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Shocked Serbians Mourn Victims Of Belgrade School Shooting

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BELGRADE, Serbia — Scores of Serbian students, many dressed in black and carrying flowers, paid quiet tribute on Thursday to classmates murdered a day earlier when a 13-year-old boy used his father’s guns in a school shooting rampage that shocked the country and prompted calls for stricter gun control.

Students from all across the city flocked to the streets surrounding the school in central Belgrade. Thousands had gathered earlier to lay flowers, light candles, and leave toys in memory of the eight children and a school guard killed on Wednesday morning.

People cried and hugged outside the school as they stood in front of flower bouquets, teddy bears and soccer balls. A grey and pink toy elephant with messages of mourning was placed by the school fence, and a girl’s ballet shoes hung from the fence.

The Balkan nation is still coming to grips with what has occurred. Despite being awash in weaponry left over from the 1990s wars, mass shootings have been extraordinarily unusual Belgrade — and this is the first school massacre in Serbia’s modern history.

The tragedy also spurred a debate about the country’s overall state after decades of crises and battles that have left the country in a state of constant insecurity and instability, as well as significant political divisions.

According to Dragan Popadic, a psychology professor at Belgrade University, the explanation of the teenager’s reaction is yet unknown, but the tragedy has highlighted the amount of violence existing in society and produced a deep shock.

“All of a sudden, we are living in a different world,” he explained. “We used to live in a world where a 13-year-old couldn’t be a mass killer, and now, all of a sudden, it is possible, and we must accept that it happened.”

Such a shift, according to Popadic, is “deeply disturbing.”

Authorities increased gun control on Thursday, urging citizens to lock up their firearms and keep them secure and away from youngsters.

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A psychology professor at Belgrade University, the explanation of the teenager’s reaction is yet unknown.

According to police, the boy used his father’s weaponry to carry out the attack. According to authorities, he had planned it for a month, created pictures of classrooms, and made lists of the children he intended to kill.

According to authorities, the child, who had visited the shooting range with his father and knew the code to his father’s safe, removed two pistols from the safe where they were stored along with the bullets.

“The Ministry of Interior is appealing to all gun owners to store their guns with care, locked up in safes or closets so they are out of reach of others, particularly children,” police said.

The shooting at Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school on Wednesday morning also hospitalized seven people, including six youngsters and a teacher. Doctors stated to Belgrade Thursday morning that a girl shot in the head is still in critical condition, while a boy is in serious spinal damage.

Authorities announced establishing an assistance line to assist people in dealing with the catastrophe. Hundreds responded to an appeal to donate blood for the injured victims.

A three-day period of mourning will begin on Friday morning for Belgrade.

Teachers’ unions in Serbia have called for rallies and strikes to demand improvements and warn of a school system catastrophe. Authorities brushed off responsibility, with some officials blaming Western influence rather than the country’s severe social malaise.

According to Popadic, numerous forms of violence dominate Serbian society, ranging from schools to politics. He highlighted harassment of political opponents by ruling populists, aggressive hooligan groups in sports, or frequent violence among schoolchildren and teachers that are only revealed in serious cases.

“People have been suddenly shaken into reality and the ocean of violence that we live in, how it has grown over time, and how much our society has been neglected for decades,” he said. “It’s as if flashlights have been turned on over our lives, and we can’t seem to mind our business.”

The shooter, identified by authorities as Kosta Kecmanovic, has not explained his conduct.

When Kecmanovic first entered his school, he killed the guard and three kids in the corridor. He then proceeded to the history classroom and shot the teacher before turning his rifle on the students.

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Another Belgrade resident, Jovan Lazovic, was unsurprised.

Kecmanovic then unloaded the revolver on the schoolyard and called the cops, even though a school official had previously notified them. When he contacted, Kecmanovic indicated he was a “psychopath who needs to calm down,” according to authorities.

Seven girls, one boy, and the school security guard were killed. Belgrade according to France’s foreign minister, one of the girls was a French citizen.

According to authorities, Kecmanovic is too young to be charged and tried. He was committed to a mental institution, while his father was arrested on charges of threatening public safety since his son obtained the guns.

“I believe we are all guilty. “I think each of us bears some responsibility because we allowed some things to happen that we should not have allowed to happen,” said Zoran Sefik, a Belgrade resident, at a vigil near the school on Wednesday evening.

Another Belgrade resident, Jovan Lazovic, was unsurprised: “It was only a matter of days when something like this could happen, given what was going on in the world and here,” he said.

Serbia and the Balkans have a strong gun culture: the region has the highest number of weapons per capita in Europe. At celebrations, guns are frequently fired into the air, and the warrior cult is an important part of national identity. Nonetheless, the most recent mass shooting occurred in 2013, when a war veteran killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.

