Pupil killed, several injured in stabbing attack at Croatia elementary school

By Christian Edwards, CNN-  A child has been killed and eight others have been injured in a knife attack at an elementary school in the Croatian capital Zagreb.

A 19-year-old assailant, reportedly a former student, entered a first-grade classroom at Prečko Elementary School early on Friday morning, where he attacked the teacher and several children with a knife, as reported by CNN affiliate N1.

The victim who lost her life was identified as a 7-year-old girl, according to the Associated Press.

Helicopters have been transporting the injured to various hospitals throughout the city. The teacher has suffered life-altering injuries and is currently in critical condition, as stated by Sveti Duh Hospital.

“The assailant is in police custody. Those injured are receiving medical care,” announced the Zagreb police.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos as ambulances hurried to the school and individuals evacuated the premises. Videos circulating on social media depicted numerous people fleeing from a building adjacent to the school’s sports fields.

Various officials, including Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, have arrived at the scene, according to N1.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed the nation’s shock at the “tragedy,” stating that Health Minister Irena Hristic will visit the hospitals treating the injured.

Incidents of school violence are uncommon in Croatia and the Balkan region. Last year, Serbia experienced two mass shootings within a span of two days, the first of which occurred at a school in the capital, Belgrade.

Netanyahu says he spoke with Trump about need for ‘victory,’ as Israeli government approves plan for Golan expansion

By Eugenia Yosef, Sophie Tanno, Nadeen Ebrahim and Michael Rios, CNN - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he had a “very warm” phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump, during which they spoke about the need for Israel’s victory in its war on Hamas in Gaza and its stance on Syria.

In a video statement, Israel’s leader said he discussed a range of issues with Trump during the call on Saturday evening, including Israel’s commitment to preventing Lebanon-based Hezbollah from rearming and Israel’s conflict with Hamas, which has killed nearly 45,000 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip.

The leaders also spoke of the need to bring home the remaining hostages in Gaza, Netanyahu said.

“I discussed all of this again last night with my friend, US President-elect Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said.

“It was a very friendly, very warm and very important conversation. We spoke about the need to complete Israel’s victory, and we also spoke at length about the efforts we are making to free our hostages.”

Hamas and other groups are believed to still be holding 100 hostages in Gaza, including seven Americans. All but four of the hostages were captured during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu said that Israel continues to “work tirelessly to bring our hostages home, both the living and the dead. And I add, the less we talk about it, the better, and so with God’s help, we will succeed.”

CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

‘No interest in confronting’ Syria

Regarding Syria, where a rebel coalition overthrew the regime of President Bashar al-Assad last weekend following a lightning advance through the country, Netanyahu said that Israel had “no interest in a conflict” the country, but would adjust its policy according to the “emerging reality on the ground.”

His latest comments come after Israeli forces following Assad’s fall took control of a long-standing buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces for decades – a move the rebels now in charge of Syria and some of the country’s neighbors have criticized.

Israeli officials have said the measure is temporary and Netanyahu has previously insisted Israel has “no intention” of intervening in Syria’s internal affairs.

They said we were American spies’: Priests describe Russia’s crackdown on Evangelicals in occupied Ukraine

Kyiv, Ukraine CNN - Pastor Dmytro Bodyu said the Russians kept telling him they knew he was an American spy, specifically, a CIA agent paid by the US government to spread anti-Russian propaganda in occupied Ukraine.

“They said they knew for sure because all Protestant churches and Catholic churches are working with the American secret services, and all their pastors work for the US government, because the Protestant church is not a real church,” Bodyu, the founder of the evangelical Word of Life Church in Melitopol, told CNN.

Fifteen or so armed men, who said they were from the Russian police and FSB spy agency, stormed into Bodyu’s home early on March 19, 2022. They arrested him in front of his terrified wife and son and took him to a local police station where he said they shoved him into a small cell and threatened him with execution.

He was released eight days later, but the threats and harassment continued. Bodyu said he was given an ultimatum: to continue preaching, he’d have to cooperate. His sermons would be subject to censorship and observed by the authorities, and he would have to share personal and potentially compromising information about his parishioners with the Russians.

The pastor said that he refused and was eventually forced to leave the occupied southern Ukrainian city. His congregation was decimated and his church shut down as part of Russia’s brutal crackdown against Ukrainian religious groups that are not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, also known as the Moscow Patriarchate.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has jailed dozens of Ukrainian faith leaders in occupied areas, according to Ukrainian prosecutors. After threatening them with lengthy prison sentences, torture and even death, Russian and Russian-installed authorities have forced numerous other priests, pastors and imams into exile.