alone and appeared unwilling to speak to others taking the tour. She also noted that he bought a DMZ hat from a gift shop.

The tour was nearing its end Tuesday afternoon — the group had just walked out of the building and were milling about taking photos — when she saw King running “really fast”.

“I assumed initially he had a mate filming him in some kind of really stupid prank or stunt, like a TikTok, the most stupid thing you could do,” Ms Leslie said. “But then I heard one of the soldiers shout, ‘Get that guy.’”

She said the order came from a US soldier, part of a group of troops patrolling the area alongside South Korean service members.

But the soldiers didn’t have time to respond. She said that after running about 10 metres (30 feet) down a narrow passageway between the distinctive blue buildings, Mr King was over the border and then disappeared from sight. It was all over in a few seconds.

Ms Leslie said she couldn’t see anyone on the North side – the group had been told earlier the North Koreans there had been lying low since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gustaf Kilander19 July 2023 22:45

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Tourist who spotted US soldier bolt to North Korea believed it was a prank

A tourist from New Zealand who was visiting the DMZ between North and South Korea thought it was a stunt when she saw a supposed member of her tour group sprint towards the north.

It quickly became clear that the incident was no prank, but instead a daring escape by a US soldier who had fled a Seoul airport and somehow joined the tour group as he was facing possible disciplinary measures at home.

Sarah Leslie told the AP that Travis King, 23, was out of uniform, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and she had no clue that he was a soldier, or in legal jeopardy.

Mr King, 23, had spent close to two months in a South Korean prison for assault before he was released on 10 July and was set to head back to Fort Bliss in Texas on Monday where he may have been discharged and possibly be the subject of further military discipline.

Ms Leslie told the news agency that her group went further than other tours as they visited the Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom, meaning that the tourists were essentially stepping onto North Korean soil in one of the buildings which is controlled jointly by the two nations.

Gustaf Kilander19 July 2023 22:00

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King said his passport was missing as excuse to not get on flight

Travis King was detained on 8 October following an altercation. When police tried to question him, he behaved aggressively and didn’t reply to their queries. After he was placed in a patrol car, he shouted insults and expletives as he kicked the car door, with the ruling saying that he caused around 584,000 won in damage.

The court said that the defendant admitted to the allegations, that he didn’t have a criminal record, and that he paid 1 million won to repair the car.

Before fleeing the airport to join the tour group, Mr King had passed through security on his own.

The Korea Times reported that an airport official said that Mr King had said that his passport was missing as an excuse to not get on the flight.

One official told Reuters that DMZ tours are advertised at the airport and Mr King seemed to have joined one but it’s unclear how he managed to do so as they usually take three days to schedule because of security measures.

Gustaf Kilander19 July 2023 21:30

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2023-07-20 00:45:42Z
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Deadly shooting in Auckland hours before Women's World Cup - BBC

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By Neil Johnston in Auckland and Emily McGarvey in London

BBC Sport and BBC News

A shooting has left two people dead in the centre of Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the city is due to open the Fifa Women's World Cup.

Six other people, including police officers, were injured and the gunman is also dead after the incident at 07:22 (19:22 GMT) on a construction site in the central business district.

PM Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism.

The tournament would go ahead as planned, he said.

The public, he added, could be assured police had neutralised the threat and there was no ongoing risk after the incident on Queen Street.

No political or ideological motive for the attack had been identified, the prime minister said.

The gunman, he said, had been armed with a pump-action shotgun.

Mr Hipkins thanked "the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm's way, in order to save the lives of others".

"These kinds of situations move fast and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic," he added.

According to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, all Fifa personnel and football teams are safe and have been accounted for.

"I can't remember anything like this ever happening in our beautiful city. This morning's events have been tragic and distressing for all Aucklanders, as this is not something that we are used to," Mr Brown said on Twitter.

Fifa expressed its "deepest condolences" to the victims' families and said it was in communication with New Zealand authorities.

"The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place," it said.

The opening match is to be held between New Zealand and Norway in the city's Eden Park.

Sport Minister Grant Robertson said there would be extra police in the area to provide reassurance.

The ninth Women's World Cup is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

Biggest Women's World Cup set to get under way

Earlier, the mayor warned people should stay home and avoid travelling into the city. Mr Brown said it was a "dreadful thing to happen" in his city.

Police say they heard reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the construction site, and the gunman moved through the building and continued to fire.

The man then went into a lift shaft and police attempted to engage with him.

Further shots were fired by the man and he was found dead a short time later, police say.

Following the shooting there was a large armed police presence in the central business district not far from the waterfront and the fan park.

Tatjana Haenni, chief sporting director for National Women's Soccer league USA, is staying close to where the shooting happened.

She told BBC News she had woken up to sounds of police cars arriving and was told to stay inside. "So far we feel safe," she said.

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2023-07-19 22:12:46Z
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Auckland shooting: Two people and a gunman killed on eve of Women's World Cup - Sky Sports

Two people and a gunman have been killed in a "serious incident" in Auckland on the eve of the Women's World Cup.

Police responded to reports a man had fired shots in a building in downtown Auckland, two miles from Eden Park, the venue for the opening match of the tournament between co-hosts New Zealand and Norway.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said at least six people had been injured, including a police officer, who was able to walk to an ambulance with assistance from colleagues.

Hipkins also confirmed the World Cup would go ahead as planned. He said: "Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland. The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned.

"I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual."

