A 75-year-old Sikh man was allegedly attacked while he was on an early morning walk in Queens, in which his nose was broken and he received severe bruises. The assault, police say was unprovoked. Nirmal Singh spoke to Eyewitness News about the attack. He was still wearing his bloodied jacket and spoke in Punjabi. Singh said that he was allegedly punched from behind on a Sunday morning walk on 95th Avenue and Lefferts Blvd. in Richmond Hill. There were no words exchanged, but the assault left him with injuries. Singh has only been in the country for two weeks and was on a visitor’s visa.
12 killed in Afghan blast
At least 12 people were killed and 25 others wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan's western province of Herat, provincial health officials said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August last year, dozens of attacks have been reported throughout the country, including some claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. The bomb blast hit a minibus in PD12 of the capital of Herat province. At least four women were among the dead, the report added.
Man living at airport for 14 years
A Chinese man who wanted to escape his family has been living at Terminal 2 of the Beijing airport for over 14 years now. Wei Jianguo from Beijing left his home in 2008 after quarrelling with his wife. He told the China Daily: “I can’t go back home because I have no freedom there. My family told me if I wanted to stay, I had to quit smoking and drinking.” He has set up a mobile kitchen using an electric cooker that he had brought from home. Other times, he would go around the airport to buy the food he likes. Jianguo had been laid off from work and gets a monthly government allowance of 1,000 yuan ($157).
6 dead, 10 hurt in US shooting
Six people were killed and ten injured in a shooting in downtown Sacramento, California, that took place in a busy nightlife district early on Sunday, police said. Police were still looking for the shooter and no one was in custody, Sacramento police chief Kathy Lester told reporters. “We are asking for the public’s help in helping us to identify the suspects in this and provide any information they can to help us solve this,” she said. The shooting occurred near the Golden 1 Center, an arena where the Sacramento Kings basketball team plays and concerts take place. Police said several blocks were closed while they investigate, but released no details on the ages or identities of the victims. Videos posted online showed people shouting and running in the street.
Superjumbo plane takes flight on cooking oil fuel
The world's largest passenger airliner has completed a three-hour flight powered by cooking oil for the first time. European plane manufacturer Airbus recently flew A380 test doubledecker jet from its base in Toulouse, France, with one of the four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel that’s essentially made up of cooking oil and waste. This isn’t the first Airbus aircraft to have successfully flown on SAF. The wide-body A350 made a similar flight in March 2021, as well as the single-aisle A31-9neo last October. Airbus wishes to get all its fleet to be certified to run on SAF by the end of this decade.
US House passes bill to decriminalise cannabis
The US House passed legislation to decriminalise marijuana at the federal level as Democrats and three Republicans banded together to capitalise on the political resonance of legalised cannabis as an issue of economic growth, racial justice and states’ rights. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which passed 220-204, is unlikely to secure 60 votes to pass the Senate, despite the backing of the majority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer. But supporters of marijuana decriminalisation said the vote was a necessary step toward building consensus on something that can become law. The bill would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, impose an 8% tax on cannabis products, allow some convictions on cannabis charges to be expunged and press for sentencing reviews.
Pope says sorry to Canada indigenous people
Pope Francis issued a historic apology to Canadian indigenous peoples for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves. Francis, in an address to native leaders after meetings with delegates from various indigenous nations, also said he hoped to visit Canada in July. One of the leaders, who want the pope to make the apology directly to their communities on their native lands in Canada, called his words “historic”. “For the deplorable behaviour of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I would like to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am very pained,” he said, speaking in Italian. “I join my brother Canadian bishops in apologising,” he said.
HK leader Carrie Lam won’t seek new term
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she wouldn’t seek a second term after a rocky five years marked by huge protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed dissent and most recently a Covid-19 wave that overwhelmed the health system. Her successor will be picked in May, with the city’s hard-line security chief during the 2019 protests seen as a likely choice. “I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on the 30th of June this year, and I will also call an end to my 42 years of public service,” Lam said at a news conference. The 64-year-old career civil servant said she plans to spend more time with her family, which is her “sole consideration”. She said her decision had been conveyed to the central government in Beijing last year.
US astronaut, 2 Russians return to Earth from ISS
A record-breaking US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts reached Earth last week, with tensions between Moscow and the West soaring over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said. “The crew of Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, has returned to Earth,” Roscosmos said after footage showed the Soyuz descent module touching down. NASA’s Mark Vande Hei is returning after setting a new record for the single longest space flight by a NASA astronaut, clocking 355 days aboard the International Space Station. Vande Hei is joined by cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, with whom he blasted off from Baikonur in April last year.
UK to withdraw judges from HK top court
Britain said that it is withdrawing its judges from Hong Kong’s top court because keeping them there would “legitimise oppression” in former British colony. British judges have sat on the court since Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. The British government’s move underscores the Asian financial hub’s growing isolation as the ruling Chinese Communist Party works to assert its control and silence independent voices. While the UK had judges serving on the Court of Final Appeal as part of efforts to safeguard the rule of law in the city, the British government said it was “no longer tenable” because of increasingly oppressive laws enacted by China. The two senior British judges on the court submitted their resignations.
Nostradamus predicted ‘great war’ in 2023
Nostradamus is a famous philosopher who is known for his almost accurate predictions. In his widely read book Les Prophéties released over 450 years ago, the Frenchman made thousands of predictions for the future and is credited with predicting the rise of Hitler, the shooting of John F Kennedy and the 9/11 attacks. According to his prediction, there will be a terrifying ‘great war’ in the year 2023. Nostradamus wrote: “Seven months the Great War, people dead of evil-doing. Rouen, Evreux shall not fall to the King. ” This prediction could be a reference to the possibility of WWIII stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, a prediction is just a prediction, and one hopes this one doesn’t come true.
Xi backs Af at regional conference
Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued strong backing for Afghanistan at a regional conference, while making no mention of human rights abuses by the country’s Taliban leaders. Xi pledged China’s support in a message to a gathering of representatives from Afghanistan, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in a central Chinese city that spotlights Beijing’s aspirations to play a leading role in Afghanistan . A “peaceful, stable, developed and prosperous Afghanistan” is what Afghans aspire to, which “serves the common interests of regional countries,” Xi said. “China is committed to supporting Afghanistan’s peaceful and stable development,” Xi said.
Russia accredits Taliban envoy
Russia has accredited a diplomat from the Taliban to engage with the new Afghan government but remains concerned about the threat of Islamist groups spilling over into Russia via Central Asia, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said. He said that growing trade and economic ties between Afghanistan and countries in the region was contributing to the potential international recognition of their administration. He said a Taliban envoy was already active in Moscow. “I would like to note that the first Afghan diplomat who arrived in Moscow last month and was sent by the new authorities has received accreditation at the foreign ministry,” he said.
Call to shift Khashoggi trial to Saudi Arabia
A Turkish prosecutor said that the trial in Istanbul of Saudi suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be halted and transferred to Saudi authorities, a move which comes as Turkey seeks to mend ties with Riyadh. Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul four years ago triggered a global outcry. A US intelligence report said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing, but the Saudi government denied it. The killing strained ties and led to an unofficial Saudi boycott of Turkish goods. President Erdogan now seeks better ties. Khashoggi’s fiancee Hatice Cengiz was “heartbroken”. “How do we expect the killers to investigate themselves?”
