PHOENIX: A 14-year-old girl was killed and eight others were wounded early Saturday in a shooting amid a crowd of people at a strip mall northwest of downtown Phoenix, police said.
Sgt. Andy Williams told reporters that nine people were taken to hospitals after the 1 a.m. shooting sent people running near 10th Avenue and Hatcher Road. The 14-year-old girl died after being taken to the hospital, two women have life-threatening injuries, and six have injuries that are not life-threatening.
In an interview posted by ABC 15 Williams said no suspects were immediately identified and no arrests were made while authorities pieced together witness accounts.
Williams said it appeared that a handgun was used after an argument erupted among those gathered for what he termed “some sort of party.”
“Many rounds were shot into this crowd of people as everyone fled the area,” he said.
Williams said the wounded range in age from about 17 to 24.
The shooting happened about an hour after police reported that a teenage boy was shot and killed outside his home about three blocks away. It was not immediately clear if the two shootings were related.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego responded to the shooting on Twitter, saying: “Seems we can’t go a day without another mass shooting.”
“Time has run out,” she said. “Change must happen now.”
1 dead, 8 hurt in overnight shooting at Phoenix strip mall
https://arab.news/26mkx
1 dead, 8 hurt in overnight shooting at Phoenix strip mall
- A 14-year-old girl died after being taken to the hospital
Japan to test mine rare-earth mud from deep seabed
TOKYO: Japan will conduct test mining of rare-earth-rich mud from the deep seabed off Minamitori Island, some 1,900 kilometers (1,180 miles) southeast of Tokyo, from January 11 to February 14, the head of the government-backed project said on Tuesday.
The operation will mark the world’s first attempt to continuously lift rare-earth mud from a depth of around 6,000 meters on to a vessel.
Tokyo, like its Western allies, is seeking to secure stable supplies of critical minerals as China, the dominant supplier of rare earths, tightens export controls.
“One of our missions is to build a supply chain for domestically produced rare earths to ensure stable supply of minerals essential to industry,” Shoichi Ishii, program director of the Cabinet Office’s national platform for innovative ocean developments, told reporters.
The Japanese government is pressing ahead with a national project as part of broader efforts to strengthen maritime and economic security.
The January test will focus on connecting the deep-sea mining system and confirming its ability to lift 350 metric tons of rare-earth mud per day. Environmental impacts will be monitored both on board and on the seabed throughout the operation.
No production target has been set, but if successful, a full-scale mining trial will be conducted in February 2027.
The government-funded project has spent about 40 billion yen ($256 million) since 2018, Ishii said, though estimated reserves have not been disclosed.
Ishii also said that while their research vessel was conducting rare-earth surveys within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Minamitori Island from May 27 to June 25, a Chinese naval fleet entered the waters on June 7.
“We feel a strong sense of crisis that such intimidating actions were taken, despite our activities being limited to seabed resource surveys within our EEZ,” he said.
China’s foreign ministry said the activities of its military vessels are in line with international law and international conventions, and called on Japan to “refrain from hyping up threats and provoking confrontation,” in a reply to Reuters’ request for comment.
