Briefly

NEW ZEALAND

Extremist shot dead after knife rampage

Police on Friday shot dead an Islamic State-inspired attacker after he injured six people in a supermarket knife rampage, despite round-the-clock surveillance by undercover officers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "gutted" the man, a Sri Lankan national, had managed to carry out his "hateful" assault even though he was on a terror watchlist. She said the man, who arrived in New Zealand in 2011, entered a shopping mall in suburban Auckland, seized a knife from a display before going on a stabbing spree. The attack has stirred painful memories of the Christchurch mosques shootings in March 2019, New Zealand's worst terror atrocity, when a white supremacist gunman murdered 51 Muslim worshippers and severely wounded another 40.

UNITED STATES

Briton pleads guilty on terror beheadings

A British national admitted on Thursday evening in a federal courtroom that he played a leadership role in an Islamic State scheme to torture, hold for ransom and eventually behead hostages. Alexanda Anon Kotey, 37, pleaded guilty to all eight counts against him at a plea hearing. The charges include hostage-taking resulting in death and providing material support to the terror group from 2012 through 2015. He admitted guilt in connection with the deaths of four US hostages－journalist James Foley, journalist Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller－as well as European and Japanese nationals who also were held captive.

SWEDEN

ABBA back after 40 years with new album

ABBA is releasing its first new music in four decades, along with a concert performance that will see the "Dancing Queen" quartet going entirely digital. The forthcoming album Voyage, to be released on Nov 5, is a follow-up to 1981's The Visitors, which until now had been the swan song of the Swedish supergroup. And a virtual version of the band will begin a series of concerts in London on May 27 next year. During 1972-82, ABBA became one of the most successful bands in pop history with 400 million records sold, according to Swedish Television.

Agencies - Xinhua