A Pakistani Hindu youth has become the first person from the minority community to join Pakistan Air Force. Rahul Dev has been recruited as general duty pilot officer. Dev hails from Tharparkar district of Sindh province. Sharing a picture of the new recruit, the PAF recently tweeted, “Good news during #Covid19... Congratulations #RahulDev who hails from very remote village of Tharparkar has been selected as GD Pilot in #PAF.” Though Dev’s exact age is not known, those inducted in PAF at his level are often around 20. The official Radio Pakistan said it is “for the first time in Pakistan’s history” that a Hindu youth has been recruited. A report said that the induction showed that the PAF was breaking barriers. Last year, Kainat Junaid became the first woman from Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province to have been selected for fighter pilot training.
Armed men damage church in Pakistan
A group of armed men vandalized a church in eastern Pakistan before fleeing the scene, a local police official said. The incident in the village of Kala Shahkaku in Punjab province took place on Saturday and was apparently not sectarian but connected to a land dispute involving the church, according to police official Shahid Akram. An image from the attack, broadcast on social media showed a cross, which had originally hung above the entrance door of the church, lying atop a pile of rubble. However, the extent of damage to the church could not be determined from the photograph. Akram said police have detained two suspects and were still conducting searches for the main culprits. “Our initial investigation shows that some local Muslims orchestrated this attack over a lingering land dispute," he said, adding that “all those who are linked to this sad incident will be arrested." Human rights activists and local Christian leaders condemned the vandalism and urged the Punjab government to arrest all those linked to the attack.
Lanka bracing to end lockdown with partial opening
Sri Lanka has gradually begun relaxing curfew as the coronavirus outbreak is now 'under control to a certain degree', Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on the eve of opening up economic activities in the country after nearly two months. Rajapaksa said that relaxed measures would allow government and private sector institutions to start with a limited number of employees. Sri Lanka has been under a continuous lockdown since March 20, a week after the first local victim of the pandemic was reported. The government said that relaxation was meant to revive the economic activities after the long lay off and the public should limit their movements solely for work purposes. All restaurants, places of entertainment and schools will continue to be shut. Senior police official in charge of Covid-19 prevention Ajith Rohana said the curfew will be continued in the four high-risk districts which includes capital Colombo.
Kuwait imposes 20-day 'total curfew'
People in Kuwait have been told to follow curfew restrictions and abide by the health authority instructions, state news agency KUNA reported citing the Kuwait Government. Coronavirus cases have increased due to the failure to abide by social distancing, health minister Sheikh Bassel Al-Sabah said in an online briefing. But the health situation, he added, was under control and “the number of infections is expected to decline after the implementation of the full curfew in the country.” The full curfew started on March 11, but people were allowed to leave their homes for two hours each day between 4.30 to 6.30 pm. The Kuwait Municipality has also announced that it will allow grocery stores to deliver items to nearby residents during the curfew. It said that only stores located in investment areas can take advantage of this decision and deliver commodities to customers during the morning shift from 8 am to 4 pm and the night shift from 8 pm to 1.30 am.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has continued repatriating its citizens from abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. The foreign ministry said it was ready to start working on the repatriation of Kuwaiti nationals from Saudi Arabia through the land checkpoint Al-Nuwaiseeb. The ministry said the operation will take place between May 12 and 20. He also said the foreign ministry and the Kuwait embassy in Riyadh had begun to register names of citizens seeking to return back to their home country.
Jailed Saudi princess fears Covid risk
Princess Basmah bint Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and her daughter, Suhoud al-Sharif, mysteriously disappeared from public life in March last year. Last month she posted a message on Twitter that voiced fears about her “deteriorating health” in Riyadh’s Al-Ha’ir jail. Sources said Suhoud told her family that prison authorities had said coronavirus cases had been detected inside the facility. A prison employee also confirmed to the family that there were a handful of Covid-19 cases in Al-Ha’ir, the sources said.
Hackers disrupt virtual SA House session with porn
Hackers disrupted a virtual session of South Africa’s parliament, posting pornographic images in the second such incident since the coronavirus outbreak. The “meeting was temporarily disrupted by so-called ‘bombers’ or hackers,” parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mothapo said. South Africa’s parliament has been operating virtually as part of measures to fight Covid-19. Pornographic images popped up a few minutes before the start of the Zoom meeting and then a male voice hurled sexist and racial insults at Speaker Thandi Modise, according to a newspaper. Modise adjourned the virtual meeting.
Italian scientists say their vaccine neutralises virus, human trials soon
Italian scientists claim to have developed a vaccine candidate that could neutralise coronavirus within human cells. According to findings from the tests conducted at Spallanzani Hospital in Rome, the vaccine generated antibodies in mice that work on human cells. Takis Biotech is developing the coronavirus vaccine candidate. Italian news agency ANSA quoted Takis Biotech CEO Luigi Aurisicchio as saing: “This is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy. Human tests are expected after this summer.” All of the vaccine candidates being developed are based on the genetic material of DNA protein ‘spike’, the molecular tip used by the coronavirus to enter human cells. The vaccine uses a technique called electroporation to help break into the cells and induce the immune system. This mechanism is expected to boost the vaccine’s effectiveness in producing antibodies against ‘spike’ protein in lung cells.
