A 25-year-old student from Mysuru, Karnataka, pursuing a master’s degree in computer science at California State University in San Bernardino was shot dead by an unidentified assailant last week.
The student, identified as Abhishek Sudhesh Bhat, had a part-time job at a motel and was reportedly attacked while he was returning home from work. His family members said they didn’t have any idea about the motive or the attacker’s identity. Son of Sudhesh Chand, a yoga guru and founder of Sri Upanishath Yoga Centre Trust in Mysuru. Abhishek had studied engineering at Vidhya Vikas Engineering College in Mysuru before leaving for the US two years ago.
Teen with roots in Hyderabad assaulted, killed in US
A 19-year-old student with family roots in Hyderabad was sexually assaulted and strangulated to death inside a garage at the University of Illinois, Chicago where she was studying. Police arrested the 26-year-old assailant, Donald Thurman from a metro station and charged him with first degree murder and aggravated sexual assault. Thurman is currently on parole after serving two-of-six years in jail for armed robbery. He was residing near the campus and is not associated with the university.
Following a missing diary filed by her family, police tracked her mobile phone location and traced her body inside her car at the university garage. University of Illinois police chief, Kevin Booker said the victim was noticed entering the garage. CCTV footage shows Thurman had followed her into the garage. He left the place after some time and took a public transport. He was later arrested at the Harrison metro station.
Pak provincial govt to give land for last rites of minorities
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government is in the process of procuring and identifying land for the construction of cremation grounds and graveyards for the minority Hindus and Christians in various districts. The land, nearly 0.3 acres for the cremation ground and 0.6 acres for the graveyard, has been purchased in Buddo Samarbagh area of Peshawar district. Sources in the province’s department of religious affairs and minorities informed that the land procurement process has been completed in Peshawar, the provincial capital. Similarly, 0.5 acres land has been identified in Nowshera district for Christian graveyard and nearly 0.3 acres land for the cremation ground. Deputy commissioners of Bannu district have been directed to acquire land under provisions of land procurement law for the cremation ground and graveyard.
No improvement in Sharif's health
Hussain Nawaz, the son of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that there were no signs of improvement in the health of his father and requested the people to pray for him. Hussain said that he wished his father would be treated under one roof. "Have advised my father numerous times to go to the US for treatment," he said. "We can't see any signs of improvement in his health," he added. Hussain said that Nawaz would have to be taken to the hospital numerous times over the next couple of days. "Diagnosis of the bone marrow is a very sensitive issue, I would like the nation to pray for my father," he was quoted as saying. Sharif family sources confirmed that the former prime minister underwent two therapy sessions at London Bridge Hospital. They revealed that Sharif was being provided with medicines to strengthen his immune system.
13 Pakistanis killed in Jordan farm fire
Jordanian officials say that at least 13 people belonging to a farming community along the border with Israel and Syria were killed in a fire. The Jordanian civil defense says in a statement that the fire broke out in a shack where two Pakistani families live in the village of al-Shuna al-Janobia. Three others were injured. It says the dead included eight children, four women and a man - all said to be Pakistani nationals. The officials say an electrical fault caused the fire and an investigation has been launched. The village sits along the Jordan Valley, south of the confluence of the Yarmouk and Jordan rivers.
Bombings kill 16 in Afghanistan
Afghan officials said that two separate explosions in the country’s north killed 16 people, almost all of them women and young girls. A roadside bomb struck a civilian vehicle going to a wedding, killing at least 15 people; six women, six girls and two infants, as well as the male driver, according to Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman. He said two other civilians were wounded in the blast in the Kunduz province. Hours later, a gunfight and explosion at a security checkpoint killed a policeman, said Mohammad Nooragha Faizi, a police spokesman in Sari Pul province.
Lanka president invites Muralitharan to be guv
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan is set to play a different innings as governor of the country’s Tamil-dominated Northern Province after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa “personally invited” him to accept the post, a media report said. The 47-year-old ace spinner is among the three new governors tipped to be appointed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “President Gotabaya Rajapakse had personally invited Muralidharan to accept the post of the governor of the Northern Province,” said a report quoting presidential secretariat sources as saying. Muralitharan married Madhimalar Ramamurthy, a Chennai native, in March 2005. He was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in 2002. He retired from Test cricket in 2010.
