A police car is seen near the scene of mass shooting in Dayton of Ohio, the United States, on Aug. 4, 2019. Local police on Sunday identified the suspect of a shooting spree in the city of Dayton, U.S. state of Ohio, as Connor Betts, a 24-year-old white male. In a press conference, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said it took less than a minute for the shooter to claim the lives of nine people, including Betts' 22-year-old sister Megan Betts, before being killed by the police. (Xinhua/Liu Jie/IANS)
Police investigations are on and efforts are underway to send the body to India, the New York consulate said, reports Yashwant Raj
Another Indian student enrolled in a US university has died, the Indian consulate in New York reported on Friday.
“Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr. Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio,” it said in a post on X.
Police investigations are on and efforts are underway to send the body to India, the consulate said, adding that it continues to remain in touch with the family in India.
“All possible assistance is being extended including to transport Mr. Uma Gadde’s mortal remains to India at the earliest.”
There has been a spate of deaths of students from India and of Indian descent in recent weeks. Although unrelated, they have raised concerns in India and the Indian American community.
Almost all of these functioning bakeries have continued to receive support from the UN World Food Programme which has provided flour, salt, yeast and sugar…reports Asian Lite News
“Intense” Israeli strikes in Gaza and Palestinian rocket fire into Israel persisted on Monday, with UN humanitarian reports stating more than 25,000 deaths in the enclave since the war’s onset on October 7.
Referencing information from Gaza’s health authorities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 62,681 Palestinians have suffered injuries due to Israeli strikes. These strikes were in response to Hamas-led attacks in Israel, which resulted in about 1,200 fatalities and around 250 hostages.
Two Israeli soldiers had been killed in Gaza since Friday, OCHA said, which brought the total to 193 since the start of the ground operation, and 1,203 soldiers were injured, according to the Israeli military as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
The same period saw 343 Palestinians killed and another 573 people injured, the UN aid coordination office said.
Addressing a summit of the Group of 77 countries and China (G77) in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the Middle East as “a tinderbox,” before issuing an appeal to “do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region”.
“Israel’s military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as Secretary-General,” Guterres said, having earlier reiterated his support for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.
Highlighting the scale of need among Gazans after more than three months of “intense” bombardment, OCHA said that only 15 bakeries were now operational in Gaza — “six in Rafah and nine in Deir al Balah” — and none is open north of Wadi Gaza.
Almost all of these functioning bakeries have continued to receive support from the UN World Food Programme which has provided flour, salt, yeast and sugar.
“Through this initiative, about 250,000 people were able to purchase bread at a subsidised price,” OCHA noted in its latest update on the emergency on Sunday.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, meanwhile, reported on Monday that telecommunications shutdowns had entered a seventh day.
In its most recent update, UNRWA disclosed that the number of internally displaced people within Gaza has reached 1.7 million. Of these, at least 335 have been killed while taking refuge in the agency’s facilities, and 1,161 have been injured. Additionally, since October 7, 151 UNRWA staff members have been killed and 141 of its installations have suffered damage.
Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also said that security would not be realised without a two-state solution, in which he described the United States as “indispensable” in achieving…reports Asian Lite News
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza has surged past 12,000, the government media office in the besieged enclave has said.
“The victims include more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women, while 30,000 others have been injured,” the media office said in a statement.
Some 3,750 other people remain unaccounted for, including 1,800 children, according to the statement.
“The Israeli occupation has committed 1,270 massacres,” the media office said. “A total of 200 medics, 22 civil defence personnel and 51 journalists were also killed in the assaults,” it added.
“The Israeli aggression has forced 25 hospitals and 52 health care centres out of service, while 55 ambulances were targeted by Israeli forces,” the statement said.
Biden, Qatar’s emir discuss hostages
US President Joe Biden and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed the Hamas hostage situation and other developments in Gaza in a phone call, the leaders’ offices said.
“The two leaders discussed the urgent need for all hostages held by Hamas to be released without further delay,” the White House said in a statement.
“The leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to increase the flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza and Israel’s decision to resume fuel deliveries for life-saving aid.”
Bahrain calls for Hamas-Israel ‘hostage trade’
The crown prince of Gulf Arab state Bahrain has called for a “hostage trade” between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel in order to achieve a break in hostilities that he said could lead to an end to the Israeli war on Gaza.
Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also said that security would not be realised without a two-state solution, in which he described the United States as “indispensable” in achieving.
“It is a time for straight talking,” he said, urging Hamas to release Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza and for Israel in exchange to release from its prisons Palestinian women and children, who he described as non-combatants.
“The intention is to break so people can take stock, can bury their dead, people can finally start to grieve and maybe people can start to ask themselves about the intelligence failure that led to this crisis in the first place,” he said.
‘Ceasefire can save region from ring of fire’
If Türkiye and Germany jointly achieve a humanitarian ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, the region can be rescued from the ring of fire, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Speaking at the joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Erdogan said thousands of Palestinians – including children, women and elderly people – have been killed so far in the war and almost all of Gaza has been destroyed due to Israel’s attacks on the besieged enclave.
“Does Israel currently have nuclear weapons? Yes, but if you ask Israel, they won’t admit it because they are very good at using lies,” the Turkish leader said.
The medical examiner’s office “took possession of the victim’s body,” police added…reports Asian Lite News
A female tech CEO who appeared on the Forbes 30 under 30 list has been found dead in her Baltimore apartment with blunt-force trauma after being reported missing, media reported.
Pava LaPere, 26, was found inside her luxury Mount Vernon apartment by police on Monday morning shortly after she was reported missing, New York Post reported.
The EcoMap founder was found with blunt-force trauma, according to police.
The medical examiner’s office “took possession of the victim’s body,” police added.
It is unknown whether LaPere had any guests over prior to her death. It appeared she was single on her social media pages, New York Post reported.
“That’s pretty horrifying,” building tenant Chris McNees told CBS News Baltimore.
“I mean, just for that to happen anywhere in the city is obviously a bad thing, but it’s hard to imagine why this would happen specifically in this building.”
The Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree lived in the former Congress Hotel, which has since been renovated into apartments. One-bedroom apartments go for around $1,500 per month, according to the building’s management company Zahlco as quoted by the New York Post.
LaPere started her eco company from her dorm room at Johns Hopkins University. The purpose of her company is to make ecosystems information accessible to everyone along with “powerful technology to digitize ecosystems,” according to the company’s website.
LaPere’s company has managed to raise $7 million in funding in the last year and a half.
Her clients include the Aspen Institute, Meta, and more, according to its website.
The company released a statement following her death sending its condolences and calling her passing “deeply distressing”.
“Pava was not only the visionary force behind EcoMap but was also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader. Her untiring commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to amplifying the critical work of ecosystems across the country, and to building a deeply inclusive culture as a leader, friend, and partner set a standard for leadership, and her legacy will live on through the work we continue to do,” it said in a statement, according to CBS News Baltimore.
Khan, who will challenge for a third term next year, told the interviewer that he “lost his mojo” during lockdowns as coronavirus had its own effect on his mental health as well…reports Asian Lite News
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that dealing with the aftermath of disasters and receiving death threats since taking office have left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Khan described it as a “cumulative” type of PTSD, while stressing that he was not equating it to the PTSD endured by refugees or people who had faced similar experiences.
Khan, who will challenge for a third term next year, told the interviewer that he “lost his mojo” during lockdowns as coronavirus had its own effect on his mental health as well.
“I didn’t have clarity of thinking. I wasn’t so sparky. I wasn’t inspiring my team,” the 52-year-old said.
The mayor said that his security entourage offers “the same level of protection the prime minister and the king receive,” adding that dealing with death threats and the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire have affected his mental health.
He said that he had been told by a friend, a doctor, that he was suffering from a “cumulative” version of PTSD.
Khan was quoted as saying: “By the way, I’m not comparing what I am going through to some of the stuff people go through — as a lawyer, my clients with PTSD were asylum seekers and refugees.
“I would never give equivalence to what I am going through. Nor would I ever want people to feel sorry for me. I’m very privileged to do the job I do.
