Feed aggregator

Munich — Police in Munich exchanged fire with a man on Thursday, fatally wounding the suspect in an area near a museum on the city's Nazi-era history and the Israeli Consulate. According to a police spokesperson, officers were alerted to a person carrying a "long gun" in the Karolinenplatz area, near downtown Munich, at around 9 a.m. There was then an exchange of shots in which the suspect sustained fatal injuries, but there no was no indication that anyone else was hurt, spokesperson Andreas Franken told reporters.  There was no immediate information on the suspect's identity or on any motive, Franken said. The man, who was carrying an old make of firearm with a repeating mechanism, died at the scene. Bavaria's top security official, state Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect had opened fire at police and they returned fire. It was unclear whether the incident was in any way related to the 52nd anniversary Thursday of the attack by Palestinian militants on the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which ended with the death of 11 Israeli team members, a West German police officer and five of the assailants. Police said there was no evidence of any more suspects connected to the incident. They increased their presence in the city, Germany's third-biggest, but said they had no indication of incidents at any other locations or of any other suspects. Five officers were at the scene at the time the gunfire erupted. Police later deployed to the area in force. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the consulate in Munich was closed when the shooting occurred and that none of its staff had been hurt. The nearby Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, which opened in 2015 and explores the city's past as the birthplace of the Nazi movement, also said all of its employees were unharmed. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he spoke with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He wrote on the social media platform X that "together we expressed our shared condemnation and horror" at the shooting. Speaking at an unrelated news conference in Berlin, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described Thursday's shooting as "a serious incident" but said she didn't want to speculate on what had happened.  She reiterated that "the protection of Jewish and Israeli facilities has the highest priority."

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Paris — President Emmanuel Macron named EU former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France's new prime minister on Thursday after more than 50 days of caretaker government. The appointment of the 73-year-old Barnier follows weeks of intense efforts by Macron and his aides to find a candidate who might be able to build loose groupings of backers in parliament and survive possible attempts by Macron's opponents to quickly topple the new government that Barnier will now put together and lead. A statement from Macron's office announcing Barnier's appointment said he'd been tasked "with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people." "This appointment comes after an unprecedented cycle of consultations during which, in accordance with his constitutional duty, the President ensured that the Prime Minister and the future government would meet the conditions to be as stable as possible and give themselves the chances of uniting as broadly as possible," the statement said. 

Beijing — Hundreds of African political and business leaders filed into China's Great Hall of the People on Thursday eager to forge new partnerships, sign contracts and make industry connections. "Business is business, we'll buy from anywhere. In China, the price is right," Abakar Tahir Moussa, a Chadian construction firm owner, told AFP, showing off the business card of a potential new Chinese partner.  He hoped to use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which ends on Friday, to partner with Chinese firms on road and bridge projects. "I'm here to make contacts and get more business," Moussa said after he joined thousands of delegates from more than 50 countries at the forum's colorful opening ceremony. A housing developer from Burkina Faso, who asked not to be identified, said Chinese products were "cheaper than elsewhere." "We buy everything from China: lights, air conditioning, wires... The only thing we get elsewhere is cement," he told AFP outside the hall.  "If you want quality you can get quality (in China), and even the quality things are cheap," he said, kicking off his shoes and clutching a smartphone with a gold case. Bustling Beijing The atmosphere was hopeful and friendly ahead of meetings that many Africans hoped would spur much-needed development and investment back home. Leaders and their entourages from across Africa have flown in to Beijing since Saturday, keeping President Xi Jinping busy with bilateral meetings all week. South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa and Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu heaped praise on their Chinese hosts, even over the food served at a lavish banquet thrown by Xi on Wednesday evening. Broad-shouldered security guards in dark sunglasses kept watch outside the hall as delegates entered through airport-style X-ray machines.  Security around the capital has been tight all week with the steady arrival of heads of state. Passengers arriving at Beijing train stations have faced enhanced security checks, while authorities have increased scrutiny of vehicles entering the city through traffic checkpoints. Hotels have been booked out all week and surrounded by armed guards and new metal fences. Bars in Sanlitun, a central shopping and nightlife district, have been packed with visitors from across Africa. Xi pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years -- more than half of it in credit -- telling delegates at the opening ceremony that China was "ready to deepen cooperation with African countries." China is Africa's largest trading partner and its loans have helped build much-needed infrastructure, but they have sometimes also stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts. Yet many delegates seemed hopeful that China, which seeks to tap Africa's vast natural resources, could help their countries develop.  The Burkina Faso developer said Chinese investment had been "good for the economy" and "improved people's lives", while increased trade meant there were "many more things for people to buy." "I hope the forum will improve relations even further and bring more cooperation."

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.