WASHINGTON: A 15-year-old student allegedly opened fire at a high school in rural Michigan on Tuesday, killing three other students before being taken into custody, police said.
Six others, including one teacher, were wounded in the attack, which took place shortly after noon at Oxford High School, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
A second-year student was taken into custody and a handgun was seized, but there was no immediate explanation for what prompted the attack in Oxford, a small town about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Detroit.
"There was no resistance during the arrest and the suspect has asked for a lawyer and has not made any statements as to a motive," the sheriff's office said.
"It's a very tragic situation," Undersheriff Michael McCabe told reporters.
"We have three deceased victims right now, who are all believed to be students," he said.
"We have lots of upset parents," he said.
Police said they received more than 100 911 emergency calls shortly after noon, and that the shooter unleashed 15-20 shots over about five minutes from a semi-automatic handgun with more than one magazine.
The suspect was taken into custody within five minutes of the first 911 call, they said.
President Joe Biden was informed of the shooting during a visit to Minnesota.
"My heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief," he said.
"You know, that whole community has to be just in a state of shock right now."
Elissa Slotkin, who represents the district north of Detroit in the US House of Representatives, said she was "horrified" by the shooting.
"I've been talking with Oxford leaders, parents and students and we are all praying for the health of those injured, and the well-being of all our young people, many of whom are in shock," she said in a statement.
It was the deadliest school shooting so far this year, according to Everytown For Gun Safety, a group which keeps statistics of mass shootings and lobbies for gun control.
Before Tuesday's incident, there had been 138 shootings in schools across the United States in 2021, according to figures provided by Everytown. In those incidents, 26 resulted in fatalities, though no more than two each time.
The deadliest school shootings in US history were the April 2007 attack at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, which saw 33 killed, including the shooter, followed by the December 2012 attack on the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 28 dead, including 20 children and the shooter.
In February 2018, a former student with an AR-15 assault rifle opened fire in his former high school in Parkland, Florida, killing 17, in the deadliest-ever high school shooting.
Three students killed in US high school shooting: Police
https://arab.news/y2gjw
Three students killed in US high school shooting: Police
- A second-year student was taken into custody and a handgun was seized, but there was no immediate explanation for what prompted the attack in Oxford
Russia says shot down 47 Ukrainian drones
- Around 13 drones were destroyed over the Azov Sea and the rest over regions either bordering or near Ukraine
- Kyiv says it is carrying out the strikes in response to Russian bombardments of its territory
“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed 47 Ukrainian drones,” 24 of them over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, the defense ministry said in a statement.
Around 13 drones were destroyed over the Azov Sea and the rest over regions either bordering or near Ukraine, it said.
Russia reports shooting down Ukrainian drones over its territory on a nearly daily basis.
Kyiv says it is carrying out the strikes, which often target energy sites, in response to Russian bombardments of its territory.
Kyiv has ramped up strikes targeting Russia’s energy sector in recent months, aiming to dent revenues used by Moscow to fund what the Kremlin calls its special military operation in Ukraine, now grinding through its third year.
Biden expected to speak to Netanyahu on Wednesday, Iran in focus
- Israel’s retaliation will be a key subject of the call, with Washington hoping to weigh in on whether Israel’s response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions said
WASHINGTON:US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a phone call on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will include discussion of any plans to strike Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel’s response to a missile attack from Iran last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and Washington called it ineffective.
Netanyahu has promised that arch foe Iran would pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with “vast destruction,” raising fears of a wider war in the oil-producing region which could draw in the United States.
Israel’s retaliation will be a key subject of the call, with Washington hoping to weigh in on whether Israel’s response is appropriate, a separate person briefed on the discussions said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden said last Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes, adding he thought Israel had not concluded how to respond to Iran.
Israel has faced calls to strike a ceasefire deal in Gaza and Lebanon by the United States and other allies, but has said it will continue its military operations until Israelis are safe.
Biden and Netanyahu are also expected to discuss the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel says it is defending itself after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies, and against other militants including Hezbollah who support Hamas.
The United States has said it supports Israel going after Iran-backed targets like Hezbollah and Hamas.
