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Beckham scores Euros deal with China tech giant

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David Beckham recently secured a significant deal as a global ambassador for AliExpress, an online retail platform owned by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba. This partnership coincides with the imminent Euros football tournament set to take place in Germany. While specific financial terms remain undisclosed, Beckham’s involvement will see him spearheading AliExpress’ promotional activities during the tournament, particularly through their Score More campaign in collaboration with UEFA.

This announcement places AliExpress among other notable Chinese firms sponsoring the Euros, including electric vehicle manufacturer BYD and electronics giant Vivo. Beckham’s post-football career has seen him actively engaged with various brands and major sporting events, demonstrating his enduring appeal as a public figure. Alongside his wife Victoria, Beckham’s wealth is estimated at £455m ($581.6m) according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

The Euros tournament, following the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, is anticipated to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Spanning from June 14 to July 14 across multiple cities, including Munich and Hamburg, a total of 2.7 million tickets have been made available for the competition. UEFA reports staggering global viewership figures for the 2020 edition, with the final match alone attracting 328 million viewers worldwide.

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Storms in Europe cause huge damage and disruption

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Central Europe, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, has been hit by severe storms and heavy rainfall, leading to significant damage and disruptions. Many towns and cities in the region have experienced torrential rain, causing floods and forcing the closure of numerous roads.

The rail traffic has also been affected, with the Hamburg-Berlin line and a major north-south line between Kassel and Goettingen being closed due to storm damage. Switzerland has also faced thunderstorms, resulting in numerous calls to the fire department.

Strong winds reaching speeds of up to 135 km/h have uprooted trees, damaged roofs, and street infrastructure, although no casualties have been reported. Austria has witnessed several landslides that have affected homes, and the state of Carinthia experienced large hailstones of up to 8 centimeters in diameter, causing significant damage to crops.

Videos circulating on social media show violent storms and flooded streets, including the complete submersion of the forecourt and road in front of the Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe ICE train station.

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Hamburg shooting: Seven killed in attack on Jehovah’s Witness hall

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According to authorities, a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness meeting hall in Hamburg, Germany, left seven people dead, including an unborn child. According to them, the shooter carried out the attack on Thursday alone before killing himself. His motivations are unclear.

The defendant, who has only been identified as Philipp F, allegedly harboured “bad will” towards the religious group he had formerly belonged to. There is video that appears to show him firing through a hall window.

The police announced at a briefing on Friday that four men and two women had been shot to death. German nationals were all of the deceased. There were eight injuries, four of them serious. Those hurt included a Ukrainian and a Ugandan.

Seven months pregnant and shot, the woman’s unborn child perished. Mother made it through. On Thursday at 21:04 local time (20:04 GMT), the police received the first emergency contact reporting gunfire inside a structure on Deelböge Street in the Gross Borstel neighbourhood.

Four minutes later, officers arrived on the scene, and special forces joined them nearly immediately. To get inside the premises where roughly 50 people had congregated, the officers had to shatter windows. The culprit ran to the first floor and was identified as a 35-year-old “sports shooter” with a firearms licence. Shortly later, his “lifeless body” was discovered. Nine magazines of ammunition had been shot by him, and 20 more were discovered in his rucksack.

Senator Andy Grote of Germany claimed that police officers’ “quick and decisive actions” had saved numerous lives. He added that the incident was the “worst crime” in recent Hamburg history.

The police stated that they had previously received a tip-off that was anonymous and raised questions about the mental stability of the culprit. Police had visited him following the tip, but they lacked sufficient evidence at the time to take his pistol away.

“I didn’t realise what was happening,” Gregor Miesbach, who recorded the attacker shooting through a first-floor window, told the Bild newspaper. When I zoomed in while using my phone to record, I saw that someone was shooting at Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Germany has some of the harshest firearms regulations in all of Europe, including a requirement that anybody under 25 must successfully pass a psychological test in order to obtain a firearms licence.

According to the National Firearms Registration, there were about one million private gun owners in Germany in 2021. The majority of them are owned by hunters, and they total 5.7 million legal firearms and firearm parts.

German officials intend to make the nation’s gun restrictions even stricter following a wave of arrests in December in connection with an alleged coup attempt.

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