California: Babulal Bera, the 84-year-old father of Indian American Congressman Ami Bera of Sacramento, California, was released from prison, two months ahead of his one-year sentence because of good behaviour. The elderly man – who has suffered from spinal stenosis with failed back surgeries and prostate cancer must now serve three years of probation and also pay a $100,000 fine. According to court documents, Babulal Bera allegedly funnelled about $300,000 to his son’s bids for Congress in 2010 and 2012. Babulal Bera and his wife Kanta made the maximum allowable contribution of $2,400 each election cycle. He then asked family members and friends to also make the maximum contribution and said he would pay them back the full amount, a practice known as using straw donors. Prosecutors stated that Bera was aware of what he was doing, as he would issue refund checks from five different bank accounts. Investigators found more than 130 improper campaign contributions involving about 90 contributors.
Trump's nominee Ajit Pai confirmed to head FCC
WASHINGTON: The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission despite Democratic complaints that Ajit Pai will undermine net neutrality. The vote was 52-41 for the Indian American, who has served as a commissioner at the FCC since 2012. The nomination turned into a proxy fight over Obama-era net neutrality rules established in 2015. Those rules mean service providers such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast must treat all content the same and not favour their own websites and apps over others, such as a movie streaming service. Pai has tried to roll the rules back, drawing more than 22 million comments and ire from Democrats.
Hema Malini honoured in Moscow
MOSCOW: Veteran actress and politician Hema Malini, who was in Moscow to receive an award for her contribution to cinema, was overwhelmed with the love she has received in Russia. She says people want to see her in part two of her memorable film "Seeta Aur Geeta." Hema, 68, was in Moscow to attend the 4th Indian Film Festival of Russia (IFFR), which was honouring her and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar. Sharing glimpses from her trip and the event, Hema Malini tweeted: "In Moscow to receive an award for my contribution to Indian cinema and popularising it in Russia and the world. The way Russians are crazy about me is unbelievable. Especially 'Seeta Aur Geeta.' They are ready to see part 2 if I'm going to act in it even now 40 years later!"
PIO stabs wife 40 times over affair, jailed
New York: A 48-year-old Indian-origin man in the US has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing his wife by stabbing her nearly 40 times after she told him she was having an affair. Nitin P Singh must serve 85% of the sentence on the single charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter before he is eligible for parole under the terms of the sentence handed down by superior court Judge Linda Lawhun in New Jersey. Authorities said the July 2016 stabbing of 42-year-old Seema Singh, a Collingswood shopkeeper, occurred in the couple's apartment while their three children slept nearby. The children were not injured. Nitin told the court that he attacked his wife after she said she was leaving him and would be taking all of his money and their children with her. He said that he went into a rage and picked up the first thing he saw, a knife, and began stabbing her.
S African healer jailed for beheading of Indian-origin woman
Johannesburg: A South African traditional healer has been sentenced to life in prison for motivating the brutal beheading of an Indian-origin woman by promising four youths over USD 150,000. Sibonakaliso Mbili had promised one of the four co- accused, Falakhe Khumalo, to pay 2 million Rand (USD 153,000) for bringing head of an Indian or a white or a coloured woman, to be used in illegal witchcraft purposes, officials said. Khumalo, with the help of three other youths, lured Indian-origin Desiree Murugan to a sports field in the sprawling Indian township of Chatsworth near Durban in 2014. The four had killed and decapitated Murugan after stabbing her 192 times. Khumalo, who earlier confessed to the murder, is serving a life sentence for killing the woman. Two others were sentenced to 15 years each while the third one will serve 12 years behind bars.
18 killed in suicide blast at Sufi shrine in Balochistan
Islamabad: At least 18 people, including a police constable, were killed and more than 30 injured in a suicide attack on a Sufi shrine while a `dhamaal', a form of devotional dance, was in progress in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. The bombing took place at the entrance of the shrine, Dargah Fatehpur, in the Jhal Magsi district of the volatile province, as scores of people had gathered for prayers that were to follow the `dhamaal'. “A suicide bomber blew himself up after he was intercepted by police guards on duty outside the shrine, killing 18 people including three children under the age of 12 and two policemen, and wounding at least 27 others, 14 of them seriously,” provincial home secretary Akbar Harifal said.
