A driver injured seven people, four of them badly, when he drove on a sidewalk in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday and then got out possibly holding a knife, the mayor said.

Early eyewitness accounts said the driver, aged in his 30s, apparently “aimed for the sidewalk, hitting a bike, then crashed while slamming head-on into a woman, badly hurt with both legs crushed”, mayor Massimo Mezzetti told local media and the ANSA news agency.

The car then crashed into a shop window.

“He was seen with a knife in his hand, but he didn’t manage to stab anyone.

It seems like he was trying to hit someone,” the mayor said.

Police have arrested the driver and are questioning him, he added.
Mezzetti told RaiNews channel that four of the seven hit had been seriously injured.

One witness told Italian broadcasters the car had arrived at high speed on Emilia Centro street, which is very busy on Saturday afternoons.

“I heard impacts and I saw people getting run over, ” he said.

“The car got to me and I managed to throw myself to the ground,” said the man, whose head was bloodied.

“The driver seemed to be high or drunk, he didn’t seem to be in a normal state. ” He and several other pedestrians chased him down when he tried to run off, disarming him after he produced a knife, he added.

The mayor, Mezzetti, thanked “those citizens who showed courage and civic duty”.

He added: “We need to understand what’s behind this act. But it was a dramatic event.

“I am deeply shaken. Whatever it was, it was extremely serious. If it turns out to be an attack, that would be even more serious,” Mezzetti said.

Litton Das struck a century to rescue Bangladesh from a top-order collapse, as the hosts posted 278 in their first innings of the second and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday.

Pakistan reached 21-0 at stumps in reply with Azan Awais on 13 and Abdullah Fazal on 8 in Sylhet.

Batting at number six, Litton struck 16 fours and two sixes in his 159-ball 126, his sixth Test century, after Bangladesh had been reduced to 116-6 after lunch.

Pakistan, trailing 1-0 in the two-match series after a 104-run defeat in Mirpur, opted to bowl and the decision immediately paid off.

Opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy fell for a duck, edging Mohammad Abbas to second slip off the second ball of the match.

Debutant Tanzid Hasan made a bright start, striking three boundaries in a fluent 26 off 34 balls, but threw his wicket away attempting an ambitious pull shot off Abbas, who took the catch off his own bowling.

Mominul Haque was bowled for 22 by Khurram Shahzad.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim steadied the ship with a 43-run stand.

But both fell after lunch as Bangladesh lost three wickets for 15 runs.

Shanto edged Abbas behind for 29, Mushfiqur departed LBW for 23 and Mehidy Hasan Miraz was caught at deep fine leg for four to leave the hosts 116-6.

Litton added 60 runs with Taijul Islam (16) off 114 balls for the seventh wicket and brought up his 50 off 93 balls.

He took just 42 balls more to reach three figures with a cover drive off Shahzad, and then hit the next ball for six.

He added 38 with Taskin Ahmed and a crucial 64 with Shoriful Islam off 73 balls for the ninth wicket.

“The most important thing in this innings is that Taijul, Taskin and Shoriful all batted well and faced a lot of balls,” Litton said.

Pakistan missed two review opportunities when replays showing faint edges off Mushfiqur and Litton went unchallenged by captain Shan Masood.

“We were getting wickets early on. Unluckily, we missed a couple of reviews,” said Shahzad.

“If we had gotten them out there, the situation would have been completely different.”

A collision between a freight train and a bus killed at least eight people and injured more than 30 in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday, police said.

Firefighters and rescue workers cordoned off the collision site, with investigators seen peering into the burnt-out shell of the bus.

Pedestrians were ushered away from the busy downtown intersection, which is used by tens of thousands of vehicles each day.

“Eight people have died and 35 others were injured,” Bangkok police chief Urumporn Koondejsumrit told AFP, updating the number of injured from previous reports.

The collision happened early in the afternoon, with images on social media showing the train approaching a level crossing at a moderate speed before colliding with the bus, which instantly burst into flames.

“The fire is now out and we are trying to recover the bodies,” Urumporn said.

The flames appeared to spread quickly.

