<p>A woman was killed and 12 other people injured after a man carried out a knife attack in a mall in a busy shopping district in the Chinese capital, Beijing, police said on Sunday.</p>

<p>Beijing police said in a short statement they had detained a man over the early afternoon attack at the Joy City Mall in the Xidan district.</p>

<p>Three men and 10 women were sent to hospital after the attack and one woman died of her injuries, police said. The others were all expected to recover.</p>

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<h5>Police said the man had already confessed to carrying out the attack to &#39;express his discontent&#39;, but did not elaborate</h5>
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<p>Police said they acted quickly in handling the incident and identified the detained man as a 35-year-old surnamed Zhu from the northern province of Henan.</p>

<p>The man had already confessed to carrying out the attack to &quot;express his discontent&quot;, they said but did not elaborate.</p>

<p>Beijing radio showed pictures on their WeChat account of blood spattered on the floor in part of the mall and at least one injured person being taken from the scene.</p>

<p>Violent crime is rare in China compared with many other countries, especially in major cities where security is tight, but there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many targeting children.</p>

<p>In 2015, police arrested a sword-wielding man who killed a Chinese woman and injured a French man in Beijing&#39;s fashionable Sanlitun shopping and entertainment district.</p>

<p>Such attacks are often blamed on people with mental illness or who have personal grievances. Knives are most commonly used because gun controls are extremely strict in China.</p>

<p>However, the government has also blamed some knife attacks on militants from the violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang, where Beijing says it faces an Islamist insurgency, adding to China&#39;s nervousness about such incidents.</p>

<p>Thirty-one people were killed in 2014 during a knife attack at Kunming train station in southwestern China that the government said was the work of Xinjiang militants. Police shot dead four of the attackers.</p>


Beijing police said in a short statement they had detained a man over the early afternoon attack at the Joy City Mall in the Xidan district

A woman was killed and 12 other people injured after a man carried out a knife attack in a mall in a busy shopping district in the Chinese capital, Beijing, police said on Sunday. Beijing police said in a short statement they had detained a man over the early afternoon attack at the Joy City Mall in the Xidan district. Three men and 10 women were sent to hospital after the attack and one woman died of her injuries, police said. The others were all expected to recover. Police said the man had already confessed to carrying out the attack to 'express his discontent', but did not elaborate × Police said they acted quickly in handling the incident and identified the detained man as a 35-year-old surnamed Zhu from the northern province of Henan. The man had already confessed to carrying out the attack to "express his discontent", they said but did not elaborate. Beijing radio showed pictures on their WeChat account of blood spattered on the floor in part of the mall and at least one injured person being taken from the scene. Violent crime is rare in China compared with many other countries, especially in major cities where security is tight, but there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many targeting children. In 2015, police arrested a sword-wielding man who killed a Chinese woman and injured a French man in Beijing's fashionable Sanlitun shopping and entertainment district. Such attacks are often blamed on people with mental illness or who have personal grievances. Knives are most commonly used because gun controls are extremely strict in China. However, the government has also blamed some knife attacks on militants from the violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang, where Beijing says it faces an Islamist insurgency, adding to China's nervousness about such incidents. Thirty-one people were killed in 2014 during a knife attack at Kunming train station in southwestern China that the government said was the work of Xinjiang militants. Police shot dead four of the attackers.

Woman killed, 12 injured in Beijing mall knife attack

Senior German officials called today for a review of Germany&#39;s already strict gun laws after Friday&#39;s deadly shooting in Munich that claimed the lives of nine people and the gunman, a deranged 18-year-old who was obsessed with mass killings.<br />
<br />
&quot;Gun control is an important issue. We must continue to do all we can to limit and strictly control access to deadly weapons,&quot; German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, told Funke Mediengruppe, which owns a series of German newspapers.<br />
<br />
Gabriel said German authorities were investigating how the German-Iranian dual national had gained illegal access to the weapon - identified by police as a 9 mm Glock 17 pistol, the most widely used law enforcement weapon worldwide - despite signs that he had significant psychological issues.<br />
<br />
&quot;Clearly we will have to have a discussion in the near future about whether the current gun control laws are sufficient,&quot; said German lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s ruling conservatives in Parliament.<br />
<br />
&quot;The biggest priority is to combat the illegal arms trade since that could also reduce crime and terrorism,&quot; he said in a statement today.<br />
<br />
The gunman, named by German media as Ali David Sonboly, opened fire near a busy shopping mall on Friday evening, killing nine and wounding 35 more, before turning the gun on himself as police approached.<br />
<br />
The Munich shooting was the third act of violence against civilians in Western Europe - and the second in southern Germany - in eight days. Officials said there were no signs of any links in this case to Islamist extremist groups.<br />
<br />
German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere, also a member of Merkel&#39;s Christian Democrats, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview that he planned to review German gun laws after the attack, and seek improvements where needed.<br />
<br />
De Maiziere said German gun laws were already very strict, which he considered appropriate, and it was critical to understand how the shooter gained access to the pistol used.<br />
<br />
&quot;Then we have to evaluate very carefully if and where further legal changes are needed,&quot; he said in an interview published today.<br />
<br />
Mayer and De Maiziere also cited the current debate within the European Union about a package of reforms that would tighten gun controls within the bloc and make it easier to trace the origin of guns purchased legally.<br />
<br />
The proposed changes, which must still be enacted by EU member states, would also set more stringent rules for deactivating previously fully-functioning guns and making them available for sale as so-called decorations.<br />
<br />
Member states have different criteria for what does and does not constitute a deactivated weapon, a legal loophole exploited by criminals to import weapons that have only been superficially modified to appear non-functioning.<br />
<br />
The Glock 17 used by the Munich gunman, which police said had had its serial number filed away, was such a &quot;reactivated&quot; weapon from the Slovakia, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily reported today, citing law enforcement sources.<br />
<br />
Sonboly obtained the gun on the Internet, it said.<br />
<br />
(Reuters)