Nepal PM Oli put on ventilator
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was admitted to a hospital after he complained of health complications. Oli has been on a regular dialysis for over five weeks. He had undergone an operation and his appendix was removed, said reports. According to a hospital report, the prime minister is on ventilator and that his condition is stable. The 68-year-old politician has struggled with his health in last few years. However, he is said to have been using steroids recently, said reports. Oli has been in touch with doctors for kidney transplant, said reports. He has been administered a medicine used to normal the heartbeat after operation. The Nepal government in a press statement said that Oli’s condition is normal and stable.
Quake kills 21 in Albania
At least 21 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck Albania last week, tearing down buildings and burying residents under rubble. Residents, some carrying babies, fled apartment buildings in Tirana and the western port of Durres after the 6.4 magnitude quake struck them. The Balkan country was jolted by 250 aftershocks after the main tremor, Defence Minister Olta Xhacka said. She told reporters that the quake's epicentre was in Durres, Albania's main port and a tourist spot, adding: "Around 600 residents were injured and received treatment." Hours later a magnitude 5.4 earthquake rattled Bosnia, with an epicentre 75 km south of the capital Sarajevo, monitors said. There were no reports of injuries. In Durres, 13 bodies were pulled from collapsed buildings and 45 people were rescued from the wreckage there and in Thumane.
China summons US ambassador over Hong Kong Bill
Hours after US President Donald Trump signed a bill in support of the pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, China summoned US Ambassador Terry Branstad. China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned Branstad in response to the bill which slaps economic sanctions on individuals who commit human rights violations in Hong Kong and bars them from entering the US, Sputnik reported. Early in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry also released a statement in which it firmly opposed the United States signing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law, saying that the move is a "serious interference" in China's internal affairs. The ministry stated that the bill is also in serious violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations.
Iraqi forces kill 16 protesters
Iraqi security forces shot dead 16 protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya, medical sources said, and authorities imposed a curfew in Najaf after demonstrators burned its Iranian consulate. Authorities set up joint military-civilian "crisis cells" to try to stem unrest and a paramilitary commander vowed to use force to stop any attack against Shi'ite Muslim religious authorities. The torching of the consulate in Najaf, the southern holy city, escalated violence in Iraq after weeks of mass demonstrations that aim to bring down a government seen as corrupt and backed by Tehran. It was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment of Iraqi demonstrators as the gulf widens between a largely Iran-aligned ruling elite and an increasingly desperate Iraqi majority with few opportunities and minimal state support.
Reporter chased by pig during live TV broadcast
A reporter had to cut short a live broadcast because a pig wouldn’t leave him alone. Lazos Mantikos was in a Greek town to report on flood damage, but his broadcast took a different turn when a sow chased him live on air. Mantikos jumped around as he tried to avoid the pig, who can be seen nudging into his legs, and continue his report on TV channel ANT1. Mantikos said the pig had been following them around all morning and was biting him. He was even chased off camera at one point by the large animal.
Hawaii man accused of ‘extreme stalking’ in Utah
US prosecutors say a Hawaii man tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services, including plumbers and prostitutes. Loren Okamura is scheduled for a hearing in Honolulu. Authorities say Okamura targeted a father and her adult daughter. Okamura’s lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment. Authorities didn’t disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura.
82-year-old bodybuilder clobbers intruder
An intruder didn’t count on an 82-year-old woman living alone being an award-winning bodybuilder with nerves of steel. Willie Murphy was getting ready for bed at her home in Rochester, New York, when a man pounded on the door and said that he needed an ambulance. She called police but wouldn’t open the door. Then, she said, the man broke in. “He picked the wrong house to break into,” Murphy said. She clobbered him with a table, poured shampoo in his face and was beating him with a broom when police arrived. The man was later sent to a hospital, and police tweeted a selfie with Murphy, calling her “tough as nails”.
Lord mayor of Belfast caught urinating in street
The lord mayor of Belfast faces an investigation by Northern Ireland’s local government watchdog after being caught urinating in the street. John Finucane has accepted a community resolution notice for indecent behaviour over the incident. The 39-year-old apologised for his actions. He said he tried to enter his office but did not have his key. He said he tried to find discreet place but was caught by two officers. Community resolution notices are issued to deal with comparatively minor crimes in Northern Ireland.
Kangaroo killer avoids jail, gets community service
An Australian man who deliberately mowed down at least 20 kangaroos with a truck avoided jail after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, media reported. Bega District News reported that Nathan Sanger was facing up to five years’ jail, but the first-time offender was ordered to complete 500 hours of community service.