But Israel and Netanyahu in particular have faced widespread condemnation over the nearly 42,000 killings in the Gaza war, according to the local Palestinian health ministry, and the deaths of over 2,000 people in Lebanon.
Biden and Netanyahu have had sharp differences over the conduct of the war in recent months, setting up a potentially tense encounter.
About three million people in Gaza and Lebanon have been displaced by Israel’s military campaigns, according to Palestinian and Lebanese officials, and Gaza is also facing a humanitarian crisis with a lack of food and fresh water.
ASEAN leaders meet in Laos summit to tackle Myanmar, South China Sea
- ASEAN summit will also be followed by meetings with global powers including China, the United States and Russia
- ASEAN’s influence has historically been limited even among its own members, but the forum has often served as a platform for dialogues among superpowers
VIENTIANE, Laos: Southeast Asian leaders gathered in the capital of Laos on Wednesday for an annual regional forum that will focus on tackling the prolonged civil war in Myanmar and territorial tensions in the South China Sea, two key challenges that have long tested the bloc’s credibility.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit will also be followed by meetings with global powers including China, the United States and Russia, which are contending for influence in the region.
The timing of the meetings in Vientiane makes it likely that talks will also touch on the escalation of violence in the Middle East, although Southeast Asia has faced only indirect fallout.
ASEAN’s influence has historically been limited even among its own members, but the forum has often served as a platform for dialogues among superpowers looking to engage with the region.
The 10-member states of ASEAN – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos – will also hold talks with their dialogue partners from elsewhere in the region including Japan, South Korea, India and Australia on topics ranging from the economy to climate change and energy.
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone welcomed new leaders from Thailand and Singapore to the summit in his opening speech. He said Lao, one of the poorest countries in the bloc, aims to help members work together to manage geopolitical and economic challenges under its chairmanship.
“We help one another, and work together the ASEAN way,” he said. “We will discuss and strengthen cooperation between ASEAN members and other dialogue partners, along with upholding the unity and centrality of ASEAN.”
Thailand’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who took the premiership in August, is the bloc’s youngest leader at 38. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong took over in May from Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down after 20 years. Vietnam also has a new leader after President To Lam took office in August, but the country is being represented by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, ASEAN’s biggest member, is skipping the forum as his successor Prabowo Subianto prepares to take office later this month, sending Vice President Ma’ruf Amin in his stead. It will also be the first overseas trip for Japan’s new prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was confirmed just last week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will fill in for President Joe Biden at the meetings, while China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang.
Frayed US-China relations, particularly over Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea, will be a major agenda item for Blinken, said Dan Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for Asia. He could not say if Blinken plans to hold separate meetings in Laos with Chinese officials.
“A number of (China)-related issues are likely to come up in the context of the ASEAN meetings, including the situation in the South China Sea and China’s continuing to take a number of escalatory and irresponsible steps designed to coerce and pressure many in the South China Sea claimants,” Kritenbrink said.
ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, along with Taiwan have overlapping claims with China, which claims sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea and has become increasingly aggressive in attempts to enforce them. ASEAN members and China are negotiating a non-binding code of conduct to govern behavior in the sea, but progress has been slow.
Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam charged last week that Chinese forces assaulted its fishermen in disputed areas in the South China Sea. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones. The Philippines, a longtime US ally, has been critical of other ASEAN countries for not doing more to get China to back away.
Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman, research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said there’s little chance of clear outcomes as those not in direct conflict with China – the region’s top trade and investment partner – will likely prioritize ties with Beijing,
“It is the preference for conflict avoidance while getting geostrategic benefits where possible,” he said. “In reality, national interests matter more than regional interests.”
ASEAN’s credibility has also been severely tested by the crisis in Myanmar, where close to 6,000 people have been killed and over 3 million displaced since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Myanmar’s junta has agreed to an ASEAN peace plan that calls for ceasefire and mediation, but hasn’t followed through as it continues battling pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic rebels. It’s widely believed that considerably less than half the country’s territory is under the army’s control.
Thailand is expected to host an informal regional consultation on the Myanmar crisis in December, although it is unclear who will attend from Myanmar. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balangura said the meeting will be open to all ASEAN members at a ministerial level and possible to countries with a shared border with Myanmar.
“Thailand is ready to coordinate to create a concerted ASEAN effort that will lead to peace in Myanmar,” he told reporters.