“By the way, if this means I’m a snowflake, so be it, right? Mental health is fragile if it’s not looked after. And I shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he is suffering from PTSD after death threats have forced him to have 24-hour presidential-level security. He Really Is Unpopular! via https://t.co/4N6UmtO8sDhttps://t.co/WDXwNmvZ3e
— Bob For A Full Brexit (@boblister_poole) May 20, 2023
Khan also discussed the issue of housing, saying that his daughters are still living with him due to London’s shortage of reasonably priced accommodation.
“If I was speaking to you 20 years ago, I’d be saying, I’m worried about cleaners and bus drivers not being able to live in London. Now it’s nurses, doctors, teachers. My children have finished their degrees and are living at home,” he said.
“By 2030, one in three 30-year-olds will still be living with their mum and dad. I love my kids, but I want them to leave at some stage, right? So, we’ve got to fix the housing crisis. I was 24 when I bought my first home. That’s unthinkable now.”
Khan said that he hopes to serve six terms as mayor in order to create a London “that can have our children feeling they have a future rather than being worried about what the future holds.”
One of the immortal voices of the South Indian film industry, Vani Jayaram rendered songs in 19 languages.
Days after her fans celebrated the President conferring the Padma Bhushan on noted singer Vani Jayaram, she passed away at her home in Chennai.
She was 78 years old. The cause of her death is not yet known.
One of the immortal voices of the South Indian film industry, Vani Jayaram rendered songs in 19 languages. She was living at her Haddows Road home in Chennai. Her husband Jayaram passed away in 2018. Since then, she had been living alone.
Vani Jayaram won three National Awards and sang more than 10,000 songs in 19 languages, including in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Gujarati, Odia, Marathi, Haryanvi, Assamese, Tulu and Bengali. She had won state government awards from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh.
Born at Kalaivani in Vellore to a traditional Tamil Iyengar family of classical musicians, Jayaram was initiated into the world of music by Ranga Ramanuja Iyengar and later, Kadalur Srinivasa Iyengar, T.R. Balasubramanian, and R.S. Mani.
She was employed at the State Bank of India and she quit the job after she started training for Hindustani music under Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan of the Patiala Gharana. Jayaram was regarded as one of the very few South Indian singers who had an in-depth knowledge in Hindustani classical music and was at ease in belting out Hindi, Gujarati and Haryanvi songs.
Her first music album was a duet with Kumar Gandharva composed by Vasant Desai.
A highly accomplished musician, Vani Jayaram was at ease with old music directors as well as the new generation. She was a favourite for both Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman.
Prince Harry, Charles’ second son, meanwhile was still en route from London…reports Asian Lite News
It began with a short but worrying statement. Less than 48 hours after a frail but smiling Queen Elizabeth II was photographed appointing new Prime Minister Liz Truss, her doctors said they were “concerned”.
An unprecedented medical bulletin issued by Buckingham Palace said the 96-year-old queen was under “medical supervision” but “remained comfortable” at her Scottish retreat, Balmoral Castle.
The announcement at 12:32 pm (1132 GMT) sent shockwaves through parliament, where MPs had gathered to hear Truss announce a two-year freeze on energy bills.
Within minutes, the office of heir to the throne Prince Charles had announced that he and his wife Camilla, who were already staying on the Balmoral estate, had arrived at Balmoral Castle.
It is believed the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, also made it to Balmoral in time as she too was in Scotland.
Both are thought to have been by the queen’s side when she died on Thursday afternoon.
Other members of the family, however, faced a long and ultimately unsuccessful dash from London.
The second in line to the throne, Prince William; the queen’s other two sons, Princes Andrew and Edward; and Edwards’ wife Sophie, who was particularly close to the monarch; arrived in a cold, grey Aberdeen aboard a special RAF plane late in the afternoon.
William, who has now become the heir, then took the wheel of the car for the 80-kilometre (50-mile) drive to Balmoral.
But by the time the grim-faced royals swept through the gate of Balmoral just after 5:00 pm, it was already too late.
Around half an hour earlier, at 4:30 pm, the prime minister had been informed the queen had died that afternoon.
Prince Harry, Charles’ second son, meanwhile was still en route from London.
Initial announcements by the couple’s spokesperson said both he and his wife Meghan would travel to Balmoral.
In the end, Harry made the journey alone and was still in the air when the official palace announcement was made to the world at 6:30 pm.
He did not arrive at Balmoral until much later.
BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell speculated live on air that Meghan — who has made a string of damaging criticisms of the royal family — did not make the journey in the end, for fear “she might not be terribly warmly welcomed”.
The palace statement said the queen had died “peacefully” but in line with royal tradition did not give any cause of death.
Sources told the Daily Mail newspaper there had been “no chronic condition”.
The queen had been undertaking far less work in recent months, but on Tuesday she nevertheless met both the outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the incoming Liz Truss.
The sources told the daily the queen had been in good spirits — despite her recent and well-documented “mobility issues” — but took a sudden turn for the worse during the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
The country’s excess mortality rate is also higher than other European averages which stand at 2,070 per million people, more than twice that of Germany’s which stand at 1,110…reports Asian Lite News
More than 200,000 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded across the UK, showed the latest data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The grim milestone has been reached in late June, but not revealed until Wednesday due to a delay in registration. Up to the start of July, a total of 200,247 Covid-19 deaths have occurred, the ONS said. The figures include deaths due to Covid-19 as well as those involving the virus.
In the week ending July 1, 2022, 11,828 deaths were registered in the UK, 12.1 per cent above the five-year average (1,278 excess deaths), said the ONS.
While 150K were pre vax, we've had almost 50K deaths since last summer.
And despite Omicron being billed as "mild", very soon we'll have recorded more deaths in the Omicron era (6 mths so far) than in the Delta era (7 mths).
By early January 2021, more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths had been registered nationwide. It has taken more than a year and a half for the death toll to double, with vaccination uptake, better understanding of how to treat the virus and social distancing measures all contributing to fewer deaths, said British newspaper The Guardian.
According to figures from Our World In Data, as of July 12, Britain has one of the highest Covid-19 death tolls in Europe, with a death rate of about 2,689 per million people, compared with a rate of 2,295 deaths per million people for Spain, 2,230 for France and 1,704 for Germany.
The country’s excess mortality rate is also higher than other European averages which stand at 2,070 per million people, more than twice that of Germany’s which stand at 1,110.
With testing no longer free, data on cases is provided mainly through the ONS weekly infection survey, which showed in the latest release the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus continued to increase across Britain, likely caused by increases in infections compatible with Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
In late June, Covid-19 infection levels in Britain have risen by more than 30 percent in a week, with an estimated 2.3 million infected with the disease.
In a recent interview, Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist and a professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said that levels of infection with the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 in Britain are probably going to peak very soon.
“At the moment, given the levels of infection in the UK, it’s a bit of a wake up call that we’re not, as some would have us believe, in the post pandemic phase of Covid. We’re currently seeing an increase in hospitalizations,” said Young.
The FIR also alleges that the vehicle of the BJP MP’s son overturned on the side of the road and this caused injuries to several other people present on the side of the road and thereafter Mishra opened fire, escaped from his car, and hid in the nearby sugarcane field…reports Asian Lite News.
The FIR lodged against Ashish Mishra Monu, the son of Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, in connection with the recent violent incident in Lakhimpur Kheri, in which a total of 8 people were killed, accuses the minister’s son of serious charges.
As per the FIR, four of the victims were mowed down by a vehicle allegedly being driven by Ashish Mishra.
The FIR has been filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 302 for murder, 304-A for causing death due to reckless driving, 120-B for criminal conspiracy, 147 for rioting, 279 for rash driving, 338 for causing grievous injuries to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, along with other sections at the Tikunia police station.
The FIR states that the whole incident was ‘premeditated’ and that the entire ‘conspiracy was hatched by the BJP minister and his son’, who committed the act in a display of ‘hooliganism’. The FIR also mentions 15-20 unnamed persons as accused.
The FIR further read, “The incident took place at around 3 pm when Mishra, along with 15-20 others, who were armed with weapons, came to the protest site in Banbirpur in 3 speeding four-wheelers. Monu Mishra, who was sitting on the left side of his Mahindra Thar vehicle, opened gunfire, mowed down the crowd and went ahead. The firing led to the death of farmer Gurvinder Singh, son of Sukhwinder, a resident of Matronia in Nanpara.”
