Police: Man killed himself after ramming US Capitol barrier
Police say a man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol and then began firing gunshots in the air before fatally shooting himself. Police say the man didn’t seem to be targeting any member of Congress. The incident happened just before 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set on Capitol Hill. Authorities say that as the man was getting out of the car, the vehicle became engulfed in flames. Police say he then opened fire, shooting several bullets into the air as police approached. The man’s identity hasn’t been released, but investigators have located addresses for him in Delaware and Pennsylvania and have learned he had a criminal history in the past decade.
Driver kills 1, injures 17 at fundraiser, then kills another, police say
In a pair of horrific scenes Saturday night that compounded the tragedy of a recent fatal fire in eastern Pennsylvania, a man plowed his car into a fundraising event for families affected by that fire, killing one and injuring 17, then drove off and fatally beat a woman before police arrested him, authorities said. The suspect, identified by police as Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes, 24, was arraigned on two counts of homicide and denied bail. He is being held at the Columbia County Correctional Facility. Investigators identified the woman beaten to death as the suspect’s mother, Rosa D. Reyes, The Press Enterprise of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, reported, citing court records.
‘China threat’ emerges in elections from UK to Australia
While inflation and recession fears weigh heavily on the minds of voters, another issue is popping up in political campaigns from the U.K. and Australia to the U.S. and beyond: the “China threat.” Nations for years have sought to balance promoting trade and investment with the world’s second-largest economy with concerns about China’s projection of military power, espionage and its human rights record. The pendulum is swinging toward the latter, especially after the Chinese military drills that followed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week. That shift has made China a target for vote-seeking politicians as opinion polls show public sentiment in many democracies turning against China.
Mexico president to bypass congress to keep army in streets
Mexico’s president has begun exploring plans to sidestep congress to hand formal control of the National Guard to the army. That could extend the military’s control over policing in a country with high levels of violence. The idea has raised hackles, because President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won approval for creating the force in 2019 by pledging in the constitution that it would be under nominal civilian control. Part of that constitutional amendment also stipulated the military would have to exit policing roles by 2024. But now López Obrador wants to keep soldiers in the streets longer. He no longer has the votes in congress to amend the constitution, so he says he may do it as a regulatory change.
Fire at Cairo Coptic church kills 41, including 15 children
A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital, killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children, and injuring 16 others. The church quickly filled with thick black smoke Sunday, and witnesses said several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors to escape. The cause of the blaze in the Martyr Abu Sefein church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement. Footage from the scene circulated online showed burned furniture, including wooden tables and chairs. Firefighters were seen putting out the blaze while others carried victims to ambulances.
Norway kills Freya, a 1,300-pound walrus who delighted onlookers
Norwegian authorities killed a 1,300-pound walrus named Freya on Sunday who had spent the past weeks off climbing onto boats and lounging on piers, saying that moving her was “too high risk.” “In the end, we couldn’t see any other options,” said Olav Lekver, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries. Lekver said people had been bothering Freya by swimming with her and taking photos of her. Authorities warned last week that Freya faced the prospect of being killed if they could not convince onlookers to stay away. Freya became a threat to human safety, Lekver said.