Musharraf was a better ruler than Benazir, says survey
Islamabad: In a survey conducted by a media organisation in Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf has been adjudged a better ruler than Benzair Bhutto. First prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, has been voted the best ruler. According to the survey conducted by Pakistan's Dawn.com, Benazir Bhutto was ranked below average while her husband, former president Asif Ali Zardari was chosen the worst ruler. Pakistan's former military ruler Muhammad Ayub Khan, who was the first to acquire presidency with force, received the "highest percentage of 'Excellent' votes" in the survey.
Dawn.com said that the survey comprised of votes from Balochistan, Punjab and other parts of Pakistan. Expatriats also participated in the survey.
Trump overtakes Pope as Twitter's most followed leader
Geneva: US President Donald Trump has overtaken Pope Francis to become the most-followed world leader on Twitter, a social media tracker says. Twitplomacy says Trump, with about 40 million followers, took the top spot over the weekend on its tracked list of about 890 accounts of leaders like heads of state and government. The pope's followers in all languages are slightly fewer. Twitplomacy founder Matthias Luefkens, head of digital with Burson Marsteller EMEA, acknowledged that many followers could be dormant accounts or “bots.” The list also doesn't count ex-leaders like Barack Obama, who has 95 million-plus followers. Trump has frequently announced government policy or made controversial statements on Twitter. Luefkens said that Trump's tweets get many “interactions” and he expects the US leader might trumpet the achievement: “He does like his crowd size.”
Ex-US Presidents to attend hurricane relief benefit
Washington: Five former US presidents will participate in a benefit concert to raise money for hurricane relief efforts in Texas later this month. Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will appear at Reed Arena at Texas A&M University on October 21 for the "Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal" concert, reports CNN. "The 43rd President and I, and our distinguished colleagues in this 'One America Appeal', are very grateful to these wonderful performers - some of them old friends, some of them new - for giving their time and talent to help the urgent cause of hurricane recovery in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean," former President George H.W. Bush said in a statement.
Japanese died after clocking 159 hours of overtime
Tokyo: A woman in Japan died from overwork after logging 159 hours of overtime in the month leading up to her death, labour inspectors have ruled. Miwa Sado, a political journalist at the country's national broadcaster, suffered heart failure in July 2013, though her employer only made the case public this week. Officials in Tokyo deemed the 31-year-old had died from karoshi - death due to overwork - after taking just two days off in the 30 days before she died, reports The Japan Times. As a journalist for NHK, Sado covered the Tokyo metropolitan government, dying just three days after reporting on a local election in the House of Councillors. Masahiko Yamauchi, a senior official at the broadcaster, said Sado's death was a “problem for our organisation as a whole, including the labour system and how elections are covered.”
FDA says `love' not a real bakery ingredient
Massachusetts: A Massachusetts bakery's granola may be made with love, but federal officials say it shouldn't be listed as an ingredient on the package. Nashoba Brook Bakery was taken to task by the US Food and Drug Administration for listing “love” as an ingredient on its Nashoba Granola label. In a letter posted on the FDA website, it said regulations require that ingredients “must be listed by their common or usual name.” Bakery co-owner and chief baker Stuart Witt said, “We feel very strongly that love is a big part of what we do.”
Bodies of 21 Egyptian Christians found in Libya
Tripoli: The bodies of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were murdered in 2015 by Islamic State (IS) militants, were discovered in Libya's coastal city of Sirte, officials said. The bodies were found on the outskirts of the coastal city with their hands cuffed behind their backs, dressed in the same orange jumpsuits they were wearing in a video that showed their beheading, the Libyan attorney general's office announced. It added that victims' heads were found nearby, and DNA tests would be carried out in order to identify the bodies, reports Efe news. The discovery comes a week after Attorney General Sadiq al Sour, announced that government troops had captured one of the militants who had filmed the execution.
Iraqi forces capture Hawija from Islamic State
BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces have captured the town of Hawija and the surrounding area from Islamic State, the military said in a statement. With the capture of Hawija, the militants' last stronghold in northern Iraq, the only area that remains under control of Islamic State in Iraq is a stretch alongside the western border with Syria. Hawija is close to the oil-city of Kirkuk. The offensive on Hawija was carried out by US-backed Iraqi government troops and Iranian-trained and armed Shi'ite paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilisation. "The army's 9th armoured division, the Federal Police, the Emergency Response division and Popular Mobilisation liberated Hawija," said a statement from the joint operations commander, Lieutenant-General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah. Iraq launched an offensive on September 21 to dislodge Islamic State from the area north of Baghdad where up to 78,000 people were estimated to be trapped, according to the United Nations.