German interior minister said laws in Germany are already very strict and it is critical to understand how the shooter got the weapon

Senior German officials called today for a review of Germany's already strict gun laws after Friday's deadly shooting in Munich that claimed the lives of nine people and the gunman, a deranged 18-year-old who was obsessed with mass killings. "Gun control is an important issue. We must continue to do all we can to limit and strictly control access to deadly weapons," German vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, told Funke Mediengruppe, which owns a series of German newspapers. Gabriel said German authorities were investigating how the German-Iranian dual national had gained illegal access to the weapon - identified by police as a 9 mm Glock 17 pistol, the most widely used law enforcement weapon worldwide - despite signs that he had significant psychological issues. "Clearly we will have to have a discussion in the near future about whether the current gun control laws are sufficient," said German lawmaker Stephan Mayer, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservatives in Parliament. "The biggest priority is to combat the illegal arms trade since that could also reduce crime and terrorism," he said in a statement today. The gunman, named by German media as Ali David Sonboly, opened fire near a busy shopping mall on Friday evening, killing nine and wounding 35 more, before turning the gun on himself as police approached. The Munich shooting was the third act of violence against civilians in Western Europe - and the second in southern Germany - in eight days. Officials said there were no signs of any links in this case to Islamist extremist groups. German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere, also a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview that he planned to review German gun laws after the attack, and seek improvements where needed. De Maiziere said German gun laws were already very strict, which he considered appropriate, and it was critical to understand how the shooter gained access to the pistol used. "Then we have to evaluate very carefully if and where further legal changes are needed," he said in an interview published today. Mayer and De Maiziere also cited the current debate within the European Union about a package of reforms that would tighten gun controls within the bloc and make it easier to trace the origin of guns purchased legally. The proposed changes, which must still be enacted by EU member states, would also set more stringent rules for deactivating previously fully-functioning guns and making them available for sale as so-called decorations. Member states have different criteria for what does and does not constitute a deactivated weapon, a legal loophole exploited by criminals to import weapons that have only been superficially modified to appear non-functioning. The Glock 17 used by the Munich gunman, which police said had had its serial number filed away, was such a "reactivated" weapon from the Slovakia, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily reported today, citing law enforcement sources. Sonboly obtained the gun on the Internet, it said. (Reuters)

German officials urge close look at gun laws in wake of shooting

Chancellor Angela Merkel today said Munich had suffered a &quot;night of horror&quot; after a shooting spree in the southern German city left nine people dead.<br />
<br />
&quot;The people of Munich have come through a night of horror,&quot; she said in her first reaction to Friday&#39;s carnage, adding: &quot;A night like this is difficult for us all to bear.&quot;<br />
<br />
Speaking from her office in Berlin, the German leader said: &quot;All of us, and I say this on behalf of the whole government, are mourning with heavy hearts those who will never be able to return to their families.&quot;<br />
<br />
She paid tribute to Munich residents who had offered refuge in their homes to people fleeing the gunman, many of them using social media to spread the word.<br />
<br />
Their actions showed that &quot;we live in a free society and it showed humanity&quot;, she said, adding that &quot;our greatest strength&quot; lies in these values.<br />
<br />
(AFP)

She paid tribute to residents who had offered refuge in their homes to people fleeing the gunman, many using social media to spread the word

Chancellor Angela Merkel today said Munich had suffered a "night of horror" after a shooting spree in the southern German city left nine people dead. "The people of Munich have come through a night of horror," she said in her first reaction to Friday's carnage, adding: "A night like this is difficult for us all to bear." Speaking from her office in Berlin, the German leader said: "All of us, and I say this on behalf of the whole government, are mourning with heavy hearts those who will never be able to return to their families." She paid tribute to Munich residents who had offered refuge in their homes to people fleeing the gunman, many of them using social media to spread the word. Their actions showed that "we live in a free society and it showed humanity", she said, adding that "our greatest strength" lies in these values. (AFP)

Merkel deplores night of horror in Munich

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Woman killed, 12 injured in Beijing mall knife attack

German officials urge close look at gun laws in wake of shooting

Merkel deplores night of horror in Munich