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A memorial ceremony and rally are to be held in protest against a concert by Pink Lloyd star Roger Waters in Frankfurt on Sunday night.

Police in Germany have started an investigation into the British musician on suspicion of incitement after he was filmed wearing a long black coat and red armband – featuring crossed hammers instead of swastikas – during a performance in the country’s capital earlier this month.

Waters also pretended to fire an imitation machine gun during a skit between songs.

Several Jewish groups, politicians and an alliance of civil society groups have accused the Pink Floyd co-founder of antisemitism, an allegation he denies, and intend to hold a memorial ceremony and demonstration ahead of the concert.

Waters has also drawn their ire for his support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.

Frankfurt authorities had initially tried to prevent the concert, but Waters challenged that move successfully in a local court.

The concert is taking place in the city’s Festhalle, where in November 1938 more than 2,700 Jews were rounded up by the Nazis, beaten and abused, and later deported to concentration camps.

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“It’s very frustrating” that the concert is going ahead as scheduled even though Frankfurt officials and many others tried to prevent it, said Elio Adler, the head of the Jewish group WerteInitiative which supports the protest.

“His words and imagery spread Jew-hatred and are part of a trend, to normalise Israel hatred under the protection of freedom of speech or art,” Mr Adler added.

Read more:
Roger Waters condemned over ‘Nazi costume’ at Berlin concert

Roger Waters says he was opposing ‘fascism’ when he wore Nazi-inspired uniform

Germany has strict rules against the use of Nazi imagery – punishable by up to three years in prison – although its laws do allow exceptions for artistic or educational reasons.

The Berlin police investigation has been opened over suspicions that the context of the costume could constitute a glorification, justification or approval of Nazi rule and therefore a disturbance of the public peace.

Waters rejected those accusations in a statement on Facebook and Instagram, saying that “the elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms”.

He claimed that “attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated”.

During Sunday’s memorial ceremony, which will take place in front of the Frankfurt concert venue before Waters’s concert begins, protesters will read out loud the names of 600 Jews who were rounded up at the Festhalle on 9 November 1939, the so-called Kristallnacht – the “Night of Broken Glass” – when Nazis terrorised Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

The organisers also plan to hold a joint Jewish-Christian prayer for the victims of the Nazi terror in Frankfurt. The city’s mayor as well as the head of the local Jewish community will speak at the protest.

In addition, activists plan to hand out flyers to concertgoers and wave Israeli flags, said Sacha Stawski from the Jewish group Honestly Concerned, which helped organise the protests.

Protesters in Munich rallied against a concert by Waters earlier this month, after the city council said it had explored possibilities of banning the performance but concluded that it was not legally possible to cancel a contract with the organiser.

Last year, the Polish city of Krakow cancelled gigs by Waters because of his sympathetic stance toward Russia in its war against Ukraine.

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Somalia truck bombing kills 15 people and wounds 40 others

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Somalia truck bombing kills 15 people and wounds 40 others

A bombing at a checkpoint in Somalia has killed at least 15 people and wounded 40 others, authorities have said.

Images on social media showed a damaged truck cab on fire and black smoke billowing from the scene in the central city of Beledweyne.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility, including Al Shabaab, which often carries out attacks and controls parts of Somalia.

Police officer Ahmed Aden said the dead included five police officers who fired on the truck in a failed attempt to stop it from ramming into the nearby checkpoint.

Shops nearby were reduced to rubble, with reports of people missing beneath the debris.

It was a truck loaded with explosive devices that forcefully passed through the government-manned checkpoint, and a pick-up vehicle belonging to security personnel was chasing it when it exploded,” said witness Abdikadir Arba, who said he was about 200 metres away and was one of the first responders.

Abdifatah Mohamed Yusuf, director-general of the Hirshabelle Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management, confirmed the deaths.

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“Twenty of the wounded have been admitted to Beledweyne hospitals, while another 20 are in critical condition, prompting a request for their airlift to Mogadishu for advanced medical treatment,” he said.

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Hirshabelle is a state that includes Beledweyne. It has been the centre of the Somali government’s latest military offensive against extremists from Al Shabaab.

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Al Shabaab has been battling Somalia’s central government for more than a decade, aiming to establish its rule based on strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

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Fugitive on run for more than 30 years laughs as he’s finally caught

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Fugitive on run for more than 30 years laughs as he's finally caught

A fugitive convicted of attempted murder who evaded police for more than 30 years has been caught.

Greg Lawson, who had been on the run for 32 years, laughed and asked officers “how are you doing?” as he was handcuffed in Huatulco, Mexico.

Lawson, 63, fled Louisiana, in the US, just before a jury found him guilty of shooting a man called Seth Garlington in 1991 – sparking an FBI manhunt in May that year.

In a video shared by FBI News Orelans on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lawson is seen wearing a short-sleeve shirt and camouflage cap.

With police officers in escort, he patted someone on the shoulder while laughing, before another officer turned to handcuff him.

Douglas Williams Jr, the agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said the capture would not have been possible without the help of authorities in Mexico.

“We want to thank our partners and the public in this case, who never gave up hope that justice could be served for Mr Lawson’s victim,” he said.

“There is no doubt that Mr Lawson might still be in the wind if our partners in Mexico had not been willing to deal with this so swiftly.”

The FBI said they had always suspected Lawson was hiding out in Mexico, but a “tip” they received earlier this month appeared to confirm their theory.

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He was arrested on Tuesday, 19 September, and was taken into custody back in Louisiana.

According to a local Louisiana news channel, KTBS, Lawson had a “fistfight” with Mr Garlington in a car park at a petrol station.

Court documents, they added, claim Lawson forced Mr Garlington’s vehicle off the motorway, with Lawson then firing shots.

When the jury came back from deliberation to confirm the guilty verdict, Lawson had already run away.

The FBI had offered a $10,000 (£8,200) reward for his capture.

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Sweden: Chunk of motorway collapses in landslide – leaving three in hospital

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Sweden: Chunk of motorway collapses in landslide - leaving three in hospital

Three people have been taken to hospital after a large chunk of a motorway in Sweden collapsed in a landslide early on Saturday morning.

Police said at least four cars and a bus skidded off the E6 motorway – connecting Gothenburg in Sweden to Norway’s capital Oslo – near the small town of Stenungsund.

Several buildings were also damaged, including a Burger King restaurant.

The landslide has affected a total area of around 700 x 200 metres, which is roughly equivalent of 21 football pitches.

“The hardest hit parts of the landslide area measure around 150 x 100 metres,” the Gothenburg Rescue Services added in a statement.

“A number of people have been helped out of vehicles in the slide area with the help of fire personnel and a helicopter.”

The motorway was badly damaged. Pic: Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP
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The motorway was badly damaged. Pic: Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP

The cause of the landslide is not yet clear. Pic: Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP
Image:
The cause of the landslide is not yet clear. Pic: Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP

Rescue services say further landslides cannot be ruled out.

Police say nobody is suspected of a crime, but an investigation has been launched into whether a construction site nearby caused the landslide.

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Rescue services were on the scene in the early hours. Pic: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency via AP
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Rescue services were on the scene in the early hours. Pic: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency via AP

There has also been heavy rainfall in the area over the past few days.

Swedish news agency TT reported several cars and one truck had fallen into cracks caused by the landslide, while rescue services told public broadcaster SVT all people have been helped out.

Specially trained dogs were on the scene to ensure no people had been overlooked among the debris.

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