A manhunt is underway after three people were killed and four severely injured during a stabbing attack at a festival in the western German city of Solingen, police told CNN.

The suspect is on the run, said German police during a news conference. Special police forces have been deployed to the active manhunt.

The attack took place in a square during the “Festival of Diversity” on Friday, a three-day event marking the 650th anniversary of the city’s founding. Police say the attack occurred close to the stage while a musical act was performing at the festival.

Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, also expressed his shock in a televised statement, adding that “none of us know why this happened. I can’t say anything about the motive, about the person.”

During a press conference, a police spokesperson said their “current assessment is that this was a deliberate attack.” Asked by reporters whether this was a terror attack, however, the spokesperson cautioned, “That would just be speculation. I can’t say that at the moment.”

Images and footage from the scene showed several ambulances and police officers, as well as a helicopter flying overhead.

Police services are utilising all available resources, including personnel and vehicles, and a large-scale manhunt is underway, the spokesperson added.

“This evening, all of us in Solingen are experiencing shock, horror, and great sadness,” the city’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach, wrote on Solingen’s Facebook page.

“We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured.”

8 dead in attempted Russian prison uprising by ISIS prisoners

ISIS prisoners at a remote Russian prison staged an attempted revolt Friday that left eight dead, officials said.

The four terrorists were gunned down by snipers at the IK-19 Surovikino facility in the southwestern Volgograd region after they took four inmates and eight prison guards hostage – fatally stabbing four of the guards, according to the Federal Prison Service (FSIN).

Three other guards were hospitalised with injuries.

Special force snipers “neutralised” the inmates, who identified themselves as Islamic State militants, with “four precise shots”, the agency said.

Videos that purportedly came from the scene show the knife-wielding attackers pacing in a prison yard with their victims laid in pools of blood.

Some shouted that they were acting to avenge the persecution of Muslims.

The attempted coup began during a disciplinary commission meeting, BBC reported, citing FSIN.

Deadly superyacht sinking investigated as possible manslaughter

Fox News quotes judicial sources telling Reuters that investigators in the superyacht sinking off the coast of Sicily that left seven people dead earlier this week are considering manslaughter charges in the case.

The public prosecutor’s office of Termini Imerese in Sicily is investigating possible negligence on the part of the crew of the yacht when it was besieged by storms while anchored.

Divers on Friday recovered what is believed to be the body of Hannah Lynch, the daughter of Mike Lynch the British tech magnate who was celebrating his acquittal on fraud charges with friends and family on the boat.

Hannah was the final person who had been unaccounted for in the tragedy, the Italian Coast Guard said. Lynch body’s was found Thursday.

The Lynch family was aboard the Bayesian, a 184-foot British-flagged yacht that sank after capsising in the early hours of Monday amid winds as high as 100 mph.

Bayesian had 22 people on board – 12 passengers and 10 crew – when it capsised and sank within minutes of being hit by a predawn storm.

Fifteen people survived the sinking, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.

The captain of the yacht and the other survivors have been interviewed by the Italian Coast Guard at the request of the prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor leading the case is scheduled to hold a press conference later today. No one is formally under investigation yet.

Possible charges could include negligent shipwreck and multiple homicide, sources told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of Italian ship manufacturer Perini, which made the ship in 2008, told Reuters on Thursday, “The boat suffered a series of indescribable, unreasonable errors”.

He said the crew made an “incredible mistake” in not preparing for the storm, even though it was announced in a shipping forecast earlier. “This is the mistake that cries out for vengeance,” he said.

Modi urges Zelensky to hold peace talks

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday against the backdrop of Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. This was the first visit to Ukraine by any Indian prime minister since Kyiv declared its independence in 1991.

This is a “historic” and “symbolic” day, Zelensky said. He thanked India for its “support of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and he urged Modi to join his vision of a “just peace” based on Zelensky’s 10-point peace proposal. “The matter of ending the war and a just peace are the priority for Ukraine,” he added, reiterating that Kyiv seeks an end to the war on its terms, not Russia’s.

Modi also focused on the potential of future negotiations, offering his role “as a friend” to push for peace. The Indian prime minister has held several conversations with Zelensky on the sidelines of G-7 summits, and on Friday, he visited Kyiv’s memorial to Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, underscoring the two leaders’ focus on achieving peace.

“The road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy, and we should move in that direction without wasting any time,” Modi said. “Both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis.”

Yet India’s close ties with Russia continue to undermine his calls for peace. India overtook China last month to become the world’s biggest importer of Russian oil, which Western nations have imposed a slew of sanctions on. Russia is also a major arms supplier to India, and the Kremlin remains a long-standing partner in helping to balance New Delhi’s strained relationship with Beijing. Because of this, Modi has refrained from explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion.

