While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 18, 2025
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People being evacuated from the Florida State University campus after a mass shooting, in Tallahassee, Florida, on April 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Deputy sheriff’s son kills two at Florida State University
A deputy sheriff’s son killed two people and wounded four others at Florida State University (FSU) on April 17 before he was shot by officers and hospitalised, authorities said.
Police believe the gunman - the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy - acted alone and a motive was not known.
The suspect had access to his mother’s handgun, which was once her service weapon. She bought it from the department and it is now a personal firearm, they said.
The 20-year-old suspect - identified as Phoenix Ikner - was believed to be a student at FSU in the state capital of Tallahassee, said Mr Jason Trumbower, chief of the university’s police force.
‘Positive process’ as Europe, US discuss Ukraine ceasefire
France on April 17 hailed talks on the Ukraine war between top US and European officials during which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed a US peace plan.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the talks launched a “positive process” as Europe seeks to be included in efforts to end the three-year-old war.
The meetings in the French capital included Mr Macron, Mr Rubio, US envoy Steve Witkoff, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German officials and Ukrainian ministers.
Italy cable-car crash leaves four dead
Four people died and another was injured on April 17, when a cable-car fell near the southern Italian coastal city of Naples, firefighters said.
A cable broke on the link taking tourists from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, on the Gulf of Naples, to Mount Faito, about 3km away, reports said.
“Four lifeless bodies were found, while a fifth injured person was rescued and taken to hospital,” the fire department said in a Telegram post, adding that this was a final toll.
Pope pays surprise visit to Rome prison ahead of Easter
Pope Francis, still recovering from double pneumonia, paid a surprise visit on April 17 to Rome’s Regina Coeli, one of Italy’s most overcrowded prisons, to offer well-wishes to inmates ahead of Easter.
The 88-year-old pontiff, gradually making more public appearances as he recovers from the biggest health crisis in his 12-year papacy, made a short foray outside of the Vatican, as the prison is only about a five-minute drive away.
Francis was greeted with applause from guards and staff at the facility as aides rolled his wheelchair inside shortly after 3pm.
Pelicot to sue Paris Match magazine for privacy invasion
Ms Gisele Pelicot, a French feminist icon who survived nearly a decade of rapes by dozens of men, will sue Paris Match magazine for invasion of privacy, her lawyers said on April 17.
In its latest edition, Paris Match published seven pictures of Ms Pelicot accompanied by a man described as her companion, walking in the streets in her new home town.
Ms Pelicot garnered international acclaim for waiving her right to anonymity in the 2024 trial of her former husband and other defendants.