Experts have often warned of the dangers posed by the large number of firearms in a country as divided as Serbia, where convicted war criminals are idolized and aggression against minority groups routinely goes unpunished. They also point out that decades of instability caused by the 1990s conflicts and persistent economic suffering could lead to such outbursts.

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SOURCE – (AP)

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The Presidents Of France And Brazil Meet And Announce A $1.1 Billion Investment Plan For The Amazon

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SAO PAULO — The Brazilian and French presidents announced plans on Tuesday to invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the Amazon, including rainforest areas in neighboring French Guiana.

According to a joint statement by the two governments, the funds will be distributed over the following four years to conserve the rainforest. It will collaborate with state-owned Brazilian banks and France’s investment agencies. Brazil and France both stated that private resources would be welcomed.

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The Presidents Of France And Brazil Meet And Announce A $1.1 Billion Investment Plan For The Amazon

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are meeting this week to rekindle bilateral relations after years of tensions with former President Jair Bolsonaro, deepen cooperation to protect the rainforest, and boost trade.

Macron began his three-day tour of the country in the Amazon city of Belem, where he met with longtime ally Lula. The French president then boarded a boat to Combu Island to meet with Indigenous leaders.

Macron and Lula witnessed a Greenpeace demonstration with placards reading “No Oil in the Amazon.” Brazil’s government has considered authorizing oil exploration in a location near Belem, located in Para state.

Lula stated during his speech that Macron’s visit is part of a worldwide effort to strengthen rainforest safeguards.

“We want to convince those who have already deforested that they must make significant contributions to countries that still have forests in order to keep them standing,” Lula stated in a speech beside the French president.

Before the trip, Macron’s administration stated that a potential European trade pact with the South American body Mercosur would not be on the table. The French president opposed such an agreement as long as South American growers did not adhere to the same environmental and health requirements as Europeans after farmer concerns were highlighted during protests in France and Europe.

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The Presidents Of France And Brazil Meet And Announce A $1.1 Billion Investment Plan For The Amazon

The French president awarded Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire the prestigious Legion of Honor medal for her work to preserve the rainforest.

“You were in Europe, and I promised to come here to your forest and be with your people in this forest that is coveted,” Macron told the Indigenous leader, according to French radio RFI. “President Lula and I have a common cause for one of our friends in this land that belongs to you.”

According to Macron’s office, Lula and Macron will strive to “set a common course” to combat climate change and poverty as Brazil prepares to host the G20 conference in Rio de Janeiro in November and UN climate negotiations in Belem the following year.

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The Presidents Of France And Brazil Meet And Announce A $1.1 Billion Investment Plan For The Amazon

On Wednesday, Macron and Lula will debut a diesel-powered submarine built in Brazil using French technology at the Itaguai shipyard near Rio de Janeiro. The French president will then travel to São Paulo to meet with Brazilian investors. On Thursday, the French president will travel to Brasilia for another meeting with Lula.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Israel And Hamas Dig In As Pressure Builds For A Cease-Fire In Gaza

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JERUSALEM — On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire that his country’s main partner, the United States, chose not to reject. He said the resolution empowered Hamas and pledged to continue the fight.

As the war enters its sixth month, both Israel and Hamas have rejected cease-fire proposals, both maintaining that their version of triumph is within grasp. The passing of the U.N. resolution has further heightened tensions between the United States and Israel during the course of the conflict.

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Israel And Hamas Dig In As Pressure Builds For A Cease-Fire In Gaza

Netanyahu has stated that Israel can only achieve its goals of eliminating Hamas and releasing dozens of captives if it pushes its military offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge, many in overcrowded tent camps. The United States has stated that a massive assault on Rafah would be a mistake.

Hamas has stated that it will hold the captives until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its soldiers from Gaza, and releases hundreds of Palestinian inmates, including prominent terrorists. It said late Monday that it had rejected a recent plan that fell short of those objectives and, if implemented, would allow it to claim an enormously costly triumph.

In a statement, Netanyahu noted that the declaration “proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.”

“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.”

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel has killed around 32,000 Palestinians, with almost two-thirds of them being women and children. The ministry’s total does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip, uprooted the majority of its citizens, and pushed one-third of its 2.3 million population to the verge of hunger.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that Marwan Issa, the deputy chief of Hamas’ armed branch in Gaza, was killed in an airstrike earlier this month. Issa helped orchestrate the October 7 attack. Issa is the highest-ranking Hamas leader murdered in Gaza since the war began. According to military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Issa was killed when fighter jets targeted an underground complex in central Gaza on March 9-10.

An Israeli strike late Monday on a residential structure in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 individuals, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and family members. An Associated Press reporter witnessed the dead arriving at a hospital.

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Israel And Hamas Dig In As Pressure Builds For A Cease-Fire In Gaza

In response to Hamas’ requests for a more permanent cease-fire, Netanyahu has pledged to resume Israel’s offensive following any hostage release and continue fighting until the militant group is annihilated. However, he provided little ideas about what would happen after such a triumph and rejected the United States’ postwar vision.

