NEWS,20.07.2012

12 killed, 59 wounded in Colorado theater shooting

A gunman in a gas mask barged into a crowded Denver-area theater during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie Friday, hurled a gas canister and then opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.When the smoke began to spread, some moviegoers thought it was a stunt that was part of the "The Dark Knight Rises," one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. They saw a silhouette of a person in the haze near the screen, pointing a gun at the crowd and then shooting."There were bullet (casings) just falling on my head. They were burning my forehead," Jennifer Seeger said, adding that the gunman, dressed like a SWAT team member, fired steadily, stopping only to reload."Every few seconds it was just: Boom, boom, boom," she said. "He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed."The suspect was taken into custody near a car behind the theater and was identified by federal law enforcement officials as 24-year-old James Holmes.Holmes was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver, university spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. Holmes enrolled a year ago and was in the process of withdrawing at the time of the shootings, Montgomery said.Authorities gave no motive for the attack. The FBI said there was no indication of ties to any terrorist groups.Police said 71 people were shot. Another 59 adults and children were wounded. Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said the suspect wore a gas mask, a ballistic helmet and vest as well as leg, groin and throat protectors. He said he had an AR-15 military-style, semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and two pistols.FBI agents and police used a hook and ladder fire truck to reach Holmes' apartment in Aurora, Oates said. They put a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole inside the apartment and discovered the unit was booby-trapped. Authorities evacuated five buildings as they tried to figure how to disarm the flammable and explosive material."It's something I've never seen before," Oates said.At least 24 people were being treated at Denver-area hospitals, some of them for chemical exposure apparently related to canisters thrown by the gunman. Some of those hurt were children, including a 4-month-old baby, who was treated a hospital and released.Police released a statement from Holmes' family: "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved."The movie opened across the world Friday with midnight showings in the U.S. The shooting prompted officials to cancel the red-carpet premiere in Paris, with workers pulling down the display at a theater on the Champs-Elysees. Around the U.S., police and some movie theaters stepped up security for daytime showings of the movie, though many fans waiting in line said they were not worried about their safety.President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the "horrific and tragic shooting," pledging that his administration was "committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded."It was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13 soldiers and civilians and wounding more than two dozen others.In Colorado, it was the deadliest since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, when two students opened fire in the Denver suburb of Littleton, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves. Columbine High is about 12 miles from the theater.Friday's attack began shortly after midnight at the multiplex theater.The film has several scenes of public mayhem  a hallmark of superhero movies. In one scene, the main villain Bane leads an attack on the stock exchange and, in another, leads a shooting and bombing rampage on a packed football stadium.The gunman released a gas that smelled like pepper spray from a green canister, Seeger said. "I thought it was showmanship. I didn't think it was real," she said.Seeger said she was in the second row, about four feet from the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face. At first, "I was just a deer in headlights. I didn't know what to do," she said. Then she ducked to the ground as the gunman shot people seated behind her.She said she began crawling toward an exit when she saw a girl of about 14 "lying lifeless on the stairs." She saw a man with a bullet wound in his back and tried to check his pulse, but "I had to go. I was going to get shot."Witness Shayla Roeder said she saw a teenage girl on the ground bleeding outside the theater. "She just had this horrible look in her eyes. .... We made eye contact and I could tell she was not all right," Roeder said.Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard. Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots. "Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station. Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."

Bank bailout fails to ease fears for Spain

 

