Monday, February 19, 2018
5 dead in church shooting in Russia; police kill suspect
MAKHACHKALA, Russia
A gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle on churchgoers leaving a service in Russia’s Dagestan region, killing five people and wounding four others, then was shot and killed by police, authorities say.
The shootings took place Sunday evening in Kizlyar, a town of about 50,000 people on the border with Chechnya.
Four people died at the scene and a fifth died at a hospital, regional Interior Ministry spokesman Ruslan Gadzhiibragimov said. The gunman was a local resident, and his wife has been detained for questioning, he said.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known.
Hungarian leader calls Christianity ‘Europe’s last hope’
BUDAPEST, Hungary
Hungary’s prime minister said that “Christianity is Europe’s last hope” and that politicians in Brussels, Berlin and Paris favoring migration have “opened the way to the decline of Christian culture and the advance of Islam.”
Viktor Orban said Sunday during his 20th annual state of the nation speech that his government will oppose efforts by the United Nations or the European Union to make migration acceptable to the world.
He conjured the image of a Western Europe overtaken by Muslims, saying that “born Germans are being forced back from most large German cities, as migrants always occupy big cities first.”
Orban claimed that Islam would soon “knock on Central Europe’s door” from the west as well as the south.
Orban will seek a third-consecutive term in an April election.
Rosalynn Carter recovering from surgery in Atlanta
ATLANTA
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is recovering from surgery at Emory University Hospital.
Carter, 90, had surgery Sunday to remove scar tissue from a portion of her small intestine, The Carter Center said in a statement. The surgery was successful. The scar tissue, the statement said, developed after a cyst was removed many years ago.
Carter is expected to remain hospitalized for several days, where she will rest and recover, the statement said.
Plane lands on California highway; no one injured
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Authorities said a small plane landed on the median of a Northern California highway, but no injuries were reported.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the pilot reported engine trouble before bringing the plane down Sunday on a grassy strip dividing State Route 101 in Santa Clara County.
Gregor said the pilot, who was the only person on board, wasn’t hurt during the landing near San Martin Airport, south of San Jose. The California Highway Patrol said there were no injuries on the ground.
There was no damage to the single-engine Piper PA-46. Photos from the scene showed the plane perpendicular to highway lanes about 75 miles south of San Francisco.
Associated Press