World

A lone gunman with extreme rightwing sympathies has gone on a shooting spree in Florence, killing two Senegalese street vendors and wounding three others before killing himself.

Gianluca Casseri, 50, an accountant, first shot dead two vendors and wounded a third with a .357 Magnum at the crowded Piazza Dalmazia street market on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday morning.

He then fled in a car after threatening to shoot a stall holder who attempted to stop him, reappearing later in the day at the central San Lorenzo market where he fired at two African vendors, wounding both.

Police officers found Casseri back in his car in the car park of the market, where they fired warning shots before he reportedly shot himself dead — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A nurse charged with murder over the fatal nursing home fire in Sydney’s north-west was at the scene of the blaze yesterday.

Roger Dean, 35, was arrested last night and charged with four counts of murder over the fire that tore through Quakers Hill Nursing Home.

Dean, who was a nurse at the facility, was remanded in custody after appearing via a video link in the Parramatta local court today.

Police say they expect to lay more charges against the nurse, who will face court again next Thursday — via redwolf.newsvine.com

There are calls for tighter identity checks for people selling property in Australia, after several homeowners have been conned by so-called Nigerian scams.

The fraud involves identity theft, and using faxes and emails to try to sell a property without the true owner’s knowledge.

The latest attempt, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, was foiled soon before the apartment was due to be auctioned.

It followed two successful frauds in Perth.

In all three cases, the real owners were living in Africa — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Up to nine elderly people died when fire ripped through a nursing home in western Sydney this morning, in what fire crews are calling the city’s worst blaze for 30 years.

Fire crews were forced to crawl through thick smoke on their hands and knees to search beds and cupboards for residents after the fire broke out at the Principal home in Hambledon Road, Quakers Hill, shortly before 5:00am (AEDT).

Police say up to nine people lost their lives. Around 20 people have been taken to hospital. Most have smoke inhalation or minor burns, but some have suffered serious injuries.

At least one woman in her 80s has received burns to 20 per cent of her body — via redwolf.newsvine.com

More damaging evidence has emerged of the German authorities’ failure to stop a group of neo-Nazi terrorists who killed 10 people, robbed 14 banks and planted two nail bombs during 13 years on the run.

On Tuesday, the Hessen branch of the domestic intelligence service, the Verfassungsschutz, or BfV, admitted that one of its agents had been present in April 2006 when two members of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) shot dead a 21-year-old Turk in an internet café.

It has now emerged that the agent, who was transferred to less-sensitive work following an investigation at the time, openly held rightwing views and was known in the village where he grew up as “Little Adolf”. When police raided his flat following the murder, they found a cache of guns, for which he had a legitimate licence, and extracts from Mein Kampf, according to Der Spiegel. There are unconfirmed reports that the man was present at three or more other neo-Nazi murder scenes — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A 110-carat diamond is expected to fetch up to $15m (£9m) at auction in Geneva next week, Sotheby’s says. The so-called Sun-Drop Diamond is described as fancy vivid yellow, the highest colour grading, and is the largest known diamond of its kind, at 110.3 carats — via redwolf.newsvine.com

German investigators have linked an unsolved series of murders of eight foreign-born food vendors and shop owners, nicknamed the doner murders to a neo-Nazi terrorist cell, the federal prosecutors’ office said on Friday.

They also linked the same neo-Nazi group to the killing of a policewoman in Heilbronn in south-west Germany in 2007 — via redwolf.newsvine.com

The Japanese government has unveiled radical plans to build a standby city for Tokyo’s political functions to move to in the event of a disabling earthquake or other natural disaster.

The back-up city, which has been codenamed IRTBBC (Integrated Resort, Tourism, Business and Backup City) will sit 300 miles west of Tokyo on the site of Itami Airport, which is politically unpopular and has been largely superseded by other airports, including Kansai and Kobe.

The site, which is approximately five square kilometres in area, will contain facilities for parliament and ministries, so that government will be able to continue in the event of a disaster. However it will also include office complexes, resort facilities, casinos and parks, as well as a 652-metre-high office building.

The infrastructure has been planned for a population of 50,000 residents (which we should note is some way short of Tokyo’s population of 13 million) and a workforce of 200,000 — most of whom will commute from Osaka, Japan’s second city, which the site lies to the north of — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A man who set fire to more than 100 cars in Berlin, a wave of attacks blamed by some on political extremists, was motivated by envy and frustration, police who arrested him said on Sunday.

The 27-year-old told police that being jobless and in debt led him to set 67 luxury cars alight in one three-month run — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A relative of serial killer Ivan Milat has pleaded guilty to murdering a teenage boy last year in the Belanglo State Forest, south of Sydney.

The teenaged accused appeared via video-link in the Campbelltown Children’s Court this morning over the death of David Auchterlonie in November last year.

Police had alleged he lured his friend to the forest to celebrate his birthday before killing him.

The 17-year-old was bludgeoned to death with an axe and then partially buried — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A 13-year-old girl has lied to police about being abducted and undressed by two men on the NSW north coast.

Police appealed for calm in the Coffs Harbour area after it emerged the girl gave false information to police about the incident, which she said happened at 8.00am on Friday.

The teenager told police she was walking along a bush track when two men grabbed her and started to undress her.

She said an unknown man had intervened, allowing her to run away.

Police on Monday said a major investigation had been launched after the report, but it emerged the girl had not been telling the truth — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Libya’s ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.

Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril announced the death, saying it was the moment Libya was waiting for.

Mr Jibril gave few details of how Col Gaddafi died, but video footage emerged showing him captured alive. Other images apparently showed him being dragged through the streets.

Some fighters claim to have shot him, though it is not clear when he died — via redwolf.newsvine.com

In a statement provided to the BBC, ETA called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with “a process of direct dialogue.

The declaration, if followed through, would bring an end to Eta’s campaign of violence, which has lasted more than 40 years and killed more than 800 people.

Spain’s PM said the move was a victory for democracy, law and reason — via redwolf.newsvine.com