An Indian American Uber driver, Kuldip Singh, has been killed, allegedly by a 15-year-old, according to media reports. Singh, 21, was shot in his car and died of his injuries. He had been injured in a shootout between a passenger in his car and the teenager who was also injured in the exchange of fire and remained hospitalized. The police believe the driver was hit by a shot fired by the teen, whose identity has not been revealed. Officials blamed the rise in crime over the last two years to the Covid-19 pandemic which curtailed the working of the court system. Singh was in his second month with the ride-sharing company when the bullet struck the back of his head. At the hospital, surgeons were not able to remove the bullet, and he lost most of his brain function before dying, report added.
Indian found dead in Canada
A 23-year-old Indian was found murdered at an apartment in Truro town of Canada’s Nova Scotia province, with community members suspecting it to be a hate crime, according to media reports. The police which arrived at the apartment building after being informed, found a man with life-threatening injuries, CBC Canada reported. Police confirmed the victim was Prabhjot Singh Katri who later died of his injuries. Singh worked for Layton’s taxi as well as one or two restaurants in Truro. Police are treating the death as a homicide, the report said. A man was arrested in connection with the murder but was later released. Singh came to Canada from India in 2017 to study. Singh’s friends were worried that the attack was a racially motivated hate crime, the report said. Police, however, said, they have no information on the motive.
Pak releases 155 held for assault on YouTuber
Police have released 155 suspects, arrested for their alleged involvement in the sexual assault of a YouTuber girl on Independence Day at the historic Minar-i-Pakistan, after the victim and her team members could not recognise them during an identification parade, a Punjab government official said. The incident, which sparked nationwide outrage and drew international condemnation, took place on August 14 when hundreds of youngsters were celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day at Azadi Chowk near Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore. In viral videos circulated on social media, hundreds of young men can be seen throwing the girl in the air for fun, dragging her, tearing her clothes and molesting her. Politicians from all parties and members of civil society have strongly condemned what many of them called “sexual terrorism”.
In France, free birth control for women up to 25
The French government said that it would make birth control free for all women under 25, expanding a scheme currently targeting under-18s to ensure young women don’t stop taking contraception because they cannot afford it. Health Minister Olivier Veran said surveys had shown a decline in the use of contraception among “a certain number of young women. Their main reason is financial,” he said. The scheme covers pill, IUDs, contraceptive patches and other methods composed of steroid hormones. Visits to the doctor for contraception will also be free, Veran said. The move is part of a series of government steps to boost women's rights.
41 killed in Indonesia jail fire
A fire killed 41 inmates in an overcrowded prison block in Indonesia’s Banten province, law and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly said. Scores of others were injured in the blaze that police said may have been caused by an electrical fault. The fire broke out in a Tangerang Prison block. Cells were locked at the time, the minister said, but with the fire raging, “some rooms couldn’t be opened”. A spokeswoman for the ministry’s prison department said 122 were detained in a block built to hold 38.
Russian minister dies in bid to save filmmaker
A Russian minister, who once served in President Putin’s security detail, died during exercises in the Arctic while trying to save the life of a documentary film director. Yevgeny Zinichev, 55, who headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, was in Norilsk to oversee drills. His ministry said he died while trying to save Alexander Melnik who was there to make a documentary and had slipped off a cliff. “Yevgeny jumped after him, but unfortunately, they both died.”
Man jailed for spreading Covid
A Vietnamese man has been sentenced to five years in jail for spreading Covid-19 after he breached home quarantine rules. Le Van Tri was convicted of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases to other people” after he travelled to Ca Mau from Ho Chi Minh City in July. The 28-year old was accused of breaching a 21-day home quarantine regulation in the southern province, which had a lower case rate than Ho Chi Minh City, and he tested positive for Covid-19 on July 7. “Tri’s breach of the home medical quarantine regulation led to many people becoming infected with Covid-19 and one person died on 7 August 2021,” according to the court report.
Drought hits 15,00,000 in China
Continuous hot weather and low precipitation since July have triggered droughts in China’s Gansu province and these conditions are expected to continue, the local weather bureau said. Droughts have hit 27 counties and districts in Gansu, affecting more than 1.51 million people and damaging approximately 60,000 hectares of crops, reports Xinhua news agency. Since the beginning of this year, the province had received 14 per cent less rainfall than the same period in normal years. Precipitation in central and eastern Gansu decreased by 50 to 80 per cent during the hot season.
Britney’s dad moves court to end conservatorship
Jamie Spears, the father of Britney Spears, asked a Los Angeles court to end the pop singer’s 13-year conservatorship, saying circumstances have changed in recent months. In an unexpected development, Jamie, who in 2008 set up the court sanctioned arrangement that governs the singer’s personal and business affairs, said in a court filing that he believed the judge should “now seriously consider whether conservatorship is no longer required”. “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Spears believes she should get that chance,” read the petition to terminate the legal arrangement. Britney, 39, has been seeking for months to have her father removed as the overseer of her $60 million estate. She told the court in June the arrangement was abusive and humiliating. Jamie said he was willing to step down but gave no timeframe.
France raises bird flu alert after outbreak
France has raised its bird flu alert level after a severe form of the virus was found among backyard poultry in the northeast, on top of cases in neighbouring Belgium and Luxembourg, the farm ministry said. The highly contagious H5N8 strain of avian influenza was found this week among ducks, hens, turkeys and pigeons belonging to a household in the Ardennes region, with all the animals slaughtered as a precaution, the ministry said in a statement. “The health situation regarding highly pathogenic avian influenza is worrying. Since August 1, 25 cases have been detected in Europe among wild and captive birds,” it said. Two cases of H5N8 were reported last week in Belgium - one at a bird merchant and one at a private home - and another at a home in Luxembourg that has been linked to the merchant in Belgium, the French ministry added.
Xi, Biden speak for first time in seven months
US President Joe Biden talked with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time in seven months, urging they ensure that “competition” between the two powers does not become “conflict,” the White House said. The Biden administration said that the call lasted 90 minutes. During the call, Biden’s message was that the United States wants to ensure “the dynamic remains competitive and that we don’t have any situation in the future where we veer into unintended conflict,” a senior US administration official told reporters. In Beijing, state broadcaster CCTV reported that the phone call was “candid, in-depth” and covered “extensive strategic communication and exchanges on China-US relations and issues of mutual concern,” and that US policy on China has caused “serious difficulties.”
Marijuana use among US students on 40-year high
Daily marijuana use increased in 2020 to an all-time high among US college students over the past four decades, according to the University of Michigan’s (UM) annual national Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study. Daily marijuana use, defined as using on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days, increased to 7.9 per cent in 2020 among 19 to 22-year-old full-time college students, showing a significant increase of 3.3 percentage points over the past five years, Xinhua news agency quoted the study as saying. Among same-aged young adults not in college, daily use was 13 per cent in 2020, below the all-time high of 15 per cent in 2019, representing a non-statistically significant decline in 2020. Meanwhile, the annual use of marijuana last year was at historic high levels of 44 per cent since the early 1980s among college students and of 43 per cent among same-aged youth not in college.
24 per cent rise in Kenya accidents
The number of accidents on Kenyan roads rose 24.2 per cent to 8,919 in 2020 even as the government put restrictions such as curfews and a ban on inter-county movements to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Economic Survey 2021 revealed that accidents increased in 2020 even as Kenyans were working from home and moving less during night curfews. The report said that fatalities from road accidents increased by 10.8 per cent from 3,586 in 2019 to 3,975 in 2020. "Similarly, the number of persons that were seriously injured increased by 15.5 per cent to 8,026 while the number of persons that were slightly injured dropped by 4.6 per cent to 4,969 in the review period," the report said.
China bans pvt tutors from teaching online
China has banned private tutors from giving classes online or in unregistered venues such as residential buildings, hotels and coffee shops, ramping up its effort to stamp out all for-profit tutoring. Authorities this year banned for-profit tutoring in subjects on the school curriculum in an effort to ease pressure on children and parents. A competitive higher education system has made tutoring services popular with parents but the government has sought to reduce the cost of child-rearing in an effort to nudge up a lagging birthrate. Media has reported this week on various ways parents and tutors have been trying to circumvent the rules, including how some agencies were advertising live-in tutors. The ministry of education said attempts to evade the rules include hiring tutors in the guise of “housekeeping services”, “cultural communication” or “live-in tutors” as well as conducting classes in the name of summer camp or study tour.
Top Mexico court decriminalises abortion
Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that penalising abortion is unconstitutional, a major victory for advocates of women’s health and human rights, just as parts of the US enact tougher laws against the practice. The decision in the world’s second biggest Roman Catholic nation means that courts can no longer prosecute abortion cases, and follows Argentina’s historic legalisation which took effect earlier this year. Supreme Court president Arturo Zaldivar hailed the unanimous decision as “a watershed moment” for all women. The ruling stemmed from a 2018 case in the northern state of Coahuila that challenged a local criminal law. It also comes as a growing feminist movement has taken to the streets in Mexico to press for change, including calls to end anti-abortion laws on the books in much of the country.
Cuba to give Covid jabs to anyone over 2
Cuba became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19, using homegrown jabs not recognised by the WHO. The communist island of 11.2 million people aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020. The new school year started on Monday, but from home via TV programmes, as most Cuban homes do not have internet access. The government has announced schools will reopen gradually, in October and November, but only after all children have been vaccinated. Having completed trials on minors with its Abdala and Soberana vaccines, Cuba kicked off its inoculation campaign for children, starting with those 12 and older.
El Salvador adopts bitcoin as currency
El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, although it suffered teething problems when the government had to unplug a digital wallet to cope with demand. President Nayib Bukele, who pushed for adoption of the cryptocurrency, called for help from users who had downloaded the government-backed app, to test if it was now working properly. “Could you please try to register and post in the comments if there are any errors or if the whole process works fine?” he wrote on Twitter. Bukele said using bitcoin will help Salvadorans save $400 million a year on commissions for remittances, while giving access to financial services to those with no bank account.
