Spanish Police Kill Algerian Man who Stormed Police Station

Several Mossos d'Esquadra SWAT police officers take part in the search of the residential building where the Algerian man lived in the town Cornella de Llobregat, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 20 August 2018. EPA/Alejandro Garcia
Several Mossos d'Esquadra SWAT police officers take part in the search of the residential building where the Algerian man lived in the town Cornella de Llobregat, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 20 August 2018. EPA/Alejandro Garcia
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Spanish Police Kill Algerian Man who Stormed Police Station

Several Mossos d'Esquadra SWAT police officers take part in the search of the residential building where the Algerian man lived in the town Cornella de Llobregat, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 20 August 2018. EPA/Alejandro Garcia
Several Mossos d'Esquadra SWAT police officers take part in the search of the residential building where the Algerian man lived in the town Cornella de Llobregat, in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 20 August 2018. EPA/Alejandro Garcia

Catalonia regional police officers on Monday shot dead an Algerian man who entered a police station in Cornella, near Barcelona.

Abdelouahab Taib entered the station just before 6 am "to attack the officers" and was "shot down", police said on Twitter.

Anti-terrorism police sources said the man, a 29-year-old Algerian who lives in the area, had shouted "Allahu akbar" as he entered the station.

Officers searched the man's home, which was located just a few hundred meters from the site of the attack.

Taib had been living in Spain for several years and had a foreigners' identity number. Police sources confirmed his neighbor’s accounts that he had begun divorce proceedings.

They also said he had no criminal record.

According to the neighbors, Taib had moved to the neighborhood around two years ago after having a relationship with a Spanish woman, who later converted to Islam.

The woman had two children from her former husband, an Asian, who also lived in the same apartment, the neighbors said.

Witnesses said that police took the woman for investigation while her children were away on summer vacation with their father.

Commissioner Rafel Comes, the second-in-command of the Catalan regional police, told reporters that police are treating the case as a terrorist attack "for the moment" because the incident was "extremely serious," involving a "premeditated" attack that intended to kill police.



UK Tests New Long-Range Weapons with Hopes to Send to Ukraine

A member of the military walks past an MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow, southwest of London, on July 17, 2018. (Ben STANSALL / AFP)
A member of the military walks past an MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow, southwest of London, on July 17, 2018. (Ben STANSALL / AFP)
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UK Tests New Long-Range Weapons with Hopes to Send to Ukraine

A member of the military walks past an MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow, southwest of London, on July 17, 2018. (Ben STANSALL / AFP)
A member of the military walks past an MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow, southwest of London, on July 17, 2018. (Ben STANSALL / AFP)

Britain has tested new long-range strike weapons that the Government hopes can be delivered to Ukraine within months as part of efforts to produce munitions quicker and cheaper than others like Storm Shadow missiles.

New systems capable of hitting targets at least 500 kilometers away, carrying at least a 225-kilogram warhead, have been fired at a range in the Hebrides, with further trials taking place in the UK over the coming months.

The Ministry of Defense challenged UK firms to develop long-range strike weapons with a speed of more than 600 kilometers per hour, a cost per unit of around £400,000 ($529,360) and the ability to produce at least 20 weapons a month within months of production order.

Some 27 bids from industry were made with “Dragon's Den” style pitches held last February before six companies were awarded contracts worth around £5 million each to design the weapons for testing in just seven months, according to dpa.

By last December, only three suppliers remained – MBDA UK, which makes Storm Shadow; MGI Engineering, a UK SME with a background in Formula 1 technology; and Rotron Aerospace, another UK SME with a history of working with the Ministry of Defense.


Massive Fire Destroys Resort in Dominican Republic and Forces Evacuation of Almost 1,700 Tourists

A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Gojko Culibrk/via REUTERS
A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Gojko Culibrk/via REUTERS
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Massive Fire Destroys Resort in Dominican Republic and Forces Evacuation of Almost 1,700 Tourists

A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Gojko Culibrk/via REUTERS
A drone view shows a fire at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach Hotel in Bayahibe, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic, June 19, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Gojko Culibrk/via REUTERS

A large fire almost completely destroyed a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic on Friday, forcing the evacuation of almost 1,700 tourists, authorities said.

Local media reported an Italian tourist died in the fire and several other tourists required medical assistance.

The Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham resort is located in Bayahibe, a popular destination for US and international tourists on the Dominican Republic's southeastern coast.

Authorities reported about 1,690 tourists had to be evacuated from the resort to other hotels and nearby housing facilities because of the massive blaze.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation and the country’s Emergency Operations Center said it appeared the “fire spread rapidly” due to wind and because part of the resort’s roof was made of thatch, The Associated Press reported.

Viva Wyndham’s other nearby resort, the Dominicus Palace, was not damaged by the fire and was operating as normal, the center said.


France’s Macron Slams Migrant ‘Return-Hubs’, EU Funding Push

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
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France’s Macron Slams Migrant ‘Return-Hubs’, EU Funding Push

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference during a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2026. (EPA)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday slammed the idea of creating deportation centers for irregular migrants outside the EU, saying Paris will oppose efforts to have the bloc fund them.

So-called "return hubs" outside the EU's borders are one of the main features of a tightening of migration rules criticized by human rights groups that won the final approval of the European Parliament this week.

"France does not support that policy," Macron told journalists after a summit of European leaders in Brussels, noting the new rules allowed for people to be sent to countries they had no ties to -- which could receive money in turn.

"I'm not sure that's the Europe we want. I'm not sure those are the fundamental principles on which our Europe was built. And I don't believe, for that matter, that it's effective. The proof is that, so far, I haven't seen anyone make it work."

France was in favor of stricter rules to boost returns of people with no right to stay to their country of origin, but would not be building return hubs, he added.

"I don't believe that this is either effective or in line with our principles," Macron said.

While other EU members were free to go ahead with such plans, Paris was against a move supported by many other member states to have EU money help pay for them, Macron said.

Proponents say return hubs -- which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centers for those expelled -- could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants

But rights groups have criticized them as "legal black holes" that could see migrants stranded in limbo with little oversight.

Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal challenges and a slow uptake.