“I didn’t dare look back to see if there were any victims,” a witness who was near the intersection with her daughter told public broadcaster Thai PBS.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered an investigation into the incident, according to a statement from his office.

Deadly transport accidents are common in Thailand, which regularly tops lists of the world’s most lethal roads, with speeding, drunk driving and weak law enforcement all contributing factors.

The collapse of a crane onto a passenger train killed 32 people and injured dozens in Thailand’s northeast in January.

A collision between a freight train and a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony killed 18 people in 2020.

Three years later, eight people were killed in a collision between a freight train and a pickup truck crossing a railway line in the east of the country.

Tens of thousands of people rallied on Saturday in London at a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration fused with a pro-Palestinian protest, amid a huge police presence.

London’s Metropolitan Police said ahead of the duelling events that it would mount one of its largest operations in recent years, as the British capital also hosts the FA Cup Final.

The force was set to deploy 4,000 officers — alongside horses, dogs, drones and helicopters — to manage Robinson’s so-called ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march and the rival rally marking Nakba Day.

Nakba commemorates the 1948 displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel. It will combine with an anti-fascism march organised by the Stand Up to Racism group.

The Met police estimated 30,000 people would attend that event, setting off from west London, while 50,000 would be at the “Unite the Kingdom” march starting from Holborn in the heart of the capital.

Aerial footage broadcast by UK media showed tens of thousands at Robinson’s rally — a sea of British Union Jack, English St George’s and other flags — while an AFP reporter estimated only several thousand at the counter-protest.

“Immigration’s the main concern,” Christine Turner, 66, from northeast England, told AFP from the Unite the Kingdom march.

“We’re an island. We’ve got a clear border that they’re not protecting. Something needs to be done. It’s gone on too long.”

Business owner Rikki Webster, 40, from Essex, east of London, echoed the sentiment.

“Multiculturalism is fine when it doesn’t overtake your culture,” he said. “Why can’t we celebrate our culture?”

Natasha, 44, was among those who had travelled in for Robinson’s rally, wearing a bucket hat in the colours of Britain’s Union Jack and draped in the flag.

“It’s nice to be around my own culture,” she told AFP near its start-point, calling the event “patriotic” and insisting “there’s nothing racist about it.”

Union Jack-wielding Justin, 56, from Essex, who declined to give his last name, echoed the sentiment. He said attendees were protesting “a whole load of stuff.”

“Obviously immigration is a big part of it,” he noted.

‘Christian values’

Across London, Simon Ralls, 62, from Nottingham in central England, had turned out for the combined pro-Palestine and Stand Up to Racism event.

“The right (wing) are emboldened — we’re here to try and counter that, make sure people aren’t ignorant,” he told AFP ahead of marching into the city centre.

Robinson — real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — is a former football hooligan turned anti-Islam activist whose profile has soared in recent years, in particular online.

Last September, he drew up to 150,000 people into central London for a similarly themed rally proclaiming “national unity, free speech and Christian values” — an unprecedented turnout for an event organised by a far-right figure.

He has tapped into growing public anger over tens of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel each year in small boats, wider immigration policies, alleged free speech curbs and other issues.

X owner Elon Musk addressed that gathering via video-link. The rally shocked mainstream Britain for its scale and raw messaging, as well as clashes between some participants and police, which injured dozens of officers.

The Met has imposed various conditions on Saturday’s two rallies, over their routes and timings, in a bid to keep rival attendees apart.

The force, which estimates the operation will cost ₤4.5 million ($6 million), warned it would adopt “a zero-tolerance approach.”

That includes, for the first time, making organisers legally responsible for ensuring invited speakers do not break hate speech laws.

Officers arrested two men Saturday morning arriving for the Robinson rally who were wanted on suspicion of grievous bodily harm following an incident in Birmingham, central England, when “a man was run over.” No further details were provided.

‘Hatred and division’

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Friday that “anyone who sets out to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone… can expect to face the full force of the law.”

He accused the organisers of Robinson’s rally of “peddling hatred and division.”

Robinson has urged his attendees not to wear masks or drink excessive alcohol, and to be “peaceful and courteous.”

Police have voiced fears about football hooligan groups, which have previously supported Robinson showing up.