Last month, Modi chose Moscow for his first official state visit since beginning his new term. The two-day visit, during which he hugged Russian President Vladimir Putin, coincided with a deadly Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. “It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow,” Zelensky wrote on X in July.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has been pushing for a second international peace summit for later this year. The first, held in Switzerland in June, excluded Russia; India attended but was one of the few countries there not sign a communiqué affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and calling for talks among all parties to find a lasting solution to the conflict.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said peace talks were out of the question due to Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russian territory on August 6. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, reiterated on Wednesday that there will be no negotiations until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield. Kyiv has previously suggested that the Kursk advance was meant to provide Ukraine with leverage in future talks.

US unveils massive tranche of sanctions targeting Russia

The United States on Friday unveiled a massive tranche of sanctions in the latest effort to target Russia’s war machine and President Joe Biden announced additional aid for Kyiv as the war in Ukraine continues.

The sanctions from the US Treasury and State Departments hit nearly 400 people and entities both in and outside Russia, including China.

The sanctions – unveiled ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day – specifically target those supporting the Russian supply chain and defence base, as well as those helping Moscow to evade current sanctions. In a further show of support for Ukraine, Biden on Friday announced a new aid package that includes air defence missiles and counter-drone equipment. In addition to air defence equipment, the package includes anti-armour missiles and ammunition.

“When Russia’s senseless war began, Ukraine was a free country,” Biden wrote in a lengthy statement. “Today, it is still a free country. And the war will end with Ukraine remaining a free, sovereign, and independent country.

“Make no mistake: Russia will not prevail in this conflict,” he wrote.

Gallant accuses Ben-Gvir of putting Israel at risk

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday of putting the country at risk and creating “internal division” in Israel. His comments came after extracts of a letter were leaked that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sent to Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other government ministers.

In that letter, Bar warned that Ben-Gvir’s conduct, including his controversial visit to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, would “lead to much bloodshed and will change the face of the State of Israel beyond recognition.” Bar also accused unnamed parliamentarians of providing money, legitimacy, and praise to extremist Israeli settlers suspected of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

The far-right minister responded on Friday by accusing Bar of trying to deflect from his own intelligence failures regarding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. He also told Gallant that “instead of attacking me on Twitter, start attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon”.

Latin American countries and the US reject Moduro’s court decision

Ten Latin American countries and the United States said on Friday that they “categorically reject” the court’s decision which upheld the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday and called for an “impartial and independent audit.”

Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice upheld the re-election of President Maduro on Thursday despite widely supported evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo González secured the most votes in the July 28 presidential election. The justices claimed that “tally reports issued by each of the vote machines” proved Maduro’s victory; however, the court, filled with Maduro’s allies, did not provide evidence of these votes.

“I have no doubt this election has been stolen,” Chilean President Gabriel Boric said.

The court’s ruling aimed to quiet deadly nationwide protests calling for Maduro to step down. Opposition leaders, rights organisations, and the United Nations have accused the country’s National Electoral Council, also aligned with Maduro’s regime, of refusing to release printouts verifying the digital count and allowing voter intimidation.

Since the contested election, Maduro’s government has arrested key opposition figures, tightened rules on nongovernmental organisations, and killed dozens of protesters. Maduro is set to begin his third, six-year term in January.

New laws impose more restrictions on Afghan women

Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, established by the country’s Taliban rulers, issued new laws prohibiting women’s voices and bare faces from being heard or seen in public. Specifically, women must wear face coverings at all times; are not allowed to look at men to whom they are not related (and vice versa); and cannot sing, recite, or read aloud, as a woman’s voice is considered intimate. The Taliban said the bans are to better follow their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Afghanistan was no paradise for women even before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. But misogyny and inequality have worsened since the group took control.

The day before, the Taliban announced that it had destroyed more than 21,300 musical instruments in the past year and prevented thousands of computer operators from selling “immoral and unethical” films at local markets. The group also said it had dismissed more than 280 members of its security forces for failing to grow a beard.

Oil tanker explosion claimed by Houthis threatens Red Sea pollution

Parts of the Red Sea are facing a significant pollution risk after Yemen’s Houthis blew up a crippled tanker and its crude oil cargo in the middle of the strategic waterway, according to the Financial Times.

The Iran-backed group on Friday posted videos showing their forces’ deliberate blowing up of the Greek-owned oil tanker Sounion, whose crew had been forced to abandon ship after a series of attacks by the Houthis on Wednesday.

The EU’s Operation Aspides naval force had warned on Thursday that the drifting, abandoned vessel and its cargo of 150,000 tonnes of crude oil represented a “navigational and environmental hazard” and urged against any action that would worsen the risk.

The blowing up of the ship marks a new tactic for the Houthis. Since the group began its campaign against international shipping last November, it has sunk two ships – the Rubymar, attacked in February, and the Tutor, attacked in June. However, it has not previously deliberately blown up an abandoned ship. Neither the Rubymar nor the Tutor was carrying a liquid cargo and there were no reports of serious pollution.

The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations office reported before the Houthis posted their video that three fires had been observed on the ship. That would be consistent with the video posted on a Houthi X account on Friday evening. It showed huge explosions ripping through a vessel bearing the name “Delta Tankers”, the Sounion’s Greece-based owners. The ship was attacked in the middle of the Red Sea, 77 nautical miles west of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.

Photo: REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer