A 31-year-old Indian man purporting to be a “fortune teller” has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Australia, a media report said. Arjun Muniyappa was arrested at Sydney International Airport after he tried to board a plane to Singapore, police sources said. Muniyappa approached the 14-year-old girl and offered her free fortune telling services before sexually assaulting her, the report added. He is self-proclaimed fortune teller working from an astrology centre. He was arrested and charged with two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 16, and three counts of aggravated sexual assault against a victim under the age of 16.
Nawaz shifted to hospital for medical examination
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been shifted to Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) as he was unwell. According to reports, the chief executive PIC will conduct the medical examination of Nawaz. He is expected to undergo echo and thallium scan tests. In a tweet, his daughter had informed that her father, who remains incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Prison, was unwell but the family was being kept in the dark about his medical condition. “I have been told that MNS [Mian Nawaz Sharif] is unwell and is being taken to Punjab Institute of Cardiology but myself or the family has no knowledge of it.” Nawaz was earlier advised to get additional tests done by his personal doctor in a bid to ascertain reasons for the chest pain he has been suffering from.
Pakistan gets first-ever Hindu female judge
Suman Pawan Bodani, a member of the minority Hindu community, has been appointed as Pakistan's first female judge. Daughter of Dr. Pawan Podani, Suman belongs to the rural area of Shahdadkot in Sindh. She stood 54th in the merit list for the appointment of civil judge/judicial magistrate. Coming from a downtrodden area, Suman excelled beyond all obstructions to build a career that she had always dreamt of. After completing her LLB from Hyderabad, she moved to Karachi to pursue her LLM from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST). She was then affiliated with renowned advocate Justice (R) Rasheed Rizvi's law firm under which she practiced law for two years.
Trump expresses desire to meet Imran
US President Donald Trump has expressed his desire to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, a spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign ministry said. The spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that during his recent visit to Pakistan, US Senator Lindsey Graham, discussed about Trump's interest in meeting with Khan, however, date and venue have not been finalized yet. "There are no dates, as of now, for this meeting. A lot of preparation and homework is required before such high-level engagements are materialized," he said. He said that Senator Graham also met with the prime minster and foreign minister, which were useful in understanding each other's perspective and reviewing the regional security situation. Matters of bilateral and regional interest, including Afghan situation were discussed. Earlier in December, Trump wrote a letter to Khan, seeking Pakistan's support and facilitation in negotiated settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan.
Bangladeshi politician trampled to death by elephant
Syed Saymoon Kanak (51), media secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal of Bangladesh, was trampled to death by a wild elephant in West Bengal. Kanak along with his wife and some of his friends had visited Jalpaiguri district for a jungle safari. While returning, Kanak went near the elephant to take photographs. The jumbo caught Kanak with its trunk. “As the elephant started displaying aggressive behaviour others quickly got into the car in which they were travelling. But Kanak was left behind and he was trampled to death by the elephant,” said Krishnendu Bera, a friend of Kanak’s family.
Two blasts at Philippine church kill 27
Two bombs exploded outside a Roman Catholic church on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 77 during a Sunday Mass, officials said. The first bomb went off in or near the Jolo cathedral, followed by a second blast outside the compound as government forces were responding to the attack, security officials said. Photos on social media showed debris and bodies lying on a busy street outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been hit by bombs in the past. Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead
China jails human rights lawyer
A Chinese court sentenced human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang to four years in prison for subversion of state power. Wang was arrested in August 2015 during a government crackdown against law firms specialising in human rights cases, which led to the arrests of around 250 lawyers and activists. The Tianjin No 2 Intermediate People's Court also deprived Wang of his political rights for a period of five years. Today's verdict is a gross injustice. It's outrageous that Wang Quanzhang is being punished for peacefully standing up for human rights in China. He must be immediately and unconditionally released," Amnesty International's China researcher Doriane Lau said in a statement after the sentence. Wang has for years defended groups persecuted by Chinese authorities, ranging from members of the spiritual group Falun Gong (banned in China since 1999), to dissidents and activists.
Wildfire engulfs Cape Town mountain
A wildfire has engulfed Cape Town's famous Lion Head mountain and has moved towards residential neighbourhoods , prompting several people to evacuate their homes, the media reported. A Cape Town Fire Service spokesman said 70 firefighters and 20 trucks fought the blaze on Sunday night. Bad wind conditions complicated efforts to bring the blaze under control. Video and photographs of the fire flooded social media, with some describing the scene as "Armageddon". Images showed thick black smoke as the blaze swept close to the affluent neighbourhood of Fresnaye. The cause of the fire was not known. Cape Town is in the grip of a drought that in early 2018 almost left the South African city without water.
Male nurse arrested for sexual assault of woman in vegetative state
A male nurse has been arrested in Arizona for the sexual assault of a woman who gave birth while in a long-term vegetative state, police in the US state said. The 29-year-old victim - who police said "was not in a position to give consent" - gave birth late last month to a baby boy, sparking an investigation. The suspect's DNA was matched to that of the baby, leading to the arrest, according to police. The suspect - identified as Nathan Sutherland, age 36 - faces charges of one count of sexual assault and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, Phoenix police Sergeant Tommy Thompson said. Sutherland is a "licensed practical nurse who was responsible for providing care to the victim during this time the sexual assault occurred," Phoenix Police Chief said.
War criminal Rudolf Hess' genuineness proved
A DNA test has debunked the conspiracy theory that Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess was replaced by an imposter in prison. An analysis of blood samples showed the man imprisoned in Spandau Prison in Berlin was indeed Adolf Hitler’s deputy. Hess was captured after flying solo from Germany to Scotland in May 1941, in an apparent attempt to negotiate a peace deal between Britain and Nazi Germany. He was sentenced to life in prison at the Nuremberg trials and sent to Spandau. But rumours began saying the man in the the Berlin jail was not Rudolf Hess. Hess’ doctor believed the man in Spandau was physically different from Hess and he was suspicious of his refusal to see relatives until 1969 and his apparent amnesia. However, researchers at the University of Salzburg in Austria analysed a blood sample taken from the prisoner and compared it with a distant male relative of Hess and found a match of 99.99%.
