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A SYRIAN MIGRANT set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others late on Sunday night – the third attack to hit Bavaria in a week.
The 27-year-old, who had spent a stint in a psychiatric facility, had intended to target a music festival in the city of Ansbach but was turned away because he did not have a ticket.
Regional interior minister Joachim Herrmann said:
Unfortunately, this is a terrible new attack which will surely increase people’s anxiety.
He added that investigators “have not ruled out” he had an Islamist motive.
Hermann said he was worried “the right to asylum would be undermined” by the events of the past week, which has seen attacks on a train and shopping mall in the southern German state.
Sunday’s explosion happened just outside a bar in Ansbach city centre, not far from where more than 2,000 people had gathered for the concert, at around 8pm Irish time.
Police have blocked off the area and emergency services were at the scene. Bomb experts were also sent to determine the cause of the blast.
Ansbach deputy police chief Roman Fertinger said there were “indications” pieces of metal had been added to the explosive device.
The perpetrator was killed in the explosion, police said in a statement, and a spokeswoman said 12 people were wounded, three of them seriously.
Herrmann said the attacker, who came to Germany two years ago but had his asylum claim rejected after a year, had tried to kill himself twice in the past and had spent time in a psychiatric clinic.
Europe has been on edge for months after a string of deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, including bombings in Brussels and carnage at Bastille Day celebrations in the southern French city of Nice.
In Bavaria, which has been a gateway for thousands of Syrian refugees, nine died in a shooting rampage in Munich on Friday and several people were wounded in an axe attack on a train near Wuerzburg.
Obsessed with mass murder
Police released more details of Munich attacker David Ali Sonboly on Sunday, saying the 18-year-old was depressed and had spent two months in a psychiatric unit last year.
The teen was obsessed with mass killings and spent a year preparing for the gun attack that killed nine people, most of them foreigners.
At least 35 people were also wounded during Sonboly’s shooting spree, which began at a McDonald’s branch and ended with him turning his 9mm Glock pistol on himself.
Investigators have ruled out any link with the jihadists, though he appears to have planned the assault with chilling precision.
Police have also arrested a 16-year-old Afghan friend in connection with the attack.
Hundreds of people, many of them in tears, gathered outside the Munich shopping centre where the attack took place to pay tribute to the victims on Sunday.
Already steeped in grief and shock, Germans were further rattled by news that a Syrian refugee had killed 45-year-old Polish woman with a machete in the city of Reutlingen.
Police said that incident on Sunday, in which three others were injured, did not bear the hallmarks of a “terrorist attack”.
“When a man and woman have an argument, we assume that we are dealing with a crime of passion,” a local police spokeswoman told DPA.
Three people were also injured in the attack, which ended when the 21-year-old assailant was hit by a BMW.
NTV showed amateur video footage of the suspect running away from the scene before cutting to him lying on the ground, his face bloodied and his hands cuffed by police.
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Get the 50 factor on folks
@WiseUp: you can say that again!
@This time its personable!: and again…
@This time its personable!: Well done….he’ll be at it all day now.
@WiseUp: why 50, 20 is fine, we’re not all white as a ghost with Irish freckles
@Hugo Bugo: minimum 30 is recommended for all skin tones .
@OConnelj: of course it is, the number is a time factor, how often to reapply, Il stick with 20
@Hugo Bugo: ehhh no? Not correct.
@Hugo Bugo: you can slap some baby oil on for all I care. I’ll stick to 50, I don’t want a face like a Shar Pei when I’m 50.
@OConnelj: il stick with 20, want to let a few rays through for a tan :), people lathering themselves in factor 50 are giving themselves false sense of protection anyway, it’s only marginally better than factor 20, 25 or 30
@Hugo Bugo: absolutely totally incorrect there. The number is the protection you are getting. Get a sun cream with high UV protection that’s the main thing. Some high priced ones are crap as they offer no UV protection. In fact one of the best ones is that Aldi one. Take it from somone who lost someone close to them of melanoma. Not nice , and the most easily preventable
@teddyzigzagbigbag: not totally incorrect, not by a long shot factor 50 only gives u an extra 1% protection from uvb rays over factor 30 for example, factor 50 blocks 98% of uvb rays and factor 30 blocks 97% of uvb rays, its marginal at best, the feeling u get from Irish people is they have some sort of impenetrable wall of protection of their miky white skin because they are armed with their factor 50 which is complete nonsense
@Hugo Bugo: Thanks Google Bugo. You are so knowledgeable.
@Hugo Bugo: Marginally better is still better so it’s not a false sense of protection.
@Hugo Bugo: but you were recommending factor 20 earlier.
