Overnight reports: German hotel tragedy, thwarted concert attack

It happened while you were sleeping. Here’s what the world’s agencies reported overnight 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 incident. For many hours, rescuers were unable to retrieve the woman alive from the debris, although they had managed to establish voice contact and supply her with drinks and food. The collapse occurred late Tuesday evening. According to the police, one floor of the small hotel gave way. At the time of the accident, 14 people were in the building, five of whom 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 organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) reported overnight from Wednesday to Thursday that one of its Palestinian workers, Nadi Sallout, was killed in the central part of the Gaza Strip. The details of this tragedy are still being determined; Sallout most likely died after his working hours for WCK, the organisation added.

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

• According to preliminary estimates announced on Wednesday by Brazil’s environmental ministry, 666 square kilometres of the Brazilian Amazon were deforested in July, 33 per cent more than the previous year. This marks the first increase in 15 months.

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