Germany Protests to Iran Over Plot to Attack Synagogue

FILED - 15 December 2023, Berlin: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attends a press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib (Not Pictured) after their meeting. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

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07:21-20 December 2023 AD ـ 08 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1445 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

07:21-20 December 2023 AD ـ 08 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1445 AH

Germany Protests to Iran Over Plot to Attack Synagogue

Germany protested to Iran on Tuesday after a court ruling implicated Tehran in a plan to attack a synagogue last year.
The Duesseldorf state court convicted a German-Iranian man of attempted arson and agreeing to commit arson and sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison.
Judges found that the man threw an incendiary device at a school in the western city of Bochum in November 2022 because the neighboring synagogue appeared too well secured, German news agency dpa reported. The defendant denied planning to attack the synagogue. The school received minor damage.
The court found the 36-year-old defendant had been tasked with the attack by a former Hells Angels member who had gone to Iran, and that Iran was behind the latter man, dpa reported.
A court statement said the defendant tried in vain to persuade an acquaintance to join him in carrying out the attack, and that he ultimately threw the incendiary device at the school “to simulate carrying out the act, or at least corresponding efforts, to the initiator.”
The German judges established that “the plan for the attack stems from an Iranian state institution,” according to the statement, which didn't give more precise details.
Germany's Foreign Ministry wrote Tuesday on social platform X that the Iranian charge d'affaires was summoned to discuss the matter.
“It is intolerable that Jewish life was to be attacked here,” it added. “We will tolerate no foreign-steered violence in Germany.”
The ministry said the court's detailed reasons for the verdict will be important in determining “consequences and (the) next steps,” including at the European Union level.

Congo Says 2,000 People Have Died in Its Ebola Outbreak, the Fastest Growing on Record

A health worker in protective gear looks on at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Congo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP)

08:52-11 August 2026 AD ـ 27 Safar 1448 AH

Congo Says 2,000 People Have Died in Its Ebola Outbreak, the Fastest Growing on Record

A health worker in protective gear looks on at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Congo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP)

At least 2,000 people have died among the confirmed cases in Congo’s Ebola outbreak that is the fastest growing on record, according to the latest government data.

Data published overnight into Tuesday showed the outbreak has recorded a total of 4,381 confirmed cases, including 2,011 deaths. A total of 704 patients are in admission and isolation.

The grim toll comes nearly three months since the outbreak was declared on May 15. While it took about nine weeks for the outbreak to record 1,000 deaths, it’s taken just around three weeks to record the additional 1,000 deaths, underscoring the complaints from responders that help is not getting quickly enough to remote localities.

The Ebola outbreak is unlike most previous ones because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.

The World Health Organization said on Monday that it started in February, long before authorities detected it in one of Congo’s most remote and vulnerable areas.

The first Ebola virus to be identified was in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now Congo. The current outbreak is the 17th — and largest — the Central African nation has faced.

World

Colombia Scrambles to Find Survivors as Quake Kills 132

Rescuers look for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. (AFP)

08:44-11 August 2026 AD ـ 27 Safar 1448 AH

Colombia Scrambles to Find Survivors as Quake Kills 132

Rescuers look for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia on August 10, 2026. (AFP)

Colombian volunteers and rescuers cleared rubble with their bare hands and buckets to search for survivors early Tuesday after the country's strongest earthquake in a decade killed at least 132 people and smashed dozens of buildings.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck cities across Colombia's western region shortly after 7:30 am (1230 GMT), sending panicked residents onto the streets, AFP journalists saw.

The quake killed 132 people and injured more than 570 as of Monday afternoon, according to the Colombian Association of Capital Cities, a group coordinating major cities across the country.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella -- just three days after being sworn into the job -- declared a state of emergency and vowed a concerted rescue effort.

De la Espriella said earlier the death toll was 111.

The city of Pereira, which was among those hit hardest, was mostly plunged into darkness amid power outages on Monday night as volunteers probed for signs of life under collapsed buildings.

"We're without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city," resident Juan David Gaitan told AFP.

Tattoo artist Andres Hernandez said he was worried about his family and friends, adding that he would stay awake because structures around him were "on the verge of collapsing."

Hernandez recalled being asleep at home when the quake happened and rushing into the street for safety, as the quake devastated the city in the heart of Colombia's coffee-growing region.

