Washington: A top Democratic senator recommended to US President Donald Trump that Indian American Rohit Chopra be selected to serve as a commissioner in the Federal Trade Commission. “The Federal Trade Commission should be led by people who put the interests of consumers above all else, and that's what Rohit Chopra has done his entire life,” senate minority leader Charles Schumer said, recommending Chopra's name for this top federal trade commission position. Chopra is currently serving as a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, where he leads the organization's research and advocacy on consumer protection.
Jakarta’s Christian governor jailed in blasphemy case
JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians gathered outside Cipinang prison in East Jakarta to express solidarity with a man who, just hours earlier, had been serving as their governor. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known by the nickname Ahok, was earlier sentenced by a court and taken to the prison - but not for the common crime of corruption, which is rife in Indonesia. Instead, his crime was blasphemy. Purnama, Jakarta’s first Christian governor in decades, had suggested that Jakarta's imams were misusing Koranic verses to discriminate against Christian candidates. The remarks created a furore in Muslim-majority Indonesia, prompting huge rallies by Islamists opposed to Purnama and leading, eventually, to his lopsided electoral defeat on April 19.
Opioid-like drug from India seized
London: A ship load of tramadol, a synthetic opioid-like drug, from India to be sold to Islamic State terrorists in Libya to give them greater resilience has been seized by the Italian police. The 37 million tramadol pills, worth $75 million, were found packed into three containers at the port of Genoa, labelled as blankets and shampoo and set to be loaded on a freighter bound for Misrata and Tobruk in Libya. Italian police said the consignment had come from India and would have been used for two purposes: to help finance Islamist terrorism and for use by jihadi fighters as a stimulant and to heighten resistance to physical stress.
4 hijab-clad women assaulted in Oz
Melbourne: In bias-motivated crimes, four Muslim women in Australia were allegedly punched in the face by a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay. One of four Muslim women targeted by the attackers said she was randomly punched in the face as she walked through the city wearing her headphones. Maria Claudia Gimenez Wilson, a 39-year-old journalism student from Paraguay, is charged with assaulting the four women, aged 18-23, as they walked along busy roads near University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Ultimo, Sydney Morning Herald reported. All four women were wearing hijab.
25 killed, deputy chairman of senate injured in Pak blast
Islamabad: The deputy chairman of Pakistan’s Senate escaped an assassination attempt with injuries. A blast damaged his car, killing 25 people and wounding 35 in the volatile south-western Balochistan province. The blast targeted Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri when he came out of a mosque after addressing a gathering shortly after the Friday prayers in Mastung area of the province. The area where the explosion took place is approximately 70 km from provincial capital Quetta. Mastung Hospital sources said that 25 dead and over 35 injured were brought to the hospital. More than 15 injured were in critical condition.
In a boost, Merkel's party wins key state
Duesseldorf: German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Conservatives defeated the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) in a key state election, exit polls showed, boosting their hopes of retaining power in September's national vote. The Christian Democrats (CDU) saw a strong surge of support in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), which is home to one in five German voters and has often been a national trend-setter in elections. The CDU won 34.5%, up from 26.3% in 2012, according to an exit poll on public broadcaster ARD just after polls closed.
Militants' family blow themselves up in Bangladesh
Dhaka: Five members of a family blew themselves up to thwart police from storming their terror hideout in Bangladesh, the latest such incident amid intensified nationwide crackdown on Islamist militants, according to a media report. Before setting off the blasts in Rajshahi’s Godgari area, the terror suspects speared a fireman to death. Two policemen have been also injured in the incident. A police official said that they surrounded the house at Benipur village early morning after intelligence inputs suggested presence of militants there. As they tried to storm the hideout, the militants came out and set off the explosions. The five persons killed in the blasts were the house owner, his wife, daughter and two sons.
New FBI boss contradicts White House
Washington: Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe undermined recent White House explanations about the firing of FBI director James Comey during testimony before a Senate committee. Since President Donald Trump's surprise ouster of Comey, the White House has justified his decision, in part, by saying that the director had lost the confidence of the rank and file of the FBI as well as the public in general. “That is not accurate,” McCabe said in a response to a senator's question about the White House assertions. “I can tell you also that director Comey enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day.” The firing of Comey left the fate of the FBI's probe into Russia's election meddling and possible ties to the Trump campaign deeply uncertain.
Life term for Jamaat-e-Islami leader upheld
Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme Court upheld a life sentence for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War and siding with Pakistan. The court upheld its previous order that commuted his death sentence to imprisonment until death. A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, also dismissed both the pleas filed by the government seeking death sentence for Sayedee and defence's prayer for acquittal, reports the Dhaka Tribune. Sayedee was awarded death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal on February 28, 2013 and was commuted to imprisonment until death on September 17, 2014 by the Supreme Court.
Top Kuwait court jails 3 Royals for insulting judiciary
Kuwait City: Kuwait's supreme court upheld a five-year jail term against three members of the ruling family, including the former secret service chief, for insulting the judiciary. Those convicted include Sheikh Athbi Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a nephew of the Gulf state's emir and the former head of the secret service police. He was one of three royals convicted, along with two other Kuwaiti citizens, of publishing posts on social media accusing judges of accepting bribes. The five men were sentenced last year. An appeals court upheld the verdict in January. The supreme court also upheld a one-year jail term for a sixth defendant and acquitted six others, according to the verdict.