Meanwhile, the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City, kicking off at 4pm (1500 GMT) could strain the policing operation.

The Met has said live facial recognition would be used for the first time to police a protest.

Meanwhile, the government blocked 11 “foreign far-right agitators” from entering Britain for Robinson’s rally.

They include US-based “extremist” Valentina Gomez, who the government said is “known for using inflammatory and dehumanising rhetoric about Muslim communities.”

Saturday’s rival demonstrations follow a spate of violent attacks targeting London’s Jewish community, with some blaming instances of hate speech at pro-Palestinian marches for helping to fuel antisemitism.

The UK’s terrorism threat level was raised two weeks ago to the second-highest level of “severe,” with security officials citing the “broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat.”

Hamas’s armed wing chief Ezzedine Al-Haddad was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza the previous day, the Israeli military and Hamas confirmed on Saturday.

The Israeli military and intelligence services have waged an extensive campaign targeting the group’s senior political leaders and commanders in Gaza and across the region.

On Friday, the Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike in Gaza targeting Haddad and confirmed his death on Saturday.

“The IDF and the ISA announce that yesterday, in a precise strike in the area of the City of Gaza, Ezzedine Al-Haddad was eliminated,” the military said, referring to itself and the Shin Bet domestic security agency.

Two Hamas officials also told AFP that Haddad had been killed in an Israeli strike.

“Senior commander… Ezzedine Al-Haddad was assassinated in an Israeli strike targeting a residential apartment and a civilian vehicle in Gaza yesterday,” one senior Hamas official said.

A member of Hamas’s armed wing separately confirmed his death.

Haddad was killed along with his wife and a daughter, according to another Hamas source.

AFP photographs showed mourners carrying the body of Haddad, wrapped in a Hamas flag, on a stretcher from the ruins of a building.

The military claims Haddad was “one of the last senior commanders in Hamas’s military wing who directed the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre”.

“Haddad managed Hamas’s hostage captivity system and surrounded himself with hostages in an attempt to prevent his elimination,” it said.

‘Significant achievement’

Israel’s military chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir called the killing a “significant operational achievement”.

Over the course of the war, Israel has claimed responsibility for the assassinations of several Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar.

It also killed Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing.

Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon, as well as senior Hezbollah commanders allied with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 72,700 civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority.

The figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Despite an October ceasefire, Gaza remains gripped by daily violence as Israeli strikes continue.

At least 856 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Over the same period, the Israeli military said five soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on May 19 for a two-day visit, hot on the heels of United States President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

During the trip, the Russian leader will discuss with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping how to “further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing, according to a Kremlin statement.

Putin and Xi will “exchange views on key international and regional issues” and sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of their talks, it added.

As part of the visit, Putin is also scheduled to discuss economic and trade cooperation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The announcement of Putin’s trip comes just after Trump wrapped up on Friday the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a roster of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions, including over the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Although Trump and Xi discussed the more than four-year-long conflict — as well as the US leader’s stalemated war with Iran — the Republican president took off from China on Friday without appearing to secure a breakthrough on either front.

While China has regularly called for talks to end the fighting, it has never condemned Russia for sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and presents itself as a neutral party.

Beijing also denies providing Moscow with weapons and military components for its defence industry, blaming Western countries for prolonging Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II by arming Ukraine instead.

As the world’s top buyer of Russian fossil fuels, China has become Moscow’s key economic partner, especially since Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russian oil and gas over the conflict.

Negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine, brokered by the United States, have appeared stalled since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran, which broke out on February 28.

Moscow has ruled out a ceasefire or comprehensive negotiations with Ukraine unless Kyiv caves to the Kremlin’s maximalist demands.

The United States has canceled the planned deployment of 4,000 soldiers to Poland, US officials said Friday, as Washington reorganises its forces in Europe after announcing it would withdraw thousands of troops from Germany.

The head of US European Command “received the instructions on the force reduction,” General Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the US Army, said during a congressional hearing when asked about the canceled deployment.

“I’ve worked with him in close consultation on what that force unit would be, and it… made the most sense for that brigade to not do its deployment in theater,” LaNeve said, referring to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team.

