A gunman killed six people and seriously wounded two others in southwestern Germany on Friday, police said, with local media reporting that the victims were relatives of the shooter.
The gunman, believed to have a personal motive, launched an assault in the town of Rot am See.
Police in nearby Aalen told AFP that a man with a personal connection to the victims had been arrested and there was no indication that other gunmen were involved.
After the shooting at around 12:45 pm (1145 GMT), first responders arrived on the scene to find the dead and wounded in and around a local hotel.
Police said they responded to the shooting "in force", and images from the scene showed large numbers of emergency vehicles and heavily armed officers sealing off the area with red and white police tape.
Meanwhile forensics teams dressed in white coveralls moved in to secure evidence.  The police told local TV that the suspect was a German.
The Bild newspaper reported that the people killed were family ...

Gunman kills six in Germany attack

PTI Automatic

The Pakistan government on Friday hailed the British government's revised travel advisory, which showed an improvement in the security situation in the country after years of violence.
Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said the revised advisory was a positive step for ties between the two countries.
"A positive step forward, forging even stronger and closer people-to-people links between Pakistan and GB (Great Britain)," she said on Twitter.
Farooqui added Pakistan "looks forward to welcoming more tourists, investors, academics and other visitors from Great Britain."
The UK government on Friday published a revised, softened travel advice for its citizens, as part of its comprehensive travel advisory review.
The assessment showed an improvement in the security situation in Pakistan after years of violence.
"Today's announcement is the result of a comprehensive review of UK travel advice for Pakistan, based on a wide-ranging assessment of the country's security ...

Pakistan hails British govt's softened travel advisory

Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar showed big heart while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was all guile in India's 44-run win against New Zealand as they set-up a quarter-final date with Australia in the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Friday.
During a rain-hit final group A league encounter reduced to 23-overs per-side, India scored 115 for no loss in 23 overs with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (57 not out off 72 balls) and Divyansh Saxena (52 no off 62 balls) hitting half-centuries.
New Zealand needed 193 as per DLS method calculations but managed only 147 in 21 overs as India emerged group toppers with six points.
Left-arm orthodox Ankolekar, who played through pain with a fractured finger on his right hand, had figures of 3 for 28 in five overs with some accurate wicket-to-wicket bowling. This was after New Zealand No 3 Fergus Lellman hit him for two sixes off his first two deliveries.
Bishnoi, a Rs 2 crore buy for Kings XI Punjab, is fast turning out to be the biggest star in the junior line-up ..

U-19 World Cup: Bishnoi, Ankolekar star in Indian victory against NZ, now Australia in Quarters

The Trump administration has named a new head of the US Border Patrol.
Rodney Scott will take over for Carla Provost, who is retiring, according to an announcement obtained Friday by The Associated Press from Mark Morgan, acting head of US Customs and Border Protection.
Scott has been a member of the Border Patrol for 27 years. He takes over the Border Patrol at a critical time.
The agency is in charge of border security and has managed massive numbers of crossings at the US-Mexico border. An increasing number were families from Central America.
Scott led the San Diego Sector, which includes 60 miles (97 kilometres) of border shared with Mexico and 931 miles (1,498 kilometers) of coastal border.
Morgan says Scott is the absolute "embodiment of the US Border Patrol's motto, 'Honour First'."
Provost was the first female leader of the Border agency.

US names new Border Patrol chief

Pep Guardiola wants FA Cup replays to be scrapped as the Manchester City manager prepares for Sunday's fourth round tie against Fulham.
Guardiola is one of several Premier League bosses concerned about the damage being done to his players by the gruelling demands of the English fixture list.
The Spaniard has already admitted he would be happy to see the League Cup cancelled as a way to ease congestion, even though City have won the competition for the last two seasons and face Manchester United in the semi-final second leg next Wednesday.
Aware that a busy period for City would be even more packed if second tier Fulham get a draw at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola has proposed getting rid of all remaining FA Cup replays.
The Football Association abolished them from the fifth round onwards last term and Guardiola, having seen Manchester United's Marcus Rashford injured on FA Cup duty earlier in January, said: "I'm not saying what the FA has to do. When I said my comment I never expected .

