Hotel collapse, terror plot foiled, and protests dominate news

It happened while you were sleeping. Here’s what the world’s agencies reported on the night from Wednesday to Thursday.

  
• Nearly 24 hours after part of a hotel in Kroev in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, collapsed, the last living person was retrieved from the rubble - the local fire brigade reported late Wednesday evening. Two people died in the accident. For many hours, rescuers were unable to retrieve the woman alive from the rubble, with whom they had managed to establish voice contact; they were also able to supply her with drinks and food. The incident occurred late Tuesday evening. According to the police, one floor of the small hotel collapsed. At the time of the accident, there were 14 people in the building. Five of them were in a safe part of the hotel.

• Austrian Taylor Swift concerts were cancelled after the police thwarted a terrorist attack. Two young men were arrested. "If radical Islamists had implemented their crazy plans, it would have been a catastrophe of almost unimaginable proportions" - reported the Kronen Zeitung portal. Three other suspects are still being sought.

  
• The aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) reported on the night from Wednesday to Thursday that one of its Palestinian workers, Nadi Sallout, was killed in the central part of the Gaza Strip. The organization is still determining the details of this tragedy; Sallout most likely died after his working hours for WCK - the organization added.

• Thousands of people took to the streets of British cities on Wednesday evening in demonstrations against the far right, which completely overshadowed the announced further anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic protests. Contrary to fears, there were no significant riots, as in previous days.

• According to preliminary estimates announced on Wednesday by Brazil’s environmental ministry, 257 square miles of the Brazilian Amazon were deforested in July, 33 percent more than the previous year. This is the first increase in 15 months.

• The Mexican government announced on Wednesday that illegal migration from Mexico to the USA nearly tripled in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2023. According to Latin American media, such a significant increase may reduce US citizens' sense of security before the November presidential elections.