🌏 Massacre At Day Care Center In Thailand, Swedish Politician Cuts Her Hair In A Speech To EU To Support Iranian Women And More

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An ex-policeman launched a knife and gun attack at a day care center in Thailand, killing at least 34 people, including 23 children and a teacher who was eight months pregnant, on Thursday Oct. 6.

The attacker, identified as 34-year-old Panya Kamrab, opened fire and stabbed children as young as two years old while they were sleeping at about noon local time at the center in Nong Bua Lamphu province, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok.

He then drove away, driving and shooting at bystanders, before returning home and killing his wife, child and himself, according to the Guardian.

The total death toll from the event is 37 people, and the attack is one of the world’s worst child massacres by a single killer in recent history, according to Reuters.

About 10 other people were injured from the attack, according to authorities.

Panya had been fired from the police force in June for possession of methamphetamine, and his trial had been set to start on Friday Oct. 7.

Hours before the attack, he had attended court for the drug possession charge, according to CNN.

After court, he went to pick up his child at the center, but when he was not able to find him, he started the massacre, a police spokesperson told local news ThaiPBS, Reuters reported.

Police said the firearm that Panya possessed had been legally owned.

Police statements indicate most children died from being stabbed.

Thailand’s king and prime minister were set to visit the area on Friday to meet the victims’ families.

Also Happening Around The World

🇮🇷 Iranian police forces have allegedly stolen and buried the body of a 16-year-old girl after she took part in protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death.

🇮🇩 More than 150 people are dead in Indonesia after a riot broke out at a soccer match in Malang on the evening of Oct. 1.

🇦🇫 At least 53 people, most of them girls, have been killed, in a suicide bomb attack outside an education center in Afghanistan on Sep. 30.

🇨🇺 A powerful hurricane struck Cuba and wiped out the power grid of the entire island, leaving 11.3 million people without power on Sep. 28.

🇹🇼 An MRI scan has revealed one of the giant pandas in Taiwan’s Taipei Zoo has a life-threatening brain disease.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has also been appointed as the country’s newest prime minister.

🇮🇹 High tides have caused flooding in the Italian city of Venice, partially submerging cafes, homes and churches.

A Swedish member of the European parliament cut off her hair during a speech to the EU assembly to stand with the women in Iran on Oct. 4.

In her speech, 46-year-old Abir Al-Salhani, who was born in Iraq, demanded an end to violence against the women and men in Iran, who have been taking to the streets in unprecedented protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died after she was detained by “morality police” over allegedly breaking the country’s mandatory hijab rule.

“Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors. Until the women of Iran are free we are going to stand with you,” Al-Salhani said.

She then pulled out a pair of scissors and proceeded to cut her hair while uttering the words, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi,” which is Kurdish for “Woman, Life, Freedom” – a slogan that has come to be associated with the protests, which have spread around the world.

At least 154 protesters have been killed in the nationwide protests as of Oct. 4, according to Iran Human Rights.

More Women You Should Know About

🇲🇲 A Myanmar model who attended the anti-coup protests has been sentenced to six years in prison after she posted content on OnlyFans.

🇧🇷 Indigenous women are running for office in Brazil’s election in record numbers to increase Indigenous representation after four years under far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.

🇮🇳 Women in India saw the country’s top court ruled that marital rape is rape and that everyone has the right to get an abortion up to 24 weeks in a pregnancy, regardless of their marital status.

🇷🇺 Miss Crimea, Olga Valeyeva, has been fined by Russia for singing a Ukrainian song that they said “discredited” the Russian army.

In a landmark moment, Slovenia’s parliament has voted to pass an amendment that will allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

Slovenia’s government has recognized same-sex partnerships since 2017, providing some of the rights heterosexual couples enjoyed, but not joint adoption and in vitro fertilization.

In July, the constitutional court ruled same-sex couples should be given the same rights as heterosexual couples, saying current laws discriminated against them.

The court gave the parliament six months to amend the family law.

The motion passed on Tuesday Oct. 4 with 48 votes in favor, 28 against, and one abstention.

“With these changes, we are recognizing the rights of same-sex couples that they should have had for a long time,” Slovenia’s State Secretary Simon Maljevac said, according to Euronews.

More Good News For Your Week

🇻🇳 Thousands of people attended the first Hanoi Pride parade since the start of the pandemic in 2019 in Vietnam’s capital on Sep. 25.

🇨🇳 Scientists in China have successfully cloned the world’s first arctic wolf, Maya, and unveiled her to the world on Monday Sep. 26.

🇰🇷 Dozens of people in Seoul, South Korea, took part in a “Space Out” Competition, where they sat for 90 minutes without doing anything.

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