The FIR also alleges that the vehicle of the BJP MP’s son overturned on the side of the road and this caused injuries to several other people present on the side of the road and thereafter Mishra opened fire, escaped from his car, and hid in the nearby sugarcane field.
The FIR also states that a video has already gone viral on social media, in which the BJP minister could be allegedly seen warning protesters who were opposing the Centre’s three farm laws. In the video, he allegedly asked the protesters to mend their ways.
On October 3, several farmers were holding protests against the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri, when four protesting farmers were killed after they were mowed down by an SUV.
Allegedly, the SUV was part of the convoy of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni.
According to legal experts, the FIR has been lodged under the stringent sections of the Indian Penal Code, demanding immediate arrest of the accused. The sections levelled against Ashish Mishra are non-bailable.
The Lakhimpur police, however, have claimed that they were ‘busy’ with the cremations of the bodies of the farmers due to which they did not find time for investigation.
Rahul to visit UP along with Punjab & Chhattisgarh CMs
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he will visit Lucknow and Lakhimpur Kheri along with Chief Ministers of Punjab and Chhattisgarh despite being denied permission by the administration.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday here, Rahul Gandhi said, “Section 144 is not imposed for three people and only three persons will go to meet the bereaved families.”
He said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will accompany him to Lucknow and then they will proceed to Lakhimpur Kheri.
Rahul said, “When other political parties are being allowed to go to Lakhimpur Kheri, why the Congress delegation will not be allowed.”
On questions about Priyanka’s detention, he said, “We are trained to raise peoples’ issues and we are not going to deter even on being manhandled.”
The Congress leader alleged that the farmers were being attacked by the government.
The Uttar Pradesh government, late on Tuesday night, denied permission to a Congress delegation led by Rahul Gandhi to visit Lakhimpur Kheri as Section 144 was enforced there after Sunday’s violence.
Earlier, Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal had sought permission for the Rahul-led delegation.
In a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Congress said a five-member delegation led by Rahul Gandhi planned to visit the district.
Party sources said that Rahul would also meet sister Priyanka, who has been kept at the PAC guest house in Sitapur since Monday.
She was formally arrested on Tuesday evening and the guest house has been notified as a temporary jail.
Internet services shut in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur
Internet services were shut down in Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur on Wednesday, following reports that some Congress leaders were on their way to meet party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and also the families of the victims.
Though there was no official communication of the shutdown of services, a senior official said that this had been done as a precautionary measure.
“We will thwart all attempts to create tension in the area. The shutdown may be lifted by evening if no untoward incident takes place,” he said.
It is noteworthy that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to come to Lucknow and then Sitapur to meet Priyanka. However, the state administration has denied him the permission.
Hospitals have been filled with patients while crematoriums have also been working round the clock to cremate the dead…reports Asian Lite News.
The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka surpassed the 10,000 mark on Monday, reaching 10,140, after 189 more deaths were reported, official figures from the health ministry showed here.
According to the health ministry, the total number of COVID-19 patients was 462,767 while the active cases rose to 68,070.
Sri Lanka is facing a rapid rise in COVID-19 infections, and health workers said that the rise in patients in recent weeks was attributed to the Delta variant with the capital Colombo being the epicenter.
Hospitals have been filled with patients while crematoriums have also been working round the clock to cremate the dead.
Health workers have warned that the situation may reach a peak in the coming weeks, and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible.
Sri Lanka is under a countrywide quarantine curfew until Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, four million doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines from China have arrived in Sri Lanka, as the island nation is in the midst of a large scale inoculation program against the virus.
The country’s Health Ministry said the vaccines arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport from China’s capital Beijing on Sunday and were handed over to health authorities, reports Xinhua news agency.
Namal Rajapaksa, the Minister of Youth and Sports, said the vaccines will be used to administer the second doses in several districts and made available to inoculate people of the 20-30-year age groups in the Western Province as well as in the Galle district in southern Sri Lanka.
State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana said the new arrival was the largest quantity of vaccines that Sri Lanka was able to procure in one consignment.
The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka said that with the arrival of the doses on Sunday, Sri Lanka has received 22 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines till date.
According to official figures, 10,017,747 people have received their first Sinopharm doses while 7,318,575 have received both jabs.
Other vaccines being administered in the country are AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik V.