Guardiola calls for FA Cup replays to be scrapped

India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in a rain-hit final group A League encounter to set-up a quarter-final clash with Australia in the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Friday.
Batting first, India scored 115 for no loss in 23 overs as rai played spoilsport. Yashasvi Jaiswal (57 no) and Divyansh Saxena (52 no) struck unbeaten half-centuries.
New Zealand needed 193 as per revised Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method and were bowled out for 147 in 21 overs with leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi taking 4 for 30 and left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar grabbing 3 for 28.
Brief Scores: India U-19 115/0 in 23 overs (Divyansh Saxena 52 no, Yashasvi Jaiswal 57 no). New Zealand (DLS target 193 in 23 overs) (Ravi Bishnoi 4/30, Atharva Ankolekar 3/28).

India beat New Zealand by 44 runs via DLS method

Britain's Prince Charles on Friday paid a solemn visit to the tomb of his grandmother, who sheltered Jews during the Holocaust and whose tumultuous life was marked by exile, mental illness and a religious devotion to serving the needy.
Princess Alice is interred at the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene, whose gold onion domes rise up from the Mount of Olives, just outside Jerusalem's Old City.
Charles was shown around the 19th-century church by Archimandrite Roman Krassovsky, the local head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who offered prayers as nuns dressed in black sang hymns.
The Prince of Wales made no public remarks, but he paid tribute to his grandmother the night before at the World Holocaust Forum, which was attended by dozens of other world leaders and coincided with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
"I have long drawn inspiration from the selfless actions of my dear grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, who in 1943, in ...

Prince Charles visits Jerusalem tomb of unique ancestor

US President Donald Trump was to address the country's biggest annual anti-abortion rally on Friday -- just blocks from Congress where senators are sitting in judgment at his impeachment trial.
Trump, with his eyes on the Christian evangelical support he'll need for re-election in November, will be the first president to deliver a speech to the "March for Life" campaigners in person.
In what will surely be a remarkable split-screen moment, Trump will address a crowd of thousands on the sprawling National Mall as Democratic prosecutors take to the floor of the Senate.
The seven Democratic impeachment "managers" are to make their final arguments on Friday for why Trump should be removed from office for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
White House lawyers will then have 24 hours, starting Saturday, to present their defense of the president, who was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18.
While impeachment will forever stain his record, Trump is virtually ...

Trump at anti-abortion rally as Democrats wrap impeachment case

Leaders from across the world made a call for stakeholder responsibility to make 2020s a 'decade of delivery' as the 50th WEF annual meeting came to an end on Friday after five days of hectic discussions.
Several leaders also opined that transformative investments in sustainable solutions and the green economy will help underwrite the next phase of global growth and prosperity.
It was also felt there is also a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity to help mobilise investment towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in emerging economies.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) also said the annual meeting, which aimed to bring all stakeholders together to shape a cohesive and sustainable world, was climate-neutral for the fourth consecutive year, with a host of new initiatives to boost resource efficiency and further reduce emissions.
WEF President Borge Brende said, "Our 50th Annual Meeting has been truly remarkable, due to the real progress that we created on a spectrum .

Leaders call for stakeholder responsibility at WEF annual meet

Zak Crawley hit his maiden Test half-century as England made a strong start on the first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.
England were 100 for no wicket at tea with Crawley on 57 not out and Dom Sibley on 39.
Crawley, 21, playing in his fourth Test, looked confident from the start, which was delayed until after lunch because of rain. He drove firmly off the front foot against a surprisingly unthreatening South African pace attack. He hit ten boundaries in facing 99 balls.
Defending an unassailable 2-1 series lead, England captain Joe Root decided to bat after his South African counterpart Faf du Plessis lost his seventh successive Test toss.
Both captains expected batting to be tricky on a pitch which usually favours fast bowlers -- and both teams opted for all-seam bowling attacks. But there was no discernible swing or sharp movement off the surface as England's young openers scored at better than three runs an over.
Sibley was 

