Da Vinci and Violence Activate 2019

2019 begins...

Tokyo 

Tokyo

Nine people were hurt, one seriously, when a man deliberately rammed his van (shown above) into crowds celebrating New Year’s Eve along a famous Tokyo street, just after midnight, Tuesday, January 1, 2019.

With an “intent to murder,” 21-year-old Kazuhiro Kusakabe from Osaka (250 miles sw of Tokyo) drove a small vehicle into Takeshita Street in Tokyo’s fashion district of Harajuku at 10 minutes past midnight, a police spokesman said. About 20 liters of kerosene were found in the vehicle. Kusakabe told police he was acting in “retribution for the death penalty,” without giving more precise details.

Bottrop

Essen

Meanwhile, a 50-year-old German man plowed a car into a crowd in Bottrop, Germany, injuring four, then drove to Essen and hit four others in a similar fashion. The second incident occurred near the Museum Folkwang in North Rhine-Westphalia, Essen. He appeared to be targeting people from Syria and Afghanistan. One Syrian woman victim had life-threatening injuries.

Manchester

Within about the same timeframe (across time zones), on Monday, December 31, 2018, at the Manchester, U.K.'s Victoria Train Station, a stabbing of three, including a police officer, took place as people were heading to New Year's Eve celebrations. The man was heard shouting “Allah” at Victoria station.

And how will it end?

h/t MP

Santas Attack Istanbul's Reina

In French and Spanish, the meaning of the name Reina is "Queen." Is this predictive of another Queen to be involved in the news?

An ambulance arrives at the Reina club to take away the injured.

At least 39 people have been killed in a gun attack at a famous nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's Eve celebrations, 31 December 2016.

Two attackers were reportedly dressed in Santa costumes, witnesses told CNN Turk, when they opened fire in the Reina club in the Ortakoy area of the city. (Disputed reports are flying that it was only one Santa or there were no Santas. Stay tuned.)

One civilian and one police officer were killed and several wounded, NTV reported.

There were reportedly several hundred people in the club, which is among the city's glitziest nightspots.

Police cordoned off the area about 2 miles away from the nightclub as multiple ambulances rushed to the scene.

Security measures had been heightened in major Turkish cities, with police barring traffic leading up to key squares in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. In Istanbul, 17,000 police officers were put on duty, some camouflaged as Santa Claus and others as street vendors, Anadolu reported.

Rescue workers stand near the Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, December 19, 2016, after a truck crashes into a crowd.

"112" is the European emergency number people in distress call 24h/24 and 7d/7 in all 27 member states of the European Union to get immediate assistance from the fire brigade, a medical team or the police. You can call the number 112 with a fixed or mobile phone. The European emergency number is free everywhere.