Myanmar sent Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Aung Kyaw Moe to the summit, its first high-level representative at the summit in three years, after ASEAN barred it from sending political representatives in late 2021.
Allowing a senior diplomat from Myanmar to join the meetings “will be perceived as ASEAN is compromising, confirming the concern that ASEAN is experiencing fatigue in dealing with the crisis,” said Lina Alexandra, senior researcher at Indonesia’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. Chances for any significant breakthrough on the crisis remain slim, she said.
North Korea vows to block border with South Korea and boost front-line defense postures
- The North’s military calls its steps a ‘self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security’ of North Korea
- North Korea had already been adding anti-tank barriers and reinforcing roads on its side of the border since April
SEOUL: North Korea said Wednesday it will permanently block its border with South Korea and boost its front-line defense posture to cope with “confrontational hysteria” by South Korean and US forces, while not announcing an expected constitutional revision to formally designate South Korea its principal enemy and codify new national borders.
While the moves were likely a pressure tactic, it’s unclear how they will affect ties with South Korea since cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.
North Korea’s military said Wednesday it will “completely cut off roads and railways” linked to South Korea and “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures,” according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The North’s military called its steps a “self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security” of North Korea. It said that “the hostile forces are getting ever more reckless in their confrontational hysteria.” It cited what it called various war exercises in South Korea, the deployment of US strategic assets and its rivals’ harsh rhetoric.
South Korean officials earlier said North Korea had already been adding anti-tank barriers and reinforcing roads on its side of the border since April in a likely attempt to boost its front-line security posture and prevent its soldiers and citizens from defecting to South Korea.
KCNA earlier Wednesday said the Supreme People’s Assembly met for two days this week to amend the legal ages of North Koreans for working and participating in elections. But it didn’t say whether the meeting dealt with leader Kim Jong Un’s order in January to rewrite the constitution to remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification, formally designate South Korea as the country’s “invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere.
Some experts say North Korea might have delayed the constitutional revision but others speculated it amended the constitution without announcing it because of its sensitivity.
Kim’s order stunned many North Korea watchers because it was seen as breaking away with his predecessors’ long-cherished dreams of achieving a unified Korea on the North’s terms. Experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct dealings with the US They say Kim also likely hopes to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home.
Haiti gangs are recruiting more child soldiers, human rights report says
- Boys are often used as informants, trained to use weapons and ammunition, and deployed in clashes against the police
- Girls are raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members, and often discarded once they become pregnant
Haiti’s armed gangs are increasingly recruiting children into their ranks, a report by Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday, as near-famine conditions push boys to pick up guns while girls are sexually abused and forced into domestic work.
The group, which advocates for human rights globally, said it had spoken to six children recently involved with gangs, all of whom said they wanted to leave and had joined because they were hungry and gangs were often the only source of food, shelter or money.
Boys are often used as informants, trained to use weapons and ammunition, and deployed in clashes against the police, HRW said. It cited the case of a boy called Michel, an orphan who was recruited six years ago when he was 8 and living on the streets and was given a loaded Kalashnikov.
Girls are raped and forced to cook and clean for gang members, the report said, and often discarded once they become pregnant.
Haiti’s powerful gangs have been expanding their influence in recent years while state institutions have been paralyzed by a lack of funds and political crises. Gangs now control territory where 2.7 million people live, including half a million children.
As they have grown, the gangs have ramped up child recruitment, said HRW.
About a third of gang members are children, according to estimates by the United Nations, which has also warned of boys being used for killings and to attack institutions, and girls being forced into exploitative sexual relations and killed in broad daylight for refusing to do so.
HRW said the criminal groups are increasingly using popular social media apps to attract recruits.
The leader of the Village de Dieu gang, for instance, is a rapper and publishes well-polished music videos of his soldiers. The report said he has a specialized unit to train children how to handle weapons and set up checkpoints.
The UN approved Haiti’s request for a security mission to help the Caribbean country’s police fight the gangs a year ago, but so far the mission has only partially deployed.
HRW urged Haiti’s government and other countries to provide more resources for security forces, ensure children are able to eat and go to school, and provide rehabilitation for recruits.