That policy has led him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Biden’s administration, which has expressed growing concern over civilian losses yet continuing to provide Israel with critical military help and supporting Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas.

The approval of Monday’s resolution by the United Nations Security Council widened the tensions. The resolution asked for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but did not make the cease-fire conditional on it. The Biden administration, which has previously vetoed U.N. resolutions calling for a cease-fire, abstained from Monday’s vote, letting it succeed.

In reaction, Netanyahu canceled Israeli officials’ scheduled visit to Washington, during which the U.S. was expected to provide options for a ground assault in Rafah.

The action sparked accusations in Israeli media that Netanyahu was undermining Israel’s most vital partnership to appease hardliners in his ruling coalition.

“He is willing to compromise Israel’s relations with the United States for a brief political-media coup. “He has completely lost it,” commented Ben Caspit, a famous commentator for Israel’s Maariv daily.

He claimed that Netanyahu has tested U.S. patience by delaying the delivery of more humanitarian goods to Gaza and the development of postwar plans. “Now, instead of doing everything to placate them, he is flailing about like a baby throwing a tantrum.”

On a separate trip to Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other key U.S. defense officials on Tuesday.

Before the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin characterized civilian casualties in Gaza as “far too high” and relief deliveries as “far too low.” But he also reiterated his position that Israel has the right to defend itself and that the United States will always be there to assist.

Gallant stated that he informed Blinken that Israel would not end operations in Gaza until all captives were returned. Only a decisive victory can put an end to this war.

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ top political leader, said the U.N. vote demonstrated that Israel faced “an unprecedented (level of) political isolation” and is “losing its political cover” at the Security Council. He spoke at a news conference in Tehran after meeting with officials from Iran, a key Hamas backer.

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Israel And Hamas Dig In As Pressure Builds For A Cease-Fire In Gaza

The battle began on October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists poured across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, the majority of them were civilians, and kidnapping approximately 250 others. It is still thought to be keeping approximately 100 hostages and the remains of 35 others after the majority of the remainder were released in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian captives.

The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have spent many weeks attempting to arrange another cease-fire and hostage release, but their efforts appear to have stalled.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, which is presently holding the discussions, informed reporters that the negotiations were ongoing but did not provide any information.

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all remaining hostages in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

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MOSCOW — The death toll from last week’s music hall attack in Moscow increased to 140 on Wednesday, with another victim dying in a hospital, according to Russian officials.

That victim was one of five who remained hospitalized in “extremely grave condition,” and physicians “did everything they could” to rescue them, according to Russia’s Health Minister, Mikhail Murashko.

According to the official, 80 individuals were hurt in the attack and are hospitalized, while 205 others sought outpatient medical care.

moscow

Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

The Friday night shooting at Crocus City Hall, a huge shopping and entertainment complex on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, was the bloodiest terrorist act on Russian soil in nearly two decades. Four attackers with automatic rifles targeted thousands of concertgoers and set fire to the arena.

An Islamic State affiliate claimed credit for the violence, while US intelligence confirmed the group’s involvement. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.

The day following the attack, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of 11 people, including four alleged gunmen. The four guys, all Tajik nationals, appeared in court in Moscow on Sunday on terrorist accusations and appeared to have been severely beaten. One person appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

Russian officials, meanwhile, have asserted that Ukraine and the West played a role, which Kyiv categorically rejects. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of attempting to incite frenzy as his forces fight in Ukraine.

Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, also said that Western intelligence services may have been involved. “We believe that radical Islamists planned the action, while Western special services assisted it, and Ukrainian special services had a direct role in it,” Bortnikov added without providing further information.

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Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

He echoed Putin’s claim that the four gunmen were attempting to flee to Ukraine when they were apprehended, citing it as evidence of Kyiv’s claimed involvement.

However, Belarus’ autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko, who stated on Tuesday that the suspects were on their way to Ukraine because they were concerned about tight border controls, called this allegation into question.

The Islamic State organization, which lost much of its territory after Russia’s military intervention in Syria in 2015, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, IS bombed a Russian airplane over the Sinai desert, killing all 224 persons on board, the majority of them were Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.

The group, which primarily works in Syria and Iraq but also Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed multiple strikes in Russia’s dangerous Caucasus and other areas in recent years. It has recruited fighters from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

On Monday, Putin warned that similar strikes could occur, citing probable Western participation. He made no mention of the United States classified warning to Moscow about a probable imminent terrorist strike two weeks before the raid.

moscow

Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

Three days before the incident, Putin condemned the US Embassy’s March 7 notification urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, particularly concerts, as an attempt to intimidate Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Bortnikov said Russia appreciated the warning, but it was quite vague.

SOURCE – (AP)

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