International
Deaths in a shooting at a Swedish adult education center rise to eleven
At least eleven people have died, including the alleged aggressor, in a shooting that occurred yesterday in an adult educational center in Örebro (200 kilometers west of Stockholm), the Swedish Police reported on Wednesday.
The number of injured is still unclear, although six people remain hospitalized in the university hospital of Örebro, in a stable situation, two of them in the intensive care unit.
The alleged perpetrator of the shooting had already died when the police arrived at the scene, they reported this Wednesday.
“When the police arrived at the scene, gunshots were heard. When the suspect was found, that person was already dead. We cannot confirm that the shooter has shot himself, but everything indicates that it is,” Örebro police chief Roberto Eid Forest said at a press conference.
Forest said that the investigation is still open, that the development of the facts is not clear and that the identification of the corpses has not yet been completed.
The Swedish police believe that the individual acted alone and, although the reason is not yet clear, it has been ruled out for the moment that he has connections with criminal gangs or terrorist groups.
According to public television SVT, the shooter used a hunting shotgun, but the Swedish police did not confirm these information, nor if he had a gun license or had been in contact with the psychiatric services.
Forest warned about the false information that appeared on social networks according to which the aggressor acted for ideological reasons and appealed to citizens in search of videos or witnesses of what happened.
“The police see that an erroneous narrative about the Örebro shooting has been spread on social networks. That is why we want to clarify that, according to the investigation, right now there is no information indicating that the material author acted for ideological reasons,” it says in a statement on Wednesday.
The shooting began around 12.30 local time (11.30 GMT) at the Risbergska Campus, a school that is part of an adult education complex.
Students and teachers were housed in other neighboring schools for hours until the police were able to secure the scene.
The authorities are now working on the identification of the dead and keep the area still cordoned off.
The entire educational complex will remain closed the rest of the week, although the rest of the municipal schools will open normally today.
Local authorities have enabled telephone lines and several centers for those who need psychological support.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersso, described last night what happened as the “worst” event of its kind in the history of Sweden, a country that in recent years has experienced a considerable increase in armed violence linked to conflicts between criminal gangs.
“We still lack many answers. I can’t give them either, said Kristersson, who invited not to speculate about the shooter’s motives and sympathized with the victims and their families, assuring that “we share your pain.”
King Charles XVI Gustavo has also sent his condolences to the families of the victims and expressed his regret.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
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Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
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