A Sikh leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) won a by-election to enter the Canadian parliament. Jagmeet Singh, 40, won the Burnaby South constituency seat in British Columbia province after defeating Liberal party candidate Tory Shin, a corporate lawyer, and Lee, a former Burnaby member of the provincial legislature representing the BC Liberals. The by-election win also sealed Singh’s position as an undisputed leader of the NDP, the third largest party in the House of Commons. The Scarborough-born Sikh leader had a shaky position as the head of the NDP as he was not a Member of Parliament. Following his win, Singh is now considered as a viable challenge to the main Opposition Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer.
Nepal minister, 6 others killed in helicopter crash
Nepal’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari and six others were killed when their helicopter crashed in eastern Nepal’s mountainous Taplejung district. Others killed included the pilot of the helicopter, prominent aviation and hospitality entrepreneur Tsering Sherpa, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's personal aide Yubaraj Dahal and Deputy Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Birendra Prasad Shrestha. According to reports, the minister along with other officials had planned to visit Pathibhara Temple and then fly to Panchthar to observe the under construction airport at Chuhan Danda.
People stage protest against Pak at UN
Hundreds of people from different nationalities staged a protest against Pakistan and terrorism outside the United Nations in New York. The protest was held by the Indian American community against Pakistan's cross border terrorism in India and Afghanistan and sponsorship of global terrorism. The protesters also condemned the dastardly Pulwama attack. People from different nationalities including India, Caribbean countries, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Balochistan expressed their solidarity to the protest. The protesters were seen holding placards with slogans like 'Pakistan stop making suicide bombers', 'Pakistan stop terrorism.'
Bangladesh won’t take any more Rohingya
Bangladesh told the UN Security Council that it won't be able to take any more Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Foreign secretary Shahidul Haque told a council that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from “bad to worse” and urged the council to take “decisive” action. Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state during a military campaign in 2017 that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. Haque said that under a deal Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the UN insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return. “Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighboring country?” asked the foreign secretary.
I am not worthy of Nobel Peace Prize, tweets Imran
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he wasn't worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, after a resolution was submitted in Pakistan's top law-making body seeking the coveted honour for him. "The person worthy of this [Nobel Peace Prize] would be the one who solves the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people and paves the way for peace and human development in the subcontinent," the Pak prime minister tweeted. A motion was earlier submitted in the National Assembly Secretariat seeking the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Imran Khan for his role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. The motion said that the two nuclear-armed countries were on the brink of war after India avenged the killing of 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama by Pak-based terrorist organisation. The motion said that Imran eased the tense situation by releasing the captured IAF pilot AbhinandanVarthaman after this jet was downed in a air duel in the border.
25 killed in fire at Cairo railway station
At least 25 people were killed and 50 injured when a locomotive smashed into a barrier at Cairo's main train station, causing an explosion and a fire. The fire sent black smoke billowing above Ramses station in the centre of the Egyptian capital. Security sources said there was no indication that the crash was deliberate. Witnesses said they had seen fire coming out of the train's engine before it crashed, causing an explosion and fires inside the station. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced from the station that the incident would be investigated and anyone found responsible held to account. Egypt has one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the region and accidents causing casualties have been common. Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce basic safety standards for the railways.
Texas executes oldest man in state's history
Texas has executed a 70-year-old Billie Coble, becoming the oldest person the US state to put to death after death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s. Coble was the oldest of 560 prisoners executed in Texas since the reinstatement of the death penalty over 40 years ago. In 1989, Coble married Karen and after a year Karen told Coble that she wanted a divorce. Shortly thereafter Coble killed Karen's parents and her brother. When Karen returned home from work, she found her four children tied up by Coble, who told her that he had just murdered her relatives. He then kidnapped her at gunpoint in his car before a police patrol began to follow Coble, who ended up crashing the vehicle. At the trial months later, it became clear that Coble had a long history of violence and sexual abuse against his former spouses and young girls. The jury sentenced him to death.
Tornadoes claim 22 lives in US
At least 22 people were killed in the US state of Alabama as a cluster of storms ripped through the country's Southeast region. The first tornado warning in central Alabama went out on Sunday. As the storms pushed east, the tornadoes left a path of destruction that stretched from Alabama into Florida and Georgia, reports said. The reported deaths were all in Lee County, Alabama, where two tornadoes, one at least a half-mile wide, wrecked homes and uprooted trees. The East Alabama Medical Centre had received more than 60 patients as of Sunday night, said a spokesman for the centre. In Georgia, one tornado damaged dozens of homes and businesses. In 2011, 230 people were killed after more than 60 tornadoes hit Alabama.
Fish caught in Australia resembled creature from 'Alien'
An Australian fisherman captured a rare fish that resembled a creature from the hit science fiction Hollywood film "Alien," media reported. Fisherman Andrew Rose caught the 15 cm-long worm goby, a rare, mud-dwelling fish with no eyes, a bony head and sharp teeth. "It looked prehistoric," Rose said. "It looked like something you see in the movies. The lure wasn't swimming right, I pulled it and it had this strange looking fish on it. We didn't know what it was. We took photos, took him off the hook and put him back in the water." On social media, many compared the fish to a Xenomorph, a monstrous alien species from the 1979 movie and its sequels. Michael Hammer, a fish expert said that the fish, native to the Northern Territory, was "rarely seen by people" and was not dangerous.
