Three Indian students, two from Telangana and one from Andhra Pradesh, have died in a road accident in New Haven in the US recently. The three were master’s students at the University of New Haven and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Reports said the crash took place when the mini van, in which the students were travelling, hit a pickup truck head-on. The students are believed to have died on the spot. The students have been identified as Goda Premkumar Reddy (26) and Gullapelli Pavani (22) from Telangana and Sai Narasimha (23). Local media reported they were returning home from an outing and thick fog in the morning may have caused the crash.
Diwali holiday for schools in NYC from 2023
In a significant decision, Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting 2023, with mayor Eric Adams saying this sends a message about the significance of the city’s inclusiveness and this “long overdue” step will encourage children to learn about the festival of lights. Adams said that he “learned so much” about Diwali and what this festival means. He said that by declaring Diwali a holiday in New York City public schools, “we wanted to send a loud and clear message to the countless number of people who acknowledge this period of time of celebration.
Bappi Lahiri’s ‘Jimmy, Jimmy’ is China protesters’ song
Millions of Chinese suffering the dreaded lockdowns have turned to Hindi cinema legend Bappi Lahiri’s superhit song “Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja” from 1982 movie “Disco Dancer” to express their anger and frustration over the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy. In the Chinese social media networks Douyin the song composed by Lahiri and sung by Parvati Khan is sung in Mandarin “Jie mi, jie mi”, which translates into “Give me rice, give me rice”, by people in the videos mockingly showing empty vessels to show how they are deprived of essential food items during the lockdowns. The video has so far managed to escape Chinese censors that are quick to remove any post deemed critical of the country’s regime.
Seoul Halloween mishap toll rises to 153
Concerned relatives raced to hospitals in search of loved ones as South Korea mourned deaths of more than 150 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who got trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in a nightlife district in Seoul. Witnesses said the crowd surge in Itaewon area caused “a hell-like” chaos as people fell on each other. Some people were bleeding from their noses and mouths while being given CPR, witnesses said, while others clad in Halloween costumes continued to sing and dance nearby, possibly without knowing the severity of the situation.
100 killed in Somalia car bomb blasts
The two car bombs that exploded at Somalia’s education ministry, next to a busy market intersection, killed at least 100 people and wounded 300, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said, warning the death toll could rise. Mogadishu’s K5 intersection is normally teeming with people buying and selling everything from food, clothing and water to foreign currency but it was quiet on Sunday, when emergency workers were still cleaning blood from the streets and buildings. Saturday’s attack was the deadliest since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October 2017, killing more than 500 people.
50 killed as rain lashes Philippines
Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains in Philippines left at least 50 people dead, including in a hard-hit southern province where as many as 60 villagers are feared missing and buried in a huge mudslide laden with rocks, trees and debris, officials said. At least 42 people were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were hit by debris-filled mudslides in three towns in Maguindanao province. Eight other people died elsewhere in the country from the onslaught of Tropical Storm Nalgae, which slammed into the eastern province of Camarines Sur early on Saturday. But the worst storm impact so far was a mudslide that buried dozens of houses with as many as 60 people in the tribal village of Kusiong.
Brazil ousts far-right prez, brings back leftist Lula
Voters in Brazil on Sunday ousted President Jair Bolsonaro after just one term and elected the leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to replace him, election officials said, a rebuke to Bolsonaro’s far-right movement and his divisive four years in office. The victory completes a stunning political revival for da Silva - from the presidency to prison and back - that had once seemed unthinkable. It also ends Bolsonaro’s turbulent time as the region’s leader. It was the first time an incumbent president failed to win reelection in the 34 years of Brazil’s modern democracy.
For years, he attracted global attention for policies that accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and exacerbated the pandemic, which left nearly 7,00,000 dead in Brazil, while also becoming a major international figure of the far-right for his brash attacks on the left, the media and Brazil’s democratic institutions.
Unseasonal heat sparks dozens of wildfires in Spain
Dozens of wildfires raged in northern Spain last week after unusually high temperatures hitting 30 Celsius in some areas a day earlier turned vegetation into dry fuel, adding to mounting concerns about changing weather patterns in Europe. In the Basque Country, Asturias and Cantabria about 40 blazes were reported, according to regional emergency services. Spain’s national weather agency AEMET predicted that it could be the hottest October since records began and said every day of the month, except October 1, had been warmer than the normal temperature experienced at this time of year. Basque weather agency Euskalmet raised the wildfire risk in the region to moderate and high, depending on the area.
Iceland PM pens first crime novel
Like many around the world, Iceland PM delved into her hobby during the pandemic. Now, the crime novel she co-wrote with one of Iceland’s most popular authors has just been published. “Obviously, this is not something that I thought I would have any time to do,” 46-year-old PM Katrin Jakobsdottir said at an event this week for the book’s launch. But it was “quite liberating to be working on this project during Covid,” she said. “I don’t have any other interests, this is my interest, ” she added with a laugh. Titled “Reykjavik”, the thriller is written with Ragnar Jonasson, bestselling author of the “Dark Iceland” series, and is set in 1986, an important year in Iceland’s modern history.
Transgender activist buys Miss Universe pageant
Thai media mogul and transgender rights campaigner Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip has bought the firm that runs Miss Universe pageants for $20 million. Jakrajutatip becomes the first woman to own the beauty pageant organisation outright, as per an announcement by the JKN Global Group, of which she is chief executive.
Saudi jails US citizen for 16 years
An American citizen has been arrested in Saudi Arabia, tortured and
sentenced to 16 years in prison over tweets he sent while in the US, his son Ibrahim said. Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, was arrested last year while visiting family in the kingdom. He was detained over 14 “mild tweets” posted over the past seven years, mostly criticising the government. “We have raised concerns regarding the case at senior levels of the Saudi government,” the US state department said. Saudi officials had no comment. A Saudi court recently
sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for allegedly damaging the country through her social media activity.
Firefighters battle blaze on Mount Kilimanjaro
More than 300 people have been mobilised to tackle a blaze on the slopes of Tanzania's famous Mount Kilimanjaro, local officials said.The fire was burning near the camp Karanga site used by climbers ascending the mountain, at about 4,000 metres altitude on the south side of mountain. Mount Kilimanjaro, situated in the northeast of the country, is Africa's highest summit at 5,895 metres (19,340 feet). No one was killed in that fire and officials said that the current blaze did not threaten any of the tourists on the mountain. Kilimanjaro is popular with both trekkers and mountain climbers.
US mulls producing arms with Taiwan
The US government is considering a plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said, citing sources. Washington wants to step up production capacity for US-designed arms and speed up their transfer as part of a move to bolster deterrence against China, Nikkei reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China would never renounce the right to use force over Taiwan, which it views as its own territory. Possibilities would include the US providing technology to produce arms in Taiwan, or producing the weapons in the US using Taiwanese parts, Nikkei added.