Crawley hits maiden fifty as England openers make strong start

With India stopping importing refined palm oil from Nepal, the Himalayan nation's top export item, the government has formally asked New Delhi to revoke the ban, Nepal's Commerce and Supplies Secretary Baikuntha Aryal said on Friday.
Though the restriction was aimed at Malaysia, which criticised India's decisions on Kashmir and the new citizenship law, it has also hit Nepal.
Nepal had exported refined palm oil worth over Rs 11 billion to India in the first five months of this fiscal, making it the country's largest export item, Aryal told a group of Indian journalists here at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
He said the Nepalese export of refined palm oil was "not disturbing" the Indian market.
Nepali traders have been exporting only in consumer packs of refined palm oil to India and Nepal is not a bulk exporter of the commodity.
"We're not bulk exporters," he said, noting that Nepal exports palm oil in small packages ranging from one kg to 15 kg, which are widely used 

Nepal seeks early lifting of ban on export of refined palm oil to India

German finance minister says he is confident that his country won't suffer from Brexit but that Britain will inevitably face "consequences" from its decision to leave the European Union.
At a panel at the World Economic Forum, Olaf Scholz said Britain's financial sector won't be as important to the EU after Brexit as it is now.
Britain is set to leave the EU in a week's time but will remain within its tariff-free single market and customs union until the end of the year to smooth its exit.
Scholz said a non-member cannot have the same advantages as an EU member and that will be an important factor in upcoming trade discussions between the EU and Britain.
"That is something that will have to be balanced," he said.
"I think we will have solutions but, sure, there cannot be a special competitive advantage from being outside."
Christine Lagarde, the new president of the European Central Bank, cautioned about the prospect of a "cliff-edge" Brexit moment at the end of this year.
Though ...

Germany says UK will face costs from Brexit

Two Russian diplomats accused of spying by Bulgarian prosecutors will be declared persona non grata and expelled from the country, Bulgaria's foreign minister said Friday.
Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said that her office had received the letters from the prosecutors with the allegations, and that the Russian ambassador to Sofia would be summoned.
The prosecutor's office said Friday in a statement that the Russians were engaged in espionage but could not be charged because of their diplomatic immunity.
The diplomats have allegedly collected information about Bulgaria's national elections and energy security, according to prosecutors.
The announcement comes three months after Bulgaria expelled a Russian diplomat identified by prosecutors as being involved in espionage, and also declined a visa to the incoming defense attache at the Russian embassy in Sofia.
In a retaliatory move, Moscow expelled a Bulgarian diplomat a month later.
Bulgaria, Moscow's closest ally during the Cold 

Bulgaria to expel two Russian diplomats suspected of spying

Britain is expected to announce next week whether to allow China's Huawei to develop its 5G network, an official said Friday, amid indications it will agree to grant at least limited access despite intense US opposition.
A senior UK official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision had not yet been taken but likely would be next week -- and strongly hinted at a green light for Huawei.
The United States has banned Huawei from the rollout of its next generation 5G mobile networks because of concerns -- strongly denied -- that the firm could be under the control of Beijing.
Washington has been lobbying Britain to do the same, even threatening to limit intelligence sharing between the two allies if the UK goes its own way.
There has been widespread speculation that Britain would allow Huawei into "non-core" elements of 5G networks, such as antennae and base stations attached to masts and roofs.
British Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said this week that a decision would be 

UK 'to decide on Huawei 5G next week'

Federal agents in Delaware have recovered a more than 500-year-old copy of a letter penned by Christopher Columbus that vanished from an Italian library decades ago.
The US Attorney's Office in Delaware and Homeland Security investigators, who specialise in the recovery of stolen rare books and historic artifacts, announced the find on Wednesday.
The letter is one of a few dozen authentic, reprinted copies of Columbus' original letter, which was handwritten in Spanish in April 1493 and almost immediately reprinted in Latin by the Rome printer Stephan Plannck.
It's the fourth such return in recent years after US investigators, tipped off by a rare books expert, determined that several authentic copies of the Columbus letter had been stolen from libraries across Europe without library officials' knowledge.
Investigators called this latest find  "Columbus Letter Plannck I," which tells of Columbus' discoveries in the Americas  the most rare of the four.
The letter, which is valued at up .

