World in brief: Seven students killed in school rampage

Beijing – An attacker hacked seven children and one teacher to death today and wounded 20 other people in a rampage at a kindergarten in northwest China, the latest in a string of savage assaults at the country’s schools.

The slayings occurred despite a countrywide boost in security at schools, with gates and security cameras ordered installed and additional police and guards posted at entrances.

The attack occurred at a kindergarten in Nanzheng county of Hanzhong city, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not give the ages of the victims or say who attacked them.

The attacker killed himself, authorities said.

The attack is the fifth major incident at schools and kindergartens since late March, sparking security fears among parents, officials and educators.

Muhammad-as-dog artist assaulted

Stockholm, Sweden – A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted as furious protesters interrupted his university lecture about the limits of free speech.

Lars Vilks told the Associated Press that a man leaped from the front row and head-butted him Tuesday as he was delivering his lecture at Uppsala University, breaking Vilks’ glasses but leaving him uninjured.

Police later said the attacker was stopped before he could reach Vilks and that the artist may have bumped into plain-clothes officers who briskly evacuated him from the room. Three people were detained, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the attacker was among them.

A video clip of the incident by a Swedish newspaper showed police using pepper spray and batons to hold off an angry crowd shouting “God is great” in Arabic after Vilks was escorted out of the lecture hall.