Some elements of the unit had already been sent overseas and its equipment was in transit, the general said.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, testifying alongside LaNeve, said the unit’s planned deployment was canceled “a couple days ago.”

At the beginning of this month, the Pentagon announced that Washington would pull 5,000 troops from Germany, with spokesman Sean Parnell saying the withdrawal was expected “to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

That announcement came during a heated dispute between Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US-Israeli war against Iran, and the US president subsequently said the troop reduction would be “a lot further than 5,000,” without providing details.

Poland’s defense minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, suggested Friday that the cancellation of the deployment to his country could be related to the removal of troops from Germany.

“If a brigade other than the one originally planned is sent to Poland – maybe the one from Germany – and 5,000 soldiers leave Germany for Poland…there is no change to the security guarantees,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters.

Trump has threatened to slash US troop numbers in Germany and other European allies during both his White House terms, saying he wants Europe to take on greater responsibility for its defense rather than depending on Washington.

He now appears determined to punish allies who have failed to back the Middle East war or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Tehran’s forces have effectively closed.

A NATO official told AFP on Friday that “we know that the US is working to adjust its posture in Europe.”

“A focus on rotational forces would not impact NATO’s deterrence and defense plans. And we’re already seeing increasing presence on the eastern flank from Canada and Germany — all of which contributes to a stronger NATO overall,” the official added.

While Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were hailing their friendship for the cameras, it was less amicable for the rival Chinese and US security services.

From a standoff over a US Secret Service agent’s weapon to a US staffer trampled during a melee, tensions bubbled to the surface throughout Trump’s visit to Beijing.

The mutual distrust was underscored when US officials made the staffers and media, including an AFP reporter, board Air Force One, hand over all badges and pins given to them by the Chinese side.

Along with “burner” phones from the US delegation, the confiscated items were tossed in a trash can at the bottom of the stairs of the presidential jet.

For all Xi’s warm words about being “partners not rivals,” this was always a summit between two superpowers with a long history of suspicion.

As they vie for supremacy without tipping over into conflict, both sides are taking their espionage and counterintelligence efforts to new heights.

The result in Beijing verged at times towards collective paranoia.

US officials and journalists travelling to China to cover the summit were advised to use phones and laptops that could be wiped or disposed of back home to preserve cybersecurity.

The frictions also played out on the ground in Beijing as US and Chinese officials appeared to be having their own shadow superpower battle.

‘Don’t run over anybody’

Two incidents made headlines, including when Chinese officials blocked US officials and journalists in a room during Trump and Xi’s visit to the Temple of Heaven.

“We’re in the motorcade with the president. Do you not understand that?” said one journalist, in scenes witnessed by an AFP reporter.

A Chinese official replied, “The security of our side does not allow you.” Voices were raised and the US group ended up pushing past the Chinese team to get to their vans in Trump’s motorcade before it left.

“US press, we are going,” a US official said. “Be gentle but we are going. Don’t run over anybody, do not do what they did to us.”

That appeared to refer to an earlier incident at the Great Hall of the People, in which a US staffer fell and had her ankle trodden on as officials from both sides tried to corral journalists rushing to film the start of the Trump-Xi talks.

Earlier at the temple, US and Chinese officials had clashed over whether a US Secret Service agent should be allowed to bring his weapon into the complex.

For nearly half an hour under the sun on Beijing’s hottest day of the year, they had increasingly intense discussions as unyielding Chinese officials insisted the agent could not pass.

At almost every turn, there appeared to be diplomatic arm-wrestling between US and China over timings, positions and alleged last-minute schedule changes.

US and Chinese officials like to talk about the principle of “reciprocity” in their relationship, particularly when it comes to confidence-building measures.

But it can cut both ways — and Xi is now due to visit the White House in September.

At one point in the Temple of Heaven standoff, an official could be heard talking about what would happen on that trip.

Both sides are known for ensuring that when limitations are placed on numbers for officials or journalists, tit-for-tat measures are taken when the other country makes a return visit.

One senior US official in the administration of President Joe Biden was even reportedly denied breakfast after their counterpart did not get their morning meal.

With Trump and Xi eyeing three more meetings in 2026, it could be a long year for their staff.