Agents recover stolen 500-year-old copy of Columbus letter

Firefighters toiled all night and were still putting out pockets of fire Friday morning at a building in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown.
Nine people were hurt, eight of them firefighters, but none of the injuries was considered life-threatening.
Responders were called around 8.45 pm Thursday to Mulberry Street for a fire that started on the fourth floor of the city-owned building and extended to the fifth floor and through the roof.
Videos and photos posted to social media showed flames bursting out of windows and flowing heavily from the roof of the building, which Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter was "a pillar to the Chinatown community."
Jian Chun told the New York Post that a victim was trapped on the top floor when firefighters arrived.
"They found a guy on the top floor yelling to get out," the witness said.
"They did a great job getting to him. This fire seemed out of control."
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said firefighters were forced to battle the blaze from the ...

Fire rages in building in heart of Manhattan's Chinatown

The European Union on Friday named an ambassador to post-Brexit Britain, to take up his duties on February 1, the United Kingdom's first day outside the bloc.
The nomination of Joao Vale de Almeida, previously Brussels' top envoy to the UN and to the US, came after top EU officials signed the UK's divorce papers.
Early in his long career with the European Commission, Vale de Almeida was on the team of spokespersons that fielded questions from journalists -- including one Boris Johnson, who was a Brussels-based correspondent three decades ago and is now British prime minister.
The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced in a statement that the appointment of an ambassador was necessary because, from February 1, "the United Kingdom will be a third country".
As a consequence, the EU will maintain in the UK a "delegation" -- analogous to an embassy -- just as it does in other non-EU countries such as Turkey, the US or Australia.
Vale de Almeida, a 62-year-old Portuguese ...

EU names ambassador to post-Brexit Britain

A woman in Chicago in her sixties was on Friday confirmed as the second patient on US soil infected with a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds in China, health officials said, with 50 other suspected cases under investigation.
"I'm pleased to report she is clinically doing well and is in stable condition," said Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

US confirms second case of China virus, 50 under investigation

Democratic House prosecutors made an expansive case at Donald Trump's impeachment trial that he abused power like no other president in history, swept up by a "completely bogus" Ukraine theory pushed by attorney Rudy Giuliani.
On Friday, the Democrats will press their final day of arguments before skeptical Republican senators, focusing on the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress' investigation.
Trump's legal team is expected to begin presenting its defense on Saturday, a fact Trump bemoaned in a Friday tweet, saying "looks like my lawyers will be forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in TV."
As the audience of Senate jurors sat through another long day, and night on Thursday, the prosecutors outlined the charge.
They argued that Trump abused power for his own personal political benefit ahead of the 2020 election, even as the nation's top FBI and national security officials were publicly warning off the theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that 

Democrats argue 'right matters' in Trump impeachment trial

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has brushed off criticism and mockery from the US Treasury chief, saying Friday his comments have "of course no effect" on her and fellow campaigners.
The 17-year-old Swedish star's comments marked a final coda to the four-day World Economic Forum summit in Davos, where a major theme was tension between environmental activists who want to protect the Earth and Trump administration officials and business titans who want to exploit its resources for jobs, profits and economic growth.
Many of the 3,000-odd business leaders, government officials, UN representatives, civil society advocates and other elites on hand have found themselves somewhere along the spectrum between the positions staked out by Trump and Thunberg.
She sat in on Trump's speech Tuesday to the forum, but that did little to bridge their ideological differences.
On Friday, Thunberg, who has been battling the flu this week, kept her lucidity and apologised for her "low energy" - a ...

Thunberg brushes off mockery from US finance chief

The European Union's top diplomat said Friday that more time is required to unravel a dispute between countries involved in the Iran nuclear agreement, as the Europeans struggle to keep alive a deal hampered by US sanctions.
On January 15, Britain, France and Germany reluctantly triggered the accord's dispute resolution mechanism to force Iran into discussions on possible violations of the deal.
That started a process that could result in the resumption of UN and EU sanctions on Iran if no solution is found.
But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is coordinating the effort to resolve the standoff, said the three European powers involved in the 2015 deal limiting Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for economic incentives agree "that more time is needed due to the complexity of the issues involved."
"The timeline is therefore extended," Borrell said in a statement.
The dispute mechanism provides for a period of about one month, which can be prolonged if all parties agree, to ..

Page 1015 - PTI Stories National