"It was a movie scene, because I saw the poles, the cables, everything moving. I'm worried about my family, my friends," he said.

There were scenes of destruction in several cities, with furniture and fabrics sandwiched between concrete, walls and floors tossed into irregular angles, and cabling strewn across roads.

In Manizales, the quake crumpled a tower of the city's beloved neo-Gothic cathedral.

In Quibdo, the capital of Colombia's Choco department, local official Jenny Rivas said public services and communications "have been virtually shut down."

"People ran out naked, people jumped from the second floor of their homes," Quibdo resident and law student Wilmer Cuesta recalled.

Dentist Julian Pena said he "ran outside carrying nothing" after feeling very strong shaking and found hundreds doing the same.

"People were praying in the street. It was overwhelming," he told AFP.

"There are many buildings with gaps, with cracks. There are others that have completely collapsed."

- Overnight searches -

The quake was felt across Colombia, including the capital Bogota, where crowds rushed out into the street in their pyjamas.

At a depth of 110 kilometers (68 miles), the quake was also felt in neighboring Ecuador and Panama.

Experts at the US Geological Survey said the quake was likely caused by movement along a deep fault within the Nazca tectonic plate.

Hospitals in five Colombian cities were put on red alert Monday and a nighttime curfew was declared in Cali, according to local authorities.

At least six local airports suspended operations, the civil aeronautics agency said.

Colombian pop megastar Shakira led the calls for unity.

"All my strength and love to my homeland. Let's hold each other tight," she said.

In Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, volunteers quickly went to work with picks, basic tools and their hands to try to find survivors.

"Getting here was unbelievable. It felt like the end of the world -- cars and motorcycles driving the wrong way, everyone searching for their loved ones," said volunteer rescue worker Nelson Moreno.

"What we need now are flashlights and goggles" to keep working through the night, he said.

Rescuers formed human chains to remove bricks and masonry, stopping every few minutes to listen for signs of life from those trapped below.

"We are trying to get everyone out alive," said Andres Felipe Mejia, another volunteer.

"A lot of people have come, with supplies, with food, helping the firefighters, helping the people," he said.

- International support -

The devastation comes less than two months after powerful twin quakes rattled neighboring Venezuela, killing over 6,300 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Messages of support came in from countries across the region and the world.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was "closely monitoring" the situation and "stands ready to support the people of Colombia."

The US later announced $15.5 million in emergency relief.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had mobilized Copernicus, a satellite service, to help with rescue operations.

Israel, Mexico, Ecuador and France also offered assistance.

World

Russian Barrage on Ukraine Kills 9, Wounds Dozens

An Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia on August 11, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Darya NAZAROVA / AFP

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08:34-11 August 2026 AD ـ 27 Safar 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

08:34-11 August 2026 AD ـ 27 Safar 1448 AH

Russian Barrage on Ukraine Kills 9, Wounds Dozens

An Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia on August 11, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Darya NAZAROVA / AFP

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least nine people overnight and wounded dozens, authorities said Tuesday, after Kyiv warned that Moscow had received more ballistic missiles from North Korea.

Russia has stepped up ballistic missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, with Ukraine responding with strikes deep inside Russian territory.

The overnight attacks spanned Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, regional authorities said.

Russia's defense ministry said its forces "delivered a group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons, hitting military-industrial enterprises and transport-logistics centers in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia".

In Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration, said Russian forces launched a "massive" attack using missiles and guided aerial bombs.

"Six people were killed and 19 others wounded," Fedorov wrote on Telegram, updating an earlier toll of five dead.

In the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drone and artillery strikes on five districts killed three people and wounded five others, regional military administration head Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram.

In Kyiv, AFP journalists heard a series of explosions shortly after midnight after authorities issued a missile alert.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media that the capital was "under ballistic missile attack".

Ukraine's emergency service said a warehouse caught fire and one person was wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had said earlier that Russia was preparing to deploy more North Korean troops and had received new ballistic missiles from Pyongyang.

Only certain air defense systems, including US Patriots, are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

A shortage of PAC-3 interceptors has worsened since the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in February.

At the same time, Ukraine has been increasing its strikes against Russian cities far from the border.

Germany Protests to Iran Over Plot to Attack Synagogue

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Congo Says 2,000 People Have Died in Its Ebola Outbreak, the Fastest Growing on Record

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