Israeli House nominates Bibi to form govt
The Israeli parliament formally nominated PM Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new coalition government despite his upcoming trial on corruption charges, bringing him closer to a fifth term after more than a year of political stalemate. Seventy-two of the Knesset’s 120 lawmakers signed on to Netanyahu’s candidacy after parliament passed legislation approving details of a power-sharing deal between the premier’s right-wing Likud party and centrist rival Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, a joint statement from the factions said. Netanyahu’s nomination was submitted to President Reuven Rivlin. Netanyahu and Gantz plan to swear in their new coalition in on Wednesday.
3 Russian docs mysteriously fall from hospital windows
Three medical workers in Russia who had been in disputes with the health authorities over handling the pandemic have plunged from upper-storey windows, local news outlets have reported. Some reports suggested that the falls, which killed two doctors and left a third in critical condition, were suicides or accidents. Russian dissidents have long attributed mysterious falls from balconies to state violence. Aleksandr Shulepov, a medic for an ambulance service in Moscow, fell from a window of a hospital where he was being treated for Covid-19. He is critical. He had complained in online videos about lack of protective gear and being forced to work after falling sick. In Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk, Elena Nepomnyashchaya, the chief doctor at a hospital, fell from a window on April 26 and died. She had objected to authorities’ plan to treat Covid-19 patients there, according to TBK, and had complained about insufficient protective gear. Natalya Lebedeva, the head of the ambulance service at Star City, the cosmonaut training centre, died on April 24 after a plunge from a window at a hospital where she was being treated for Covid-19. The local daily wrote she had committed suicide after managers accused her of allowing the spread of the virus.
Afghan govt releases over 100 Taliban prisoners
The Afghan government has released 102 more Taliban prisoners in line with the US-Taliban peace deal signed in February this year. "Pursuant to President Ashraf Ghani's decree, the government released 102 Taliban prisoners. Over 850 has been released, getting us more than halfway to 1,500. More can be released upon the start of talks," National Security Council Spokesperson Javid Faisal wrote on Twitter. Faisal had said that the prisoners were being released based on their age, health, and length of remaining sentence as part of efforts toward peace and battling Covid-19. The prisoner exchange and launch of the intra-Afghan talks became possible after the Taliban and the United States reached a peace deal in February this year. However, talks have been delayed due to Afghanistan's electoral tussle and mutual disagreements over the release of prisoners. The Taliban is demanding that the government to release 5,000 prisoners on the basis of the peace deal.
Drone discovers mass grave of Islamic State victims in Syria
Islamic State fighters used a gorge in north-eastern Syria as a mass grave for their victims, a human rights group has revealed, after it deployed a drone to confirm the suspicions. In a report, Human Rights Watch said the terror group dumped the bodies of people it had abducted, tortured and executed in al-Hota gorge, near Raqqa. It is one of around 20 mass graves containing thousands of bodies in areas that were formerly held by the so-called Islamic State (IS). Local villagers told researchers from Human Rights Watch that people had been threatened by IS fighters and thrown into the gorge, while videos posted on Facebook in 2014 show two victims being cast in. The clothes on the men's bodies in that video match the clothing of two men being killed on camera in a separate propaganda video, Human Rights Watch said. Activists used a drone to fly into the gorge, where they discovered six bodies floating in the water in a state of decomposition. “Al-Hota gorge, once a beautiful natural site, has become a place of horror and reckoning,” said Sara Kayyali, Human Rights Watch’s Syria researcher.
Hundreds evacuated as wildfires rage in Florida Panhandle
Wildfires raging in the Florida Panhandle have forced nearly 500 people to evacuate from their homes, authorities said. One wildfire that broke out in Santa Rosa County has been named the Five Mile Swamp fire as high winds and low humidity caused the blaze to expand 10 times in size, the Florida Forest Service said in a statement. The fire started as a prescribed burn but quickly grew out of control, according to The Tampa Bay Times. The Forest Service said multiple structures have been lost in the 2,000-acre fire, and authorities are recommending residents south of Interstate 10 to evacuate. The agency did not make clear how many people have been evacuated from the area. So far, about 20% of the 2,000-acre fire has been contained, authorities said. “This is an extremely dangerous and fast-moving wildfire situation that is evolving rapidly, so everyone in the affected area should follow directions from state and local officials,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Almost all of Florida has had less-than-usual rainfall this year. National Weather Service meteorologist Jack Cullen said that the dryness helped fuel the fires. Cullen, who is based in Mobile, Alabama, said the wind is the real culprit. Firefighters are also battling another 575-acre fire in Walton County. Authorities said approximately 500 people were evacuated from the area and multiple structures were lost in that fire. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.