Both the New Zealand and Norway teams have confirmed they are safe.

New Zealand Football said it was "shocked by news of the incident in Auckland CBD".

They added: "We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe but we will not be able to comment further while details are still emerging."

Norway captain Maren Mjelde said people woke up quickly when a helicopter began hovering outside the hotel window.

"We felt safe the whole time," she said in a statement. "FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game [on Thursday]."

The incident comes as many football teams were gathering in New Zealand for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which begins in Auckland on July 20.

NZ police: Incident not viewed as national security risk

Police said the situation had been contained to a single building that was under construction in lower Queen Street but urged people to avoid the area or stay inside their buildings if already there.

"Police have contained a serious incident that unfolded at a construction site in Auckland's CBD this morning," a New Zealand Police statement read.

"Multiple injuries have been reported and at this stage we can confirm two people have died. The male offender is also deceased.

"This incident unfolded after reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the site on lower Queen Street at around 7.22am.

"A significant number of police responded and cordoned off the area. The Police Eagle helicopter was also deployed and provided oversight.

"The offender has moved through the building site and continued to discharge his firearm.

"Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him. Further shots were fired from the male, and he was located deceased a short time later.

"Details around what has exactly occurred are still emerging and police will continue to provide updates around injuries and the circumstances."

New Zealand Police moved to reassure the public, confirming the incident did not pose a national security risk.

"What has unfolded is understandably alarming and we are reassuring the public that this incident has been contained and is an isolated incident," the statement continued. "We can also advise that this is not a national security risk.

"Police are now commencing an investigation into what has occurred this morning. Cordons remain in place and we are continuing to ask the public to stay away from the area as our work continues.

"Updates will continue to be provided this morning and police will also be fronting an update to media this afternoon."

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2023-07-19 22:29:49Z
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Strike threats in Italy and stoppages in Greece as workers struggle with heat - The Guardian

Temperatures reached almost 47C in southern Italy on Wednesday and factory workers threatened to strike over the extreme heat, while wildfires continued to rage in Greece and temperatures in coastal waters around Spain broke records.

In Sicily, where the European record of 48.8C was registered in August 2021, the mercury climbed to almost 47C in the area between Mazara del Vallo, in the province of Trapani, and Sciacca, in Agrigento province, according to data from ilMeteo.it. Temperatures in Sardinia reached 46C while Rome – where there were energy blackouts on Tuesday due to pressure on the grid believed to be from air conditioners – peaked at 38C.

“This is apocalyptic,” said Claudia Bivona, 57, a teacher in Trapani. “Something we had never experienced before. And it will get worse and worse. I’m thinking of the elderly and also of animals. What is happening is not normal.”

Nuccia Orlando, a nurse at a hospital in the Sicilian province of Caltanissetta, said: “We are melting. This heat is absurd. My car’s thermometer registered 52C inside the vehicle today. Of course, I had left it in the sun. But still, we are talking about 52C.”

Italy’s health minister, Orazio Schillaci, said an information line would be activated amid concerns about deaths from heat-related illnesses. A man in his 60s is believed to have died of a heat-related illness after fainting in his bakery near the northern city of Padua, and a 44-year-old road worker died in Milan last week.

“You can protect yourself against the heat in a major way by drinking lots of water, opting for a diet based on vegetables and fresh fruit and avoiding excessive consumption of fatty foods and alcohol,” Schillaci said. “Special attention should be paid to the most fragile, elderly and children.”

The carmaker Stellantis said it was monitoring the situation at its Pomigliano d’Arco plant near Naples after workers were sent home early on Tuesday because it was too hot to work. Workers at the battery maker Magneti Marelli threatened an eight-hour strike at a plant in Sulmona, in the central Abruzzo region. A statement from unions said the “asphyxiating heat is putting the lives of workers at risk”.

The CGIL union said temperatures in factories in the southern region of Basilicata were nearing 40C. “The arrival of the heat is a serious problem for workers because it puts their health and safety at risk,” it said. “After the Stellantis case we are getting many signals from several factories across the region. For this reason we ask workers to turn to their unions if health and safety guarantees are not being met.”

Unions have also expressed concern for agricultural workers, most of whom are seasonal workers from outside the EU, and construction workers. Farm workers in Marsica, Abruzzo, are working 4am-11am shifts as a way of avoiding the hottest hours.

In Greece, staff at the Acropolis and other ancient sites will stop work for four hours a day from Thursday in protest at working conditions.

Access to the Unesco-listed Acropolis had been restricted for three days from last Friday but the measures were lifted on Monday as the thermometer dropped before a new heatwave was predicted from Thursday.

“Given the problems we have faced … in recent days, measures have been unanimously decided to protect the health of the security staff … as well as visitors,” the PEYFA union said.

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Water bombers flown in from Italy and France joined the operation to extinguish wildfires often fanned by strong winds around Athens.

In a week that has highlighted the realities of the climate emergency, thousands of people have had to flee their homes as a result of the forest fires and countless others have lost properties.

In Spain, coastal waters hit a record high for this time of year. Aemet, the national weather office, said the average temperature of the water off Spain in mid-July reached 24.6C, 2.2C higher than the average for the season.

The situation was even more worrying since the summer is far from over, said Rubén del Campo, an Aemet spokesperson. “There is still room for the sea to warm even more,” he said.

Temperatures in some parts of Spain’s Mediterranean waters have hit 28C.

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2023-07-19 21:38:00Z
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