Japan
A grisly story out of Japan. A man dressed as Batman villain, The Joker, rampaged through a passenger train in Tokyo, stabbing several passengers and starting a fire using what appeared to be kerosene. Footage showed people fleeing through carriages and scrambling out windows to escape. At least 17 were injured, some with stabs wounds and others from smoke inhalation, according to local reports. Some passengers told Japanese media outlets that they initially believed the blood to be fake and thought the incident was a Halloween prank. A 24-year-old man was arrested.
More from the Japan Times here.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s TPLF rebels appear to be making major gains, with reports they have taken the town of Kombolcha and are fighting for control of key city Dessie, which opens up a route to the capital Addis Ababa. Ethiopia’s brutal civil war has been grinding on for almost a year and grew from a political dispute between the country’s central government and the TPLF, which was then the ruling party of the northern Tigray region. As news of the latest TPLF gains broke, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed posted a call to arms on Facebook. “Our people should march … with any weapon and resources they have to defend, repulse and bury the terrorist TPLF,” the post said.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Afghanistan
Men who identified themselves as Taliban members today opened fire at a wedding to stop music being played, killing at least two people, according to officials. The Taliban denied they were acting on its behalf and said it was investigating the incident. Music was banned when the group previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, but no such directive has been issued since they regained power.
More from BBC here.