SYDNEY: A white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers and injured dozens at two mosques in New Zealand will begin an appeal hearing against his sentence on Monday.
Brenton Tarrant, 35, opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019, in the worst mass shooting in the country's history.
He was convicted of 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act and is serving a life sentence in prison without parole.
It was the first time a New Zealand court had sentenced a person to prison for the rest of their life.
Tarrant, an Australian national, released a racist manifesto shortly before storming the mosques armed with military-style semi-automatics, indiscriminately shooting at Muslims gathered for Friday prayers and livestreaming the killings on Facebook using a head-mounted camera.
New Zealand’s worst peacetime killing shocked the country and prompted the government to quickly tighten gun laws.
New Zealand to hear Christchurch mosque shooter’s appeal against sentence
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New Zealand to hear Christchurch mosque shooter’s appeal against sentence
Germany takes delivery of Israeli-made underwater drone
- "The army said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date“
- The device was tested in the Baltic Sea
BERLIN: The German navy on Wednesday said it had taken delivery of an Israeli-made Blue Whale underwater drone intended for reconnaissance and detecting “hybrid threats at sea.”
The autonomous underwater vehicle, developed by Israeli company IAI together with German submarine- and warship-maker TKMS, was received in the northern port of Eckernfoerde, the navy said in a statement.
The army on its website said the Blue Whale was the navy’s “largest and most advanced unmanned underwater vehicle to date.”
The device was tested in the Baltic Sea, a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and NATO since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the army said.
Military experts and European leaders say Russia has ramped up its “hybrid war” in the strategic region — now bordered entirely by NATO members, with the exception of Russia — through airspace incursions and suspected sabotage of undersea cables.
TKMS said the Blue Whale was capable of “conducting reconnaissance operations, detecting targets above and below the sea surface, collecting acoustic information, and locating sea mines on the seabed.”
Israel and Germany have upped their defense cooperation in recent months and in January signed a security pact to expand joint work on counterterrorism and cyber defense.
In December, Germany approved a $3.1 billion expansion of a contract for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is Israeli-made and developed with US support.