@Hugo Bugo: no I was saying you are totally incorrect about the number meaning the frequency of when you have to reapply! That comment is nonsense. Anyway I can see I’m talking to a wall
@Hugo Bugo: also the complete nonsense are the percentages you spouted there . Try googling again. UVA and UVB protection is what you are looking for
@OConnelj: recommending is a stretch on your part, Il be using 20 the same as I have for 20 years :), Il leave the fair skin brigade to slap on their maximum protection 50, if u need factor 50 then u shouldn’t be outside in the 1st place, stick to covid anti socialising policy
@teddyzigzagbigbag: here talk to this article, your welcome, https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/whats-wrong-with-high-spf/
@Hugo Bugo: Read your very first post again and then tell me what you were and weren’t recommending.
@Hugo Bugo: your Factor 20 is not mentioned.
@Hugo Bugo: You’re quoting stats for what’s being blocked as opposed to what’s actually important, the amount being let through. SPF 15 lets in twice the UV radiation that SPF 30 does and so on. Therefore although the percentages are in your words marginal the protection does in fact double as the SPF doubles. Also, most SPF 20′s only provide 3* UVB pritection as opposed to the 4/5* provided by higher factors.
@OConnelj: lol, silenced
@Hugo Bugo: somebody doesn’t like being wrong. Horrible trait.
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: pointless Sorcha. Ever hear the saying about arguing with a pigeon? It doesn’t matter because in the end the pigeon will knock over a the pieces, Siht all the board and strut around like it’s won anyway
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: is factor 20 sold legally as a sun protection product, just answer me that, so I will use it, I have dark skin and have no interest if fair skin people need factor 50 or think it offers them some impenetrable wall of sun protection, all the best, u will always get people who need to wear 2 seat belts and drive at 20kmh, lol
@OConnelj: but u were telling me to slap on baby oil, so at least my factor 20 comment is legal, so get off your high horse
@OConnelj: gotta go, off to the beach for the day, legally sold and approved factor 20 suncream in hand for a nice tan, Il leave u to sit at home angry for the whole day, lol
@Hugo Bugo: It is legally sold and you’re free to choose it however the logic with which you’re making that choice is essentially flawed.
@Hugo Bugo: remember as kids we’d be slathered with ambre solaire oil and then we’d go straight into the sea for hours, come out like prunes, sand sandwiches, and off again. We always came home like lobsters, roared like hell with pain, then itched like crazy, peeled and then we had a tan and everything was hunky dorey haha.
@Hugo Bugo: you seem to think I care what sunscreen you wear when you are sunbathing, sunbathing lol.
@Hugo Bugo: how do you know so much! Are you the cleverest person in every room?
@Anna Carr: I remember it well. God be with the auld days!!
As a ginger I be spending my day chasing the shade. Honestly can’t take this heat anymore.
@Roy Dowling: great weather if your doing absolutely nothing. It makes doing the most basic task a hardship however
@Roy Dowling: stop whining for god sake!
@Brian Dunne: barometric pressure at play..
Spare a thought for us pregnant ladies. Imagine what it’s like walking around in this heat with a hot water bottle strapped to your stomach cause that’s what it feels like!
@Nicola Moore: giving you that thought , didn’t think of it that way. Hope you have ways to cool down and someone to help. Take care
I’m not overly fussed about the sun, when it sets is when I appreciate this weather the most. Cool breeze, cool beers, and a cloudless star filled sky.
@OConnelj: the stars were amazing last night!
@Sam Harms: they were. Lots of satellites, the ISS passed by as well around 23:30.
Get the 50 factor on folks
@WiseUp: more like zinc oxide cream for most
If I could offer you only one tip for this week,
Sunscreen would be it.
Get the 50 factor on folks
Tony be out warning every one about the dangers of socialising outdoors,dining outdoors and time for lockdown as sunshine is something we are not use to in Ireland and I need to lock the country down..
@Martin Smith: our CMO living for free in your head.
Try getting on with your day.
@Martin Smith: give it a rest will ya Martin. If you don’t have anything intelligent to say, don’t say anything at all.
@Martin Smith: Outdoor drinking, Sunburn , good chance of getting delta varient …Enjoy it while we can…look on the bright side of life.
I seen a ghost white fella sunbathing yesterday. Poor crater didn’t have any sun cream I could see. He will be in agony today no doubt.
Be careful folks.
Don’t forget to keep your dogs and other pets cool!
Get the 50 factor on folks
@WiseUp: That’s factor 200 by this stage
Enjoy it while it last, the grey weather will be back soon enough.
Go out and get the D !
@Ríain HenC: disgusting comment…:)
Enjoy. It’s forecast to end on Friday.
Stop treating us like children.
@edward: don’t bother reading the article if it is too childish for you.
@edward: God you really have a problem with any sort of authority, don’t you! Telling.
Tis not a bad day between the showers
‘Everybody Is Free To Wear Sunscreen’
Get the sun cream on, water balloons and super soakers out with the kids in the garden, salad for dinner and head off to a beach at 8pm tonight for a dip!
Can be a bit of a struggle for a native Irishman with a few stone more than he needs, But it’s a million times better than cold dark wet November evenings.
It’s lovely when your home but I work in a kitchen and it’s in sufferable not enough ventilation while at work.
have your say