WASHINGTON: A 14-year-old female student was shot in the head yesterday at a school in Atlanta, Georgia, according to US media, which said the girl was being treated in hospital. Fox News reported that the girl was hospitalised after being shot at Price Middle School, which was placed on lockdown, as was a neighbouring high school. It was initially reported that a teacher at the school had also been shot, but Fox later said that the girl was the lone shooting victim. The television network reported that the teacher had suffered “minor cuts and bruises” and was being treated at the scene, but offered no other details on the cause of his injuries. Early reports said there were two suspects. Fox reported that authorities said one suspect, tentatively identified as a male student, had been taken into custody.
86 camels perish in German blaze
BERLIN: Eighty-six camels perished as a ferocious fire swept through their farm in southern Germany yesterday, causing nearly $1.36m damage, police said. Around 150 firefighters rushed to the scene and managed to save five animals from the inferno, which hurt no people, according to the authorities. The farm, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany, which catered mainly for tourists and visitors, wrote on its website: “We have sad news. In the night, the camel farm burned down. Most of the animals died.” Police said in a statement that six officers were on the scene investigating possible causes for the blaze.
150 in hospital after S Africa rail crash
PRETORIA: Two passenger trains packed with school children and rush-hour commuters collided near the South African capital Pretoria on Thursday, leaving 150 people in hospital. The authorities suspected the crash was caused by the theft of cables used for signalling, either by people cashing in on the copper or by striking workers sabotaging the track. The crash took place at around 7:10am (0510 GMT) when a commuter train heading from the suburbs to the capital ploughed into a stationary train on the same track. Medical workers said up to 350 people were treated by medics and around 150 were taken to hospitals around Pretoria.
Serbia, Bosnia sign war crimes protocol
BRUSSELS: After a long delay, Serbia and Bosnia yesterday signed a protocol hammered out over five years to facilitate cooperation in war crimes cases. The “protocol on cooperation in prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide” was signed by Goran Salihovic, who heads the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Vladimir Vukcevic, head of the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia, the European Commission said. It will enable the two Balkans countries to exchange documents and information in war crimes cases and prevent convicted war criminals or suspects from escaping prosecution by seeking refuge in one or other country, as has been the case. The signature of the deal, hosted by the European Commission, “represents a major step for the strengthening of regional cooperation in dealing with war crimes cases,” the EU executive said. Agencies
