Japan Sagamihara knife attack: At least 19 dead

At least 19 people have been killed in a knife attack at a residential care centre for the mentally disabled in the Japanese city of Sagamihara.

The attack happened in the early hours of Tuesday. Another 26 people were reportedly injured, 20 seriously.

Local police have arrested a male suspect after he turned himself in.

The man is said to be aged 26, and is a former employee at the the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility, 40km (25 miles) south-west of Tokyo.

He is reported to have told police he wanted disabled people to disappear.

The attacker entered the facility at about 02:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and began stabbing those inside.

Eight staff were on duty at the time at the centre, which houses 149 permanent residents.

Bin Laden’s Son Threatens Revenge For Father’s Assassination

The son of slain al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, has threatened revenge against the U.S. for assassinating his father, according to an audio message posted online.
Hamza bin Laden promised to continue the global militant group’s fight against the U.S. and its allies in the 21-minute speech entitled “We Are All Osama,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
“We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression,” Hamza said.
“As for the revenge by the Islamic nation for Sheikh Osama, may Allah have mercy on him, it is not revenge for Osama the person but it is revenge for those who defended Islam.”
Osama bin Laden was killed at his Pakistani hideout by U.S. commandos in 2011 in a major blow to the militant group which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Documents recovered from bin Laden’s compound and published by the U.S. last year alleged that his aides tried to reunite the militant leader with Hamza, who had been held under house arrest in Iran.
Hamza, now in his mid-twenties, was at his father’s side in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks and spent time with him in Pakistan after the U.S.-led invasion pushed much of al Qaeda’s senior leadership there, according to the Brookings Institution.
Introduced by the organisation’s new chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message last year, Hamza provides a younger voice for the group whose ageing leaders have struggled to inspire militants around the world galvanized by Islamic State.
“Hamza provides a new face for al-Qaeda, one that directly connects to the group’s founder. He is an articulate and dangerous enemy,”.

Okah's Daughter Tarila Writes Buhari, Demands Father's Freedom

Tarila Okah, daughter of Mr. Charles Okah, currently remanded at Kuje Prison and standing trial before s the Federal High Court in Abuja for the 2010 Independence Day bomb incident, has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to intervene in her father's matter. In the letter, made available to SaharaReporters, Tarila wants Buhari to view his father's situation as an injustice to him.