The week at a glance...Europe

Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

Mall shooting: A lone gunman killed six people and wounded 16 at a shopping center in an Amsterdam suburb last week before killing himself. Wearing camouflage pants and a bomber jacket, Tristan van der Vlis, 24, began firing his machine gun in the parking lot and then walked calmly into Ridderhof mall, shooting off as many as 100 rounds apparently at random. Elderly people and children were among the casualties. Police said van der Vlis, a gun club member, had permits for five guns. “You hear about this sort of thing happening at American schools, and you think that’s a long way away,” said local resident Rob Kuipers. “Now it’s happened here in the Netherlands.”

Berlin

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Don’t stuff Knut: Germans are outraged at the Berlin Zoo’s plan to stuff Knut, the hand-raised polar bear who became a global celebrity before dying suddenly at age 4 last month. “When someone dies in your family, I think you don’t want him stuffed in a museum,” said Jochen Kolbe, leader of the movement to block the taxidermy. “Knut is not only a polar bear for people, he is a friend, a family member.” Zoo officials were surprised by the outcry. “The problem is, people take their human feelings and put them into animals,” said zoo director Bernhard Blaszkiewitz.

Minsk, Belarus

Subway terror: A powerful bomb packed with nails, bolts, and ball bearings exploded under a Minsk subway station bench during rush hour this week, killing 12 people and injuring more than 200 in Belarus’s first terrorist attack since it gained independence from the Soviet Union. Several people lost arms or legs. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in a station close to the offices and residence of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. Widely regarded as Europe’s last dictator, Lukashenko has ruled the country for 17 years. Most of his known opponents, none of whom have a history of violence, have been in prison since a crackdown began in December after protests occurred against the latest rigged election.

Rome

Tunisians blocked: Germany, France, and Belgium threatened this week to put up border controls for the first time in 16 years to prevent Tunisian refugees in Italy from entering their countries. More than 26,000 Tunisians have flocked to Italy by boat since their January revolution, and Italy said the rest of the European Union must share the refugee burden. It plans to give the Tunisians visas to allow them to travel to other countries in the EU’s border-free zone. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said its European partners’ threat could make Italy consider leaving the EU. “It’s fine when Italy contributes to euro bailouts, to wars,” he said, “but on this very specific issue of helping us out, EU states are absolutely not willing to show solidarity.”