Death for 4 in the murder of Bangladesh writer
A Bangladesh court sentenced four extremists to hang for their fatal attack on a celebrated writer, in a case that took nearly two decades to reach a verdict. The men brutally maimed award-winning author and language professor Humayun Azad outside a book fair in 2004 - the first in a wave of violent attacks on free speech advocates in the Muslim-majority country. Images of a blood-soaked Azad after the attack shocked the country, and a legion of fans mourned when the 56-year-old died several months later while seeking treatment in Germany. Two of the attackers are still at large, and a fifth member was shot dead by police in 2014 after reportedly attempting to flee a prison van. “Four were handed down the death penalty over the murder including two who were sentenced to death in absentia,” Abdullah Abu, chief prosecutor said.
SA flood toll rises to 443
At least 443 people have died in floods that have devastated South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, according to an official, as rescuers searched for dozens of people still missing in the southeastern coastal region. Sihle Zikalala, the province’s premier, said that the dead included two emergency workers and added that a further 63 people remain unaccounted for. The deluge engulfed the region, smashing into the port city of Durban and surrounding areas, pulling with it buildings and people. Most of the casualties were in Durban, and parts of the city have been without water for days. Scores of hospitals and more than 500 schools in the region have also been destroyed. “The loss of life, destruction of homes, the damage to the physical infrastructure … make this natural disaster one of the worst ever in recorded history of our province,” said Zikalala.
US cops baffled after stopping ‘driverless car’
San Francisco police faced an unprecedented problem recently when an officer stopped a car that was driving at night with no headlights on, only to discover there was no one inside. The vehicle, it turned out, was a self-driving car, and the police officer’s encounter was captured on film by a passerby, who posted the footage on social media. The clip, showing bemused officers circling the vehicle and peering through its window for several minutes, has been shared so widely that Cruise, the company that owns the vehicle, reacted on Twitter to explain what had happened. It said the self-driving car “yielded to the police vehicle, then pulled over to the nearest safe location for the traffic stop, as intended. An officer contacted Cruise personnel and no citation was issued.”
Hunt on for man who wounded 10 at NY station
Police continued to hunt for the gunman who opened fire on a subway train in Brooklyn, an attack that left 10 people shot and once again interrupted New York City’s long journey to post pandemic normalcy. The search focused partly on a man who police say rented a van possibly connected to the violence. Investigators stressed they weren’t sure whether the man, Frank R James was responsible for the shooting. But authorities were examining social media videos in which the 62-year-old decried the United States as a racist place awash in violence. “This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it’s going to die a violent death. There’s nothing going to stop that,” James said in one video.
Death for 4 in the murder of Bangladesh writer
A Bangladesh court sentenced four extremists to hang for their fatal attack on a celebrated writer, in a case that took nearly two decades to reach a verdict. The men brutally maimed award-winning author and language professor Humayun Azad outside a book fair in 2004 - the first in a wave of violent attacks on free speech advocates in the Muslim-majority country. Images of a blood-soaked Azad after the attack shocked the country, and a legion of fans mourned when the 56-year-old died several months later while seeking treatment in Germany. Two of the attackers are still at large, and a fifth member was shot dead by police in 2014 after reportedly attempting to flee a prison van. “Four were handed down the death penalty over the murder including two who were sentenced to death in absentia,” Abdullah Abu, chief prosecutor said.
