Four Philippine police officers arrested in connection with kidnapping plot

Four Philippine police officers arrested in connection with kidnapping plot

MANILA, Philippines – Four police officers deployed in the Philippine capital region were arrested for kidnapping four foreign tourists for ransom, officials said Wednesday.

Two of the police officers on motorcycles stopped a luxury car carrying three Chinese and a Malaysian over the weekend, while their armed civilian colleagues handcuffed the four tourists and dragged them into a van. Two of the Chinese managed to escape and notified the authorities, police said.

The remaining prisoners were beaten by the kidnappers but released overnight after paying a ransom of $43,100, Interior Minister Benhur Abalos said. Information from the released tourists and images from surveillance cameras led to the arrest of the four police officers, including a police major, he said.

In surveillance camera footage obtained by police, the suspected hijackers, including one who appeared to be wearing a police uniform, were seen stopping a car and then violently dragging its passengers out of the car in front of many passing motorists. One of the passengers tried to break free when he was pushed into a van.

“I was shocked that police officers were involved,” Abalos said at a news conference where the four officers were introduced in handcuffs and orange prison shirts. “This incident is a serious violation of public trust and the core values ​​of the police.”

German candidate attacked with knife

BERLIN – A member of a far-right party in Germany was stabbed and injured in Mannheim, German news agency dpa reported on Wednesday, just days after a police officer was killed and five other people were injured in a knife attack in the same city.

Dpa reported that a candidate from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party caught someone trying to tear down an election poster on Tuesday evening. When he confronted the person, he was attacked with a carpet knife. Dpa reported that the candidate is still in hospital with non-life-threatening cuts.

The candidate, who was campaigning for Sunday’s local elections in Baden-Württemberg, where Mannheim is located, has not been identified. The attacker was arrested, the dpa reported.

The mayor of Mannheim strongly condemned the attack.

“This cowardly act is despicable and cannot be justified in any way,” said Christian Specht. “Anyone who attacks election candidates is calling into question our free, equal, general, direct and secret elections – and thus the foundations of our democracy.”

Mannheim police announced on Wednesday that the arrested suspect, a 25-year-old man whose exact identity is unknown, was later admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

32 dead in Israeli attack on school

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had attacked a so-called “Hamas complex” in a school in the Gaza Strip. At least 32 people were killed and dozens injured in the attack, according to Hamas-affiliated media.

Information about the strike in the Nuseirat region remained conflicting Thursday morning, and the Associated Press could not immediately independently confirm details of the strike.

The Hamas television station al-Aqsa reported at least 39 deaths, but did not cite a source for the figures. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported at least 32 deaths and dozens of injuries.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets had attacked the school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).

The Israeli military claimed, without immediately providing evidence, that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used the school as a cover for their operations.

Amanda Knox found guilty of defamation in Italy

ROME – Amanda Knox, an American who was convicted and then acquitted of murdering her roommate while they were studying together in Italy, lost another libel trial in an Italian court on Wednesday related to the 2007 killing.

Knox was found guilty by a Florence court of defaming the owner of a bar where she worked and falsely accusing him of killing her roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, in 2007. The court sentenced Knox to three years in prison, which she has already served.

Knox was initially found guilty in 2009 of defaming the man, Diya Lumumba, also known as Patrick. This verdict was upheld by several Italian courts. At the time of the murder, Lumumba ran a bar called Le Chic, where Knox worked part-time.

Knox, 36, did not want to speak to journalists after the verdict on Wednesday. She stood outside the courtroom, looking distraught, and hugged her husband Christopher Robinson for a long time.

“Amanda is very upset,” said one of her lawyers, Carlo Dalla Vedova, after the verdict. He said she had been looking forward to the trial because it would put an end to “17 years of legal proceedings.”

Her defense team said it would read the court’s full written decision, expected within 60 days, and then most likely appeal to Italy’s highest court.