Concerns about Spain's crippling financial problems flared again Friday as even news that the country had been given the final go-ahead for a bank bailout loan of up to €100 billion ($122.9 billion) failed to take the sting out of a further round of bad economic news.Earlier Friday, finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro unanimously approved the terms for a bailout loan for Spain's banks, which have been struggling under the weight of toxic loans and assets from the collapse of the country's property market. Investors have been fighting shy of Spain for months, worried that the country could not keep control of its deficit during a recession while supporting its stricken financial sector.Spain is the 17-country eurozone's fourth-biggest economy and many market-watchers fear that if it asked for a bailout, the rest of the region could not afford to foot the bill. The country and its banks were also locked in a vicious debt spiral, where the shaky banking system has been propped up by the indebted government so that the banks could buy more government debt. The loan facility agreed to on Friday was designed to break that spiral.The bank agreement came as Spain cut its growth forecast and one of the country's heavily indebted regions asked for help. The news sent the country's borrowing costs soaring and its stock prices plummeting. In afternoon trading, Spain's main IBEX index was down almost 6 per cent while the interest rate on the country's 10-year bond an indicator of investor confidence in a country's ability to manage its debt was at 7.2 percent. This is a rate that many market-watchers consider is too high a price for a country to pay in the long term.Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro on Friday forecast Spain's recession will drag on into 2013, although the economy will not be quite as weak as it now. According to the latest figures, the country's gross domestic product is expected to contract 0.5 percent in 2013,compared with the previous forecast for it to grow by 0.2 percent.Unemployment, which is now at 24.4 percent, will remain about the same next year, Montoro said.Meanwhile, the economy will shrink 1.5 percent this year, a slight improvement from the 1.7 percent drop previously predicted, he added.Also Friday, the region of Valencia that it would become the first to tap a fund designed to help out Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions. Many Spanish regions are so heavily in debt due to overspending and the burst real estate bubble that they cannot raise money at affordable rates. As a result, they are struggling to repay creditors and settle contract bills.The fund for the regions was created only last Friday and will have €18 billion ($22 billion) in capital. A third of that is a loan from the state-owned company that runs Spain's many lotteries.The government this week passed painful austerity measures tax hikes and cuts to benefits, salaries and pensions  to reduce state debt and strengthen confidence in its finances.Spaniards staged massive anti-austerity protests in 80 cities and towns across the country Thursday night. Police say 15 people were arrested and 39 people injured overnight in central Madrid after tens of thousands of people took part in a demonstration.Across Europe, markets tumbled on concerns about Spain. In France, the CAC 40 index dropped 2.14 per cent while the German DAX index was off 1.9 percent. The euro fell to a two-year low of $1.2165.

Here is a round-up of what else is happening around Europe:

BRUSSELS

Finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro unanimously approved the terms for a bailout loan for Spanish banks of up to €100 billion ($122.9 billion).

As part of the deal the "eurogroup" of ministers called Friday for strict monitoring of the banks that receive the aid. It also requires the Spanish government to present this month plans to reduce its budget deficit to under 3 percent of the country's €1.1 trillion ($1.34 trillion) gross domestic product by 2014."The eurogroup is convinced that the reforms attached to this financial agreement will contribute to ensuring a return of all parts of the Spanish banking sector to soundness and stability," the finance ministers said in a statement.Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, welcomed the agreement."The implementation of these measures will contribute to significantly strengthen Spain's financial system, an essential step in restoring growth and prosperity in the country," she said in a statement.The agreement, which will be signed in the next few days, calls for an initial disbursement of €30 billion ($36.9 billion) this month. The full amount of money needed to shore up Spain's banks will not be known until September, after individual banks have been assessed."The aim of this program is very clear: to provide Spain with healthy, effectively regulated and rigorously supervised banks, capable of nurturing sustainable economic growth," Olli Rehn, the European monetary affairs commissioner said in a statement.

FRANCE

France's corporations and wealthy people were in the line of fire Friday, when the country's lower house of parliament passed a revised 2012 budget on Friday to raise €7.2 billion ($8.8 billion) in new revenue.The bill, drawn up by President Francois Hollande's Socialists, reverses many of the measures passed under the former conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy, including: tax breaks on overtime, a lower wealth tax and a reduction in the social charges that employers pay into the state benefit system.The measures were necessary if Hollande's administration is going to stick to a strict schedule for reducing the deficit while growth continues to slip. The amendments assume the country will grow just 0.3 percent this year. The Socialists have said they are committed to reducing the deficit to 4.5 percent of France's gross domestic product this year and 3 percent next.France's €2 trillion ($2.4 trillion) economy is the second largest after Germany's among the 17 countries that use the euro.

ITALY

Italy's Premier Mario Monti admitted Friday that the eurozone debt crisis had spread to Italy and that the country must try to avoid taking a bailout.He emphasized that Italy does not need further budget measures to raise revenue and shore up public finances.Monti was asked to form a government late last year after weeks of market turmoil over Italy's stagnant growth and high public debt  which at €1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) is nearly 120 percent of GDP  forced the previous Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi out of office.Italy's borrowing costs have risen steadily in recent weeks due to fears that the government will not be able to handle this high debt load as the country's economy stagnates.Many of the country's debts are due soon, with Italy having to roll over more than €300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone. On Friday, the 10-year bond yield was up 0.25 percentage points at 6.15 percent, while the FTSE MIB stock index dropped 4.38 percent.